All language subtitles for [English (auto-generated)] NOVA Secrets of the Psychics (1993) Exposing Paranormal Myths [DownSub.

Tonight on Nova, James Randy, magician

and investigator of psychic phenomena.

Don't laugh. This is science. For 25

years, Randy has explored the world of

the paranormal and tested claims of

supernatural powers.

Now Randy journeys to Russia to

challenge psychics never before seen in

the

West. After decades of research, can we

finally discover the secrets of the

psychics?

[Music]

Funding for Nova's 20th anniversary

season is made possible by Lheed,

America's aerospace company, supporting

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for national technology leadership. and

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provided by the Corporation for Public

Broadcasting and by annual financial

support from viewers like

[Music]

you. From the earliest days, man has

believed that dreams and the

supernatural are in some way

real. All over the world, psychics

demonstrate powers that their followers

accept as modern-day

miracles.

Here in Moscow, psychic healers treat

the sick with chance and incantations.

[Music]

And in the Philippines, psychic surgeons

perform operations without knives.

[Music]

A metal spoon turns liquid in the hands

of a psychic performer in Britain.

Yes, it's happening. It's happening.

Nearly everywhere, fortune tellers find

the future in cards, crystal balls, and

palms. Only up to a point.

Three out of four Americans say they've

had a psychic

experience. Today, you can even find a

psychic at the mall.

Purveyors of the supernatural have

created a multi-million dollar

industry. But are psychic phenomena what

they appear to be?

My name is James Randy, the amazing

Randy. And the the pee under the shelf.

I'm a magician. Okay. I have here a pen.

For the past 25 years, I've been

investigating the claims of psychics. A

psychoinetic demonstration of a

supernatural nature. Watch this.

Psychics often say that an object can be

moved using only the power of the mind.

And it moves in a miracle fashion like

that. Isn't that amazing? Stop. Stop.

Magicians can produce the same effect.

Of course, I was just blowing on the

pen.

But a little suggestion and a little

distraction go a long

way. As a magician, there's nothing I

like more than a wellexecuted

illusion. Just look at what my friend

Jaime Ian Swiss can

do. But there are those who use magic

tricks for more than entertainment. They

convince people that what they do is

real, that they have special

[Applause]

powers. Magical thinking, you know, is a

slippery slope. Sometimes it's harmless

enough, but other times it's quite

dangerous. Personally, I'm opposed to

that kind of fakery. So, I have no

reservations at all about exposing these

people and their illusions for what they

really

are. I've investigated the claims of

hundreds of psychics. People aren't

always happy with my conclusions, but I

do have my supporters. In 1986, I was

honored with a MacArthur Award.

Unfortunately, most of the prize money

went into defending myself against a

series of liel suits related to one of

my earliest and most controversial

investigations. The subject was Uri

Geller, a young Israeli who claimed to

have supernatural

powers. His remarkable affinity for

metal and his psychic abilities are well

documented all over the world. In the

early 1970s, Geller became a superstar,

the most famous psychic in the world.

Okay, just a second. Look at me.

Visualize everything that you drew once

more. He claimed to read people's minds.

[Music]

I'm going to show what I got. And if I'm

wrong, then I'm wrong. But it really

came very strongly.

It could be two mountains with a round

thing on or two people. I I uh Can I

show? Yeah, I'd like to. Am I wrong?

You're right. I'm right. Good. That's

what I got.

Oh, that's

He claimed to bend keys with his mind. I

know you're going to think this is a

setup, friends, and old Tom has never

conned you on anything. This This guy is

bending this key by rubbing it. It was

bent at about a 1°ree angle when you

started out and it's coming up on 45°

now and still moving. You're thinking

bend. Is that what you're doing? Yes,

I'm saying bend. You're saying bend.

Hard, soft. No, I'm saying bend. Bend.

Bend. And sometimes I say bend, bend.

But Geller was best known for his way

with spoons. Hold the tip of the spoon

very, very gently. Okay. What I'm doing

is I'm trying to melt the metal down.

Yes. You see, I feel it going. It's

getting loose. Feel it. Yeah. And

there's no force at all in my hands.

Yes. Look what's happening. There's no

force at all. Look the whole You see,

it's become fall off. It's And touch it

here where I'm stroking it. There is

absolutely no

eerie. I have a wisdom tooth.

