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The Mediumship of Attila von Szalay – Raymond Bayless [from Experiences of a Psychical Researcher]

Oddly, Mr. von Szalay shows little evidence for the possession of clairvoyant-telepathic abilities, considering the other manifestations which have occurred in his presence, but one very interesting example did take place one evening while we were walking together.

For no apparent reason he suddenly began to "shadow box," an action as foreign to him as anything could possibly be, and began to sing, "Hold That Tiger." I could hardly believe my eyes and ears and stared at him in utter astonishment and wondered what in the world this peculiar behavior was about. Within a few moments, from behind us, came a truck and on the side of it was a large figure of a tiger in a boxing stance with boxing gloves on.

Now it can be said that Mr. von Szalay could have seen this approaching truck reflected in a store window, and by a subconscious process reflected this fact in his odd actions, but in spite of the fact that the incident was purely spontaneous and most certainly "informal," I do not believe from my observations that such was at all the case. I think the incident represented a form of telepathic-clairvoyant activity.

This curious event reminds me of another oddity, a type of thing which, from what I can gather, happens quite often, in spite of the Hansels, the Prices, and the D. J. Wests. One evening Mr. von Szalay and I with two other friends were entering a restaurant door, and the hostess asked how many there were to be seated. For no reason, I said eighteen, and at the same moment Mr. von Szalay gave the same number. Now clearly chance will not explain the simultaneous choice of such an odd number as eighteen, and to accept this coincidence as the workings of chance would require the defiance of such astronomical odds against its happening that I would just as soon accept the existence of Santa Claus.