Psychic Detective Exposed as a Fraud
Harry Price was dubbed as “the Psychic Detective” because he exposed countless hoaxes. By the time of his death in 1948, Price was considered Britain’s foremost paranormal expert, publishing several books on mediums, spirits and England’s most haunted house.
Up until now, no one suspected that he himself might have been a conman.
According to Edinburgh writer, Richard Morris, Price lied about his scientific training and staged high-profile public “experiments” to expose other con-artists. Morris’s alleged discovery of Harry Price came by chance when he was researching the history of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was greatly annoyed with Price for exposing spirit photographer, William Hope in 1922. Hope just happened to be Doyle’s friend.
“I got started investigating Price as I was looking into Conan Doyle, who was very interested in spiritualism,” said Morris. “That was something I found fascinating, that a man who was so associated with scientific truth and fact actually had a great belief in ghosts and spirits.
“But Price is an equally fascinating character, and it is really quite extraordinary that he managed to convince so many people he was a man of science.”
Over the past year, Morris has read through thousands of papers of Price’s own documents, which cover bizarre cases, such as the 1932 Brocken experiment, which used a ritual to transform a goat into a man. Price wrote about writing a letter to Adolf Hitler, who had invited him to Germany and who was very interested in the paranormal. The contrast between Price’s public life and his private life were so stark that Morris decided to write a book about him. Morris knew his findings would not be welcomed by Price’s fans, but he wasn’t prepared for the threats he received.
“It’s bizarre that in this day and age you can be threatened for trying to uncover the facts about someone who has been dead for more than half a century.”
