Kathleen Goligher

The psychical researcher and engineer William Jackson Crawford (1881–1920) investigated the mediumship of Goligher and claimed she had levitated the table and produced ectoplasm.

According to his theory the table was levitated by "psychic rods" of ectoplasm which came out of the body of the medium to operate as an invisible cantilever.

[9][10] Physician Morton Prince in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology noted that Crawford's psychic rod hypothesis "fails to account for much and cannot be reconciled with what is scientifically known as matter, or force, or electricity, or energy.

"[9] A review in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggested that Crawford does "not seem to have been able to avoid self-deception, and his experiments are not convincing.

"[14] Joseph McCabe suggested that Goligher had used her feet and toes to levitate the table and move objects in the séance room and compared her fraudulent mediumship to Eusapia Palladino, who performed similar tricks.

[15] Edward Clodd also dismissed the experiments as fraudulent and noted that Goligher refused invitation to be examined by a group of magicians and scientists.

[16] Researchers such as Ruth Brandon and Mary Roach have heavily criticized Crawford's investigation, describing him as credulous and having a sexual interest in Goligher, such as an obsession with her underwear.