
The episode explores the Skoll (Skull) experiment in a Norfolk cellar during the 1990s, where regular sittings produced recurring phenomena: moving lights, disembodied voices, object movement, apports, and unusual images on sealed photographic film. Investigators from the Society for Psychical Research documented repeated, hard-to-explain events but found the conditions—total darkness and limited controls—prevented definitive conclusions. The case remains unresolved, neither proved nor fully debunked. The discussion connects the Skoll reports to broader questions about consciousness, the limits of scientific methods, and whether repeated, controlled study could shed more light on what was witnessed.
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Frank
Welcome. Welcome to another to another episode of Fringe
Lynette
Beyond. Why do you get to have all the fun and introduce every episode you.
Frank
I'll give it up.
Lynette
No, I'm just kidding.
Frank
I know, I know. Well, ladies, how are you?
Lynette
Heidi Ho Winslow. I'm good.
Bri
I'm eating my ice. Italian ice.
Frank
Yeah, I see that. That's, you know, you're supposed to bring enough for everybody.
Lynette
Yeah, as I'm eating my mangoes, am
Frank
I the only one without food?
Lynette
Apparently I haven't had like breakfast today. Give me. Get off. Get off my Kool Aid.
Bri
I'm eating for two.
Frank
No, you're nuts. The thing is like the size of a walnut right now. No, you're not.
Bri
It's the size of a bell pepper.
Frank
Okay. A small bell pepper.
Bri
It's about six inches.
Frank
Yeah, that's average.
Bri
There's another app that said it was a size of cucumber at 6 inches and people at work are like, yeah, yeah, that's kind of.
Lynette
Nobody buys a 6 inch cucumber.
Bri
And so, like, that's. Someone was like, that's the kind of a small cucumber. Like just a little bit.
Frank
Wow.
Lynette
Like a gherkin.
Frank
You girls really know your cucumbers.
Bri
It wasn't the girls at work that said, it was the guys.
Lynette
Listen, like an English cucumber or a seedless cucumbers?
Bri
The seedless, like the long ones? Yeah, yeah.
Frank
They're like, they're, they're, they're grown in Africa, right?
Lynette
Oh, yeah, the English ones. Yeah, I think so.
Bri
I just know they're like 18 inches long.
Frank
Yeah, 18 inches long. They're. They're grown in Africa, you know what?
Lynette
So not that kind of cucumber. English, English. English.
Frank
Well, English, those are usually shriveled and go to the left.
Lynette
Can you do an English accent?
Frank
How do. Ho.
Lynette
What the What?
Frank
I don't know. I don't know.
Lynette
You're my, my special friend.
Frank
Oh, I always have been.
Lynette
I think you've. I think you've eclipsed Steve.
Frank
Oh, man, I've been trying to get that number one spot for a while.
Bri
Sorry, Steve.
Lynette
Sorry, Steve.
Frank
Steve, let's get together.
Lynette
When are you gonna arrange for a meet and greet hug with. With Mr. Wilson?
Bri
The guy that does not like to hug. This is gonna be so funny.
Frank
God, I'm gonna grab his ass.
Lynette
Is it gonna be like a middle school dance? Like, Room for God?
Frank
Yeah, go ahead. Leave room for the Holy Spirit between you.
Bri
I, I could just picture, like, Wilson, like, Frank goes over there and starts hugging him and starts, like, going just ass. And then Wilson's gonna be like, oh, God, this is happening. It's really happening. It's happening. He's touching me.
Frank
Yeah, he better. You better tell him to start doing his lunges because I want to grab some ass. I want to grab a cheek.
Lynette
Oh, my.
Frank
So.
Bri
Oh, man.
Frank
All right, well.
Bri
Can't wait till he listens to this.
Frank
Yeah, I can't wait for us to have more fans that like to be groped. That's really what I' forward to, so.
Lynette
All right, you're fired.
Frank
Yeah, I, I, Yeah, that's why we don't have an hr, Just FYI.
Lynette
No.
Frank
So, all right.
Bri
My boss is hr.
Frank
Your boss is hr. I think pretty much everyone's boss is hr.
Bri
No, I mean, she's legit my boss.
Frank
No. Right.
Lynette
So.
Bri
So technically, I'm hr.
Frank
I don't know. Are you?
Bri
I don't want that responsibility off the rails.
Lynette
All you.
Frank
Oh, yeah. All right, so everyone doing Good. Everyone's fine.
Lynette
Yep.
Frank
All right.
Lynette
Well, I don't know.
Bri
After the start of this conversation, I
Lynette
think you're doing worse.
Frank
Yeah. Okay. That's the sign to start the episode, then. Let's see, ladies tonight. This is an interesting one. This is a really, really interesting one that has all the cool stuff that happens. So this is Bri. Are you the only one that's not familiar with this, or are you.
Bri
So the name sounds familiar, what it is, but I don't know if I, like, ask me again, like, halfway through, if I'm listening.
Frank
Okay, so you won't know even after we go through the episode?
Bri
We have a 50% chance.
Frank
Okay, sounds great. So it's.
Lynette
That's what I'm hearing.
