What makes the 1973 paranormal classic, The Exorcist, more chilling than it already is, is the fact that it is based on true events. Inspired by the horrifying experiences of Ronald Edwin Hunkeler, a NASA engineer who pioneered the ability of space shuttle panels to withstand extreme heat, and contributed to the Apollo moon missions, the movie is a mirror into Ronald’s spine-chilling demonic experiences as a teenage boy.

The paranormal side of his life was always kept under wraps, and only a few Jesuits and priests were aware of the numerous exorcisms conducted on him in Cottage City, Maryland, and St Louis, Missouri, in the year 1949.

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Who is Ronald Edwin Hunkeler? 

Born in 1935, Ronald grew up in Maryland’s Cottage City. Soon after he turned 14, Ronald began hearing strange sounds from his bedroom walls. Things got intense when objects flew across the room, and one night, Ronald’s bed moved on its own. Many paranormal researchers, priests and occult practitioners call these  classic poltergeist signs.

Ronald’s family’s priest, Luther Schulze, reached out to the parapsychology lab of Duke University, and said in a document that chairs would move violently, the bed would inexplicably shake, and a picture of Christ once trembled when Ronald was near it.

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Ronald’s mother feared that the paranormal occurrences were due to the passing away of Aunt Tillie, who introduced Ronald to the Ouija board.

Ronald’s family finally sought religious help after they visited various doctors and declared that he was medically fine. Ronald then was exorcised 20 times in three months. After many rigorous exorcisms, Ronald claimed to be devil-free.

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Ronald’s colleague at NASA shared that Ronald would always be anxious about his workmates finding out that he was the inspiration behind the most terrifying film ever made .

Another friend of his shared that Ronald lived a difficult life of fear, worry and anxiety of his secret being exposed.

Ronald passed away a month before his 86th birthday at his home in Maryland. The cause of death was a stroke.

His identity was only recently disclosed through an article in “The Skeptical Inquirer: The Magazine for Science and Reason”, a New York City based journal that applies scientific knowledge to extraordinary or supernatural events.

The Exorcist, a book turned movie, was authored by William Peter Blatty, who heard about the demonic possession of a teenage boy when he was a student in Georgetown University, Washington DC. One of William’s professors had told him the story.