“The Entity” haunting: The true story of Doris Bither
The investigation on August 22, 1974, in Culver City California was to be like any other one Dr. Barry Taff had done. Believing that this would be an open and shut case they showed up at Doris Bither’s house. Not expecting much. Little did they know this would be one of the biggest cases in the annals of paranormal history.
Dr. Barry Taff and his associate Kerry Gaynor were overheard talking about the paranormal by a woman in a local bookstore. The woman approached the two men and told them that her house was haunted. She gave Kerry Gaynor some details of the haunting, in which Gaynor told her that he would discuss this with his associate.
Dr. Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor arrived at the 11547 Braddock Dr. Culver City home on August 22, 1974. Doris Bither, a petite woman, in her 30s greeted them. Doris Bither lived in the small home with her six year-old daughter and her three sons. Her daughter was six years old, and her boys were ten, thirteen and sixteen.
The house at the time was in shambles. Squalid living conditions and a tumultuous relationship between the mother and male children is what investigative team observed upon their first visit. The investigators reported a feeling of overpressure in their ears while being inside the home. According to Taff, the house was twice condemned by the city.
11547 Braddock Dr. Culver City CA.
The infamous “Entity” house
From what is known, Doris Bither suffered abuse from her parents as well as had several abusive relationships with men. There was obvious tension between the three young boys and the mother. The psychodynamics of the home were extremely negative. It seems that the boys, especially the eldest, would harbor some dark and resentful feelings towards their mother. The unconscious mind that is troubled by a physically or verbally abusive environment and negative upbringing is like a lightning rod to paranormal activities. Either attracting poltergeist activity or psychosomatically creating it.
Doris Bither claimed that spirits would physically attack her. The reports ranged from Doris walking around her home and bumping into the ghosts, to actual spectral rape. Of course, Taff and Gaynor were skeptical of all this. Ghost apparitions are a hard thing to prove and collect evidence for (from a scientific perspective). “Ghostly rape” is even harder to believe. It was not until they saw the bruises in her inner thighs and all over her body, as well as people outside the family corroborating by testifying that they had also seen apparitions that both investigators started to take heed as to what Doris was saying. Doris claimed that the ghosts were of Asian men. The children, also saw these beings. The visions were so frequent that they children dubbed one of the more prominent ghost as “Mr. Whose-it.”
The claim of rape by these beings is one of the most interesting aspects of the case. Doris Bither reported that two of the beings were the smallest ones and would hold her down while the biggest or tallest one of them would rape her. Dori’s eldest son would admit to seeing her mother being tossed around the room. In one instance he tried to intervene and was thrown across the room by the unseen force.
To both investigators, this must have been the most bizarre claim to date. How can you prove “spectral rape” or even claim it? it would seem that a person would have to be insane to even admit this. The team decided to setup shop and brought in high-speed cameras and photographers as well as other investigators to help capture something on tape. In a famous report, all investigators and equipment, as well as Doris, were in the small bedroom. Cramped and anxious to see any paranormal activities, they decided to have Doris conjure up the beings by having her call them. Doris began swearing and yelling at the spirits while 30 or so investigators were crammed in her room.
To much surprise, lights started manifesting around the room. As Doris kept provoking the beings, a greenish mist started to form in a corner. As if it was coiling, the green mist started swirling and growing. Within seconds the form of a man’s upper torso started to become visible in the mist. Very large and a lot of muscles is what they reported seeing. The torso of the being did not show facial details, but did show the investigators musculature. From what they gathered, this was a male entity. An investigator soon fainted after seeing this.
No matter how many high-speed cameras were setup to capture this, or that the team even had professional camera men present; none of this ever came out on film. The pictures only shows what appears to be a free floating arc light in the middle of the room as well as some light orbs. The most famous and incredible of these photographs is the one that shows Doris sitting on a bed, investigators surrounding her and the free floating arc of light in the middle of the picture. What’s incredible and equally unbelievable is that the arc of light appears smooth, even though this is a room with corners and one would expect bends in the arc as when someone uses a projector to display an image and the image hits corners in a room. The image will bend. The photographic evidence produce by the team shows the arc of light floating above Doris Bither with no bends, even though behind it, we see the room’s corner.