Frank
All right, so tonight we're talking about the skull experiment. Human beings have always behaved as though death is not an ending. And that instinct appears long before formal religion, doctrine, or even structured language. Archaeological sites dating back tens of thousands of years show early humans burying their dead with deliberate care. Bodies were positioned in ways that suggest intention rather than disposal. Red ochre, often associated with life or blood, was spread over remains. Personal items were placed alongside the deceased, including tools, ornaments, and food. In some cases, graves were revisited and altered, suggesting an ongoing relationship with those who had died. This pattern is not geographically isolated. It appears across continents, among cultures that had no contact with one another. Ancient Egyptians developed elaborate burial practices centered on the preservation of the body and the continuation of the soul. Indigenous cultures across the Americas maintained traditions of ancestor reverence, treating the dead as ongoing participants in the lives of the living. Even in modern societies, where secular perspectives are more common, rituals surrounding death. Funerals, memorials, anniversaries. Continue to reflect an implicit belief that the individual's significance does not simply vanish. And yet, despite this continuity, modern scientific culture has largely distanced itself from the question of what happens after death. This was not the result of a definitive answer, but rather a shift in methodology. As science advanced, it increasingly prioritized what could be measured, quantified, and reproduced. Consciousness, however, resisted all three. It could be correlated with brain activity but not reduced to it. It could be described but not directly observed from the outside. As a result, it became easier to study the brain than to confront the deeper question of experience itself. By the late 20th century, the prevailing assumption in mainstream science was that consciousness ends when the brain ceases to function. This position was practical, but not conclusively proven. It reflected the limits of available tools rather than a final understanding. Questions about survival after death were not disproven. They were simply reframed as outside the scope of empirical inquiry. The Skoll experiment emerged within this gap. They did not attempt to revive spiritual belief in a traditional sense, nor did it claim it to overturn scientific understanding outright. Instead, it occupied a middle ground, an attempt, however imperfect, to investigate whether consciousness might persist beyond the physical body, using methods that could at least be observed, if not fully controlled. So.
Lynette
So. Does this ring a bell for you yet, Bri?
Bri
I'm lost. I'm just enjoying my Italian ice over here.
Frank
I'm so happy you could be a participating member of this podcast.
Bri
You're welcome. Yeah, you always wanted to. You always said you wanted a little segment about, like, why you think about during these things.
Frank
Okay. What are you thinking about?
Bri
My tailor knife.
Frank
Okay. We're. We're just moving forward now. The skull experiment did not begin as a formal study, and it did not begin with scientists. It began quietly in the early 1990s with a small group of individuals meeting in a private home in the village of Scole, located in Norfolk, England. At the center of this group were Robin and Sandra Foy, who hosted regular sittings in the cellar of their home. They were joined by Alan and Diana Bennett, who would later be described by participants as the primary physical mediums within the group. None of them, at least at the outset, were operating in public professional capacity. There were no audiences, no ticketed events, and no indication that what they were doing would extend beyond their immediate circle. The earliest sittings are generally placed around 1993, though precise records from this initial phase are limited at that time, the gatherings were informal and exploratory. They were not conceived as an experiment in the scientific sense, and there was no structured effort to document what occurred. Like many similar groups throughout history, they were driven by curiosity rather than methodology. What distinguishes this group from many others is not how it began, but how it continued. Rather than meeting sporadically, the participants began to gather with increasing regularity. What started as occasional sittings evolved into consistent routine, with sessions taking place weekly and sometimes more frequently over time. This repetition created a kind of continuity that is rarely present in historical accounts of mediumship. Instead of isolated experiences, the group began to describe a progression, subtle phenomena giving way to more structured and recurring events. The setting itself played a significant role in shaping these experiences. The seller was chosen for practical reasons. It allowed for privacy, reduced external interference, and most importantly, enabled complete control over light. Sessions were conducted in near total darkness, with participants seated close together, often forming a circle around a table. Movement was minimized once the session began, and in many cases, Participants held hands to maintain physical awareness of one another's position. At this stage, the reported phenomena were not extraordinary. In the context of seance traditions, participants described hearing faint knocking sounds, feeling changes in air pressure, and sensing movement within the room that could not be immediately explained. These types of experiences have been reported in similar settings for well over a century. And on their own, they would not have distinguished the Skoal group from countless others. What began to set skull apart, according to later accounts, was not the nature of these early phenomena, but their persistent and apparent escalation. The group did not report a single dramatic event that defined their experience. Instead, they described a gradual development, subtle effects that became more frequent, more structured, and eventually more difficult for participants to dismiss as coincidence or misprocess. It is also important to acknowledge the limitation inherent in this phase of the experiment. Because these early sessions were not formally documented, much of what is known comes from retrospective accounts. Memory, expectation, and interpretation all influence how events are recalled, particularly when those events are unusual or emotionally significant. This does not invalidate the accounts, but it does require that they be understood within that context. By the mid-1990s, the group had established a pattern of regular sittings, a shared expectation that something unusual was occurring. It was around this point, after the group had already been meeting consistently for some time, that interest from outside observers began to develop. That shift from private exploration to observed phenomenon would ultimately change the trajectory of the skull experiment. Bri, what are you thinking right now?
Bri
One, I'm upset because I ate all my Italian ice. Two, I'm starting to get it a little bit. I also googled it a little bit to help me understand better after I finished my Italian ice.
Frank
Okay. So. As the reported phenomena became more pronounced, the group's activities began to attract attention beyond their immediate circle. This transition from private exploration to observed experiment is one of the most critical phases in the skull story. It introduces both validation and complication. The involvement of the Society of Physical. No. Is that physical? I can't read. Lynette, what the involvement of the Society for Physical Research is that are psychical research?
Lynette
I think it's psychical.
