We can see Edith by radio

Yesterday's post was inspired by a radio program about mysterious voices which appear on certain radio frequencies without explanation. I heard one live once, when Sandy Toxvig was hosting a Saturday morning program from 'the most haunted house in Britain'.

Her guests were sat around chatting about spooks and things, then - in a short gap in the conversation - a voice is heard whispering what sounds like, "I died" into a microphone.

Nobody who was there at the time - including the sound engineers -  heard it, but the millions of listeners did, and you can still hear it now in the archives.

The one thing most these voices have in common is that nobody can agree about all aspects of them - What is it saying? Is it male or female? What kind of an accent does it have? They seem to be interpreted by individuals as if they were tailored to their psyche.

There was a ghost-hunter who specialised in these voices and made many recordings of them using an old radio. His wife was called Edith.

One night, a cultured BBC male voice cut in and said, "We can see Edith by radio."

It is as clear as the rest of the words behind it - clearer in fact - and there is no mistaking the accent or sex of the speaker.

This same radio ghost-hunter once tried to make contact with the poet Phillip Larkin, who was renowned for frequenting melancholy grave yards in life. He says, "Are you there, Phillip Larkin?" and a male voice briefly replies, "Can't stop. Still tramping."

Another recording has a voice which says that it is lost and doesn't know where it is. Another says it cannot find its way home.

It seems they do wander the earth for an eternity.