Likely a hoax, but...

I am unsure what to make of this story.  I found out about it from Mr. George Noory, who devoted maybe thirty seconds to it during one of this news segments. (Those thirty seconds were more interesting than his subsequent interview.)  Intrigued, I did some digging.  Purportedly, a friend and relatives received email messages from Jack Froese--or at least from Jack Froese's email account--five months after he died.  If you do a search on "Jack Froese," you will see that a number of mainstream news sources picked up the story, including a skeptical (but not debunking) opinion by a friend of the family who apparently is an atheist.

Emails from "Jack Froese" were apparently sent to at least two people: his good friend, and a cousin, after which, according to the BBC, they stopped.

The Occam's Razor explanation--the easiest explanation--is that someone has hacked into Froese's email account and has impersonated him. Indeed, months from now, someone may surface and claim responsibility.

Another, less likely, possibility is that the emails are being spoofed--much like spam emails that purport to come from reputable domains. This is less likely because of the trouble required to pull off such a hoax--plus the fact that email services are now sophisticated enough to identify and trash spoofed emails.

The family so far has been unwilling to examine the emails in detail for evidence of hoaxing, and this, of course, invites skepticism. Examination of the full header information can tell a lot about the sender--including, in many cases, the IP address of the device that generated the message--which, if it is indeed generated from The Beyond, what might the header info reveal?

So, I'm inclined to lean toward a pedestrian explanation of this strange story, except... An individual identifying himself as the cousin of Jack Froese has left some intriguing comments on a couple of YouTube videos covering the anomaly. He strongly believes that the messages have a supernatural origin.

I plan to follow this story because if it is what it purports to be, the implications are significant.  Comments are welcome from anyone who has anything to contribute.


Of course, if one disbelieves in an afterlife, the whole notion of posthumous emailing is impossible.  But I'd like to think that it's not only possible, but an actuality.