Alice Belle Kirby
Strange things were happening in Jonesville, LA, in 1938. Alice Belle Kirby was thirteen years old at the time and was described as having light wavy brown hair with grey-blue eyes. She was the seventh child of eight to farmers Leon and Mary Kirby.
According to an article by the Madera Tribune, there were witnesses to Alice’s ability to make tables move miraculously without effort and sometimes without touching them at all. She was able to make things float in the air, and she played the piano without touching it. Alice, you see, had the gift of telekinesis. Or was it something else?
Most of the time, she performed these amazing feats in darkness, but plenty of witnesses claimed to have seen her move things with her mind in broad daylight.
Over the course of that year, various people came to the Kirby farm to see Alice for themselves. Among these were court justices, teachers, businessmen—people from all walks. Both curious and skeptical.
People around town seemed to be in one of two camps of thinking. She was either gifted or evil.
Perhaps Alice’s most skeptical observer was Dr. H.W. Wright, who had been the superintendent of Catahoula parish schools for 21 years at that point. One day, Alice came over to play with Dr. Wright’s young daughter. Alice proceeded to ask him what he thought about her gift, and he’d told her, “I wouldn’t believe it even if I saw it.” She must have shown him something because, since that first conversation with Alice, he recounted seeing many “miracles” at great length with reporters.
A Girl with a Connection to Spirits
In an article about paranormal cases, the author explains that Alice’s gift wasn’t telekinesis. Instead, it was her connection to spirit. Sometimes when Alice called for things to move, they didn’t, which led one to believe that it wasn’t her power that summoned the movement but something supernatural. There was another paranormal, spiritual force manifesting itself for the enlightenment of others.
One Newsweek correspondent visited Alice and promptly sent a telegram, attesting to her gifts. “Table she used with me ordinary one which had no draperies and apparently nothing attached. I firmly held her hands, and despite pressure I exerted Table came up pressed against my chest.”
An assistant manager of Jonesville Motor Company, Charles E. Smith, said, “I saw her rise slowly into the air about two feet with nothing in the world to hold her.”
Alice’s grandmother had her own connection to the spirit world, and apparently Alice had inherited some of her abilities. Like her grandmother before her, Alice used the same incantation to summon spirits. “If there be any spirits present, show me a sign by tipping the table.” If a spirit refused to perform, she would call them a dumb cluck like her grandmother had done.
Do you enjoy tales about fascinating woman in history? Check out the story of Ann Moore, the Fasting Woman of Tutbury.
All the attention garnered interest from the Universal Council of Psychic Research. Joseph Dunninger invited Alice and her mother to New York to appear on live radio. The Council was offering $10,000 for any paranormal phenomena that couldn’t be mechanically replicated.
Despite having performed countless times for people in her hometown, Alice couldn’t convince the spirits to move anything. No overturned or hovering tables, no doors opening and closing… nothing.
Dumb clucks.
Or were they?
Some believe that Alice knew what would happen if the spirits appeared that day on the radio show. If tables had moved, if supernatural forces began making themselves apparent, Alice’s life wouldn’t resemble anything like the other children around her. Media attention and scrutiny, not to mention the inevitable scientific study—she would lose the possibility of a normal life.
@fabledcollective Girl with Powers | ##darkhistory ##historyfacts ##creepytiktok ##mysteriousgirl ##spookyspooky ##paranormalvibes ##historytiktokers ##spookyvibes ##historic
♬ Creepy horror sound – TOKU SPACE MUSIC
Alice faded from the spotlight after that, and life went on.
She would go on to graduate high school and attend Louisiana Tech. She retired from the floral industry, having spent a lifetime sharing her love of flowers. She married and had children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Big Mama, as she was known to friends, had a spirited personality and loved to laugh. She made friends with everyone and loved her family and her town.
Alice died in 2018, at the age of 92. There’s no mention in her obituary about that fateful year when the world took notice of this young Louisiana girl and her miraculous powers.
That was only one small part of a very full and grand life.
Music:
Deep Relaxation Preview by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5726-deep-relaxation-preview
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Ghostpocalypse – 6 Crossing the Threshold by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
