A small rural town of the Midwestern Great Plains, Centrahoma isn't included on most Oklahoma state maps. After flying to Oklahoma City from Los Angeles, I found my rental car and headed for my hotel. The directions from Oklahoma City to Ada seemed clear but when I saw a turn-off with the name I’d written down, I exited from the freeway too soon and eventually realized my mistake. When I finally arrived in Ada, the city was bigger than expected and I didn’t have the address for the Holiday Inn where I had a reservation. By the time I reached my room I had a headache. Soon I received a call from the family as arranged so I made some more notes about how to reach their house in Centrahoma and decided it would be best if I waited until the following morning (Friday, August 11, 1995) to begin my visit.
This Fortean Times illustration shows where the town of Centrahoma is located in Oklahoma.
Maxine and her eldest daughter Fae sounded cheerful over the phone without any apprehension about their startling experiences. Fae mentioned that the spirit allowed Maxine to hold its hand and when I asked how often ‘it’ spoke, Fae said, “Sometimes it talks and sometimes you just holler at it and it won’t talk unless it wants to.” The family made clear that it hadn’t talked during the taping for the upcoming TV special that would feature the family. During this phone conversation, I learned that Maxine’s ex-husband, Jearld Carlton Bell, had just passed away at the age of 59 from prostate cancer and the funeral would be on Saturday. I was reassured that this was no reason to cancel my visit as the event had long been expected. I agreed to arrive at around 10:30 a.m. This was a startling development as the case study of the Tennessee 'talking poltergeist' of the previous century had also included an account of a funeral for a father with the Bell surname.
Early on Friday, I stopped in town to purchase some additional microcassettes and a gift plant for the family and then was on my way to Centrahoma. It was the hottest day of the year so it was a good thing the car’s air conditioner was working. When I arrived at the house, there was no trace of anything unusual — just a young bearded man riding a large lawnmower in the yard as I went to the door and knocked. Friendly introductions were made yet I would sometimes find it difficult to correctly recall everyone’s name and the precise family interrelationships in the bizarre chronology of occurrences soon to take place.
Maxine Mc Wethy was the kindly family matriarch, a spry and robust woman despite her age of 60. Her youngest daughter, Twyla Eller, 23, was surmised to be the 'agent' or 'focus' focus for much of the phenomena but I wasn’t altogether convinced of this in consideration of my preliminary discussion with Maxine and familiarity with previous talking poltergeist cases. There was an ethereal quality about Twyla that intrigued me. Her hair now black after appearing partially blonde in the Fortean Times magazine article, Twyla was accompanied by her youngest daughter, Megan, almost two years old, an uninhibited rambunctious toddler, while the older daughter, Desireé, seven, was spending the day with her father, who’d never been married to Twyla. I wouldn’t meet Desireé until the next day but later that Friday I would meet Twyla’s husband Steve, an affable 26-year-old policeman.
Maxine’s daughter who lived in a small guesthouse behind the house, Brenda Bell, 36, showed a knack for being a quipster. Another of Maxine’s married daughters, blonde Kim Carrell, 27, lived nearby and frequently joined us in the dining room as the interviews commenced. Her children were often on the premises as well: one of her sons was Eric, four, and her daughter was Heather, 11, both who participated briefly in the interviews. Kim’s husband, 27, with Nordic features was also named Steven. Maxine’s fourth daughter, Marla Fae Ward, 38, would come by later in the day. She seemed like she would be loquacious yet forthright discussing any subject. Also occasionally coming and going were Maxine’s grandchildren although I didn’t meet their father, Maxine’s son Jerry, during the visit. Brenda and the children Desireé, Heather, Holli and Jerry all had the surname Bell. The heavyset bearded man I’d seen mowing the lawn turned out to be Bill’s son, amiable Billy Joe, 40. This multi-generational family seemed more harmonious than one might expect. Eventually, Maxine’s husband Bill Mc Wethy would participate in the interview. He was decrepit from a long illness and upset about the death of ‘Carlton’ as he and Maxine’s former husband had been the best of friends with the duo nicknames given by the grandkids of ‘Big Papa’ (Bill) and ‘Little Papa’ (Carlton).
