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 disappearance
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 dEsperance.