Conjuring up the ghosts, an arc of light is photographed (Doris Bither sitting on the bed)
Dr. Taff also reported that the eldest son would go on a say that the activities intensified when ever he played certain music. Black Sabbath & Uriah Heep were the albums played. The songs that mention or were about devil worshiping is what seemed to upset the poltergeist. Asking the boy to play the songs in question, Dr. Taff did observe that the lights and orbs did increase.
The investigative team observed lights and poltergeist activity for about two and a half months. As time went by, the activities decreased.
It is important to point out a few factors in this case; Doris’ addiction to alcohol and her being abusive and belligerent almost on a daily basis, as well her unwillingness to seek help for her abuse and deal properly with it. Because of her refusal to properly deal with her own psychotic issues, I believe that her energy and the energy in her home manifested itself as poltergeist phenomenon.
We have to take into consideration that the paranormal activities were extremely powerful only when Doris was present in the home. Doris almost always in a drunken stupor seemed to be the center of it all. While intoxicated, Doris would attract the phenomenon almost on cue. There were times when she was present with the team and was not under the influence of alcohol that the poltergeist did not manifest itself. Which we can only conclude that when Doris’ mind was clouded and her inhibitions minimized, her psychic kinetic energy took over.
It is not a far stretch of imagination to say that there were some very concerning underlying themes in this case. Let’s take for example how Doris claimed that there were three entities that attacked her. These entities controlled her life and to some extent oppressed her. It will not be a stretch, from a psychological stand point, that these entities could have been a physical manifestation of the relationship Doris had with her own three sons. From the reports of Dr. Taff, we know that her relationship with her sons was not a Norman Rockwell painting. As I discuss this event with my fiancee, she makes a very good and intelligent point: Doris had suffered abuse almost all her life. The fact that she abused alcohol and self-medicated to avoid the post-traumatic stress from her abuse could have had a metaphysical effect in her life.
My fiancee has the following thoughts. One, Doris Bither could have been extremely psychic or “sensitive”. Doris could have had a great talent, but her own refusal to deal with her past abuse and the fact that she self-medicated and kept her mind clouded did not let her use that talent. Instead, because of her addiction and self hate, she could have manifested this poltergeist as another way (besides the alcohol) of attacking herself.
My fiancee is an intelligent person, and extremely gifted in psychiatry. Especially abnormal psychology. It is from her, that I take the following theories:
Doris Bither and her sons (especially the eldest) could have been psychic. It is well known that parents sometimes pass down their psychic abilities to their kids. In other words, psychic parents produce psychic kids. If the parent was psychic, and the kids were psychic, the tumultuous relationship in the home could have produced a staggering amount of psychic kinetic energy. Enough energy to physically manifest poltergeist activity. The feelings that Dori’s kids could have had against her and her addiction can be represented by the Hephaestus Syndrome. Hephaestus being the Greek god of fire and metallurgy, was kicked off Mount Olympus by his abusive mother. Hephaestus held a very turbulent relationship with his mother. Chaos and love combined in a love/hate relationship.
The same way Doris’ sons could have had a relationship with Doris. A strong love/hate relationship fueled by past abuse, alcohol and psychic abilities is a powerful concoction for poltergeist or psychic kinetic energy. We can formulate this manifestation of the “spectral rape” by Doris’ description of her attackers: two of the smaller entities held her down, while the biggest one raped her. We can speculate that the Bither household was very unstable. Her coming-of-age son (the biggest one of her three sons) was probably harboring some resentful feelings towards his mother and her lifestlye. She in turn, saw her son as another man in her life trying to control her or attack her; therefore in turn subconsciously materializing the rape or attack on herself and using her current feelings and occupants in the house as the basis for the rape. This would not corroborate with her son testifying that he was too attacked and thrown across a room, but psychic kinetic energy can be powerful enough to affect physical objects from what I’ve studied.