If you can see the metal is beginning to

crack here. It's breaking. Yeah. See,

look. It's It's becoming It's like putty

wax. You see? Look. And keep keep

stroking it here.

You see the No, don't don't. You see the

crack is becoming bigger. Yeah. I melt

the metal down. So So I want you to

bend. I just say bend. Yeah. You melted

it. You see? Now wait a minute. Wait a

minute. Keep stroking your keys more.

And people at home want your watches to

start working. Or if there is a radio

that is broken, want it to start

working. television broken just wanted

all those broken things. Now what Giller

was saying effectively was that wanting

things could make them. So who started

working? I felt that claim had to be

challenged. The media even some

scientists were taking the Geller

phenomena seriously. So I decided to

show for starters that I could at least

duplicate these effects using trickery.

Now a key can be displayed in such a way

that it looks like it's bending. For

example, just by stroking it, you'd

swear that it's bending right up before

your

eyes. Magicians call this process

ratcheting. But to do this, the key has

to be bent in

advance. The hard part, of course, is

how to go about bending the key without

letting them catch you. Now, there are

several ways. I could, for example, take

it and press the tip against the top of

the table. That would do it. Or in

shifting my chair backwards or forwards,

as I just did, I could have taken it and

dropped it below the level of the table

and pressed the tip on the chair I'm

sitting on, which is exactly what I just

did. Did I fool

[Music]

you? Mentalists have been duplicating

hidden drawings for

years. If Mr. Geller had chosen to use

trickery, he could have used any of a

number of techniques. One favorite

involves turning your back and covering

your eyes while the drawing is being

made. Now, I've always wondered why you

would cover your eyes while your back is

[Music]

turned. But melting metal is something

else

again. It's done something like this.

and it gets soft. So I say to it, "Bend,

bend, bend." And it

bends. Of course, it does take a little

preparation. In fact, it takes a lot of

preparation. Now, this isn't proof

positive that other demonstrations

aren't the result of supernatural power.

But isn't this a more reasonable

explanation? And then of course there

was Mr. Geller's appearance on the

Tonight Show. I got a call after they

booked him to

[Music]

appear. Will you welcome please Urie

[Applause]

Geller? Johnny had been a magician

himself and was skeptical. I was asked

to help prevent any trickery.

Nice to see you. Thanks. We um we have

only met scares me. This scares you?

Well, this is we just got some things

together here. And I told them to

provide their own props and not to let

Geller or his people anywhere near them.

Also, one of our staff members um did

some drawings which have been sealed in

an envelope. Uh and I'd like you to take

your own pace when you feel like you

want to try anything. Do you want to try

that particular experiment first? When

I'll feel for it. When you Sure.

We'll start eliminating the ones that do

not have the water. No, without touching

them. He is really suspicious, you know.

I'm having a hard time with you. I I

don't mean to be, Yuri. I really don't.

Just Just keep looking.

Okay, let me rest a little. All right.

All right.

You know, I'm surprised because before

this program, your producer came and he

read me please 40 questions you're going

to ask me. Well, I can ask you all kinds

of questions if you like. If you'd like

me to ask you questions, I have to have

time. And uh

[Music]

um we are back. Your was telling me you

you you don't feel what strong tonight.

Is that I don't feel strong. It's not

all tonight. Right now, I'm feel I'm

feeling being pressed and then I can't.

No, I'm not trying to press you. I

really not. But No, you're only telling

me, "Well, will you try that or or

that?" Well, I thought that was the idea

of

uh of uh No, I'm not I'm not going to

put you

[Applause]

down. Much to my surprise, the Tonight

Show episode didn't have much effect on

Geller's

career. Neither did the book that I

wrote about him.

But eventually his star

faded. Why people are so drawn to the

irrational is something that has always

puzzled me. I want to be, if I can, as

sure of the world, the real world around

me as is possible. Now, you can only

attain that to a certain degree, but I

want the greatest degree of control. I

don't I've never involved myself in

narcotics of any kind. I don't smoke. I

don't drink

because that can easily just fuzz the

edges of my rationality, fuzz the edges

of my reasoning powers, and I want to be

as aware as I possibly can. That means

giving up a lot of fantasies that might

be comforting in some ways, but I'm

willing to give that up in order to live

in an actually real world, as close as I

can get to it.

During the 1980s, I entered a world that

I found filled with fantasy and rife

with abuse. The world of faith healing.

