Editor’s Note: This article has been previously published on this website several times throughout recent years. Happy Halloween!
So, as to not cast any shadows on the whole concept and theory of the occult studies, let me begin by introducing you to a psychic investigator and a former member of Mensa, Maurice Schwalm. Maurice passed away on January 3rd, 2001, at the age of 72 years. Yet, he spent many years and much of his life as a member of the American Society of Psychical Research and the Mensa Education & Research Foundation (MERF). His Occult Studies Special Interest Group (SIG) was somehow connected with Mensa – but his bright fame was from the mark, or impression, he placed upon the public through radio, literature, and other media outlets. Something of a ghost was nearly always present in his work whether in pictures that he captured with his camera (with a ghost hand inside, he felt) or in the writings he left to us.
Supernatural images could be found from premonitions of the Hyatt Regency skywalk collapse to Polaroid shots of people dancing where there was no one physically present.
During the ‘70s and ‘80s, the spirits must have been more active. A series of Mr. Schwalm’s occult studies were published as articles in the Mension (the official newsletter of Mid-America Mensa). Around Halloween every year, local news reporters would consult with our resident expert, Mr. Schwalm. Also, the Johnson County Library has multiple copies of Maurice Schwalm’s collected papers in the vertical files at the Central Resource Branch. Just look for the folder marked Haunted Places – KC Area. Or, check out his book Mo-Kan Ghosts: The Casebook of a Kansas City Psychic Investigator. Whether it’s fact or fiction depends upon your own system of belief and your best perception of things.
In the meantime, have some fun this Halloween with whatever you are wanting to do. Gather up your friends, grab a costume and a few props (and maybe a good, reliable recording device!), host a Halloween party, and search for yourself for that which has never been seen or heard before. Whether the supernatural is a paranormal haunting or something else entirely is going to be strictly a matter of your own interpretation and opinion.
Sources (which are no longer available):
LibAnswers – https://answers.jocolibrary.org/faq/209478
Ghost Dance – https://www.thepitchkc.com/news/articles/20606408/ghost-dance
Haunted Kansas City – https://info.umkc.edu/unews/haunted-kansas-city-mysterious-tales-from-kansas-citys-past-and-present/