Another theory my fiancee mention could be that Doris Bither could have attracted 3 evil spirits into her life. It could be argued that Doris Bither could have been abused by three influential men in her life (father, uncle, grandfather or someone she trusted). The combination of her self-medicating and having psychic abilities as well as self-loathing could have made her into an attractive victim to malevolent forces. Her turbulent lifestyle and energy as well as her kid’s energy could very well have manifested her feelings into something very evil in a metaphysical level. Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome and psychic abilities can have a great effect one a person. A person that does not know about their abilities and/or is under the influence of a drug can have a great effect on their surrounding environment. Take into consideration the infamous “Bell Witch” haunting.
The Bell Witch Haunting is an old legend. In 1817, John Bell reporting poltergeist phenomenon. The case was made famous by the reports of then General Andrew Jackson (who later became president of the U.S). John Bell’s daughter, Betsy Bell, was at the center of this haunting. She was physically attacked by the ghost(s). There is a theory floating out there that the child was extremely psychic and had suffered from sexual abuse (possibly from her father). Accounts of levitation, spectral noises and disembodied voices were reported. The theory states that all this phenomenon could have been produced by Betsy Bell herself. Living in an unpleasant environment and seeking help, she started to manifest these attacks.
After Doris Bither left her Culver City home, the phenomenon was ceased to exist in the house. Future residents of the house have not reported anything out of the ordinary. The house remains to this day ghost free and is in good conditions.
Dr. Barry Taff reported that Doris Bither moved from Culver City to Carson CA. From Carson to San Bernadino CA, and from San Bernadino to Texas and finally back to San Bernardino. While jumping around the two states, Doris reported that the phenomenon “followed” her and her family to every place they moved to. Feeding the notion that the poltergeist phenomenon was a manifestation of her unstable environment and mind. He also reports that her psychological state is made apparent when she reported being impregnated by the ghost. Medical test showed her to not be pregnant but suffering from an ectopic or a hysterical pregnancy.
No one can say for sure what could have been going on with the family in that small Culver City house. Since Doris Bither has not been heard of since the late 80s or 90s (depending on some reports) and her kids have not come forward, we cannot know for certain.
The “Entity” house as it currently stands
Afterword:
The events and reports in this article were taken from written testimony of Dr. Barry Taff in his “Real-life entity case” article.
What do you think about this case and the theories presented therefore?
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Written by Javier Ortega - javier@ghosttheory.com
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Hey Bella boo . . . you are the reason I posted here in the first place on Chip cancels Eerie radio. DD sent me the link. I laughed and I had to put a little funny on it and say hello to you Bella Boo.
hello bea. hope you’re well
I’m doing great Bella. Thank you . . .
Great article. I just watched the movie yesterday and today decided to do a little research on it. Great information here and also in the article with the middle sons interview.
Good job Javier.
Sean,
Thanks.
I’ve yet to see the movie. Every time I start it, I get interrupted with something else.
-Javier
Great movie… but complete fiction.
I live a block from the house and never knew it until now.
Pete,
Things you find out about your ‘hood….
-Javier
your theories make very much sense and i too think this was a poltergeist attack.but u forgot an important point.doris did say that the men were asians!!how could u explain the fact that they belonged to a certain region?reply plz
rinee,
I can’t explain that.
When I spoke with Brian (Doris’ Son) he told me that they did in fact appear to be Asian.
That does not mean that they “belong to a certain region” like you stated, it just means that they appeared to be Asian. If this is the case, then this would seem to be more of a residual haunting than anything. Many Asian races lived in California prior to the 70s.
Maybe tracing down the previous owners of the home. Maybe then we can get a better understanding of why, according to Doris and Brian, the entities looked Asian.
-Javier
A residual haunting does not interact with people, so this would not be considered a residual haunting.
I live in culver city i remember when i was kid passing by this house and that house still stands…… yo PJ why dont u go sleep at the house findout urself…..
I would sleep in it! I know that sounds very braggish of me, but I have slept in a few houses now that were supposedly haunted, and a few that were. Very fun, and sometimes scary, times to be had. I would love to sleep (or not) in this house for a night, and see if maybe I can experience something. Just recently I am finding myself very open to spiritual encounters, after having moved into my current residence. I frequently see and talk to the former owner, who goes by the name “Millie.” It’s rather odd, but now I feel like I have some sort of “spirit addiction.” Very hard to explain. Anyhow, if this house does still stand where it is, does anyone know if the current owners have objections to tours, or an interview? I think it would be a great learning experience.
