A Psychic Experience: Joe Cooper

Joe Cooper’s book `Modern Psychic Experiences” published by Robert Hale is a must read for all those interested in paranormal phenomena. Within this book are many well researched histories of individual encounters with the supernatural world.  Joe Cooper”s scientific approach to these psychic experiences has produced a work that is certain to impress even the most hardened sceptic.  Here is an example case-study  which I have adapted from the pages of the book. It tells the story of how a young art student called Arthur was given a lift home by an elderly lady that lived in his village.

Arthur: `In the autumn of 1958 I had just started art-college in Birmingham and was thrilled to be there. I lived in a bed-sit during the week and went home to our village near Evesham at the weekends. The journey to the village on this occasion took about an hour by bus.
Joe: Were you tired making this journey?
Arthur: No, not at all. The evening was clear, the sky was blue,  I was feeling elated, very happy and looking forward to the walk home.
Joe: Can you remember the exact date? Or the day of the week?
Arthur: One Friday afternoon in October, I think. I lived in a village called Iron Cross, which was part of a larger village, Salford Priors. This particular person who gave me the lift was Miss Slater. She was well off, lived in a big house, played the organ. She had lots and lots of cats. In fact she left all her money to a cat society.
Joe: What time was it?
Arthur: About half past six. I”d just got off the bus. I lived about three miles away. Salford Priors was about a mile further on. In those days everybody knew you and would stop and give you a lift automatically. Nobody was ever left waiting at bus stops. So I got off the bus and this car pulled up.
Joe: Was it directly behind the bus? Had it been following?
Arthur: Couldn”t say. When you get off a bus you”re not exactly aware of what”s behind you. So this Miss Slatter pulled up.
Joe: How long was it since you had seen her?
Arthur: Oh-about a year. She was 65 or 70. The type of person difficult to put an age to. She just indicated that that she wanted me to get in, so I did.
Joe: What was your impression of the car?
Arthur: Oh, immaculate. It was big. About a 1947 Rover. A Rover 90 maybe. It was an antique even in those days. Midnight blue-nearly black, with blue leather upholstery.
Joe: How was she dressed?
Arthur: Tweedy costume, handknitted jumper. Very much the country type. Stockings and brogues, hair pulled back in a bun. She was very short in the leg and had cushions stuffed behind her seat-cushions covered in hand crocheting.
Joe: What did you talk about?
Arthur: Oh, nothing much. How I was doing at college-can’t really remember. Nothing out of the ordinary. What a lovely day it was-I was happy, thrilled with being at college.
Joe: And after three miles she dropped you at your home?
Arthur: Yes. I walked across the road and into the house. My mother said `you”re home early” and I replied `Miss Slatter gave me a lift”. `And my mother looked at me very hard and said `don’t be silly, Miss Slatter’s dead. She died last year”.
Joe: How did you feel when she said that to you?
Arthur: I thought she”d got it wrong, that Miss Slatter wasn”t dead. And my mother thought I”d mistaken somebody else for Miss Slatter. Well I was intrigued. I thought I”d take the matter further. I asked my mother what had happened to Miss Slatter”s car and she told me it had been sold at the auction after her death, along with household effects. My mother had bought some dining chairs which were in our house, in our dining room. I had to get to the bottom of this. I thought if it was Miss Slatter and if it was that car, it was unusual you see, there weren”t many large cars in the village. So I investigated. I went to the auctioneers, Wrighton and Son in Evesham. They told me that the car had been bought by a man called Mr. Butcher who was a builder and he lived near Stratford-upon-Avon some twelve miles away. So I went to see him.
Joe: Had anyone previously told you about this?
Arthur: No. I thought the man would laugh at me but he was not laughing. He said `What can I do for you, young man” I said `Well, I feel rather foolish, but I”ve come about your car”. His manner changed. He looked at me as if he was suspicious and became rather belligerent. He said `What do you want to know for?” and then he said `And how many of you were there.who was driving?. I said `there was a lady driving it” and told him the whole story.
Joe: What was his reaction?
Arthur: He was angry. He said I was making it all up. Then he calmed down and said `Well, you”ll not believe this either”. He told me he had been in Stratford on Avon that Friday afternoon I was given the lift by Miss Slatter. He had parked his car, the big dark blue Rover, at the side of a road and he went shopping with his wife.
Joe: Did you actually see the car whilst you were at the builder”s yard?
Arthur: Yes, I saw it. The car was in the yard. He told me that when he came back from the shopping trip at about 4pm the car was gone. He thought it had been stolen.
Joe: Had he left it locked.
Arthur: Yes, he said the keys were in his pocket. They reported the car stolen to the police and went home by taxi. Later that same evening the police telephoned him to say that the car had been found parked exactly where it had been taken from. It was in the very same position and it was locked. The builder concluded that someone had taken it for a joy-ride and had just returned it.

Joe Cooper then investigated this case further and found that Miss Margaret Slatter had died age seventy three years from cerebral thrombosis and arteriosclerosis at Salford Priors on 19th April 1956.  Joe found that this tallied with Arthur”s account but her appearance as a vigorous woman in her sixties links with returns by discarnates who often appear slightly younger than at death.

MODERN PSYCHIC EXPERIENCES by Joe Cooper is published by Robert Hale.

ISBN 0-7090-3830-5

This book is highly collectable and is currently fetching good money on ebay auctions.