I developed a special interest in a

television evangelist named Peter

Popoff. And God told me, he said, "You

smite that cancer with your fist."

At the time, Pop Off was pulling in

nearly $4 million a year healing people

on his miracle crusades. You've got

cancer of the

stomach. Are you ready for God to burn

that cancer

out? Here it goes in the

mighty devil. Back

off. Back off,

devil.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

You really believe you're healed? Yes.

Say, "Jesus, I'll heal you." You think

your cancers are gone now? Yes, I

believe that because God never lies and

we stand in his word. Praise the Lord. I

tell you, from now on, you're going to

have a victory in your heart. Amen. To

his followers, Pop Off seemed to have

divine

powers. Alice, is it Gould? Alice Gould?

He knew their names. Stand up, Alice.

as well as the afflictions they'd come

to cure. God is touching that thyroid

condition right now. God is touching

your nerves right now. God is touching

your eyes. Just lift up your hands. Get

ready. Here it comes. He also knew the

personal details of their lives. Hear

good news from Charles before everything

is over. I'll tell you, he's going to be

completely delivered because of your

prayers, because of your faith. Here it

comes. Complete healing in Jesus mighty

name. Right now. right now. Right now.

Amen. It's all right to praise the Lord.

I suspected that Pop Off's revelations

were other than

divine. The radio scanner we brought to

the hall picked up a decidedly worldly

source.

[Music]

Hello, Pety. Can you hear me? If you

can't, you're in trouble.

Papa was being prompted by his wife

through a wireless earpiece. John.

Dearly Johnson.

She'd gotten her information from prayer

cards filled out by the faithful before

the show began.

She's about to get rid of the walker.

You want to get rid of this walker,

sister?

[Music]

Oh, Glory. How long have you been

walking on that walker? About 3 years. 3

years. She lives at 1627 10th Street.

1627 10th Street. Is that right? That's

right. She

[Applause]

had burning this

arthritis right out of your

body. Take a few steps just to make the

devil mad. Hallelujah. That's it. Just

move around a little bit. There she

goes. Just walk with me. Oh, glory to

God. She's not going to need that walker

anymore. God's just putting new

strength, new health, burning that

arthritis out of her body. Just keep

going. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I was

able to arrange for another broadcast of

the Miracle Crusade on the Tonight Show,

but this time the wireless prompting was

included.

In 1987, Peter Poff declared

[Applause]

bankruptcy. Greater is he.

Greater is he.

The laying on of hands takes on new

meaning in the Philippines where psychic

surgeons perform miraculous operations

without

knives. I investigated this phenomenon,

then went on the Tonight Show to

demonstrate what I'd learned. Believe

me, what you're seeing is strictly

special effects. It's slight of hand and

nothing more. And this is the way it

looks.

A little animal blood and a few chicken

parts complete the

illusion. A bone.

[Applause]

That's a bit better. Just a second. Just

one second now. Maybe better for you.

You don't feel any better?

Oh, that doesn't come out.

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

This is where I live with several birds

and an old red cat outside of Fort

Lauderdale,

Florida. From here, I run my

investigations, write my books, and go

about lecturing.

[Applause]

Recently, I was asked to give a class of

college freshmen a chance to evaluate

one of the oldest systems of

fortuneelling, astrology. You know, I

started life as a as a magician. I still

am a magician, I guess. I think it's in

the DNA. I'm not too sure. But, uh, I'm

an actor playing the part of a wizard. I

know how people are deceived. I know how

they deceive themselves. And many

magicians, most magicians really allow

people to deceive themselves. Would you

like to see me fool you? Who's wearing a

wristwatch here? A regular ordinary

wristwatch.

Make a decision. You've been a good

girl, haven't you? Yes, I just say, "Oh,

I thought it was a Rolex for a minute."

Oh, well. Now, what time does it say on

your watch? It says 9 minutes before 3

and it says it's the 2nd of October.

Right. Yes, it has. Very good. Open up

your hand for me flat like that. The

clean one. She almost changed. You know

that? Almost changed. Now, I'm going to

put the watch face down your Put your

finger of your other hand on the back of

the watch. Okay. Very good. Now my watch

says nine minutes to three. So we

disagree slightly but not enough for any

Never mind. Okay, watch what happens

now. I'm really concentrating

now. Oh, I think I hurt

myself. Don't laugh. This is science.

