Joasia Gajewski: Poland's Psychokinetic Marvel

It is very important for me to say at the start of this article that I have found very few sources which discuss Joasia and that I have failed to find any video evidence of what will be discussed in this article. As to how I know of Joasia; Joel Stern, translator of the book about her titled 'The Elusive Force', contacted me via email and shared some articles about her. He also shared a couple of the photos I will include in this post as I feel they're really good points for discussion. I will discuss all I've managed to find out about Joasia, and the events which unfolded around her, and then I will discuss my own thoughts at the end. I have never been so conflicted on a paranormal case study as I am with what I've read, and seen, about Joasia.

Another important piece of information to mentions is that Joasia's Polish surname is 'Gajewska'. I found that some sources wrote 'Gajewska', but that others wrote 'Gajewski'. I emailed Joel Stern about this as I was unsure as to which to use, and he replied with: "in the English translation I call her "Joasia Gajewski" to avoid confusing English-language readers who might be unfamiliar with Polish gender distinctions in names ("ski" for males, "ska" for females)." He advised that I should call her Joasia Gajewski in my article, and so that is what I will do.

History

The case around Joasia Gajewski technically starts back in 1982 with the death of her grandma. I've been unable to find when her grandma died but, on the 4th of April 1983, the Gajewski household started to experience poltergeist activity. They lived in a flat in Sosnowiec and, due to the activity, they presumed the flat to be haunted. During the first incident, while Joasia was still asleep, plates and glasses smashed against the walls and furniture as they flew around at high speeds. Once the lights were turned on by her parents, shards of glass flew at Joasia; some of which cut her as she tried to hide under her blanket. Joasia was only thirteen years old when she experienced the event. During this time, her blanket gave off sparks due to it being charged with electricity from the paranormal activity occuring.

Local authorities did investigate the house, but they couldn't explain the phenomena which the family experienced. This led to the family moving to Czeladź, which was nearby, but the poltergeist seemed to follow them. It quickly became clear that the poltergeist activity revolved around Joasia as crackling sounds would occur near her, electrical devices broke down around her, watch batteries and tape recorders would malfunction, film taken of her remained unexposed, and she would become electrically charged. When this happened, people around her would get a shock from shaking her hand, but she would not become grounded by doing this.

Joasia was often hit or cut by flying objects, and on one occasion eggs even flew out of the fridge despite the door remaining closed at the time. This is one of a few instances where it seemed objects had passed through a physical barrier such as a door or wall. Plus, when activity occured, the family dog would be able to sense it before it happened and so would hide in a corner. It was concluded that the activity occuring was not a result of poltergeist activity through the means of a haunting, such as what was suspected to have been the case, but instead that the activity was all being conducted by Joasia. The activity was often beyond her conscious control, and so occured randomly, but it was established that Joasia Gajewski had psychokinetic abilities.

What followed was forty months (three and a quarter years, rounding down) worth of scientific testing on Joasia to try and understand her abilities. Her physician, Dr. Eustachiusz Gadula, invited her to spend time at the student sanitorium he was the director of. During this time, some people did suspect that Joasia's abilities may have gone as she had appeared on TV and failed to do anything. This embarrassing appearance led to a government official saying on the radio that she was someone who 'imagines something is flying around her'. She was also described as acting peevish.

Despite the thoughts that Joasia may have lost her abilities, her time under observation showed quite the opposite. On the 28th of January 1985, a huge event occured in the Academic Rehabilitation Centre in Zakopane. A head nurse and the ward attendant were standing in the hall outside Joasia's room; room 309. The attendant had been cleaning the toilet across the hall from room 309, and so the nurse asked her to clean the mirror which was in that room. As the attendant went to do that, a huge crash occured in room 309. The nurse ran in and saw glass moving around in the air. This glass flew towards the nurse, covering her apron in glass shards. Through the whole incident, Joasia sat in a chair.

