What would it take to convince a skeptical, Ivy League-educated psychiatrist that demonic possession is real?

Not stories. Not hearsay. Not religious conviction alone.

It would take witnessing phenomena that violate every known law of science. Phenomena that cannot be explained by any psychiatric diagnosis, any medical condition, or any natural process.

Dr. Richard Gallagher, a professor of psychiatry who teaches at Columbia, New York Medical College, and a Catholic seminary, went into his first possession case as a skeptic. Twenty-five years and over 100 observed exorcisms later, he states unequivocally:

"I have no doubt. To me these are unequivocal phenomena."

What changed his mind? Three categories of evidence that defy all natural explanation: speaking languages never learned, levitation, and supernatural strength. Let's examine each.

Speaking Unknown Languages: The Gold Standard of Possession

Of all the phenomena Dr. Gallagher has witnessed, xenoglossy—speaking languages one has never learned—is perhaps the most scientifically impossible to explain away.

The Bulgarian Case

Dr. Gallagher describes observing an exorcism in the Midwest:

"There were about eight of us lay people at this exorcism. There was this relatively uneducated woman. She had never left her state. She certainly never studied any foreign language."

During the exorcism, the woman entered a trance. Suddenly, she began speaking in what sounded like a Slavic language. Dr. Gallagher, who knows several languages himself, didn't recognize it.

When she came out of the trance, she remembered nothing.

The observers asked the priest what had just happened.

The priest replied: "She was speaking Bulgarian—because I was born in Bulgaria."

The demon was speaking directly to the priest in his native language. A language this uneducated American woman had never been exposed to, let alone studied.

Why This Is So Convincing

Think about what this means:

It's not a few words. We're talking about fluent, grammatically correct speech in a complex language.

She had no exposure. Never traveled, never studied languages, never heard Bulgarian spoken.

She was in a trance. Her conscious mind wasn't even present—the demon was speaking through her.

It was conversational. The demon was responding to the priest's questions and statements.

She remembered nothing. When she came out of the trance, she had no awareness of what had occurred.

No Psychiatric Explanation

Dr. Gallagher is emphatic: "A mentally ill person or medically ill person doesn't all of a sudden start speaking a foreign language they never knew."

No psychiatric condition—not schizophrenia, not dissociative identity disorder, not psychosis—can explain fluent speech in a language the person has never learned.

1. Hallucinations don't teach you Bulgarian grammar
2. Delusions don't give you foreign vocabulary
3. Dissociation doesn't create linguistic knowledge
4. Mania doesn't make you fluent in Slavic languages

This phenomenon has been documented across cultures and throughout history. It appears in possession cases worldwide, and it remains scientifically inexplicable.

Multiple Documented Cases

Dr. Gallagher notes: "I've seen it many times."

This isn't a one-time anomaly. It's a recurring feature in severe possession cases. He's personally witnessed possessed individuals speaking:

1. Languages they'd never studied
2. Ancient or dead languages
3. Multiple foreign languages during the same session
4. Languages specifically chosen to communicate with the exorcist

"I could give you a number of other examples," he says, though he acknowledges that "giving example after example after example" may not convince hardened skeptics.

But for those present—medical professionals, priests, witnesses—the experience is undeniable.

Levitation: The Most Dramatic Phenomenon

If speaking unknown languages is scientifically impossible, levitation is physically impossible.

Yet Dr. Gallagher has documented credible reports of levitation from approximately 40 people he's interviewed who either witnessed it during exorcisms or experienced it themselves.

The Physics Problem

A science professor once challenged Dr. Gallagher: "That's impossible. It's against the laws of gravity."

Dr. Gallagher's response: "We Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead. We believe angels have some ability of flight. It doesn't fit the modern scientific paradigm, but that doesn't mean everything can be explained by simple materialism."

The point: If you accept that reality includes more than pure materialism, then phenomena that violate material laws become possible—not common, but possible.

The Credibility Question

Dr. Gallagher is careful about whom he believes: "I've talked to about 40 people in my life who either have been at an exorcism or experienced it themselves and they claim they witnessed a levitation."

He looks for:

1. Multiple witnesses (not single-person claims)
2. Credible observers (priests, medical professionals, lay assistants)
3. Consistent accounts (witnesses agreeing on what happened)
4. Sober individuals (not people prone to exaggeration)

One particularly credible report came from "a European professor that I know who also happens to be an exorcist. He's a priest, and he gave me a very credible report of a case of possession he was dealing with that levitated."

The Satanist Woman: The Most Dramatic Case

But the most remarkable case Dr. Gallagher investigated involved a woman deeply involved in Satanism.

The Satanist Woman Who Levitated for 30 Minutes

This case became the most dramatic in Dr. Gallagher's 25-year career investigating possession.

The Background

"This woman was a Satanist," Dr. Gallagher explains. "I don't see Satanists everywhere, but they do exist and they do some nefarious stuff. They kind of remain hidden. Some of their activity is at times criminal."

This wasn't someone claiming to be a Satanist for shock value. Dr. Gallagher and the priest who introduced him to the case "had a lot of evidence that she was involved with a satanic cult."