Frank
Okay. So. The involvement of the Society for Psychical Research brought a level of seriousness that most seance based claims never achieve. The Society had a long history of investigating paranormal phenomena, often with mixed results. While it had documented cases it considered suggestive of survival after death, it had also exposed numerous instances of fraud. Among the investigators who attended the school sittings were Dr. Montague Keen, a journalist and longtime member of the SPR. Arthur Ellison, an experienced investigator and former president of the society and Dr. David Fontana, who brought both academic and investigative perspectives to the process. These individuals did not attend a single session in leave. They returned multiple times over several years, observing, documenting, and attempting to understand understand what they were witnessing. Their repeated involvement is often cited by supporters as evidence that something of interest was occurring. Skeptics, however, point out that repeated exposure can also reinforce belief, especially in environments where conditions are difficult to control. The presence of investigators also alter the dynamic of the sittings. Even without deliberate intent, the awareness of being observed can influence behavior. It can increase pressure, heighten expectation, and introduce subtle changes in how participants interpret events. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for independent observation, which is essential for any claim seeking credibility. The range of phenomena reported during the scoal sittings is central to understanding both the intrigue and the controversies surrounding the experiment. These are not isolated incidents, but recurring experiences described over an extended period. The light phenomena were among the most consistently reported. Witnesses described small, luminous forms appearing in complete darkness, moving independently, and sometimes interacting with individuals. These lights were not described as diffuse glows, but as distinct points with defined movement. In some cases, they appear to respond to verbal requests, changing direction or approaching specific participants. Independent voices were another significant element. Unlike traditional mediumship, where communication is filtered through a medium, these voices were described as external observers reported hearing them originate from specific locations within the room, sometimes close, sometimes at a distance. The content of these communications varied, but in some cases they appeared to respond directly to questions. Physical interactions with objects added another layer. Items placed within the room were reported to move without visible contact. Some were lifted or repositioned. In certain instances, objects appeared to materialize within the room, an occurrence known in spirit.
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Lynette
He loves it.
Bri
Freezing.
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She loves it. Huh? The Pod by eight sleep ends the argument for good with independent temperature zones that keep both of you sleeping deeper.
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Frank
ZipRecruiter.org Zip terminology as an A port.
Lynette
Ooh, I want to experience that.
Frank
I know. Me too. I want to try to abort myself. Later, the photographic experiments introduced. Yeah. What? Did I say something?
Lynette
No, I was just trying to understand what you were saying.
Bri
No, now I'm trying to figure out what a port means.
Lynette
Objects showing up.
Frank
Yeah. Materializing out of thin air.
Bri
Oh. Ooh.
Lynette
Okay.
Frank
The photographic experiments introduced a tangible element that could, in theory, be be examined outside the session itself. Sealed film placed within the room was later developed, revealing images that participants and observers could not easily explain. These images were not uniform. Some were abstract, while others appeared more structured, leading to varying interpretations. Each of these Phenomena taken individually has potential explanations within known frameworks. What made Skoal unusual was the combination of these experiences, their repetition, and the involvement of. Of observers who documented them over time. So I remember watching a documentary about this, and if I'm remembering correctly, on some of the pictures, there would actually be pictures of. Of a person too. It wasn't just these abstract, you know, things. Some of the times it would be like someone's head.
Bri
That's pretty cool.
Lynette
So I guess were they actively doing seances or were they just sitting there in the dark and describing what they feel? And then they eventually brought in equipment to build upon it. Like we're. That's what I think. A part that I'm. I don't know or not I didn't catch.
Frank
Yeah. So, yeah, they didn't say. They didn't explain it too well in our notes, but they would go to the seller and sit there with the intention of communicating. So it was seance esque, but instead of there being like a main medium or leader of the seance, it was just kind of them, just chilling, asking for spirit to communicate with them.
Lynette
So basically what we do when we go on our investigations.
Frank
Correct. Okay, yeah, very similar to that. But they were.
Lynette
But with regularity.
Frank
Exactly. So. Which is something that I would love to test out. Like, if we got together, you know, X amount of times in the same place, doing the same thing, bringing the same energy, could we also have similar outcomes?
Lynette
That would be interesting. You also made me wonder, have they ever done a season two of. What was it, 28 days?
Frank
Oh, yeah.
Bri
Oh, the Netflix one.
Frank
No, no, they were supposed to. Yeah, I remember that. Like, that's something I would love to do, is be. Go to a place for 28 straight days and investigate.
Lynette
Hi, boss. Can I please keep my job? But I'm gonna be.
Frank
Yeah, so, yeah, that would be fantastic.
Lynette
You manifest that into reality, sir.
Frank
All right, I'll start right now.
Lynette
Okay.
Frank
As the phenomena reported at Skoal grew in both frequency and complexity, the need for structured documentation became unavoidable. The involvement of investigators from the Society of Psychical Research led to the creation of what would later be known as the Skoal Record. Formally published in the Society's proceedings, this report is often cited in discussions of the experiment, but it is frequently misunderstood, either overstated as proof or dismissed without careful reading. The reality is more nuanced. Investigators such as Dr. Montague, Arthur Ellison and Dr. David Fontana attended numerous sittings over a span of several years. Their role was not to validate belief but to observe, document, and evaluate the occurred. Evaluate what occurred under the conditions presented. Their report does not read like a declaration. It reads like a record. They documented reoccurring phenomenon, lights moving within the room, apparent interaction with unseen sources, physical effects on objects, and the development of images on sealed photographic film. They noted that these events were witnessed not just by the cult group, but by visiting observers, some of whom were trained in investigative methods. Like, I really want to try this. I really want to take, like, a sealed film and see if we can't get Shiranda.
