HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A 10-week UCLA parapsychology investigation at this Culver City home produced the documented case that became the 1982 film 'The Entity.'
11547 Braddock Dr, Culver City, CA 90230
Research updated June 2026
Age
18+
Cost
Free
Public street; drive-by or sidewalk observation only. The house is a private residence — do not enter the property.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat residential street.
Equipment
Photos OK
UCLA Parapsychology Investigation 1974 · Barry Taff / Kerry Gaynor Case · Basis for The Entity (1982 Film) · Frank De Felitta Novel Adaptation
Doris Bither moved with her four children to 11547 Braddock Drive in Culver City sometime in the early 1970s. In 1974 she approached Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor — parapsychology researchers affiliated with UCLA at the time — at a bookstore and described a sustained series of physical attacks by invisible entities in the house, attacks she claimed had been ongoing for some time.
Taff and Gaynor conducted a formal investigation of the property over approximately ten weeks. During the investigation, they documented what they described as luminous anomalies — balls of light that appeared to move with apparent purpose through the structure. Photographs taken during the investigation are among the most widely reproduced in the paranormal research literature, though their authenticity has been disputed. The researchers reported other poltergeist phenomena: objects moved, the temperature of specific rooms shifted abnormally.
Doris Bither's specific allegations — of repeated physical and sexual assault by the entities — were the most extreme elements of the case and generated significant skeptical criticism, including concerns about whether her mental and physical health at the time (she was reportedly dealing with alcoholism and significant personal stress) affected her perceptions and testimony. Taff himself has stated in subsequent interviews that the case's most extreme claims were made by Bither, not observed by the investigators.
Frank De Felitta adapted the case into a novel in 1978 and the film 'The Entity' followed in 1982. Bither relocated several times after the investigation; she died in 1999. The property at 11547 Braddock Drive remained a private residential address through subsequent decades. Taff has continued to discuss and defend portions of the case in the paranormal research community.
Sources
The Entity house occupies an unusual position in American paranormal history: it is one of the few residential cases where credentialed researchers spent sustained time on-site documenting what they observed, rather than relying solely on a resident's account.
Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor's investigation produced photographs of luminous anomalies that Taff has described as among the most compelling documentary evidence he encountered in his career. The light phenomena appeared on multiple occasions in the presence of researchers and were photographed; the photographs show arced and globular light forms that the investigators did not attribute to photographic artifact or natural light sources in the house.
Doris Bither described a recurring three-entity pattern — two smaller presences and one larger entity that she associated with the physical assaults. This specific configuration appeared in her testimony to the researchers and was incorporated into De Felitta's novel and the subsequent film. Taff has been careful to distinguish between what he and Gaynor directly observed (the light anomalies and poltergeist-type phenomena) and what Bither reported about the physical assaults, noting that the latter were experienced by the resident, not the investigators.
Bither relocated from the house not long after the investigation concluded, but she told interviewers that the phenomena followed her to subsequent residences before eventually stopping. She died in 1999. The Braddock Drive property became a quiet drive-by destination on LA ghost tour routes, best known to visitors who arrive already familiar with the case from the film.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The house at 11547 Braddock Dr is a private residence viewable from the public sidewalk. It is the site of a 1974 UCLA parapsychology investigation that became one of the most documented — and most disputed — cases in American paranormal research history.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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