Nerd History: Emilie Sagee and her Doppelganger

One of the little nods to real world things in 172 Hours on the Moon was the story of Emilie Sagee. A French teacher, she lost numerous jobs and had significant trouble because of numerous reports of her having a ghostly-ish doppelganger.


A doppelganger, of course, is sort of like a body double or evil twin. Sagee's case is interesting as her case of having a double followed her in many places. There were reports of her twin mirroring her actions at blackboards, roaming the halls, etc. The most notorious case, though...

In another instance, witnessed by nearly 50 persons, the students were intently working in their sewing class while another teacher sat at the front of the room reading a book. Outside the window, the students could see Emilee working in the garden. The supervising teacher stood up and left the room. Seconds later, Emilee walked in and sat down in the empty chair. Students thought nothing of it until one gasped and pointed out the window where Emilee was still working diligently in the garden. Two of the students stood and approached the doppelganger and being quite brave, reached out and touched it. They said it looked just like Emilee Sagee in all aspects except when they ran their hands through the entity, they said it felt empty, like the stuff cobwebs are made of. Later Emilee Sagee had told school officials that she indeed had been outside picking flowers in the garden. She had not seen the doppelganger (in fact, Emilee never once saw her twin) but had in fact, wished to herself that she was in the classroom supervising the sewing class. School officials noted in their documentation that each time the doppelganger appeared to them, the real Emilee appeared lethargic and listless. Parents complained about the ghost and Emilee was summarily dismissed from her job.

This comes from here, and the story goes back to Houdini's time in terms of its staying power. The best recap on her life comes from this blog post. The story is probably a big ol' fabrication, but a story this rich that speaks to our supernatural tendencies shouldn't necessarily be ignored.