Lynette
Tried it before, but I don't know where you go to get film developed these days.
Frank
Yeah, you could still go to, like, Walgreens. The only difference is now they send it out somewhere else to develop. They don't do anything in house anymore.
Lynette
Yeah, okay. No one hour photo?
Frank
No, not since 1995.
Lynette
The good old days. Get your prints in double. Yeah.
Frank
And all we would have to do, get a disposable camera. You know, we don't have to actually buy film. We can just buy a disposable camera, just not use it.
Lynette
That's true.
Frank
Yeah, so. However, the tone of the report is consistently cautious. The investigators did not claim that the experiment proved survival after death. They did not assert that the phenomena were definitively paranormal. Instead, they acknowledged what they observed was, in many cases, difficult to explain within conventional frameworks, while also emphasizing that the conditions under which the phenomena occurred limited their ability to draw firm conclusions. One of the most telling aspects of the report is what it avoids. It avoids certainty. It avoids conclusions that extend beyond the evidence. And in doing so, it reflects a tension that runs throughout the entire experiment, the gap between experience and verification. The investigators were not convinced enough to declare proof, but they were also not dismissive enough to walk away. That middle ground is uncomfortable, particularly in a field where people often expect definitive answers. But it is also arguably the most honest position available given the constraints of the experiment.
Lynette
Yeah, Your favorite investigator should take a page out of that book.
Frank
Yeah, right. Who's that?
Lynette
Bobo.
Frank
Bobo.
Bri
Bobo Baggins.
Frank
All right. Jeez, I hate that guy. Another important detail often overlooked is the that the investigators were not passive observers. They attempted, within reason, to introduce controls inspecting the room, monitoring participants, and examining materials used during the sessions. However, these controls were limited by one unchanging factor, the requirement of darkness. Without continuous visual observation, no level of inspection before or after a session can fully account for what occurs during it. This limitation is explicitly acknowledged in the report and remains one of the most critical points. The SKOP report, therefore does not serve as proof of anything in the traditional scientific sense. What it provides is something more subtle, but still significant. A detailed account of repeated observations that resist easy explanation recorded by individuals who are neither naive nor uncritical. That may not be the conclusion many people want, but it is the conclusion that exists. So did they not have like these night vision cameras back then in the 90s? I thought they did.
Bri
I thought they did too. Maybe.
Lynette
No, maybe just for like the everyday person. It wasn't like a. I said maybe
Bri
it was too expensive for them.
Frank
Or maybe like, you know, in England they just didn't have technology like that in the 90s like everywhere else, you know. You know, maybe, maybe they were like behind, you know, maybe they were still, you know, winding up their cars. Like the T model.
Bri
Sure.
Frank
I don't know. I mean, I mean, I don't know. I wasn't actually. I take that back. I was, I was in London in the 90s.
Bri
That's funny.
Frank
I went on a school trip in the summer of 96. I forgot about that. Nevermind. Yeah, you know, so yes, I can tell you from my own experience that they had wind up cars and you
Bri
were there, you saw it with your own eyes, right?
Frank
Yeah, yeah, I saw them. I even went to Stonehenge and Stonehenge looked like, looked fully active. So. Yeah. So what do you think? Do you think they, they were dealing with like spirits or ghosts? Like, like what do you think they were experiencing?
Lynette
Well, I would venture energies.
Frank
Okay.
Lynette
But like I had to google some because you said the, the photographs I wanted to see. Some of these images look extraterrestrial, like the quintessential gray.
Frank
Yeah, yeah.
Lynette
And it looks like some are night vision camcorders. At least the picture of the alienoid like thing. But I don't know, we always say like when you do your investigation in the dark though, like your other senses are heightened. So maybe they're seeing other dimensions.
Frank
Yeah, maybe so I'm looking at the alien. Alienoid you call them. Yeah, yeah. I can see how you, how, how you can come to that conclusion. I'm just wondering if it is in a different dimension. It's just being obscured that way.
Lynette
I mean, maybe I'm just trying to describe it to people who might be listening. It's got the big slanty almond shaped eyes and teardrop shaped head. Yeah, but you're right. What if that's just a distortion of reality that gives that physical appearance?
Frank
Yeah.
Lynette
So maybe they're not talking to death dead, the deceased at all. Yeah. What if they're talking to just other livings in another dimension. Space.
Frank
Yeah, I mean, absolutely. They. So I was listening again to a podcast and this guy was on there and he was talking about demons and he was a demonologist and whatnot. And he was talking about in his experiments that these entities are just balls of energy and they trick you into thinking what you're seeing. So if you're predisposed to be big time pro alien, then they're going to pitch, they're going to trick you into thinking they look like an alien. So he did an experiment to where they would have a camera ready and when someone was seeing one of these entities, the camera took a picture. Well, the camera can't be lied to. It can't be tricked into thinking it's something else. And all they got pictures of were just orbs, just balls of energy instead of whatever the thing was showing itself as. Which makes it really interesting when we kind of go over this because, like all those pictures, I mean, yeah, they look like aliens and distorted. I'm wondering if they're just trying to do that to trick us and who knows what they really are.
Bri
I like that thought.
