In 1974, a woman named Doris Bither walked up to two UCLA parapsychologists in a bookstore and told them she was being beaten and sexually assaulted — by something invisible. Her kids heard the attacks through the walls. Her friends saw the bruises. The researchers investigated for months and even photographed an unexplained light formation in her home that ran in a photography magazine. That case became the basis for the 1982 film The Entity — but the director refused to meet Doris before making it, saying he didn’t want to “judge” her. Doris was reportedly tormented until her death in 1999 — with help never actually coming.
The director of the 1982 horror film The Entity refused to meet Doris Bither, the woman whose reported experiences inspired the movie. He said he didn’t want to “judge” her.
Bither’s story entered the public record in 1974, when she approached 2 UCLA parapsychologists in a bookstore. She told them an invisible presence was beating and sexually assaulting her inside her home.
Her children said they heard the attacks through the walls, while friends reported seeing bruises on her body. The researchers spent months investigating and photographed an unexplained formation of light in the house that was later published in a photography magazine.
The film gave the story a dramatic final confrontation. Bither’s life had no such resolution. Doctors described her as delusional, accused her of injuring herself and, in one case, attributed the alleged haunting to her sexuality. Reports said the torment continued until her death in 1999.
