Original subtitles

HOST: For Jeanine Price extraordinary events

are almost commonplace.

Objects hurl themselves across the room,

and appliances explode.

Now researchers are attempting to unravel

the mystery of Jeanine psychokinetic powers.

In 1980 a woman named Etta Smith says she'd experienced

a haunting psychic vision.

A vision so powerful and so persistent

that it led her directly to the body of a murder victim.

Incredibly Etta's detailed description of the crime

was so accurate that she became a suspect herself.

Tonight, a special Unsolved Mysteries report.

Mysteries of a Psychic Mind.

[theme music]

HOST: Perhaps the most dramatic mystery of the human mind

is a phenomenon known as psychokinesis, the ability

to affect objects without so much as a touch.

In Pennsylvania a troubled young man

named Don Decker seemed to cause what could

only be labeled as rainstorm.

Bizarre showers had followed wherever he went.

Nine credible witnesses, including police and clergymen,

verified Deckers extraordinary experiences.

POLICEMAN: I've been cop forty years,

and I never heard anything like this here.

Never.

There is always an explanation when something happens.

If you got to investigate, you come up with some--

this is why it happened.

This case here-- there is no explanation.

HOST: And then there's Jeanine Price

of Long Beach, California.

Mom, can I have a dollar for lunch?

I'll give it to you in the car.

[sparkling]

[exploding]

[exploding]

[baby crying]

HOST: By her own account, Jeanine Price

has endured a series of baffling psychic episodes that stretches

back to her childhood.

But even before objects began to spark and explode around her,

Jeanine claimed she'd discovered she

had the unsettling ability to read

minds and predict the future.

[vacuum cleaner on]

HOST: It all began around the age of 10.

Jeanine says she was consumed by an inexplicable, yet

unshakable, feeling that she had a sister,

a sister she had never met.

Jeanine's mother refused to answer her questions.

JEANINE: She just ignored me.

So then I became even more obsessed

with finding out who this person was that I was seeing,

that I went prying into my parents

personal effects one time.

There were a lot of pictures of children and other people,

but this one picture I came across--

when I touched it, I knew it had to be the person.

Mom, mom, momma.

What, what?

Who, who is this?

Listen, where did you get this?

I was just looking through some of dad's things and--

I told you never to go through our things.

Momma, who is it?

It's nobody.

It's just a picture.

I know who this is.

It's my sister, isn't it?

I know it.

It's my sister.

Come over here honey.

HOST: Jeanine's mother was finally

forced to admit that Jeanine did indeed

have a half- sister, Judy, from her father's previous marriage.

But there was more to Jeanine's premonition,

a terrifying revelation she hardly dared put into words.

JEANINE: I then told my mother in a brief simple form

that, mom I know I'm going to meet her one day,

and right after I meet her she's going to die.

MOTHER: She says, momma, you know, I hate to tell you this.

And she says, something is going to happen to Judy.

She says, I know she's going to die,

and it's something with her head.

Something's-- something with blood in her head.

It's like, something is going to burst.

HOST: Years later Jeanine did meet the sister

she says she envisioned while still a child.

In April of 1980 Jeanine's brother, Andrew,

showed up accompanied by none other than the long lost Judy.

- Hi. - Come on.

Jeanine.

Judy.

How're you?

JEANINE: We bonded very, very quickly--

very closely matter of fact.

Come on in.

You must be tired.

JEANINE: I never told her that I had a feeling

that she was going to have a short life

after she had known me.

I just knew it wasn't my place to do so.

All the time-- there were times when

I wanted to say, Judy, no, don't go out the door,

because you're not going to live.

And I want to spend all our time with you.

HOST: Within a year, Judy was admitted

to the hospital complaining of severe headaches.

Her doctor assured the family that it was nothing

more serious than migraines.

But Jeanine recalls it on her first visit.

She says her childhood premonition

would soon be fulfilled.

JEANINE: As soon as I touched Judy,

the sense of death and illness was so strong,

I think I became too overpowerful--

too overbearing with the doctor.

I started suggesting that he take x-rays of her skull

and her brain, and CAT scans.

I noticed that you haven't done any tests on her--

Oh, we've done a couple of tests.

I'm glad to report she is going to be--

Well, well, the test that she really needs is--

she needs a brain scan. - Brain scan?

Yes.

Is there some medical information that could--

Do you know the name of her former Doctor?

No, but, um, it's very important.

You see, I didn't want to tell you this, but she--

she has some brain aneurysm.

Uh-huh.

Well, I don't think this would be a good time to talk

to her about that right now.

JEANINE: I remember the doctor telling me, he goes,

who'd know better?

You don't even know what you're talking,

but you're not the doctor.

And I said, no, I'm not.

But I know my sister has an aneurysm on her brain.

And he just kind of like shrugged me off.

You need to do this right now.

This is my sister's life over there you're talking about.

I understand, could you help her please?

Ma'am--

JEANINE: And as I got more persistent with the doctor,

he finally had me escorted with security from the facility.

