Born 1910 to 1939
Those born between 1910 and 1939 worked through decades in which psychical research moved into the laboratory as parapsychology, facing new opportunities but continuing scepticism. This subcategory covers researchers and authors of that generation, showing how they extended case-based, experimental and theoretical work across a changing scientific and cultural landscape.
Margaret L Anderson
Professor of education and parapsychologist, best known for conducting ESP tests with school children.
Cleve Backster
Cleve Backster (1924–2013), a polygraph expert, carried out experiments which he claimed showed a degree of conscious awareness in plants.
Dennis Bardens
English journalist and author (1911–2004), founder of the BBC news programme Panorama.
Allan Barham
Allan Barham (1912–1989), an Anglican vicar, wrote and lectured extensively about psi phenomena.
Mary Rose Barrington
British lawyer (1926–2020), longtime vice-president of the SPR and investigator of paranormal phenomena.
Kenneth J Batcheldor
British psychologist (1921–1988) who showed 'table tipping' could be produced by living agents collectively in sitter groups.
Raymond Bayless
Raymond Bayless (1920–2004) was an American landscape painter and author of books on psychical phenomena.
John Beloff
John Beloff (1920–2006), a British psychologist, was concerned with the philosophy of mind and psi-related topics.
Manfred Cassirer
German-born author and researcher (1920–2003) with wide interests in psychical research.
David Christie-Murray
British priest and teacher (1913–2010) who in later life wrote about survival and reincarnation.
Anthony D Cornell
Investigator associated with the SPR (1923–2010), specially concerned with hauntings and poltergeists.
Rosemary Dinnage
British journalist and author (1928–2015), leading figure in the Society for Psychical Research.
Arthur J Ellison
Arthur J Ellison (1920–2000), an electrical engineer, carried out research with psychics and served two terms as president of the SPR.
Suitbert Ertel
German statistician and psychologist (1932–2017) who developed the highly successful ESP 'ball selection' test of psychokinesis (PK).
Hilary Evans
British author (1929–2011) of books on hauntings, UFOs and Fortean phenomena, co-founder of ASSAP and of the Mary Evans Picture Library.
Sally Rhine Feather
Retired American clinical psychologist, daughter of JB Rhine and Louisa Rhine, who carried out psi experiments in the 1960s.
Peter Fenwick
British neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist (1935–2024), leading authority on near-death and end-of-life experiences.
David Fontana
Psychologist and psi researcher (1934–2010) who wrote extensively about transpersonal psychology, dreams and survival of death.
Alan Gauld
British psychologist (1932–2024) known for his writings on hypnosis. poltergeists, mediumship and the history of psychical research.
Mostyn Gilbert
Mostyn Gilbert (1924-1992) was an American historian living in England who pursued interests in physical mediumship and survival.
Bernard Grad
Canadian biologist and cancer researcher (1920–2010) who pioneered laboratory studies of ‘laying-on-of-hands’ or spiritual healing.
Andrew Green
British ghost hunter and author of popular books on hauntings (1927–2004), known in the media as Britain's 'Spectre Inspector’.
Celia Green
British philosopher and psychologist (b 1935) who has published extensively on lucid dreams, ESP and the out-of-body experience.
Anita Gregory
German-born linguist and psychical researcher (1925–1984) who investigated and wrote about psi phenomena.
Erlendur Haraldsson
Icelandic psychologist (1931–2020) who investigated end-of-life phenomena, mediumship, and reincarnation.
Benson Herbert
British parapsychologist (1912–1991) who investigated what he believed to be the electrical origins of psi phenomena.
Hans Holzer
Austrian-born American author (1920–2009) and lay paranormal investigator, largely of hauntings and poltergeists.
Jack Houck
American engineer (1939–2013) noted for his mass demonstrations of psychokinesis at metal bending ‘parties’.
Brian Inglis
Irish journalist, author and broadcaster (1916–1993), whose many published works include books about psychical research.
Robert Jahn
Robert Jahn was a plasma physicist who founded the PEAR laboratory, which specialized in studying mind-machine interactions.
Martin Johnson
As a major European experimental parapsychologist, Johnson (1930–2011) helped build the programme at the University of Utrecht.
Montague Keen
Montague Keen (1925–2004), a journalist and later a farmer, was a leading member of the SPR who investigated crop circles and mediums.
Jürgen Keil
German-Australian psychologist and parapsychologist (1930–2024) who studied psychokinesis, ESP, and child reincarnation cases.
Stanley Krippner
American psychologist and parapsychologist, known for research in dream ESP, altered states of consciousness and shamanism.