Lynette
Like, well, even. And you can take it to the positive as well, or at least in some of like Dolores Cannon's books, is that whatever you expect to see when you die, whether it's, you know, Valhalla or heaven or hell or whatever it is that your belief is, you will be greeted with that expectation at first because that's your expectation until the veil fully goes away and you can actually see the reality for what it is. So I would think, why not the same to the ball of energy that you're seeing and it's just gonna visualize or present itself to the viewer just like your, your split Double slit experiment. Double slit experiment Favorites.
Frank
But. Yeah, but I mean, like, everything needs an observer. So it kind of makes sense that like the paranormal needs an observer. And, you know, maybe people who truly don't believe, that's why they don't get experiences. You know, it'd be harder for these orbs, this energy, to trick that person into seeing anything different.
Lynette
Or your brain is just filtering it. So just so you know.
Frank
Yeah, maybe.
Bri
So many questions.
Frank
Yeah. Do you have any?
Lynette
No, I was just gonna ask.
Frank
Okay. Just making sure. Didn't wanna, you know, leave you out of the episode.
Bri
No, no, no, no, you're good, you're good. Keep going.
Frank
All right, thanks. Skepticism toward the Skola is not only expected, it is necessary. The history of seance based Phenomena includes numerous documented cases of deception, often involving techniques that are simple but effective under the right conditions. Magicians and illusionists have long demonstrated how easily perception can be manipulated in low light environments. Harry Houdini dedicated a significant portion of his career to exposing fraudulent mediums, revealing methods that could produce convincing effects without supernatural involvement. Phosphorescent materials can create the appearance of floating lights. Fine threads or wires, nearly invisible in darkness, can move objects across short distances. Subtle physical movements, especially in close quarters, can go undetected. Voice projection techniques can create the illusion of sound originating from different locations. Beyond deliberate methods, environmental and psychological factors play a critical role. Darkness reduces visual input, increasing reliance on interpretation. Sensory deprivation can heighten such suggestibility. Group dynamics can reinforce shared perceptions, even when those perceptions originate from ambiguous stimuli. The photographic evidence, often cited as one of the strongest aspects of the experiment, is also subjected to scrutiny. Film can be affected by prior exposure. Handling the environmental conditions without strict control and continuous monitoring, it is difficult to rule out non anomalous explanations. This does not necessarily mean that deception occurred. It means that the conditions under which the experiment were conducted leave room for alternative interpretations that cannot be conclusively eliminated. So I think we need to do a seance.
Lynette
I've always wanted to.
Frank
Like, is there like a PDF?
Lynette
There might be a YouTube video.
Bri
Seance for Dummies.
Frank
Yeah, you know, like, like, I'm being serious. Like, like. I mean, is it just us holding hands, lighting a candle and going oh, or whatever they do? Like it's gotta be.
Bri
That's a good question. Or if you need at least somebody who's on the sensitive side to kind of help, who knows?
Lynette
So sensitive.
Frank
I'm sensitive.
Bri
You. We know that you're sensitive. Okay. With your flexible wrist.
Frank
That's right. That's right.
Lynette
You give them their dingoes a run for their money.
Frank
That's right. Them dingoes ain't got no nothing on me.
Lynette
So I'm sure there's like a YouTube how to video out there.
Frank
Yeah. Do you think that we're sensitive enough to conjure up an encounter?
Bri
I think with all of us together? Possibly.
Lynette
I would think like Captain Planet by all by our powers combined.
Frank
Yeah, I like that.
Lynette
Do you think Captain Planet's just a metaphor for a seance?
Frank
Ooh, I like it. Possibly.
Lynette
I mean, they're already part of like the chakras, right?
Frank
Right.
Lynette
These are all the different colors of the chakras.
Frank
Right.
Bri
Or it can be like charm. The power of three. No. Yes.
Frank
I never saw charm, so I have no idea what you're talking about.
Bri
Just. Just say yes to the power of three.
Frank
Okay, I'll disagree. So.
Lynette
Damn.
Bri
Yeah.
Frank
After five years, after hundreds of sittings, after investigators came and went, the Skoll experiment didn't end with an answer. It ended exactly where it began, on the edge of something we still don't fully understand. The school experiment concluded in 1998 without a definitive resolution. The investigators involved did not declare the phenomena fraudulent, nor did they present them as proof of survival after death. Instead, they documented what they observed, acknowledged the limitations of the conditions under which those observations occurred. This outcome is both unsatisfying and significant. It leaves the experiment in a state of uncertainty where it cannot be fully accepted or fully dismissed. For some, this ambiguity is evidence of something genuinely unexplained. For others, it is precisely what one would expect from an environment that lacks sufficient controls. The inability to replicate the phenomenon under controlled conditions remains the central issue. Science relies on repeatability as a measure of reliability. Without it, even the most intriguing observations remain provisional. And yet, the absence of replication does not erase the experiences reported by those who were present. It simply places them in a category that current methods cannot fully address. You know what? That's interesting, because when we go and investigate, we pretty much do the same thing over and over and over again.
Lynette
Yeah.
Frank
And our outcomes are just as ambiguous as the skull experiments outcomes. So I'm wondering if we just need to, like, think outside the box of a different type of approach that we can do that is dedicated to the location we're going.
Lynette
I mean, I think I know where you're going with that. I mean, I was kind of sitting here thinking, like, what is the methodology? What is the tool? What is the protocol for the. The one thing that will blow the can open and say, this is real or not. You know what I mean?
Frank
Like, yeah, you know, maybe we just need to do a little bit more thinky thoughts about the location we're going to ahead of time and come up with a better plan than, let's just do this again, you know?
