Rochas d'Aiglun, Lt.-Col. Eugene Auguste-Albert de (1837-1914)

Prominent French psychical investigator, famous for his researches in human emanations, hypnotism, reincarnation, and physical phenomena. He served as attaché to the French General Staff during the Franco-Prussian War and was administrator of the École Polytechnique of Paris, but owing to his interest in occult investigations was forced to resign.

Rochas was the first writer to acquaint the French public with the claims concerning the od made by Baron von Reichenbach. His own experiments in the exteriorization of sensitivity were preceded by those of Paul Joire, but he had unique observations to his credit.

He contributed new perspectives on the theoretical elucidation of the mystery of physical phenomena—the exteriorization of motricity. Rochas's book of the same title, in which his theory is expounded, summed up his experiments with the medium Eusapia Palladino, who was his guest in his country house at l'Agnelas, near Voiron, and sat in the presence of a large committee of scientists. Much of this work, of course, has been discarded as psychical research discounted physical phenomena as largely the product of fraud.

The interest of Rochas extended to every branch of psychical research. As an investigator he was keen and competent. Charles Victor Miller, the San Francisco materialization medium, came to Europe at his request, although he did not sit for Rochas. Nor did Rochas succeed in witnessing full materializations with other mediums. The second visit of Charles Bailey, the Australian apport medium, was arranged by him. Bailey came to Grenoble in 1910 and, as it turned out, was exposed as a fraud amid much excitement.