Twyla said that the manifesting voices were different: “Michael’s is high-pitched and the one we call E.T. is squeally and loud. Sarah is really toned-down and quiet. And Tammy and —” I attempted to make a list yet it was apparent that even the family found it difficult to identify the spirit manifesting at any given time. Twyla said E.T. was supposed to be Michael’s brother while Brenda commented that E.T. was the one that did the most damage. There was also Sarah, the spirit of a small girl who once agreed to have her picture taken with Desireé; Rachel, who once attempted to talk Brenda into killing the husband who’d murdered her; Tammy, a spirit who once showed Twyla where she lived in Coalgate before her death from ovarian cancer; Katie, another little girl ghost; twin boys Ricky and Nicky; Grandma and Grandpa; ‘Trouble,’ a female spirit that threatened Brenda one night; John Hathaway known as ‘The Child Killer'; and Leader, his name being “what the other ones said he was” while also being described as “huge” and communicating only in “grunts, growls and groans.”
Twyla said that the manifesting voices were different: “Michael’s is high-pitched and the one we call E.T. is squeally and loud. Sarah is really toned-down and quiet. And Tammy and —” I attempted to make a list yet it was apparent that even the family found it difficult to identify the spirit manifesting at any given time. Twyla said E.T. was supposed to be Michael’s brother while Brenda commented that E.T. was the one that did the most damage. There was also Sarah, the spirit of a small girl who once agreed to have her picture taken with Desireé; Rachel, who once attempted to talk Brenda into killing the husband who’d murdered her; Tammy, a spirit who once showed Twyla where she lived in Coalgate before her death from ovarian cancer; Katie, another little girl ghost; twin boys Ricky and Nicky; Grandma and Grandpa; ‘Trouble,’ a female spirit that threatened Brenda one night; John Hathaway known as ‘The Child Killer'; and Leader, his name being “what the other ones said he was” while also being described as “huge” and communicating only in “grunts, growls and groans.”
The most unique thing that happened to me was when a nail materialized and bounced off my head without drawing blood. My reaction: Ouch, that hurt!
objects that materialized during my Centrahoma interviews
A few minutes later, the vehicle’s automatic doors started locking and unlocking. Twyla said, “I’m so surprised he’s doing this much stuff. But you never know if it’s him or the other ones . . . But it’s just that you’re so new. I didn’t think he would do so much. I guess he trusts you.”
“Well, he knows what’s going on,” I said. “He knows our thoughts.”
After all that she’d experienced, Twyla still seemed bewildered. “My heart’s beating like crazy.”
There was another spirit utterance when I heard a deep groan from the backseat: “Ouhouhouhouhouhouh.”
After I imitated it for Twyla, she said, “That’s Rachel. That’s how she talks.”
Later, Maxine appraised that the voice must’ve belonged to Leader. The groaning reminded me of the sound made by the ‘Lurch’ character from “The Addams Family” TV series — I don’t recall if the character also behaved this way in the Paramount “Addams Family” movies I'd helped publicize. There would be other parallels between the family’s experiences and Hollywood entertainment. For example, the ‘Hathaway’ name attributed to the child killer ghost was the same surname of the character played by Nancy Kulp in “The Beverly Hillbillies.” I’d become acquainted with Nancy during the time I was a talent agent at Ruth Webb Enterprises. Another actress who achieved fame for a TV role and I met while working at the agency was Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann in “Gilligan’s Island.” Dawn had also appeared in a few motion pictures during the course of her career and one of these was “Return to Boggy Creek,” a bigfoot movie. As a talent agent and movie publicist, I’d interacted with hundreds of movie and TV stars. My interviews with the Centrahoma family would encompass bigfoot accounts, UFOs and accounts of conversations of unseen extraterrestrial visitors.
After hearing the groaning in the back seat of my rental car during my excursion with Twyla, we were both pretty nervous, wondering what might happen next. Upon arriving back at the Mc Wethy house, I was impressed at the things that had occurred during our outing yet was disappointed that Michael didn’t actually converse with me. The family told me he often had actual conversations with visitors. I told them I would’ve liked to interview an actual talking poltergeist. (That probably would’ve been too much too soon and too commercial for what the Haunting Presence had planned.)