Let me see now. Holding it only by this.

Oh, would you tell the folks what time

it says on your watch now, please?

It says 3:40. But 3:40. How time flies

when you're having fun. Isn't that

wonderful? Now, let me show you

something. This is such a little tiny

itty bitty watch here. Hold it tightly

in your hand. Don't

lose what happened. Oh, the gentleman

was carrying it over here behind his

waist and he didn't even know it. There

you go. You have your watch. Do it

again. Do it again.

The trickster never works alone. It did

happen. His audience assists him. But I

did it. If he does his job well, they

want to be fooled. Uh, Shera, did you

pass that back? Wendy,

for the astrology test, each student was

given a detailed horoscope. Robin, could

you pass it over to They were told it

was drawn up by a professional based on

information they had supplied about when

and where they were born.

Actually, these horoscopes were not

quite what they appeared to be.

I'd like you to share something with me

if you'd be so kind just with a show of

I asked the students to grade them for

accuracy on a scale of 1 to five. Five

being the most accurate. Uh how many

gave it a one? Let's see a show of

hands.

Two

3 4 and

five. Okay. So, we scored pretty highly

with this. Then let's do a little

experiment. You've got your horoscopes

right in front of you. Take them in your

hand like this and hand them over your

shoulder to the person behind you. Okay,

everybody. And the guy at the end down

there, you'll have to come up to the

front cuz these people in the front

don't have one now. Okay, everybody

change them around. Everybody's got a

open up somebody else's horoscope and

read it carefully, please.

This is the

same. What a surprise.

They had all received the same

horoscope. The personality descriptions

were generally true of everyone, like

recently you have had to recover from a

disappointment. Some of them seem

specific because they were so personal.

Your sexual adjustment has presented

some problems for

you. And there were others that anyone

might hope would be true. You have a

great deal of unused

capacity. People like to believe certain

things are true and they like to fall

for very specific absolutely enormously

accurate horoscopes. Right. Of course

they are. Did you have a question? Yes,

I have a question. So why do people

persist in uh ascribing to these

systems?

That's the big question of course and

psychologically that is the most

interesting question. I think that

people are trying to get some control

over their lives by knowing more about

themselves. Of course they get control

over their lives. But that's what we're

doing all of us each and every day of

our lives. Whether it's financial,

whether it's emotional, whether it's a

love interest, whether it's health,

we're trying to get control of our

lives. We're looking for power and

astrology offers you apparently a very

old and a very easy formula whereby you

can do that sort of thing. What you've

presented me today is evidence that this

can be misused or abused. But you have

not convinced me that there is nothing

to this. Oh no no I didn't intend to do

that. Okay. And and I feel that your

exercise today was kind of cynical and

one-sided and somehow it is wise to be

um unbelieving on this. Well, I can't

prove it doesn't work. I can never prove

it doesn't work. And I've seen it a lot

of times where intellectuals have had

have wanted to disprove mystical things

because since it didn't fit into their

framework of beliefs, they wouldn't

allow it. But I can't prove to you that

Santa Claus doesn't exist. I really

can't. I can't disprove anything. I

can't prove a negative. But I can show

you that it's not very likely to be

true. That's the best I can do.

[Music]

Needless to say, my message isn't always

popular. My friend Ray Heyman is a

psychologist and he has an idea why we

seem to be taken as we're taking

something away and not giving something

in return. And these people want

something. They're looking for

something. And I think we have to

understand what is it they're searching

for and what they're seeking. Ray has an

insider's perspective on these

questions. He once worked as a

professional palm

reader. On a recent visit to Florida, he

allowed me to observe while he gave

readings to two volunteers.

Now, I want to look at a few other

things before we go very far. And look

at your thumb. It's the most important.

Ray started reading palms to help put

himself through college. There's a

little narrowing of the second joint

here. That's that's tact. That's just

tactfulness.

At the time, he was convinced there was

nothing to it. uh this is the spiritual

mental. I had no belief that it would

work but to be convincing I did read the

books and I did study the lines the way

and told it as it's supposed to be told

and to my surprise it worked and then I

became a very rabid believer in palm

reading. There is a break in your

lifeline. This is your lifeline right

here. So you've had some physical

problems. You still may have some

problems here. Some medical problems of

some sort. He was right about that. that

I had has had some health problems. Is

there anything there about my mother?