Lynette
Yeah.
Frank
All right. Interesting. All right. So, up to this point, the skull experiment can be approached as a contained case study. A group of individuals gathered under controlled, though imperfect conditions and reported a series of unusual phenomena. Investigators observed, documented, and ultimately left without a definitive conclusion. Ida's own. That might place Skoal alongside many other unresolved anomalies in the history of psychical research. But what gives the experiment its lasting relevance is not just what was reported in that cellar. It is what those reports force us to confront about the nature of consciousness itself. Modern neuroscience has made extraordinary progress in mapping the brain. We can identify regions associated with memory, emotion, perception, and decision making. We can observe neural activity in real time. We can even predict with increasing accuracy how certain patterns of brain function correspond to behavior. And yet, there remains a fundamental gap. We can measure brain activity, but we cannot explain why that activity is accompanied by subjective experience. We can describe the mechanisms of perception, but we cannot fully account for the existence of awareness itself. This problem, often referred to as the hard problem of consciousness, was articulated by David Chalmers and remains unresolved. The distinction is subtle, but important. Science can explain what the brain does. It has not yet explained why there is something it is like to be a conscious entity. This limitation matters when evaluating experiments like Skull. If consciousness were fully understood as a byproduct of brain activity, something that arises and disappears strictly within physical processes, then claims of its continuation after death could be dismissed more confidently. But because consciousness itself is not fully explained, the boundaries of its existence remain uncertain. This does not validate the claims made at Skoal. It does not suggest the phenomena observed were evidence of survival after death. What it does is prevent a complete dismissal based on current knowledge. There are competing models of consciousness that extend beyond the traditional materialist framework. Some researchers have proposed that the brain does not produce consciousness, but rather filters or transmits it, much like a receiver processes a signal. Others suggest that consciousness may be a fundamental aspect of reality, not reducible to physical processes alone. These ideas remain speculative and controversial, but they highlight an important point. The scientific understanding of consciousness is not complete, and until it is, conclusions about its limits remain provisional. The Skoll experiment sits directly within that uncertainty. It does not resolve the question of survival after death, but it does expose the difficulty of answering it using current methods. It challenges both belief and skepticism, not by product, not by providing answers, but by revealing how much remains unknown. In that sense, the experiment may be less about proving anything beyond death and more about illustrating how little we understand about consciousness in life.
Lynette
Do you think we're ever going to know what consciousness is? Where it comes from, how, where it goes? Is it connected? Is it not? Do you think we'll ever know? I think.
Frank
I think there will come a time to where our scientific instruments will be sufficient.
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Lynette
So do you think the only way we'll ever reach it is through science, meaning, understanding it?
Frank
No. No, I think that's going to be the way that everybody will agree to it, you know, so I think other people can understand it and know what it is through meditation, prayer, you know, because prayer is just another form of meditation, in my opinion. And having, you know, these certain, you know, psychic experiences, because I think we all have those abilities, but I don't think, I don't think humankind as a whole will understand and, or agree to understand until science can somehow measure it.
Lynette
Well, I guess the reason why I ask that because there was, for centuries there was, I mean, there was a handful of sciences. You know, you had your math and your astrologies and things of that nature. But for the longest time, there was just this knowing and passing down of information. And then all of a sudden, it became, well, you can't just know something. You have to follow the steps to prove or disprove its existence and how it works, and if it does and doesn't work. And we kind of got away from this knowing and believing into. Now everybody follows the same protocol. And I'm wondering, will that protocol go away and will there be a totally new way of observing the world.
Frank
Right.
Lynette
That's outside of our grasp right now? Because we can't, you know.
Frank
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense, But I think it's, you know, it's the ultimate question, I think. You know, I think with science comes the absolute undeniability that consciousness is separate from the meat suit. You know, it is something that, you know, is maybe being transmitted to us or downloaded into us. You know, because you can also think of a soul as just a download. Right. You know, when you're born, your consciousness soul gets downloaded into this body.
Lynette
Yeah.
Frank
So, yeah, you know, just trying to think of it, think about it, it hurts my brain, you know, I just don't think. I don't think that we'll be able to fully understand what it is. You know, I don't think we have the language to be able to express what it is, if that makes sense.
Lynette
Well, what if we're looking at it completely wrong? Okay, Like. Okay, so we're looking for a soul. And, like, we. We take the approach that it is individualized, right? So Frank exists, Bri exists, Lynette exists. Okay, when we die and we want to try and contact you, I'm going to go into a dark room, and I'm going to be like, frank, are you there? But, like, what if your soul. What if consciousness is not frank? What if it's not Bree? What if it's, like we said, collective or universal? For example, what if our body is just an antenna and we are just picking up the signals that are out there in the ether that are the, quote, consciousness or the soul. And that's what we're on. You're on channel one. Breeze on channel two when that's on channel three. You know what I mean? And that's the essence that you pick up. So we're not looking for something. We're looking for something singular and within us, but maybe it's neither. Maybe it's external and more global than. Well, you know.
Frank
Yeah, I think that also plays in what I lean towards nowadays, is having a. A Whatchamacallit, which is one consciousness and you know, enveloping entire population.
Lynette
Maybe that's why our investigations may be. Maybe we go, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
Frank
No, no, no, you're good, you're good. What were you gonna say?
Lynette
Agreeing to your statement is. Maybe that is a new approach to take when doing investigations is to look at it as a. A collective and having access to any and all information rather than individualized personal information. You know what I mean?