The nurse then saw that the mirror over the sink in Joasia's room was still intact. The attendant, however, discovered that the mirror she had been sent to clean in a different room had vanished. Dispite Joasia's door having remained closed, the mirror from the other room had somehow found it's way into Joasia's. Even the thick fibreboard sheet which the mirror had been mounted on in the other room had somehow appeared on the floor of Joasia's room.

Two days later, the sound of an explosion came from Joasia's room. Doctors, nurses, and students all ran into her room to see what had happened. They saw that the sink was smashed up on the floor with one of it's metal supports ripped off the wall, the other metal support buckled, the drainage pipe severed, and the thick metal faucet broken and strangely twisted as though it had been hit by a sledgehammer.

These two events are the more detailed accounts I could find. Other things reported to have happened are that water would spontaneously appear on the walls, unexplained fires would occur, and flying objects would make right turns in mid-air. Light bulbs would also shatter leaving the filaments to glow long afterwards. It was also found that Joasia could bend cutlery such as teaspoons in a similar manner to that of Uri Geller. I asked Joel Stern on more information regarding Joasia's spoon bending, and he replied saying: 'the coauthors of the book took me to see Joasia and her family in Czeladz twice, in October 1989 and in the summer of 1990. On each occasion she bent a steel spoon right before my eyes, just by rubbing it with one or two fingers for a couple of minutes.' I asked him for clarification on what type of spoon it was Joasia bent for him, and he did confirm it was a teaspoon on both occasions.

Through her time of being tested, research was conducted in a number of locations. These were:

1. The Departments of Biophysics, Medical University of Silesia

2. The Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia

3. The Institute of Metal Science and Welding, Silesian University of Technology

4. The Therapeutic and Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Repty

5. The Academic Rehabilitation Center in Zakopane

6. Górniczy, The Therapeutic and Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Tarnowskie Gary

Joasia was also tested by a number of different people too. These were:

1. Dr. Eustachiusz Gadula

2. Dr. Mirosław Harciarek

3. Prof. Lech Radwanowski

4. Ph.D. Jerzy Sosnowski

5. Prof. Klara Cieślak

It's quite unusual for multiple researchers from across a number of sites to be brought in for such a case, but it allowed for more conclusive results to be gained. Through medical examinations along with biophysical, psychological, metallographic, and telepathic tests; it was found that Joasia was able to induce telekinesis by filling the room with ultraviolet light and ionised air. It was also found that she excelled at the telepathic tests, even saying that she tends to forget her dreams, but when she remembers them it means something is about to happen. This was an indicator of her precognitive abilities, although the statement was vague.

It was also found through the numerous tests that Joasia experienced a fever, sometimes achieving a temperature of over 42°C. Along with this, she also suffered from headaches and felt as though her energy had been drained. A nurse reported that Joasia felt ill for a number of hours after each event occured; even appearing to be drowsy, listless, along with having a poor appetite. The studies also identified physical and psychological factors to Joasia's abilities. These included low levels of dopamine, as what is sometimes found in epileptic seizures. Joasia's retinal after images also showed interesting anomalies, some of which are associated with a malfunctioning thyroid gland, even though Joasia's thyroid was normal. It was also found that Joasia could consciously control her abilities to an extent, such as when it came to metal bending.

The phenomena around Joasia did decline as she ended her adolescence, and in her final public statement in October 1989, she displayed interest in wanting to become a healer by saying 'contact with sick people suits me. I want to help them'. The events around Joasia lasted for seven years in total, during which time it was confirmed that her abilities were genuine and that the phenomena occuring was real. However, results were inconclusive.

A book about Joasia was published in Poland during 1989, originally under the title 'Nieuchwytna Siła', and was written by Anna Ostrzycka and her husband Marek Rymuszko. A version of this book, translated into English by Joel Stern, was released thirty-four years later during 2023. This translation was titled 'The Elusive Force'. Following the events and studies Joasia experienced, she has since disappeared entirely from the public eye. All that is known about her currently is that she is married and has two children.