Hey kaboomer, I would love to stay in a haunted house…maybe not this one though, I’m not into the Demons. Anyway……..what does that have to do with what I said??
I read the story of this haunting with great interest and insight. I feel great pain for the family. It took great courage for Mr. Harris to talk about these tramatic and painful events. Ms. Bither’s original story and the sons’ interview done excellently!
The physical features of the entities are very interesting. There are conflicting reports of their apperence. I believe that there were some bad things that happened to Doris and her family. But I also maintain that her extreamlly stressful, mental, and physical abuse, pain throughout Ms. Bither’s life, my have manifested these entities that she and her children experianced.
One question that remains, Why would Dr. Taft lie about Doris living in San Bernadeno? (according to Mr. Harris.)
Thank you for the information and the real accounts of “The Entity case.”
Jeff
Jeff,
It’s not that Dr. Taff lied about it, more like maybe given the wrong information.
This is a very controversial and documented case. There are several theories as to what really happened inside that small Culver City home.
We have to remember that Doris Bither was a troubled woman (according to the reports from the investigating scientists and her son). My guess is that she gave wrongful information to be left alone at times.
-Javier
I can’t say whether or not its real. Who can? All a story like this one does is make people wonder. But that does nothing really.
I will say that the photo looks like light reflecting on the glass of a lens or something. It would be very easy to create that scene as a hoax. And the timing is the dead giveaway. The late 60s and 70s were a time when “phenomena” became a household word. People were doing drugs like crazy and performing all kinds of hoaxes to get attention. Its was an era of fun and games which was a by product of rebellion against politics. But as all that died down in the 80s, so did the stories. Its amazing how time can shine a light of its own.
I seen that movie years ago and to this day I still get scared.Of growin up with demonic issue with my father I totally understand and I hope Edith is doin ok now tks.
There is an error at the end of the story. An ectopic pregnancy is not an hysterical pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is where the egg is fertilized but its not in the womb or uterus, it may be in the tube. Ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency that has to be treated with surgery to remove the fetus that is growing in the wrong part of the body. This differs from an hysterical pregnancy where there is no fetus involved, but is a state of mind. That is more likely what is meant.
BillinGA,
Thanks for the comment. I don’t think I said that ectopic and hysterical pregnancies were the same.
I mentioned that Dr. Barry Taff said that Doris Bither contacted him stating that she was pregnant by one of the entities. Dr. Barry Taff assumed it was either a hysterical pregnancy or a ectopic pregnancy.
-Javier
So if she had an ectopic pregnancy, someone did get her pregnant. What I am saying is that its a big difference between the two conditions. One is a mental delusion, one is a real pregnancy.
oh god im about to watch the movie it starts in 30 minutes it’s a dare so we’re watching it (my best friends and myself) people say it’s scary,one thing i gotta say is it’s such a shame something like that happened no matter how it started it’s a shame to begin with
[...] “The Entity” haunting: The True Story of Doris Bither – The movie The Entity, even with its (now) cheesy and unsophisticated special effects, ranks among my Top 5 movies I can’t watch alone. Whether she was really “ghost raped” or not, I don’t know. All I know is the premise of that movie flipped me out. I now believe if she was “ghost raped” she drew the activity to herself. Javier discusses that theory, along with some other ones that have long been posed as well as some new ones. [...]
Hey Pete….Why not post some updated pics for us all to see…Since your only a block away
This is clearly what is called an alien abduction case, as are all paranormal hauntings. If you notice, in the movie they use satellites of a rather advanced technology to try and trap the entity. I hardly doubt the walking dead could have the mindset to get trapped in another dimension; however, a spacecraft could.