Hubert Larcher
French physician and parapsychologist (1921–2008) noted for his study of consciousness between life and death.
Lawrence LeShan
American psychologist and parapsychologist (1920–2020), the author of numerous books and articles on paranormal topics.
Andrew MacKenzie
New Zealand-born journalist and novelist (1911–2001) who also wrote and reviewed books about psychical research.
Betty Markwick
British mathematician and statistician, credited with having uncovered fraud in ESP experiments by SG Soal.
James F McHarg
Scottish psychiatrist and medical historian (1917–2003) who studied the kinds of psychic experiences reported by his patients.
George Medhurst
British mathematician and engineer (1920–1971) who carried out experiments and scholarly studies in psychical research.
Robert Monroe
American busnessman (1915–1995), founder of The Monroe Institute, which offers training in his Hemi-Sync technology to explore consciousness.
Clement Mundle
Scottish philosophy professor (1916-1989) who participated in telepathy experiments and published commentary on psychical research.
Ralph Noyes
Senior official in the British Ministry of Defence (1923–1998) involved in investigations of mediumship, crop circles and UFOs.
Arthur Oram
Arthur Oram (1916–2005), a leading member of the SPR, published experiments in telepathy and actively explored mediumship.
Karlis Osis
Latvian-born Karlis Osis (1917–1997) contributed classic studies of deathbed apparitions and out-of-body experiences.
ARG Owen
British mathematics professor and parapsychologist (1919–2003), notable for the landmark ‘Philip’ psychokinesis experiments.
Denys Parsons
Denys Parsons (1914–1995) was an author, musician and psychical researcher who participated in psi experiments.
Guy Lyon Playfair
English journalist and psychical researcher (1935–2018), known for his investigating and writing about psi phenomena in the UK and Brazil.
John Poynton
South African-born zoologist with particular interests in out-of-body experiences and the thought of philosopher Michael Whiteman.
J Gaither Pratt
American psychologist and parapsychologist (1910–1979) who worked with JB Rhine at Duke University and Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia.
Andrija Puharich
Andrija Puharich was a scientist, inventor and psi researcher, recalled mainly for his close collaboration with the Israeli psychic Uri Geller.
Harold E Puthoff
American physicist and parapsychologist, a key figure in the US government-funded Star Gate remote viewing programme.
John Randall
British educator (1933–2011) who conducted ESP experiments and was a regular contributor to SPR publications.
Elizabeth A Rauscher
American physicist with an interest in altered states of consciousness, who explored links between Eastern philosophy and quantum physics.
Kenneth Ring
Retired American psychologist who is one the leading investigators of near-death experiences, about which he has written extensively.
William George Roll
American psychologist and parapsychologist (1926–2012) noted for reports of poltergeist phenomena for which living agents were responsible.
Archie Roy
Scottish astronomer and psi researcher (1924–2012) who carried out investigations of hauntings and mediumship.
Milan Ryzl
Milan Ryzl (1928–2011) was a pioneer in exploring hypnosis as a facilitator of ESP, best known for his extensive work with Pavel Stepanek.
Gertrude Schmeidler
American psychologist and parapsychologist, noted for her theory that ESP ability relates to belief.
Helmut Schmidt
German American parapsychologist (1928–2011) who pioneered the use of random event generators in studying psychokinesis.
Richard Sheargold
Richard Sheargold (1911–1988) was an English psychical researcher with particular interests in electronic voice phenomena.
Rex G Stanford
American parapsychologist (1938-2022) known for his Psi-Mediated Instrumental Response (PMIR) model of psi.
Ian Stevenson
Canadian-born American psychiatrist (1918–2007) best known for his work on children's claims to remember previous lives.
Russell Targ
American physicist and parapsychologist who collaborated with Harold Puthoff in remote viewing studies.
Charles T Tart
American psychologist (1937–2025) known for research on psi, out-of-body experiences, and the nature of consciousness.
William A Tiller
American materials science professor (1929–2022) whose work suggested that psychic energy can influences chemical and biological systems.
Montague Ullman
American psychiatrist and parapsychologist who in landmark 1960s experiments demonstrated ESP occurring in the dream state.
Robert Van de Castle
Robert Van de Castle (1927–2014) was an American psychologist specializing in dreams who also was active in parapsychology
Lyall Watson
South African-born zoologist anthropologist and author of books about science and the paranormal (1939–2008).
Donald J West
English psychiatrist and criminologist (1924–2020) who was active in psi research and the SPR for eight decades.