Carancini, Francesco (ca. 1863-1940)
Carancini, Francesco (ca. 1863-1940)
Italian physical medium. He was widely tested by Baron L. von Erhardt and the Society for Psychical Research of Rome, further studied at Paris by Cesar Baudi De Vesme, Lemerle, and M. Mangin, and also investigated at Geneva by Professors Clarapede, Theodore Flournoy, and Batelli. He sat in darkness, tightly bound, and produced strong telekinetic phenomena, such as making objects float and levitation, and occasional materializations, of which flashlight photographs were taken.
Several times he was accused of cheating, but Baron von Erhardt remarked that the hypothesis of fraud in this case implied that the experimenters were absolute imbeciles. Nevertheless, such charges were made by W. W. Baggally (1910) and by others (see Annales des Sciences Psychiques, 1913, pp. 243-47).
Sources:
Baggally, W. W. "Some Sittings with Carancini." Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 14 (June 1910). Reprinted in Everard Feilding, Sittings with Eusapio Palladino and Other Studies. New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1963.
Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Physical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.