Soon anecdotes were being shared that reminded me that this entity known as Michael could be quite secretive about himself. Twyla recalled, “Once he told Mama he was going to show himself. He said, ‘Come roll your blanket back and I’ll show you myself.’ It looked like there was a body laying there and she pulled the blanket back. There was a mask there. Wasn’t it a Halloween mask that you found after Michael told you to pull back the blanket to see what was there? He said, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.’”
Years later, I would learn that there was a scene similar to the mask anecdote in the Kubrick movie “Eyes Wide Shut” (which I haven't seen). When a local journalist interviewed Maxine, she mentioned that she once asked 'Michael' what he was and he told her "I'm your imagination."
Among the objects materialized by 'Michael' for the family were a padlock for Bill, a package of Trouble perfume for Maxine, baby formula and a "whole boneless ham." Among the objects that materialized in my presence were an "Amusement Centers" token and a piece of costume jewelry with pearl and diamond symbols.
On Sunday morning, I found that most everything was closed so there weren’t many alternatives for conducting research. Driving toward Centrahoma, I turned on the tape recorder when I considered a possibility that unnerved me. I had been asking the family if any one of them had ever had fainting spells, which would’ve created another parallel with the 'Bell Witch' case. There was no indication that any member of this current day family had experienced anything remotely comparable to what had been noted about Betsy Bell’s predicament of the early 19th Century; however, I realized that I myself was now was a part of the family’s case history so here was another parallel. I spoke into my tape recorder, “Remember my fainting spells in school?” I continued thinking about the past. “Remember the strange voice calling my name? ‘Mark, Mark . . .’” I was beginning to see conceivably portentous overtones to what was happening.
I felt better when I turned on the radio and was surprised to hear a black minister describing an encouraging conversation with God that ironically seemed vaguely reminiscent of talking poltergeist scenarios. “I told the story once before how I came before God and I had a need,” the minister fervently declared. “I came up believing God was going to do it. And I stood there like we often do and I had my hands up about so. And as I stood there, I heard the Spirit say, ‘You’re saying you want it but your arms are not like communicating like you really believe it . . .'" The minister went on to say, "It didn't matter anymore because I knew where my help was coming from . . .”
While talking with Maxine, she mentioned that someone had informed her about the Messages from Michael case of transcendental communication via Ouija Board (1, 2, 3). I wasn't familiar with the book and wanted to concentrate on the specific case chronology of her family for the time being. When Maxine and I went to get something to eat at The Branding Iron restaurant in Ada, there was a phenomenal movement of her chair and then of my own chair (while the tape recorder wasn't on) so it seemed 'Michael' was proceeding to show different aspects of phenomena. There would also be a sudden materialization of water before I left the house for the final time.
On Monday I visited the Coal County Library in Coalgate and made some photocopies from the Coal County Historical Magazine book (1986), finding verification for some of the things I’d been told.
On Sunday morning, I found that most everything was closed so there weren’t many alternatives for conducting research. Driving toward Centrahoma, I turned on the tape recorder when I considered a possibility that unnerved me. I had been asking the family if any one of them had ever had fainting spells, which would’ve created another parallel with the 'Bell Witch' case. There was no indication that any member of this current day family had experienced anything remotely comparable to what had been noted about Betsy Bell’s predicament of the early 19th Century; however, I realized that I myself was now was a part of the family’s case history so here was another parallel. I spoke into my tape recorder, “Remember my fainting spells in school?” I continued thinking about the past. “Remember the strange voice calling my name? ‘Mark, Mark . . .’” I was beginning to see conceivably portentous overtones to what was happening.
I felt better when I turned on the radio and was surprised to hear a black minister describing an encouraging conversation with God that ironically seemed vaguely reminiscent of talking poltergeist scenarios. “I told the story once before how I came before God and I had a need,” the minister fervently declared. “I came up believing God was going to do it. And I stood there like we often do and I had my hands up about so. And as I stood there, I heard the Spirit say, ‘You’re saying you want it but your arms are not like communicating like you really believe it . . .'" The minister went on to say, "It didn't matter anymore because I knew where my help was coming from . . .”
