Bridge between the Terrestrial and the Beyond
- Theory and Practice of Transcommunication -
by Hildegard Schaefer (†)

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24. Computer contacts at Ken Webster 

The Schweizer Bulletin für Parapsychologie (Swiss bulletin for parapsychology) of November 1986 included information on the computer hubbub that had occurred at Ken Webster living near Chester in England. According to this, a personality of the 16^th century, whose existence can be evidenced in history, has made contact there during the years 1984/1985. Ken Webster, commercial college teacher, had renovated his old house in 1984. Thereupon the house began to be haunted. Furniture was displaced, tools disappeared and other telekinetic phenomena kept the inhabitants busy. The phenomena, however, did not limit to hubbub. Via Ken Webster’s home computer messages arrived almost continuously; in the course of time their number reached about twohundredfifty on the screens, or on paranormally modified diskettes. And this even though different computer systems were used, one after the other. Peter Trinder, English scholar, analysed these messages comprising more than 2000 words and classified them to be in the English of the 14^th to the 16^th century.

Ken Webster’s main communicator had the name Thomas Harden. His statements gave the impression of timelessness, so as if he could live in the past as well as in the presence, and even in the future.

He affirmed having lived at the time of Henry VIII, and it was in fact possible to evidence it with old documents. His name was found in the records of the Oxford Brasenose College, where he received his Master of Arts in 1534, and where, later, he was rusticated because he refused to erase the pope’s name in the missals. At that time, he was dean of the chapel of this college in Oxford and adherent of the pope.

By further messages numerous fragments and details of historical events were transmitted. Among others, Harden indicated a nowadays almost unknown name of the town Bristol, where he came from. This name, which even had not been recorded in the listing of place- names, was Brightstow.

Thomas Harden also mentioned an unimportant author of that time and gave his nickname. He cited from the miracle-play of Chester in which he had trodden the boards together with others.

Ken Webster also put him tricky questions, but his partner in the Beyond rumbled Ken Webster. For instance, Webster, apparently communicating with a spiritual entity having lived around the year 1620, asked if King James were on the throne. Harden’s reply was:  ” The King is of course Henry VIIIth at the age of sixtyfour years. – I don’t know of any king James.” (“Der Koenig ist natuerlich Heinrich VIII.  im Alter von vierundsechzig Jahren. – Ich weiß von keinem Koenig James.")

Harden’s statement that the signes he transmitted sprang from his wish or his ideas and that he passed them through in the “light box”, is indeed very interesting, for this would underpin the thesis that wishes and imaginations can influence matter.

It is understood that the hypothesis that it could be fraud was also given consideration, was however rejected because of the many conformities with history and in view of the integrity of Webster and his colleagues.

In England, all these phenomena were not given the due weight, and Webster was very unhappy with this. The representatives of SPR missed to analyse the computer prints in respect of their linguistic and historical exactness. A specific verification was declined. Looking at this, it once again becomes plain that men simply refuse everything not suiting into their own world picture.

When proceeding from the factual distinctive features being evidenced by history and the fact that deceit can be excluded, this is a true phenomenon, even though many people are subject to the prejudice that not may be what not must be. Especially phenomena occurring not only once at a certain place, and not only with one certain person, cannot be simply ignored (pls. see also Manfred Boden and Harsch-Fischbach).

In his Bulletin fuer Parapsychologie (bulletin for parapsychology) of November 1987, Dr. Theo Locher makes the following possibilities of explanation a matter of discussion: 

“The explanation that an unredeemed soul (Wiedergaenger), still bound to the place of its distress, who has  not realized its passing into the Beyond, has the ability to suitably operate a computer by its thoughts and ideas/imaginations psychokinetically; under certain conditions reciprocal effects are possible between them.

Or: Perhaps persons dead since a short time only are technically developped to such extent that they can enable this Thomas Harden to influence computers ?

A thesis absolutely incomprehensible for us would be the assumption of a “bound in time”, where this man of the 16^th century could at the same time appear in our century and perceive and act here, although without any knowledge and understanding for our time. According to Immanuel Kant, time is merely a category of thinking of men…..” 

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