About your mother?

Um the one thing that the thing that's

clear is that uh right from the

beginning uh you didn't want to be

dominated by her. You want to make up

your own mind about what your life is

going to be like and so on. I have been

very headstrong when it comes to my

mother. She has kind of tried to

dominate me sometimes and I've rebelled

against it. At the same time, you wanted

to be you wanted to be on your own terms

and stuff like that. There's a He was

pretty right on the money with a lot of

things. Maybe he's got some part to

himself that others are not in touch

with and he knows these things.

Concerned about relationship between

your mother and yourself. As a palm

reader, Ray was quite successful. I was

saying then a college friend bet him

that he would do just as well if he told

his subjects the opposite of what he

read in their palms. He decided to give

it a try. Is that an I did this on my

first client and she didn't say a word.

She had no reaction at all, which is

very spooky to me cuz I'm used to

feedback. Um, I thought it was because I

bombed, but it turned out because she

was so stunned. I was so

accurate. And this was really a shock to

me because I had done everything wrong.

So, I did it the next client wrong. Then

I realized it doesn't make any

difference what you tell them. It's more

what you convince them, how good you

are, and what you get them to believe.

as to what as a professional

psychologist Rey is very much aware of

the role that careful observation can

play in a reading. You're living in a

strange world. Uh you'd be better if

you're

living maybe 50, 40 years ago in some

ways. I've always said that I should

have been born a long time ago. This

present world is is presents problems

for you and you're not too happy with

it. usually from the way she was dressed

and so I could say that she'd rather be

living in in an earlier time than today.

In fact, she was dressed for an earlier

time anyway. There's a change there has

been uh there for a while. Looked like

you had two jobs or two careers. I'm not

sure. And uh very recently you have

switched. In fact, there's been a major

career change. Um I've been in the same

career for 6 years. Next year I'm

thinking about changing careers, but I

haven't done it yet. So he could just be

a little off in his timing.

If you set people up right, you can tell

them most anything, if they really got a

creative and intelligent mind, they can

make sense out of no matter how crazy it

seems to be, they can find a way of of

of reinterpreting it so that it really

fits them like a

glove. This person wants me to succeed.

I should work out some

accommodation. Now, you certainly don't

need someone to deliberately fool you to

have what seems to be a psychic

experience. Your mind can create one all

by itself. Let's say you you don't like

to fly and you're worried about a trip

you're going to take. Then suddenly

during the flight, the plane suddenly wa

drops a few thousand ft because of a

downdraft. You might very well choose to

think that you had some kind of psychic

intuition about this. But what you

forget is that you've had that same

queasy feeling every time you've gotten

on an airplane. And if it doesn't

fulfill itself, you forget about it. You

see, the brain is constantly searching

for relationships. It's trying to work

out cause and effect so we can know what

to expect in our lives. That's natural.

The brain is very good at this, but it

does make mistakes. And one way to

explain these mistakes is by some kind

of psychic explanation.

My investigations have taken me to

dozens of countries, but until recently,

one of the most interesting wasn't open

to

scrutiny. It's long been rumored that

Russia harbors psychic talent like

nowhere else in the

world. The country has an ancient

mystical tradition. Good morning. Good

morning. And the government has

encouraged psychic research to Moscow.

That's right. Any luggage to check into?

Two pieces.

Now that the country is open to

visitors, I wanted to check things out

for

[Music]

myself. I'd seen the films that came out

during the Cold

War. Junah was a famous healer who had

BRV as a client.

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

Carl Nikolia could apparently turn on

lights with the force of his

[Music]

will. The most famous Russian psychic is

no longer living. Her name was Nina

Kulagana. During a long career, she

appeared to move all sorts of things

through the power of her mind.

[Music]

Now that the media are no longer

strictly controlled, there's a vast new

audience for the paranormal on Russian

television. Every night, a program

called The Stars Speak precedes the news

with an astrological forecast.

The psychic Cash Paravski has even used

television to demonstrate his claimed

ability to control

pain. In this case, during a live

operation, there are even commercials

that extol the miraculous.

[Music]

During the Cold War, both the Soviets

and the Americans carried out research

on psychic

warfare. At one time, there was fear in

the Pentagon about a psychic or sigh

gap.

[Music]

The Russians claimed some success with

psychic mind control,

but their evidence was sketchy.

