The Possession of Joseph and Theolbald Bruner

Most cases of possession can ultimately be explained by medical and psychological causes, but in some cases there is no easy medical answer and the supernatural is the only reasonable answer.  The case of Joseph and Theobald Bruner was a a tragic one that baffled all the medical professionals of the time.   Their case is one of the most striking and violent cases of demonic possession ever recorded.  The records of the local priest say that the possession began when both boys began drawing pictures of devils and demons on the walls in their bedroom.  They would whisper to the demons at night and treat them as friends.   Shortly after, the boys began going through terrible physical contortions.  Their limbs would lock together in unnatural positions and they couldn't be unlocked.   They would arch their backs backward in impossible positions and speak in languages they had never heard.

The symptoms became worse with time and eventually their bodies would begin to bloat.   Shortly after the bloating, the boys would vomit a lovely mixture of foam, feathers, and seaweed.   They vomited all manner of things they had never eaten and many of the objects they vomited weren't even available at the house they lived in.  The boys were constantly covered in seaweed and feathers and vomit no matter how often they were cleaned. Their beds levitated and objects in the room around them were flung about inexplicably.  The boys also gained psychic abilities and were able to predict the deaths of people in the village.  The boys parents eventually sent the boys away for the exorcism ritual and spent the rest of their lives at the St. Charles Orphanage.  During their stay at the orphanage they told the nuns that they were "The Lord of Darkness."  It took four years to exorcise the boys, during which time they lived in constant torment

Even after the exorcism, there was no happy ending for the two cursed children.  One boy died shortly after the exorcism at the age of 16 and the other boy died at 25.   The case of the Bruner boys still baffles people to this day.   Assuming that the priests and witnesses weren't lying, no natural explanation for what happened to the Bruners has been found.  If their case wasn't an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an entire village, orphanage, and the clergy,  it is one of the most conclusive cases of possession.