Her Relationship with Satan

The woman had devoted a significant portion of her life to Satan worship. She felt she had received favors from Satan in return.

"Why would you become a Satanist unless you thought you got something out of it?" Dr. Gallagher asks.

She claimed to have paranormal powers and "loved boasting about" them. She even demonstrated some of these abilities to Dr. Gallagher directly.

But eventually, she felt betrayed by Satan. She didn't exactly trust God either, so she was "a little bit betwixt in between."

The Exorcism

An exorcism was arranged. Dr. Gallagher didn't attend—he was a busy professional with a family, and couldn't always observe every exorcism.

But eight people were present at that exorcism. Eight witnesses. Medical professionals, priests, and lay assistants who were there to observe and help restrain the woman if needed.

What They All Witnessed

All eight people reported the same thing: She levitated for approximately 30 minutes.

Not a momentary lift off the ground. Not a few seconds. Half an hour.

The Possession Manifestations

During this same exorcism, witnesses reported:

1. She went into dramatic trances
2. She spoke "all kinds of foreign languages"
3. The demon manifested clearly through her
4. She displayed multiple signs of severe possession simultaneously

When Dr. Gallagher interviewed her after the exorcism about other sessions, she confirmed experiencing trances "quite a number of times" where she remembered nothing afterward.

Why She Was Never Delivered

Despite the exorcism, the woman was never freed from possession.

Why?

"Ultimately she didn't really want to leave the cult. So she was never delivered. You can't have it both ways. You can't have your cake and eat it too."

This reveals a crucial truth: Exorcism isn't magic. The person must cooperate. They must genuinely want freedom and be willing to reform their life.

She wanted relief from the worst effects but wasn't willing to fully abandon Satan. So she remained possessed.

The Credibility Factor

Why should we believe eight witnesses reporting levitation?

Multiple observers: Not one person, but eight independent witnesses

Sober context: During a formal exorcism with priests and medical professionals

Extended duration: 30 minutes is impossible to misperceive or rationalize away

Consistent accounts: All eight reported the same phenomenon

Credible reporter: Dr. Gallagher himself is a Harvard and Princeton-educated psychiatrist teaching at three institutions

No incentive to lie: These witnesses gain nothing from reporting this; if anything, they risk ridicule

Could all eight be lying? Colluding? Hallucinating simultaneously for 30 minutes? Mistaken about what they saw?

Dr. Gallagher finds such explanations more far-fetched than accepting what they reported.

Supernatural Strength: Beyond Psychiatric Agitation

The third category of physically impossible phenomena is supernatural strength.

The Distinction from Psychiatric Strength

Dr. Gallagher is careful here: "There are a lot of psychiatric conditions where people are so agitated that they have severe strength."

Manic patients, psychotic patients, people on certain drugs—they can all display remarkable strength due to:

1. Loss of normal inhibitions
2. Adrenaline surges
3. Inability to feel pain
4. Complete lack of restraint

But possession-related strength is different.

The Combination Matters

It's not just strength alone. It's strength combined with:

1. Going into trances
2. Speaking unknown languages
3. Displaying hidden knowledge
4. Showing "great hostility towards religious stuff"

"This is the kind of combination of features that you need to see to make sure that you're dealing with something like a severe possession," Dr. Gallagher explains.

Documented Examples

During possessions Dr. Gallagher has observed:

1. Small individuals requiring 5-10 people to restrain them
2. Strength that persists for extended periods
3. Resistance that goes beyond normal agitated strength
4. Physical power combined with other supernatural manifestations

From the Islamic perspective shared in earlier content: A five-foot petite teenage girl possessed by a jinn required seven to ten grown men to hold her down. She broke free multiple times, head-butted a man hard enough to cut his nose, and fought with strength no psychiatric condition could explain—especially combined with the other manifestations present.

Why Strength Alone Isn't Enough

Dr. Gallagher emphasizes that strength by itself doesn't indicate possession. Many psychiatric patients display remarkable strength.

The strength becomes significant only when combined with other signs that cannot be explained psychiatrically:

1. The xenoglossy (unknown languages)
2. The hidden knowledge
3. The trances with amnesia
4. The specific reactions to blessed objects
5. The manifestation of an entity claiming to be demonic

Why These Phenomena Matter

1. They Cannot Be Faked

You cannot fake fluent Bulgarian if you've never learned Bulgarian. You cannot fake levitation for 30 minutes in front of eight observers. You cannot fake supernatural strength combined with speaking ancient languages you've never studied.

2. They Cannot Be Explained Psychiatrically

No mental illness teaches you foreign languages. No psychiatric condition makes you levitate. No diagnosis explains the entire combination of features.

3. They Cannot Be Explained Medically

No neurological condition, no brain tumor, no seizure disorder creates these phenomena.

4. They Require a Different Paradigm

As Dr. Gallagher states: "The scientific method cannot explain everything in human life."

These phenomena "would be very good phenomena that challenge the exclusive realm of normative scientific materialism."