Frank
Yeah. So. So what if instead of, to your point, trying to talk to something, we try to talk to ourselves without.
Lynette
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, in theory that's, that's one way to look at it.
Frank
Or like ask questions. Like if, since you're me, what can I ask to have you talk to me? Or I'm just trying to. Trying to put rhyme and reason to that and how you would ask a question to yourself.
Lynette
But externally I think it's the same self talk that you have in your. Your nugget.
Frank
But talking the third person is.
Bri
I don't think we want to hear
Lynette
what Frank talks to himself about.
Frank
You know what? I just had a thinky thought. So this is about the Mandela effect.
Bri
You want your Mandela effect?
Frank
I'm telling you, it's always in my mind. So you know how some people don't have the same memories as others, right? So what if it's not how we've always talked about us changing timelines or changing dimensions? What if it's the simulation being rerun? So for example, when they try to predict the weather, they run said simulation 10,000 times, right?
Lynette
Yeah. This model. That model, yep.
Frank
So what if that's what happens now? So let's say in the first simulation they run Fruit of the Loom had the cornucopia, right? And you and I remember that. And as they run other simulations again, it comes to that the cornucopia is not there, but in that reality, Brie exists. And in the reality, or in the simulation run that had the cornucopia, Brie didn't exist, so she wouldn't have a memory of it.
Bri
Woof. I like that thought.
Lynette
Right, that's cool. That's a good thought.
Frank
So we can think of it.
Lynette
But then how could we be sitting here and say, well, I remember this and I remember that. How do they coalesce?
Frank
There has to be some sort of wrinkle in the simulation that has leftover memory. Maybe that's our leftover junk memory, part of the defragment.
Lynette
Yeah, the computer has been defragged.
Frank
Right.
Lynette
Yeah.
Bri
Ooh. Ee.
Lynette
I like it.
Frank
Yeah. I don't know. I mean, you know, like, I believe in DNA memory. Maybe that's where it comes from. If it's all. If we're really not in a physical world, in an informational world, that's what our DNA is, Just information.
Lynette
Correct. And science will tell you that it is.
Frank
Exactly. So what if it just has leftover memory from another simulation rod that just bleeds over?
Lynette
That's good. It's good stuff.
Frank
Okay. I think I just had a stroke.
Lynette
That happens, huh?
Frank
All right, well, let's finish this out, I guess so. The Skolk experiment does not give us proof, and it does not give us closure. What it offers instead is something far more difficult to sit with. An unresolved record of events that resist easy explanation while also refusing to meet the standards required for acceptance. On one side, you have trained investigators documenting repeated phenomena they could not fully account for. On the other, you have conditions that leave open the possibility of misinterpretation, environmental influence, or methods that cannot be ruled out. Neither position collapses. The other, they exist side by side, unresolved. That tension is the real story. Because Skoll is not just about what may or may not have happened in a cellar in Norfolk. It is about the limits of how we decide what is real. It exposes the gap between experience and verification, between what is witnessed and what can be proven. And it forces a question that extends far beyond this single experiment. If something falls outside the boundaries of our current methods, do we dismiss it? Or do we acknowledge that our methods may not yet be complete? The experiment did not prove the survival of consciousness, but it did something quieter and perhaps more unsettling. It demonstrated how quickly certainty, both belief and disbelief, begins to break down when confronted with something that refuses to fit cleanly into either. It may be that it's where this leaves us. Not with an answer, but with a threshold. Because if even a small part of what was reported at Skull is accurate, then the question is no longer whether consciousness survives death. It becomes whether we have ever truly understood it in the first place.
Lynette
That's what I said.
Frank
That's exactly what you said. So. Huh. This was a good one. It gave us some thinky thoughts, some ideas for experiments.
Lynette
So.
Frank
Yeah.
Lynette
New ice cream flavors for Brie. Yeah.
Bri
Yep.
Frank
Yeah. Brie's got some new ice cream flavors to try.
Bri
What would I have next time? Question mark?
Frank
I don't think you did that. Right. You tried to do the question mark symbol. And I. And I don't think you did it right.
Bri
No, I just did a. I was too lazy to move my whole entire hand, so I was just using my finger, and I made a circle with
Lynette
a dot in the middle, not a question mark.
Bri
Use your imagination, dude.
Frank
Wow. I already did. I thought I had a thinking thought.
Bri
I know your brain hurts too much to keep thinking.
Lynette
Used all your brain juice, so.
Frank
Yeah. Any final. Oh, Bri, did you. Did you have any takeaways from this?
Bri
I think it. The fact that it has seances and stuff. No, the only thing I keep thinking about your Freeman Dillo effect thing now.
Lynette
Okay.
Frank
What do you think about it?
Bri
Good way to end the episode, because that's what it keeps. Well, no, I just. It's just like. My mind just, like, exploded. Like, whoa. What if that actually is what it is? And then. Yeah, that's cry, cry, cry, cry.
Lynette
Ms. Lynette, was there a specific question?
Frank
Yeah, you want to add.
Lynette
Oh, no, I just.
Bri
I.
Lynette
No, I just. He asked me different questions. He has you different questions. That's all I tell you. Oh, yeah, no, I was participating.
Frank
I know you were. I know you were just thinking out of thought and you just needed a little bit more time, which is.
Lynette
No, I'm just. I'm definitely one who try different methodologies whenever we get out there in the real world.
Frank
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I'm excited to get out there.
