00:00It began in the winter of 1949 in a quiet neighborhood of Maryland.
00:07A 13-year-old boy known by the pseudonym Roland Doe was grieving the loss of his beloved aunt,
00:14a woman deeply interested in spiritualism and Ouija boards.
00:19After her death, Roland, lonely and heartbroken, began using the Ouija board himself, hoping to contact her.
00:28At first, it seemed innocent.
00:31But soon, strange things began happening.
00:36Late at night, the family would hear scratching sounds inside the walls, as though rats were crawling in the plaster.
00:43Objects would slide across tables, heavy furniture shifted on its own.
00:49At times, a chill ran through the room, though no window was open.
00:54The boy's behavior began to change.
00:58Quiet and polite before, Roland grew angry, violent, and withdrawn.
01:04At night, he screamed in languages he had never learned.
01:08His mattress shook violently, as if invisible hands were tossing it.
01:13Then came the most terrifying sign-scratches, and words carved into his skin, as though burned from the inside out.
01:20One night, the word hell appeared across his chest.
01:24His parents, desperate and terrified, sought medical help.
01:29Doctors could not explain the phenomena.
01:33Psychologists labeled it hysteria, but none could stop it.
01:37As the boy's condition worsened, the family turned to the church.
01:42Father Hughes, the first priest to attempt an exorcism, entered a small hospital room with a crucifix and holy water.
01:51But as he began the prayers, Roland broke free from his restraints with unnatural strength,
01:58slashing the priest's arm from shoulder to wrist with a piece of the bed-espring.
02:04Hughes staggered out, bleeding and shaken.
02:07The case was escalated.
02:09Several Jesuit priests, including Father William Bowden, prepared for the most dangerous battle of their lives.
02:18For weeks, the exorcism continued.
02:21Night after night, the priests read the rites, while Roland screamed, spat, and laughed in voices that weren't his own.
02:30His eyes rolled back, his body levitated, and the room shook with a force that seemed inhuman.
02:36Neighbors claimed they heard guttural growls through the walls.
02:41Some nights, Roland's body was thrown into the air and smashed onto the mattress.
02:47At times, a sulfuric stench filled the room, like rotten eggs and fire.
02:53Finally, on an April night in 1949, as the priests commanded the demon in the name of St. Michael, Roland convulsed violently.
03:03He screamed one final, ear-piercing howled, then fell silent.
03:09The room grew still.
03:10The scratching stopped.
03:12The boy opened his eyes, clear for the first time in months, and whispered softly,
03:18It's gone.
03:19The Catholic Church never released full details, but witnesses swore to what they saw.
03:25Skeptics say it was a case of severe mental illness.
03:30A boy acting out grief and trauma.
03:33Believers insist it was true possession, one of the most chilling in American history.
03:39And it was this terrifying story that later inspired the novel and film, The Exorcist.
03:45A dream, The Exorcist.
03:55The Exorcist.
03:55A dream, The Exorcist.
03:56A dream, The Exorcist.
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