So I was interested to find that

scientists at the prestigious Institute

of the Brain in Moscow had reported

measuring psychic effects under test

conditions. I arranged to observe the

experiment.

Mhm.

The data they'd collected in their test

seemed promising. Simply could see the

same effect. You see, this is just

before. It appeared that the psychic had

been able to change the brain waves as

well as the blood pressure of the test

subject.

If these results could be confirmed, it

would be a real breakthrough for

parasychology.

[Music]

To make sure that the scientist would

not know what the psychic was doing, it

was agreed that he would be isolated in

a remote wing of the

complex. Since it was founded in 1926,

the institute has been a national center

for the study of the brain. But much of

the work done here had until recently

been kept secret.

The psychic's name was Ignenko.

Very good. According to parasychologist

in Moscow, he was the real thing. All

right, we now have uh a little over one

minute before we start the selection

process.

Accompanying him was Zoya, his

assistant.

[Music]

The experiment would last an hour broken

down into four 15minute tests. During

each test, Ignachenko would attempt to

change either the subject's brain waves

or his blood

[Music]

pressure or he might be asked to do

nothing at

all. Now he reaches inside and he takes

one of these at random. At the beginning

of each test, Ignachenko randomly

determined what he would do. What do we

have?

No. Okay. So, we do nothing for 15

minutes. For the first segment,

Ignachenko would not attempt any kind of

influence.

This will be like a control.

[Music]

The scientists began their

measurements unaware of the psychic

[Music]

selection. For phase two, Ignachenko

chose a heart symbol. He would try to

change the subject's blood pressure.

We are raising the blood

pressure beginning from the pelvis and

working along the backbone

until there's burning in the backbone.

That's enough. There's no need to go any

further. The spreading has already

started.

[Music]

Phase three, the brain

would try to change brain waves.

Stimul stimulation

the

pituitary stimul

stimulation of the pituitary.

Okay. Like that. Good. Like that.

[Music]

The fourth and last test would again

focus on changing brain waves.

He will now be very smart. We have

stimulated both the right and left

brain.

[Music]

When the experiment was complete, the

scientists examined their measurements

for changes in the subject's brain waves

and blood pressure. Any variation from

normal would indicate a psychic

influence. All right. Now, let let's

handle them one at a time. What is our

conclusion in test number one?

If you remember during the first test,

Ignachenko had done nothing.

It could be the blood

pressure. The scientists saw a change in

the subject's blood pressure. Then uh

number

two in test two Ignenko had tried to

change blood

pressure in

the effect was on the brain. I think so.

Sergey may disagree.

This time they detected a change in his

brain.

What do we think on three?

With some disagreement they called the

next test correctly for the brain. Maybe

were brain in third case. Maybe maybe.

Okay, that's brain. What about number

four?

The last test had been another attempt

to change brain waves. Nothing. There's

none. Okay. But the scientists found no

change at all. All right. Shall we uh

announce the results then?

The experiment had produced one positive

result out of

four. Just what would be expected by

chance

alone? The former set of not very

convincing

evidence. So what about their previous

claims? I had an idea what might be at

work here.

have some I suspected that in the past

when they examined their data they had

known what effect they were looking for

in scientific lingo that the test had

not been blinded. They confirmed this

raising the possibility that their

previous work had not been objective

look to see some correlation but one of

the group believed that the problem lay

elsewhere. I feel strongly that it is

impossible to accurately measure these

extra sensory phenomena by observing

electrphysiological indicators because

the methods are too crude.

But remember that modern methods no

matter how complicated, technical and

and technically perfect and advanced are

of no use whatsoever unless it is

conducted in a double blind fashion. Um,

you know, of course, the results of a

single test are in no way conclusive,

but one thing I've learned over the

years is that scientists, like the rest

of us, have an uncanny ability to find

what they're looking for, whether it's

there or not. Only influence in respect

of visual stimulation.

Communism from its very start was

considered a scientific system.

With its failure, many Russians have

become suspicious of science altogether.

At the same time, private enterprise has

begun to develop and operates largely

[Music]

unchecked. A good example is

healthcare. It used to be provided

exclusively by the state. Modern western

medicine was the model.

Now, some clinics charge for service and

practice pretty much as they

wish. The traditional people's medical

center in Moscow opened in

1990. Some 30,000 people pass through

here every

year. The treatments here consist of an

eclectic mix of folk remedies and

psychic healing.

