Alan Robert George Owen (1919–2003) was educated at Cambridge University, and was a university lecturer in genetics (Cambridge, 1950–1970) and mathematics (Fellow, Trinity College, 1962–1970). His wife Iris May (Pepper) Owen (1916–2009), whom he married in 1952, was a state registered nurse. In England, George and Iris Owen were members of the Cambridge University Society for Psychical Research and remained members of both the London-based Society for Psychical Research and the American Society for Psychical Research until the 1990s. In his study of a large number of poltergeist cases, published as Can We Explain the Poltergeist?, Owen examined various explanatory theories, concluding that “the objective reality of some poltergeist phenomena” had been established “beyond all reasonable doubt” (New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1964, dustjacket).
In January 1970, upon the invitation of Toronto venture capitalist Donald Colin (Ben) Webster (1930–1997), the Owens immigrated to Canada, where Owen was to undertake parapsychological research for the New Horizons Research Foundation. The original agreement provided that the Owens would conduct full-time research for the Foundation for a period of five years.
In the early 1970s, members of the Toronto Society for Psychical Research, under the direction of George and Iris Owen, conducted a series of experiments that resulted in the creation of a “thought form” named Philip. Iris Owen and Margaret (Sue) Sparrow, one of the sitters, documented the process by which Philip was created in Conjuring up Philip: An Adventure in Psychokinesis (Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1976). Eventually, the imaginary ghost was able to communicate with the group through raps in the surface of a card table and to move the table about the room, phenomena similar to those observed in Spiritualist home circles.
Many articles reporting on the Toronto investigations were published in New Horizons: Journal of the New Horizons Research Foundation (1972–1978). Later, the Owens authored 40 privately circulated New Horizons occasional papers about anomalous phenomena (1984–1994). The Owens’ copies of the New Horizons (Journal) and occasional papers have been deposited in the University of Manitoba Archives (accession A11–61). A digital copy is available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~sric/owen_arg_and_iris.php
For detailed biographical sketch, see: http://www.islandnet.com/~sric/Owen_ARG_and_Iris_revised_2009_12.pdf
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