Dematerialization
Dematerialization
The phenomenon of disappearance of phantom forms, human beings, or objects after being manifested or materialized. The terms apports and asports refer to the materialization and dematerialization of objects, involving their disappearance at one place and reappearance at another place some distance away. No satisfactory scientific theory for reported materialization or dematerialization has yet been offered, and little evidence has been produced to suggest that such phenomena in fact occur.
There are, of course, numerous anecdotal tales of materialization and dematerialization. Cases have been reported of dis-appearance and reappearance of persons, sometimes over hundreds of miles, often referred to as teleportation and transfiguration.
In the case of phantoms or spirits of the dead, the materialization is said to be formed from ectoplasm, a mysterious psychic substance exuded by a medium. Ectoplasm was often faked by mediums through the use of phosphor-covered cheesecloth and similar artifacts. Cases have also been reported of partial materialization and dematerialization by mediums such as Elizabeth d'Esperance.