In what many consider to be one of the most intriguing and important cases in paranormal research many speculations and theories arose in the paranormal community (and the outside) about what really happened in that old, small Culver City home in southern California in the early 1970s.
The movie, The Entity, was based on the book, written by Frank Defelitta and published in 1978. Defelitta’s book detailed the purported experiences of Doris Bither in Culver City, California, USA. Bither was battered and raped repeatedly by unseen forces, ghosts or demons intent on harassing and abusing her.
Is the Entity a true portrayal of events? Paranormal investigators witnessed firsthand strange phenomena that convinced them that something was going on. The Entity case is persuasive and has fired speculation as to the possibility and potential of contact with the other side. Doris Bither’s experiences with the paranormal took place in the 1970s and rocked the paranormal world. Parapsychologists became involved in the case and what they collectively experienced shook them to the very core.
Doris Bither had moved to California with her family at about the age of 10. Little is known about her early life but by the time she spoke with the investigators in 1974 her life was falling apart. Bither was a single mom in her 30′s and had four children, one girl and three boys by four different fathers. She was an alcoholic and suffered from serious emotional problems. Bither appears to have endured one abusive relationship after another likely due to her traumatic childhood. Now Doris and her children were reportedly being assaulted by a trio of violent entities. Dr. Taff and his associates had serious reservations about Bither’s claims considering her numerous personal problems. However, after considering all factors involved Dr. Taff decided to visit the Bither home to assess the situation.
Events Preceding the Investigation
Doris had moved from Santa Monica into a ramshackle house at 11547 Braddock Drive in August of 1974.The move would prove to have repercussions she had never anticipated. Soon after an elderly Mexican woman knocked at her door and warned Doris that the house she’d moved into was evil. According to journals kept by Javier Ortega, the woman told Doris: “You need to get out! I used to live here in this old house back when it was just a farm and I was a little girl. There is something very evil here. This place is haunted and you need to get out!” These words would soon prove chillingly accurate.
Did Doris Unknowingly Invite Something in via the Ouija Board?-Dabbling in the Dark Side
Doris’ son, Brian Harris, has related that his mother started experimenting with a Ouija Board and held séances in her early years and would later mix this activity with drugs and alcohol. It is apparent she was battling personal demons and may have been not only self-medicating but searching for answers from the spirit world. What transpired did little to relieve Doris emotional and mental turmoil and would push her to the very limits of sanity.
Her dabbling may have provoked a response. Doris was purportedly attacked and raped by a violent entity. Her children (one daughter and three sons) were also party to the events in their home. She was beaten, thrown around and sexually assaulted, sometimes in full view of her children, who could see the entities who were inflicting their violence upon Doris.
Harris has related that living in the home at Braddock was hell and that all family members were attacked. They were pushed, bitten and scratched. He believed there were four entities in the home but that they concentrated mostly on Doris because of the fear she felt. The apparitions were described as appearing humanoid but foggy. While their shapes could be seen, facial features where not always clear. While testimony from both Doris and her children might have been convincing, events, as witnessed by researchers, were far more compelling and harder to dismiss. Along with Dr. Barry Taft, Kerry Gaynor and Dr. Thelma Moss were involved with this case.
According the Dr. Barry Taft (and her sons), Doris had experienced paranormal phenomena prior to moving into the rundown house on Braddock Drive but events escalated when she moved into the condemned Culver City home, which, in turn, sparked investigations that rocked parapsychologists who witnessed compelling phenomena in her home.
The Paranormal Investigations of Doris Bither’s House
It was a chance encounter at a California bookstore in 1974 that would eventually reveal one of the most terrifying hauntings in American history. The case which was used as the basis for the film “The Entity,” involved a woman named Doris Bither and her four children. Bither was the woman at the bookstore who overheard two men discussing a haunted house and approached them to say that her house was also haunted. Although unknown to Doris Bither at the time, one of the men was Kerry Gaynor a paranormal researcher and associate of Dr. Barry Taff from UCLA.