The average charge is 50 rubles, about

half a day's wage for

many. There are therapies for nearly

every ailment from cancer to

[Music]

impotence. This healer claims to be able

to alter the body's chemistry through

the power of his will.

[Music]

Down the hall, a team of healers uses a

somewhat different

[Music]

approach. We were told that these

patients were having their bofields

adjusted.

Psychics say that bofields or auras are

a visible form of energy that radiates

from the human

body. Sick people's bofields need work.

Bottles of water are found throughout

the

clinic. They're here to be charged by

the healer's

energy. Later, the water will be

consumed for its curative

powers. Healing claims are difficult to

test.

suggestion alone is psychologically

powerful and the body's immune system

can cure most disease without any help

whatsoever.

All right, I am pouring some tap water

into this glass

here. But the clinic claimed that its

healing waters have qualities that are

detectable. So I decided to test them.

Now, first of all, we're testing to show

that there is no charge. No charge on

this water at the moment. They used a

dowsing rod to measure the charge. It's

a simple device that beyond whatever

other powers are claimed for it responds

to the slightest movement of the hand.

There's no charge. Is that correct? No

charge. Very well. I'm going to ask the

gentleman now to put the charge on the

water.

[Music]

What was it?

He's showing showing the field the field

of apparently the field goes out for

several meters.

I wanted to find out whether they could

tell the difference between this charged

water and plain water if there were no

visual cues. Now, if we were to place a

shield like this around the glass, can

he still detect the field?

They said the shield wasn't a problem,

but that such a test just couldn't be

made. It seems that the charge would be

picked up by all other water nearby,

making differentiation impossible.

We tried to find another approach.

You'll check it by this. Okay. They

claimed that charged water would reduce

blood pressure. I would simply have my

blood pressure measured before and after

drinking some of it. Measuring uh blood

pressure, but here blood pressure was

measured rather uniquely 17 mm. Uh low.

Are we going to use this machine

eventually? I requested that a standard

blood pressure cuff be used. will prove

that he will say how was how is your

blood pressure and then you'll check it

by this. Okay, who will check it? This

gentleman or somebody else. But once

again, we were stymied.

No one in the entire facility knew how

to use the cuff. There's no one any any

doctors here. Just all no traditional.

Our host, the director of the clinic

interrupted to remind us of the

importance of what we were dealing with.

He said the water had other even greater

virtues. It aided weight loss, increased

energy, even bolstered the immune

system.

Imagine this water appearing all over

America in different bottles, green,

rose, red, and people could drink it

quietly and improve their health.

If this water is so powerful and so

important and has such very special

qualities, it must be possible to tell

whether or not it's ordinary water or

charged water regardless of all these

other influences. Uh we've been told

yes, that can be done. Now we're being

told no, it can't be done because there

are too many. Before he came into the

room, we mixed these up like that.

Finally, it was concluded that if a

charged glass of water was kept at a

certain distance from other glasses of

normal water, there would be minimal

contamination. Three glasses would be

placed around the room. One of them

would contain charged water. And we wish

them to tell us which

one.

Okay. I'll take a seat over

here. The amounts are the same.

There would be three attempts to

identify the glass of charged

water. The law of averages would give

one accidental

success. Three hits by chance alone

would be improbable.

[Music]

He said that this is charged. This is

the turn. Yes. Okay. If they'll leave

the room now, we'll do it the second

time with randomizing. Okay.

Ah, but there was once again a problem.

All the glasses of water are becoming

charged. When he comes in here, the

other glasses start ticking on a charge

because he starts

thinking. The charging is driven by this

mental energy, the energy of thought.

Apparently, the very act of measuring a

charge created a new

charge. And in fact,

getting charged each of

them. It seemed that the water had yet

another special quality, an inability to

be tested at

all.

Incredible.

[Music]

Before I left Moscow, there was one more

psychic specialty that I wanted to

investigate. Two women in a nearby

suburb had developed a reputation for an

unusual ability.

Ena Pachenko and Statlana Chernetskaya

claimed to be able to describe a

person's life and character in detail

using only a picture of them for

inspiration. They even said the Moscow

police had called on them to help solve

difficult

cases. Because it's easy to

inadvertently pass on information,

particularly with such congenial people,

I determined that I would work

diligently to eliminate any

feedback. From a group of pictures that

we supplied, they selected a quite

remarkable one to work

on. Ted Bundy is best known as a serial

killer and is believed to have brutally

murdered more than 30 women.