Lynette
I mean, you probably don't even need to go anywhere. These guys just did it in somebody's house in their basement. So maybe you just talk to yourself when you're, like, laying in bed trying to fall asleep.
Frank
Yeah, I will just fall asleep.
Lynette
I mean, I guess I already knew
Bri
that I would say Frank does that anyways.
Frank
But I do like the fact that going to the same place over and over to where it's, you know, they were saying uncontrolled, but I think in a cellar in the dark is a very controlled environment.
Bri
That's. To me, that is controlled.
Lynette
So, yeah.
Frank
But, yeah, I do like that idea.
Bri
We can always go to the woods behind Lynette's house.
Frank
Yeah, that's fine. And then get up.
Bri
So if we conjure up anything, it stays with her. We can go home.
Frank
Yeah. No, Bigfoot's there. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want Bigfoot.
Lynette
I think there's something worse than Bigfoot in my backyard. Oh, boy.
Frank
Dog poop.
Bri
Frank.
Lynette
Frank.
Bri
It's the birds.
Lynette
No worse than birds.
Frank
What is it?
Lynette
It's Breaking Bad.
Frank
There's a Meth lab probably he's gonna
Bri
go in there, be like, do you guys have shrooms?
Frank
Yeah. Well, you know, now we know where to go get fresh meth out.
Lynette
Yeah.
Frank
All right.
Lynette
That's why my my power went out. The methylite blew up.
Frank
Blew up. It sucked all the energy from the power lines. Blew the transformer.
Lynette
Hit the transformer. Yep.
Frank
All right. I liked it all. It was the skull experiment is something I do want to try and do over and over and over again. So.
Lynette
Over and over and over and over.
Frank
So. All right. Well, thanks for listening. Like, Follow Share, review, do all the fun things that you want to do and until next time, my name is Frank.
Lynette
I'm Brie. My name is Lynette.
Frank
And you've been listening to Fringe Beyond Limit.
Lynette
Yeah.
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This episode explores the mysterious Scole Experiment—an unprecedented, five-year investigation (1993–1998) into physical mediumship and consciousness survival after death, conducted in a Norfolk, England cellar. The hosts dive into the origins, reported phenomena, skeptical and supportive perspectives, and, ultimately, the philosophical implications for human understanding of consciousness and the afterlife.
“Bodies were positioned in ways that suggest intention rather than disposal... Even in modern societies, rituals surrounding death continue to reflect an implicit belief that the individual's significance does not simply vanish.” —Frank [07:18]
“Skeptics, however, point out that repeated exposure can also reinforce belief, especially in environments where conditions are difficult to control.” —Frank [15:36]
“I want to try to apport myself.” —Frank [21:00] (humorous aside)
“On some of the pictures, there would actually be pictures... of a person too. It wasn’t just these abstract... things. Sometimes it would be like someone’s head.” —Frank [22:18]
The Scole Record: Formal documentation led by the SPR, published in their proceedings:
“Without continuous visual observation, no level of inspection before or after a session can fully account for what occurs during it.” —Frank [27:32]
Technological Gaps: Discussion about lack of night vision cameras and limitations in monitoring, with jokes about 1990s English technology. ([28:49])
Skeptical Explanations: Possible deceit (phosphorescence, wires, voice projection), environmental/psychological suggestibility heightened in darkness. ([34:44])
“Magicians and illusionists have long demonstrated how easily perception can be manipulated in low light environments...” —Frank [34:44]
“If you’re predisposed to be big time pro-alien, then they’re going to trick you into thinking they look like an alien.” —Frank [32:19]
“What if consciousness is not Frank? What if it’s not Brie? ... What if our body is just an antenna and we are just picking up the signals that are out there in the ether...” —Lynette [49:16]
“So when they try to predict the weather, they run said simulation 10,000 times, right?... So what if that’s what happens now?” —Frank [51:57]
Core Limitations:
“It does not resolve the question of survival after death, but it does expose the difficulty of answering it using current methods.” —Frank [43:44]
Meta-reflection:
Frank, on the tension at Scole:
“Neither position collapses the other, they exist side by side, unresolved. That tension is the real story.” [56:12]
Lynette, on consciousness:
“Will that protocol go away and will there be a totally new way of observing the world... that’s outside of our grasp right now?” [47:20]
Frank’s reflection on future understanding:
“With science comes the absolute undeniability that consciousness is separate from the meat suit... Your consciousness soul gets downloaded into this body.” [48:34]
| Phenomenon | Characterized By | Controlled For? | SPR Reaction | |-----------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------------------| | Luminous Lights | Discrete points, floating, reacting | Not visible in light | Wary but perplexed | | Independent Voices | Voices from varying locations | Not always monitored | Puzzled; not direct proof | | Object Movements | Apports (objects materializing/moving) | Some inspection, limited | Insufficient full verification | | Spirit Photography | Sealed film with mysterious images | Not continuous oversight | Seen as strongest anomaly, but doubted|
“...if even a small part of what was reported at Scole is accurate, then the question is no longer whether consciousness survives death. It becomes whether we have ever truly understood it in the first place.” —Frank [56:00]
This episode is essential listening (or reading, through this summary!) for anyone fascinated by paranormal research, the limits of science, consciousness studies, or just the big mysteries of existence. With humor, critical thinking, and a flair for the philosophical, the Fringe Beyond Limits hosts make the enduring ambiguity of the Scole Experiment both digestible and deeply intriguing.