My Thoughts

Joasia is interesting for a few reasons. She experienced activity for seven years at varying intensity, and I've found this kind of thing tends to last a few months to a year. Apparently it was also meticulously documented, and this documentation ruled out the possibility of a hoax. It did, however, fail to determine the cause of the effects. Rosemary Pilkington, a book reviewer, has said 'it is one of the best-documented and well-investigated examples of recurrent spontanious psychokinesis (RSPK), also known as 'poltergeist' activity that has emerged to date'.

So, it is an impressive case. However, I still feel heavily conflicted on it for a number of reasons. I am someone who does believe in the paranormal, and who does believe that psychic abilities, such as telepathy and psychokinesis, are real. However, despite my belief to the existence of these things, I do not believe everything that presents itself as these things necessarily are.

In the case of Joasia, I can't help but think to what I know regarding Uri Geller, James Randi, Project Alpha, and the Carlos hoax. I'm quite glad I waited until after I had done a blog post on those before I wrote about Joasia as, had I wrote about Joasia first, this section on my thoughts would be very different. I will also say that as I have had direct communication with Joel Stern, I am hesitant to be critical of the Joasia case. So, I will be delicate, but I will still question and highlight certain things I feel need addressing here.

Firstly, I will discuss the meticulous documentation and extensive studies that were conducted around Joasia. If you aren't aware, Project Alpha was a study which began in 1979 and lasted for two years. It was conducted at Washington University, St Louis. Two men, Michael Edwards and Steve Shaw, were the focus of this study as they claimed to possess psychic abilities. These abilities, like with Joasia, included being able to bend metal objects such as spoons. One of these tests involved rotating an object which was kept out of reach via a glass dome which was placed over it. Both men displayed the ability to rotate the object without removing the glass dome. The researchers involved concluded that the men displayed legitimate psychic ability, however, before they could publish the study, the two men revealed to the world that they were actually amateur magicians who had been planted at the University by the skeptic James Randi.

Granted, the two magicians were under testing for just over a year less than Joasia, but when it comes to scientific study it is important to remember a quote from James Randi: 'No matter how smart or well educated you are, you can be decieved.' Now, do I think the researchers were decieved by Joasia? With what I know of Project Alpha; potentially. I don't think the length of time is important in the study, but rather the changing of variables through testing is. The Project Alpha participants have said as variables were changed, it became increasingly difficult for them to convincingly get the desired results during experiments. So, I do think Joasia could have fooled the researchers; but there is only one thing which suggests this to me.

So, onto the spoon bending. Uri Geller was a well known spoon bender, and self proclaimed psychic, through the 1970s. He would appear on tv and bend spoons by brushing them lightly with a finger or two, sometimes even causing the head of the spoon to snap. James Randi, being a magician, knew how to replicate this and so also went on tv showing how this trick was done. In the image above, you can see Joasia holding a spoon she has bent. This image looks an awful amount like the kind of result Uri Geller would get, and what James Randi would replicate.

I've done some of my own research into how to do this trick, and I've found that it's done by pushing down onto the head of the spoon in a way where it looks like you're doing nothing but brushing against where the bend occurs. This is why the head of the spoon looks like it's been pushed down. Even though the spoon is metal, due to the metal being thin it is incredibly easy to bend spoons at this point; especially if it is a teaspoon as teaspoons have a much thinner form. Due to my suspicions on Joasia possibly bending spoons in the same way as James Randi, especially after the confirmation that she had bent two teaspoons for Joel Stern, I asked him if he could provide me with some photos of the spoons she had bent for him. He was extremely cooperative in this, which I thank him for, and even told me that he only ever saw her bend spoons. He did not witness objects flying around the room as what people have said had happened. The images he sent are below.

