The London Times of June 24, 1880, relates that at High Easter, Essex, England, the home of the Brewster family was plagued by poltergeist disturbances. Brewster thought he saw a shadowy figure that he “recognized as that of his neighbor, Susan Sharpe.” The man and his son went to the woman’s house, dragged her to a nearby pond, and threw her in to see if she would float or sink. As Fort records, “though once upon a time, this was the scientific thing to do, fashions in science had changed. Brewster and his son were arrest, and were bound over to keep the peace.”
–Charles Fort, Wild Talents, p. 995-996 (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).