5. They Point to Reality Beyond Matter

If these phenomena are real—and Dr. Gallagher has witnessed them repeatedly over 25 years—they indicate that reality includes more than physical matter operating under physical laws.

They suggest the existence of:

1. Non-material entities (spirits)
2. Non-physical causation
3. Realities beyond scientific materialism
4. The spiritual dimension

The Skeptic's Journey to Belief

Dr. Gallagher never set out to become a believer in possession. When the first priest approached him, he was "a little skeptical."

"I never volunteered," he emphasizes.

But "within a couple of years, having seen very dramatic cases, I not only was convinced that they existed, I was also convinced that while rare, they were more common than most people imagined."

What convinced him?

Not theology. Not tradition. Not religious teaching alone.

Evidence. Repeated, documented, witnessed evidence of phenomena that cannot be explained by any natural means.

1. Speaking Bulgarian fluently without having learned it
2. Levitating for 30 minutes in front of multiple witnesses
3. Displaying strength combined with trances, unknown languages, and hidden knowledge
4. Consistent patterns across hundreds of cases
5. Phenomena that violate known laws of linguistics, physics, and medicine

"By this point, trust me, I have no doubt. To me these are unequivocal phenomena."

The Rarity Factor

Dr. Gallagher is careful to emphasize: "I do believe they're rare."

These dramatic manifestations—xenoglossy, levitation, extreme supernatural strength—don't happen in every possession case. They're the most severe manifestations of the most severe possessions.

Most people will never encounter them. Most possession cases (already rare) don't include levitation.

But they do happen. Documented. Witnessed. Investigated by trained medical professionals.

Why Rare Doesn't Mean Unreal

Just because something is rare doesn't make it less real:

1. Lightning strikes are rare but real
2. Surviving plane crashes is rare but documented
3. Quintuplets are rare but happen
4. Levitation during possession is rare but witnessed

The rarity actually adds to credibility—if people were faking this, we'd see it constantly. The fact that it's documented but uncommon suggests genuine phenomena that occur under specific, unusual conditions.

The Materialist's Dilemma

Hardcore materialists—those who believe only physical matter and physical laws exist—face an impossible challenge with these cases:

Option 1: Dismiss all witnesses as lying or deluded

1. But these are credible professionals with nothing to gain
2. Multiple independent witnesses reporting the same events
3. Consistent patterns across cultures and centuries

Option 2: Claim the phenomena are misperceived or exaggerated

1. But 30 minutes of levitation can't be misperceived
2. Fluent Bulgarian can't be "sort of" spoken
3. Eight witnesses can't all be confused about the same event

Option 3: Invent elaborate naturalistic explanations

1. Maybe she secretly studied Bulgarian and faked amnesia?
2. Maybe they all hallucinated simultaneously?
3. Maybe there's a hidden medical condition that creates fluent language abilities?

Dr. Gallagher finds these explanations more absurd than accepting what the evidence suggests: Non-material entities exist and can manifest physical effects.

What This Means for the Rest of Us

Most people will never witness levitation or hear someone speak in tongues they never learned.

But these documented extreme cases tell us something crucial:

The spiritual realm is real.

If demons can possess people and cause them to levitate or speak unknown languages, then:

1. The material world is not all that exists
2. Spiritual entities are real
3. The battle between good and evil is actual, not metaphorical
4. Our spiritual choices have real consequences
5. Protection through faith and prayer is necessary, not superstitious

The Comfort in the Evidence

Paradoxically, these extreme cases should be comforting:

They're rare. Most people never face anything like this.

They require opening doors. The Satanist woman was deeply involved in Satan worship. Possession doesn't happen randomly to good people living faithful lives.

They can be fought. Exorcism works. God's power is greater. Even if the Satanist woman wasn't delivered (because she didn't truly want freedom), others have been successfully freed.

They prove the spiritual realm. If evil spirits are real, then so are good spirits, angels, and ultimately, God.

The Bottom Line

After 25 years investigating possession, observing over 100 exorcisms, and documenting hundreds of cases, Dr. Richard Gallagher—a skeptical, scientifically trained psychiatrist—has reached an unequivocal conclusion:

Demonic possession is real, and some cases display phenomena that cannot possibly be explained by natural means.

Speaking fluent languages never learned. Levitating for extended periods. Displaying supernatural strength combined with other manifestations. These aren't stories or legends. They're documented events witnessed by credible observers.

The Satanist woman who levitated for 30 minutes. The Midwestern woman who spoke Bulgarian she'd never learned. The dozens of cases involving strength, knowledge, and abilities that defy every psychiatric and medical explanation.

The evidence is there for those willing to examine it.

As Dr. Gallagher notes, most of the world—billions of Christians, Muslims, and adherents of other faiths—already believes in evil spirits. It's primarily Western secular culture that dismisses these realities.

But the evidence doesn't care about cultural trends or philosophical preferences.

The phenomena happen. They're witnessed. They're documented. And they're unequivocal.

The question isn't whether these things occur. The question is whether we're willing to accept what they tell us: Reality includes more than matter. The spiritual realm is real. And we must take it seriously.