While talking with Maxine, she mentioned that someone had informed her about the Messages from Michael case of transcendental communication via Ouija Board (1, 2, 3). I wasn't familiar with the book and wanted to concentrate on the specific case chronology of her family for the time being. When Maxine and I went to get something to eat at The Branding Iron restaurant in Ada, there was a phenomenal movement of her chair and then of my own chair (while the tape recorder wasn't on) so it seemed 'Michael' was proceeding to show different aspects of phenomena. There would also be a sudden materialization of water before I left the house for the final time.
On Monday I visited the Coal County Library in Coalgate and made some photocopies from the Coal County Historical Magazine book (1986), finding verification for some of the things I’d been told.
Oklahoma is Choctaw, meaning "home of the red man."An estimated 150 million tons of coal lies untapped beneath the surface of Coal County, according to government estimates.Centrahoma, so named because of its nearness to the center of the county, became a post office July 11, 1907, under its present name. Formerly it had been known as Owl, I. T. [1894], and was located about three and one half miles southwest [on Leader Creek]. Prior to that location and name it began under the name of Byrd, I.T. [1892] about one mile southeast of present Tupelo.The Masonic Lodge at Centrahoma bore the name Owl Lodge A. F. & A. M.Centrahoma is situated between Owl and Peach creeks, tributaries of Clear Boggy and eventually Red River. It rose out of the praries when cotton was king and the MK&T Railway built a branch line from Atoka to Oklahoma City.
After my visit to Ada, I went to the Chickasaw Nation building to see what I could learn about the local Native American lore and traditions. This seemed a daunting task as my casually mentioning the word ‘folklore’ to a staff member was interpreted in a derogatory way. I explained that I had no personal judgments concerning the basis for these spiritual beliefs and was simply hoping to learn about them and perhaps find parallels to other traditions and religions. I was told that many Native American beliefs weren’t routinely shared yet there were many reasons why Christianity was easy to grasp among those who believed in Ababinil, the Great Spirit — ‘He who dwells above the heavens.’ I was instructed that not only was here a sacred creation story but the dead Native Americans in the vicinity would be buried with personal items to signify the knowledge of the individual going on to another life. A small reprint entitled “The Chickasaws” by Dr. A. M. Gibson related how the territory became under the control of the United States government.
At the airport, I took the precaution of making certain that my microcassettes and tape recorder didn’t get X-rayed by placing them in the tray for keys while and myself and my other belongings were checked. I felt relaxed as I took my window seat on the plane. Although there were many other people on the flight, nobody sat beside me and staring at the empty seat I thought humorously, 'Nobody chose to sit there because that's where Michael is seated.' I decided I would wait a couple days before contacting anyone at Paramount to give me time to gather information about the upcoming TV special featuring the Mc Wethy family and perhaps listen to some of the interview tapes. I realized that merely adding a chapter to my book about talking poltergeists wouldn’t be adequate to convey the magnitude of the phenomena I'd witnessed, including an episode with a scarab beetle flinging itself against my hotel door and my brother's entire house shaking during a hotel telephone conversation with him. I decided that I would have to carefully reflect about what had happened in Oklahoma and then decide what should be my next step. It seemed odd to have experienced such unexpected things and now be returning to my ordinary routine.
Ten Previous Blog Articles about the Centrahoma Talking Poltergeist Case1. "Haunted"Another book has been published about the Centrahoma talking poltergeist case:I'd originally planned to entitle my book about historical talking poltergeists Testament yet decided to instead use the title for my case study book that begins with the Centrahoma interview transcripts.This was the first article in a series commemorating the twentieth anniversary of my trip to Centrahoma.Readers familiar with other talking poltergeist cases will notice many parallels with the anecdotes in this article.This article provides some background information about the investigative TV special that was filmed at the Centrahoma house
6. "Family Notes and Other Data"This article presents some of the documentation of the case.This article presents five Centrahoma case photos showing anomalous aspects.Among the synchronicities in the case was the family's post office box being 13 and the TV documentary production company having a telephone number with 666. Upon hearing about this, I said to Maxine: "It's like all legendary aspects of the supernatural are coming together here — as if mankind's shared subconscious was manifesting itself in a particular geographical area."9. "List of 'Talking Poltergeist' Accounts"
The Centrahoma case is one of many cases chronicled to have occurred throughout the world.
10. "The Centrahoma Visit In Retrospect"
The gamut of phenomenal occurrences I'd observed made apparent an omnipresent spiritual Force was being revealed in an initiatory way.
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