Dr. Taff and Gaynor arrived at the Bither home at 11547 Braddock Drive on August 22, 1974. From the outside the small Culver City house appeared to be perfectly normal, the inside of the Bither home was far different. On entering the house Dr. Taff was greeted by a totally chaotic situation. The home reeked of rotten garbage, dirty dishes were piled high in the sink, the house was filthy in every way. It was obvious that Doris was not able to perform in her role as a mother and the children were left to fend for themselves. Considering that Doris had ask for help, what puzzled Dr. Taff the most was that Doris was being very uncooperative. Without her help the investigation could not continue. Bither’s attitude would soon change and a phone call was made to Dr. Taff’s office saying things had gotten much worse and they needed help fast.
Over the next several months investigators attempted to document the claims of Doris and her family. It was believed that there were four manifestations in the home that were responsible for an array of paranormal phenomena.
One of them, which was seen on a regular basis by all the family members, appeared as an old man and seems to have been harmless. The ghost of the old man was seen so often that the children named him “Mr. who’s it.” The family believed that “Mr. who’s it” was the spirit of the children’s recently deceased grandfather. Had all the apparitions in the Bither home been so friendly life would have been much easier but they were not.
While phenomena observed in the home included many instances of the type of activity commonly reported in haunting cases the Bither home seemed to have reached a state of infestation as the activity was nearly unrelenting. There were levitating pots and pans, strange sounds and smells and objects thrown about by unseen forces. The most disturbing aspect of the Doris Bither case however was not the usual poltergeist type activity, as it soon became clear to everyone that there was something truly evil in the house and it, or they, were physically attacking the family.
It was believed that three malevolent entities were in the home and were aggressive towards all the family members. Doris however was the one who seemed to be the target of the most violent assaults. However the paranormal activities were strongest whenever Doris herself was present in the home. While the children were pushed and on occasion thrown, it was Doris that claimed that one of the entities, the largest one, was sexually assaulting her as the two others held her down. As hard to believe as her claim may have been there were witnesses to the attacks. While no one saw the entity witnesses did see Doris attacked by an invisible force that punched and slapped her, threw her against a wall, as if phantom hands was grabbing her. Doris also displayed injuries common to rape victims.
As the investigation continued Dr. Taff organized a group of paranormal investigators as well as professional photographers and camera operators to go to the Bither home and attempt to document the case. The group assembled in Doris Bither’s bedroom and waited to record the events. After a period of time had passed and nothing appeared to be happening, Dr. Taff suggested that Doris yell at the unseen entities to try to provoke them to act. As all looked on a green mist began to form in the room and before long a figure could be seen in the mist becoming more dense as time passed. It was described as being a large human torso, very muscular, without any other features such as arms or legs. Perhaps it’s not surprising that when the film from the numerous cameras was examined there was little to see as is often the case with paranormal activity. The only photograph of interest is one of Doris sitting on her bed with a strange arc light showing over her head. The light could not have been created by the lighting in the room and is actually above Doris, not on the wall as it does not bend with the corner of the room.
The Aftermath
Despite leaving that house Doris claimed that the entities followed her every time she and her family members moved. Doris claimed to have even become pregnant due to the spectral rapes but medical tests showed that she was suffering from an ectopic pregnancy. After the late 80s, Doris and her family had not been heard of. The family seemed to disappear from the spotlight and supposed to return to a normal life.
In 2009 Ghost Theory Magazine conducted and interview with Dori’s middle son, Brian, who stated; “We all experienced some form of attack. There was pushing, biting and scratching being done to us. There were about 4 entities in the home and they made themselves known by appearing all the time….I think it took a lot of energy for them to do that.” He described the entities as follows; “It was always like a fog. Like human….but not quite.” During one incident, Brian, who was in his early teens at the time attempted to intervene in his mother’s attack and was thrown across the room.
The Entity’s real-life victim, Doris Bither passed away at the age of 58 in 1999 of cardiopulmonary failure after moving to Texas and then back to California. While it was stated that her death was the result of multiple organ failure, the precise cause of such untimely organ failure was never medically determined. Doris’ chilling brush with unseen assailants came to be viewed as one of the most baffling and compelling cases in paranormal circles.
What truly happened in the Bither home in Culver City, Ca remains unclear. Was it a true intelligent haunting, poltergeist activity or a demonic infestation? Or was Doris simply a tormented woman with spiritual gifts that she didn’t know she possessed? We may never know.
