Episode 30 - Christopher Josiffe - The mystery of Gef the Mongoose

In the early 1930’s, a very odd story emerged from the Isle of Man, a small island located in the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland. A man called James Irving had reported to his friends that an unusual animal similar to a weasel had taken up residence on his farm. Although the scratching sounds and other weird noises were relatively explainable, what was remarkable in this instance was that, according to Irving, this creature could talk, and perform a range of unusual feats.  

It would eventually come to be known as Gef, who identified himself as a mongoose who had been born in 1852 in Delhi, India. His activities with the Irving family over the next few years after would baffle and intrigue a variety of interested parties, including Harry Price, perhaps the most famous investigator of the paranormal in Britain at the time.

Despite this interest, a satisfying conclusion to the mystery was never reached, yet the case of the ‘Dalby Spook’ still fascinates people all these years later, including my guest for this episode, Christoper Josiffe, who in 2017 released his book Gef! The Strange Tale of an Extra-Special Talking Mongoose, a brilliantly researched and definitive account of this case.

I’ve been fascinated by the story of Gef for many years and it was a real pleasure to get Christopher onto the podcast to talk all about him.

For more information on Christopher's book and to purchase it, please visit https://gefmongoose.co.uk/book/.

The Some Other Sphere is from https://www.purple-planet.com/

'Hubbub' by Chris Martin/Geoff Harvey