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Ernesto Bozzano, Professor - The parapsychological manifestations of animals – 33 Mr. G. de Steigner, a dog, a cat and a canary hear a ghost
Identifier
028635
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
NOTES on this case by Professor Ernesto Bozzano
… in the cases reported so far, the percipient animals were always either dogs, or cats, or horses. This case, where a canary is involved, shows that the kingdom of birds is likely, in turn, able to perceive supernormal manifestations and to be frightened by them.
As for the attitude of the canary to the auditory manifestations of the haunted room, it does not seem possible to me to raise doubts about their demonstrative scope; that is to say that the canary perceived well, like the other animals, the manifestations that were taking place. Indeed, the sound of a footstep, such as that of a man in slippers, is not likely to frighten a canary, used to living with humans. It follows that if this little bird was horrified by it, it was because it really perceived the manifestations of haunting and had the instinctive intuition of their supernormal nature.
A description of the experience
Professor Ernesto Bozzano - The parapsychological manifestations of animals - 130 cases proving animal mediumistic abilities
Case 89. - (Collective-Auditory.) - In Dr. Edward Binns' well-known book Anatomy of Sleep, page 479, we find the following fact, communicated to the author by Lord Stenhope, who was a close friend of the participant in the event, Mr. G. de Steigner. The latter recounts:
In my youth, when I was an officer in the Danish army, I occupied the accommodation that had been assigned to me for some time, without noticing anything special. My room was placed between two other rooms, one of which served as a small living room and the other as a bedroom for my ordinance. The three rooms were connected to each other.
One night when I was lying awake without sleeping, I heard a sound of footsteps coming and going in the room that seemed to be those of a man in slippers. This inexplicable noise lasted a long time.
When the morning came, I asked my ordinance if he hadn't heard anything during the night. He replied: "Nothing, if only at an early hour of the night, you walked around in your room". I assured him that I had not left my bed. As he remained incredulous, I told him that if the sound of footsteps was renewed, I would call him.
The next night, I called him, under the pretext of asking him for a candle, and I asked him if he could see anything. He replied negatively, adding, however, that he heard a sound of footsteps, as if someone was approaching him, and then walked away in the opposite direction.
I had three animals in my room, a dog, a little pussy and a canary, all of which reacted in a characteristic way when the sound of footsteps was heard. The dog immediately jumped on my bed and squatted down near me trembling, the cat followed the sound of footsteps with its eyes, as if it saw, or tried to see the one who produced them. The canary, who slept on its perch, woke up immediately and began to fly in the cage, in the throes of great agitation.
In other cases, musical sounds were heard in the living room, as if someone had touched the piano keys softly, or a characteristic noise was perceived, as if the key of the desk was turned in the lock and the desk was opened. However, everything remained in its place. I told my regimental comrades about these inexplicable noises, who came to sleep successively on the sofa in my room and heard, one after the other, the noises I had witnessed for myself.
Subsequently, Mr. de Steigner tells us that he had the parquet floor and panelling of the room moved, without finding any trace of a mouse. At some point he became ill, and as his illness tended to get worse, the doctor advised him to change his accommodation immediately, without giving any explanation. Mr. de Steigner did indeed move. When he was convalescing, he insisted with the doctor to find out why he had advised him to move. The doctor finally told him that:
The dwelling where he had lived had a disgraceful reputation, one man had hanged himself in the room he had occupied and another had been killed there.