'Teleportation': A Strange Case

In fantasy, 'teleportation' or 'transfiguration' occurs when a person steps into a giant scanner and just seconds later appears somewhere else, with mind, body and soul still as one unified entity.

This phenomenon is almost exclusively found in science fiction movies. However, nearly 70 years ago, there was a recorded case of 'disappearance - transformation' . Is it true?

"Disappear" in the blink of an eye

Cornelio Closa (left) during the 'disappearance' phenomenon, and in a press interview 14 years later.

It was 1951. Like any other afternoon, 13-year-old Cornelio Closa from Zamora Junior High School in Manila, Philippines was returning home with his classmate, Rudolfo. It was a beautiful day and nothing seemed to indicate anything unusual was about to happen. However, as the two were crossing a field, Cornelio suddenly stopped. Rudolfo turned around and saw his friend's face pale, his expression terrified, staring at something with his eyes wide open.

To his friend's surprise, Cornelio said he saw a girl dressed in white, with long golden hair, floating on the grass. Then, in the blink of an eye, Cornelio disappeared, leaving his friend alone in the deserted field in a state of panic. Rushing to his friend's house to tell him the news, Rudolfo was extremely surprised to see Cornelio already there. Cornelio recounted that the girl told him to reach out and touch her, and suddenly he felt his body become light and in a split second he was standing in front of his house. However, this was only the beginning of the mystery.

After that, Cornelio's behavior and manners began to change. The boy who was always cheerful, good at studying, and sociable suddenly became sad, grumpy, quarrelsome, ready to fight with his friends, skip school, and create a lot of trouble for everyone. He also continued to "disappear" mysteriously, usually disappearing from one place and appearing in another in the blink of an eye, to the horror of witnesses, including relatives, teachers, and classmates.

One of Cornelio's teachers later told an evangelist, Lester Sumrall, about his experience with the boy: "Cornelio was constantly causing fights at school. The strange thing was that despite his small size, Cornelio had the strength of a superman, and several older children together could not control him. Once, I called him up to answer a question. He stood in front of the class for a while and then suddenly disappeared as if he had evaporated into thin air. These things scared me so much that I decided to quit teaching."

Meanwhile, Cornelio's parents were also concerned when their son often fell into a seemingly animalistic state, even attacking his father. His other defiant behavior included hiding things from people, breaking furniture and dishes, stealing money, growling or nagging, and disturbing people.

He can appear and disappear even when all doors are closed, as if objects such as walls and doors do not exist. Sometimes these strange "disappearances" leave behind a foul smell, making witnesses even more confused.

He spoke about this strange period in a later interview: "Sleeping seemed impossible for me. Some nights, I would sweat profusely, feel a terrible heat on my body, as if my clothes were on fire. If I opened my eyes, there would be my friend's face, looking at me, waving at me to follow her. Every time her hand touched me, I felt like I was flying. Then I would leave home, sometimes for several days. I could not explain to my family what had happened. The girl made me promise not to say anything. When no one was in the house to disturb me, I would go crazy, sitting there waiting for the girl. When I was with her, I did not feel tired or hungry, even when I returned home, I found out I had been gone for several days. I saw her as an angel, so it was difficult to resist the attraction to follow her."

Angel or devil?

The girl who caused the 'disappearance' phenomenon as described by Cornelio.

Cornelio was taken to psychologists, doctors, and mental health professionals for evaluation, but they all confirmed that he was normal. Eventually, his family took him to a mental health center. There, Cornelio became out of control and disruptive, so they sent him home. He was then sent to a juvenile detention facility, and sent back again.

This strange phenomenon continued for more than a year, before the Closa family sought religious help. Missionary Lester Sumrall offered to take Cornelio to his church. Later, Cornelio said that as soon as he entered the church door, he felt very uncomfortable, turned around and saw his friend standing in front of the door, but instead of being a beautiful young woman in white, she now looked terribly ugly, not like a girl or a woman. After that, the missionary performed an exorcism and Cornelio was freed from the girl's attraction, he was no longer visited by her.

In 1965, Cornelio gave a rare interview to two reporters from United Press International, and this "disappearance" case attracted public attention at that time.

The Manila boy's "teleportation" phenomenon has been attributed to the paranormal world and has been written about by many popular authors and writers, and missionary Sumrall also published a book called Alien Entities: A Look Behind the Door to the Spirit Realm, which tells about the strange phenomenon.

However, many people were skeptical about what Sumrall wrote. They thought that he was a missionary who wanted to promote the phenomenon as a religious victory of good over evil. Therefore, he was considered an unbiased witness.

But in any case, through witnesses and preserved documents, this case is still considered a strange thing in modern history.