He was executed nearly four years before

this

session. I'd read about him and found

that ironically he was a psychology

major in college. He was also married

and had a

child. He's good at

meditation. He's

athletic. And it seems to me that to

some degree was involved in wrestling.

Tennis to some degree.

He has a pleasant wife.

He has a very pleasant wife. It started

like most readings do, a laundry list of

possibilities. She's cute, attractive,

blonde, reddish hair. They were looking

for me to respond in some way.

Maybe you can say something.

He looks like Lorie Geller, doesn't he?

He graduated from

college. He has some kind of military

training. I think he's a psychologist by

education. Um,

psychology, history.

[Applause]

It seems to me he's been to Switzerland.

There was one overwhelmingly important

fact about this person.

If these women had any psychic ability,

they should have been able to pick up on

Bundy's horrendous crimes. You know,

pretty wife and everything is not maybe

the most outstanding thing about

I don't feel this is a man with one

moral direction.

He has a wife,

one

child, a

boy. Three years ago, something happened

that was critically important to his

fate. I I I feel it so

clearly. If you would ask questions, we

could continue our talk in a particular

direction.

It was hard to deny these women, but it

seemed to me that any questions I asked

would give them information.

[Applause]

He is

original. He can behave in many

different

ways, many variations to his behavior.

[Music]

strong

willed though it's hard to say this

about a person in a negative

direction. I'm uncomfortable saying that

a

leader who is

patient manages a group

well has an excellent memory.

Outstanding.

If we had feedback, it would be a

completely different emotional search.

I think it's time maybe I told them the

whole story.

This is a photograph of a man named Ted

Bundy.

He was executed by the government

because he is a mass

murderer. How well did they

do? Well, Bundy did have more than one

moral direction, but then again, so do a

great many other

people. Nothing important happened to

him 3 years ago because he was already

dead. He was executed four years ago,

and I'm not inclined to give them that

kind of

latitude. In all, twothirds of the

statements the women made were wrong.

And the rest weren't very specific. His

wife was brunette, not blonde. His child

a girl, not a boy. He was neither a

wrestler nor a tennis player, and he had

never been in the military or to

Switzerland. It's true that he did study

psychology. Interesting.

[Music]

I was saying that he had a sad. Yes. The

eyes of a sadist. Had a negative psyche.

The morality of a negative

character. I I said that categorically

almost. Not quite. Before there can be

results, we need to be unfettered. And

we aren't unfettered with him. The

information doesn't come to get good

results. He doesn't inspire us.

He makes a stopper, a

call. The woman is complaining, Jim. The

woman is

[Music]

complaining. A lot of people hate my

skepticism, and I think I understand

[Music]

why. The psychics offer wonder and

endless possibilities in a world that

often seems difficult and

mundane. They promise health, wealth,

wisdom, eternal

[Music]

life. But if you examine the record,

it's not the psychics, but the

hard-nosed scientists who have actually

delivered the things that improve human

life.

And to me, science describes a world far

more interesting than any psychic

fantasies. It's a good world. Not

perfect, but it's

ours. So, we better learn to live with

it the way it

[Music]

is. Now, I'm just doing it very

gently. Very gently. Remember, plead

innocence through this whole thing. I

know nothing. I know nothing. Ah, it's

just at the right point now. But see,

you can hammer that. You can handle it

quite freely. And we're lucky. It really

doesn't show very much. Just the tiniest

little bit of a of a crack there. Now,

you see how flexible it's getting? You

say, "Okay, now it's broken." You see?

And they don't know it. Watch. Now, let

go of it. And you tell them to let go.

And then you hold it up like this. You

see? So, you do this kind of thing. And

you say, "Look, it's getting flexible."

And you let the top part droop over very

slowly. I'm pinching it pretty tightly.

The control is not all that easy. And

then turn it sideways like this and it

starts to go over to one side and it

gets to this point and say, "Hold your

hands beneath it. Hold your hands

beneath it. Go ahead." All right. Like

this. And And it drops in two pieces. A

miracle. And then you look at them

straight in the eye. You And you know, I

don't know how that happens. It's just

such a mystery.

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[Music]

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This is

[Music]

PBS. Next time on Nova. For some people,

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