Now, as you can see, these spoons are very different from the one Joasia is holding in her image; and this is really good. Through the method I'm aware of, the spoons in the images Joel has sent to me could not possibly have been bent through the method I know. These spoons look incredibly twisted as though significant heat was applied which caused them to become more flexible and bend. A particularly interesting detail is that they aren't only twisted, but both are twisted in a way where the head of the spoon is at a right angle to the handle. This is unfortunately a detail which provided me with more questions though.

In one of my email exchanges with Joel, he told me that an image in a podcast, which he sent me the link to, was of him holding a spoon which Joasia had bent during one of his two visits. He also said she bent two spoons for him, one per visit, and that he kept both spoons. This leads me to discuss this image he told me about.

It is incredibly difficult to tell from the above image, but I do not believe he is holding either spoon seen in the other images. It looks the most like spoon number one due to the larger loop which can be seen near his thumb, but the shaping is all wrong. As I mentioned earlier, the spoons he said Joasia bend for him, of which there were only two, are shaped at a right angle so that the head of the spoon points away from the handle. It is hard to tell, but in the above image it looks like the spoon is bent in a way where the head of the spoon points towards the handle and no clear right angle can be seen. Now, to be completely fair here, I will quote Joel again with what he has told me about these images.

Quotes:

'Here's a recent podcast about the Joasia Gajewski case. In the photo I'm holding a steel spoon that she bent right before my eyes, just by rubbing it with one or two fingers for a couple of minutes (during my first visit to her family in Czeladz in Oct. 1989).'

'the coauthors of the book took me to see Joasia and her family in Czeladz twice, in October 1989 and in the summer of 1990. On each occasion she bent a steel spoon right before my eyes, just by rubbing it with one or two fingers for a couple of minutes. I kept both spoons as mementos of my sole "paranormal" experience. However, I didn't see any objects flying around in the Gajewski family's apartment during my two visits.'

'To answer your question about the 2 spoons that Joasia bent: they are steel teaspoons, their handles are grotesquely twisted like pretzels, and their thickness is that of a standard teaspoon. If you take a look at the spoon in the podcast photo, I'm holding the one she bent for me in Oct. 1989.'

'My neighbor took cell phone pictures of the two teaspoons that Joasia Gajewski bent for me in 1989 and 1990 during my two visits to her family's apartment in the town of Czeladz.'

So, from reading the quotes which were taken from emails Joel Stern had sent to me, you can see he is claiming that the spoon he is holding is the same as one of the two in the other images. You can also see he describes Joasia as bending the spoons through the same 'rubbing with two fingers' method as Uri Geller and James Randi can be seen doing on a number of televised interviews. As a result, the bent spoons aren't adding up to me. To my eye all three spoons hold no resemblance to one another. This means there is either a third spoon, which he says there isn't, or Joasia bent the spoon back into a right angle after the photo was taken; and it makes no sense for the spoon to be bent only to be bent back again after the photo is taken. The loop in the spoon looks to be of a different size too.

This brings me to discussing the Carlos hoax. If you aren't aware, during 1987 James Randi worked with Australia's '60 Minutes' TV programme to show how the media don't do their research properly when it comes to the paranormal and that they will gladly promote something false as though it was true. To do this Randi collaborated with the artist Jose Alvarez to create the character of Carlos. Jose pretended to be possessed by an ancient spirit called Carlos and Randi sent fake news articles to various media outlets across Austraila about how much of a sensation Carlos was in America. This resulted in Carlos being interviewed and booked in locations such as the Sydney Opera House. People were so convinced that Carlos was genuine that they were willing to spend $500 for his tears and $14,000 for an 'Atlantis crystal'.

