Citation

This preliminary investigation set out to act as a revised edition of the original study conducted some 30 years beforehand by Rogo and Bayless. Both projects were produced in book form, surveying a variety of strange experiences people claimed to have had with telecommunication technology. These included seemingly impossible phone calls from the living that suggested the caller was in two places at once, and calls from people known to be dead. It was requested in 1979 by Schmeidler that such a study should be written up and presented for peer review, outlining the methods that took place and the exact findings. A sample of spontaneous accounts involving the telephone (N = 50) was analysed using a thematic analysis. The methods and results are presented here to fulfil the requests of several peer reviewers, regarding the two previous books/studies of anomalous telecommunication experiences. Findings suggest that the majority of calls centre around bereavement, which could present arguments for both natural psychological phenomena and/or psi being involved—supporting previous studies of bereavement. Suggestions are made as to the progression of this research and approaches to obtaining as reliable accounts as possible.