There have been sightings of UFO’S dating back as far as 47,000 B.C. These sightings have become more frequent within the last sixty years, and experts are now saying these crafts are indeed real. I believe whoever set the equipment up at Doris Bithel’s house was aware of this fact as well, and used the term “demon haunting”, to mask the truth. It never ceases to amaze me that people can believe in ghosts and not ufo’s. It is scientifically impossible for a person to pass away and continue to live in spirit form. I’m convinced that the word soul mentioned in the Bible is nothing more than a memory others possess of our lives.
Let me also clear up the misguided notion that aliens such as you see on the internet etc., exist as well. These “greys” and “reptillians” are cleverly disguised human beings in intricately designed space suits. We could wish demons and spirits of the dead are real. To me the fact that there are people flying around in crafts abducting people, is way scarier. Even scarier than that is who would have that kind of technology? Need I go there, or are people going to keep convincing themselves that “aliens” are from a different planet? Hello?!? Wake up America! What do you think the Bible means by angels and stars that fall to the earth? Duh! Spacecraft, maybe?
I suggest we all watch shows such as “U.F.O. Hunters”, instead of “Ghostly Encounters” etc. We can only hope they can unravel the mystery, and bust them doing it.
I DON’T THINK I AM GETTING THROUGH, BUT HAVING EXPERIENCED PARANORMAL ACTIVITY I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY RIDICULING PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND DOES ANYONE ANY GOOD.
I found this article very insightful, well done. I am a physicist and have an interest in the metaphysical, of course as anyone in the scientific community will tell you, I keep that to myself. This is a clear case where this “haunting” is going to follow Miss Bither not the location. It seems apparent that she is the conduit, if not the generator of this phenomenon, with her son mixed in somewhere. I would love to study her in real life and get readings that are emitting from her. We have much better equipment than we did in the 70s. Not to do a “Ghost Hunters” thing but more for the metaphysical probabilities at the Quantum level, sorry “the heavy math”.
For those interested, my research suggests that from all the conditions detailed in this article, Miss Bither has the unlucky ability to open herself up, amplify and generate this phenomenon. This is through a true belief that it exists. That is the reason very young children are more physic than adults, they have not learned that it does not exist. And a “haunting” does not follow a religion, it happens everywhere and to anyone. If I had advice to give her, find somehow, someway, to convenience herself that this is not really happening and it will stop. You know get “brainwashed” into not believing in it. That may sound cruel, but given the alternative?
Anyway good job on the article, you and your girlfriend bring up some very good points that I am going to use in my studies. And on a humorous note, I found it interesting your girlfriend did not use more of Freud’s teachings.
Good Job
Oynaq
Oynaq,
Welcome and thanks. I hope you stick around, we welcome intelligent and open-minded individuals. Hope you contribute some more.
-Javier
What year did this take place?
Carol,
1974.
before that and continued well after. But 1974 was the year the scientist became involved.
-Javier
It would be interesting to know what happened after her children grew up and left home. Was she still being attacked? I still think this is more about the mother’s inability to heal from an abusive pass. It’s like, even though there’s no one there to hurt her, she has adopted the victim role, which is familar and comfortable for her. Hard for people who haven’t experience long histories of abuse to understand how it can become comfortable, but people can adjust to things in many different ways.
I guess I’m just not sold on the whole psychic element. This I do know, my father was a Marine who served two tours in Viet Nam. When he came home, minus one leg, the diagnosis of PTSD was unheard of at that time. Shell Shock was the term used and their wasn’t any useful form of treatment at that time. My father self-medicated with alcohol and this led to him often jumping out of bed in the middle of the night, crawling around the house thinking he was in hostile territory. All we kids could do was play along with this until he would finally pass out. Nothing we said would make him believe that this wasn’t really happening. It went on for so long, that there were times when I thought I actually heard bombs and gun fire. A combination of fear of my father during these times and being sleep deprived didn’t help. When my father finally stopped drinking, all of this went away. Unfortunately, I was 24 and living in my own house. I guess I say all of this to say that, what a person feels is real to them. And just because it’s real to them, doesn’t mean it’s true.
Anonymous,
The misconception of this story is that the investigating scientists published in their reports that Doris was a raging alcoholic. This is a claim that her children deny. From what I was told, she did like to drink beer, but it was never as bad as they made it out to be.
The haunting continued until the day she died.
-Javier