The reason why the case of Joasia Gajewski reminds me of the Carlos hoax is because of how little I've managed to find about her. Usually in an article I use up to fifty sources. For this particular article I really struggled to find anything about her, and so have only used twelve sources; and some of those only feature a paragraph to promote the book. I have also used articles sent to me be Joel Stern, but this too shows similarities with what Randi did with the Carlos hoax. So, do I think this is all an elaborate hoax which certain members of the paranormal community are being duped with? I honestly don't know, and this is why I'm so conflicted when it comes to Joasia. There are so few sources on this case, and one source even admits that like myself they had never heard of Joasia before Joel emailed them.

The things for me going against the legitimacy of this case are the inconsistency with the photographed spoons along with the lack of sources: all of which stem from either Joel himself, or the translated book. Now, as I'm writing this I have had a thought of 'maybe I can't find anything because I'm searching in English?' Thankfully, this has caused my sources to increase from their original number, and so I now don't doubt the existence of Joasia. To find additional sources, 'joanna gajewska nieuchwytna siła' had to be searched. This is potentially her full Polish name along with the Polish title of the book about her.

Now, does finding more sources change my thoughts? Not really. A few sources are still within the last year, and many are to sell the book. The warning about taking the validity of an event at face value is still true, so that definitely hasn't changed. I also still reserve concerns over the spoons in the images being different. I think Project Alpha shows us that individuals can undergo scientific study for years and keep scientists fooled in this time, that James Randi shows us that spoon bending is a trick anyone can perform, and that the Carlos hoax teaches us that we cannot ever take anyones word for something. Without video footage of Joasia demonstrating her abilities, and with Joel only ever seeing her bend spoons, I can't help but think that the Joasia case is at best overexaggurated. Hearsay is not valid to go on, even if it is a scientist saying it; so for the stories of objects passing through walls and glass flying through the air, images and video need to have been captured.

My final thoughts are that nothing is ever as it really seems. As James Randi said, 'no matter how smart or well educated you are, you can be decieved'; and as Uri Geller said 'because magicians can duplicate some of these things with trickery does not mean that genuine psychics do it with trickery. Anyone can imitate the Mona Lisa, but that does not make them Leonardo Da Vinci.'

Thank you for reading to the end of this article. It was a strange one to write because of it being about someone I had no prior knowledge of, and it's the first time I've encountered knowledge being hidden behind a google language barrier. I do think it's important for people to know about this case, and it's especially important for people to be skeptical about it. I'm quite glad I didn't find more sources dating back to being published beyond the last year until I was nearly finished with this article because it has raised the important question of how to know what is really real. The image of Joel holding the spoon is odd too regarding how it isn't clear at all what he's holding. It's a strange case with some strange inconsistencies.

Other individuals who I'm likely going to look further into after reading about Joasia are Matthew Manning, Tina Resch, Gilbert Roller, and Sarah S. Matthew Manning became a healer. Gilbert Roller, and the Ohio teen Tina Resch, were both attacked in similar ways to Joasia. Sarah S was a woman in her 40s from Ottawa, Canada, and produced RSPK and PK like Joasia. She was studied by a team of scientists, including the respected neuroscientist Michael Persinger of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

A special thank you to Damain, Nicolette, The Cornish Ghost Whisperers, and Kerry for your continued support of The True Paranormal. Also, a huge thank you to Joel Stern for emailing me about Joasia. He's been incredibly cooperative regarding sending photos of the spoons, along with providing me with some of the information I've used in this article. I know I've been fairly critical, but I really do appreciate it. If you want to follow The True Paranormal you can do so on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, and Tumblr. You can also subscribe to The True Paranormal on YouTube, or directly to this website through the bar on the left which will give you email notifications. That bar also lists all of the links which will take you to The True Paranormal's various social media platforms. If you want to contact me about your own experiences, or about anything at all paranormal, you can email thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com

Sources I have Used

1. Society for Psychical Research

2. Research Gate

3. Everand

4. Anomalist Books

5. Charles Fort Institute

6. Anomalien

7. Bookshop

8. O'Reilly

9. Copperfield's Books

10. Better Read

11. Greyscale Atapi