Day

BROTHER: I remember distinctly of Jeanine

wanting everyone that it was-- what

they did for her wasn't enough.

That she needed, you know, something to detect.

We might had an internal problem,

maybe there were-- or was because shortly afterwards

she died.

HOST: Judith Kelly Price died on August 8th 1980

at the age of 35.

Cause of death, an aneurysm of the brain.

For Jeanine the devastating loss was the most painful episode

in a lifetime of frustration.

JEANINE: You're very alone.

It's like a captain without a port.

You know you belong somewhere, but where do

you find that place to belong?

You're not considered to be normal,

but you're not abnormal.

HOST: In September of 1994 Jeanine sought out Dr. Michael

Persinger, one of the world's foremost experts

in psychic phenomena.

His laboratory at Laurentian University in Canada

is at the forefront of efforts to find areas of the brain that

produce psychic experiences.

DR. PERSINGER: When individuals feel

that they can see into the future,

and they have verified experiences of cognition.

And you look at those portions of the brain that are most

active, what you find is that these individuals' brains are

organized in such a way as that they

can make connections between events that most people cannot.

HOST: Dr. Persinger and his staff

have tested thousands of individuals,

including Jeanine Price.

He has come to believe that psychic episodes result

from brief bursts of unusually high levels of electricity

within the brain, similar to epileptic seizures.

DR. PERSINGER: In terms of the activity

of Jeanine's brain, what happens during brief periods of time

is that normal functions are enhanced way, way above normal.

What precognition is, is that you're

seeing things in time outside the normal temporal frame.

Well, suppose portions of the brain

that mediate space and time are suddenly

enhanced in terms of activity.

HOST: Simply put, Dr. Persinger says the brain is something

like a television receiver.

The components within a standard TV

could be rewired to receive channels

that aren't on the dial.

During seizure conditions the brain

can be similarly reorganized, result

may be enhanced, possibly psychic capabilities,

a brain less constrained by time or space.

Now, what's in front of you is a board--

DR. PERSINGER: Of the 30 or 40 individuals with Jeanine's

profile, many of them also report

having the ability to influence objects at a distance.

The experiences such as light bulbs

exploding around them, radios failing, glass breaking.

JEANINE: I didn't do this as a child.

It developed as I became an adult.

There were several incidents where things

actually exploded in my hands.

The school called again.

Can you believe it?

What's wrong?

JEANINE: I remember one time I was pouring a coffee pot.

Do you want some more coffee?

Yeah, sure thanks.

[exploding]

JEANINE: And then I went through many more situations

to where we finally had to remove all our glass

glasses out of the house.

Because if I touched them, and if I got upset,

they would break my hand, they would shatter.

DR. ROLL: In general it appears that these occurrences

are associated with stress and tension.

And the theory is that they are the means of the mind

of the brain to release the stress

or tension in the individual.

HOST: Jeanine says a rush of psychokinetic activities

erupted during a particularly stressful time of her life.

She was divorced, raising two children,

and living at her mother's house.

MOTHER: I've seen her get real upset,

and she has some pictures on the wall one time.

And she was terribly upset.

She heard her ex-husband had had words and so forth.

And it was really a trying situation.

I can't talk to you like this, all right?

Just forget it.

Forget it.

Good bye.

I can't believe that he's accusing of--

- What did he say? - That I'm--

[objects crashing]

What was that?

[scared]

MOTHER: She didn't will it to happen.

It just happened.

It was just like a magnetic force just

went and just pulled us about, slung it

to the other side of the room.

JEANINE: I think some of my son's little friends

are kind of afraid of me, because we

were going out to the car one day in broad daylight.

And I was just--

I wasn't even angry.

I was just charged up.

Mom, can I have a dollar for lunch?

I'll give it to you in the car.

[sparkling]

What was that?

JEANINE: The force was so strong that the energy that was coming

off of my hand actually caused sparks,

and the keys flew up out of my hand.

SON: It's not like any other mom getting mad,

because my mom is just like, gets mad

and she does all kinds of weird stuff.

You don't want to mess with her.

So she's not like any other mom.

JEANINE: It can be scary at times because you

know it's going to occur, but you don't always know exactly .

when.

And there's always that fear that you

might have someone with you that you don't want to hurt.

Fareed, come here.

HOST: According to family members,

one of the most dramatic incidents

took place when Jeanine asked her son to warm up

a baby bottle in the microwave.

SON: I was so tired, I put it on for one second,

and my mom got mad.

She went over there, and touched it, and reset it.

[explosion]

[baby crying]

HOST: Jeanine would later call a factory repairman.

He could think of nothing to explain

the microwave sudden destruction.

JEANINE: He had told me out of all the years

he had been servicing, he said, he had

never seen anything like that.

MOTHER: My daughter was in a hurry one day.

She had an appointment somewhere.

I don't remember exactly what it was.

And she had this outfit that she wanted to iron.

And then she always kept buzzing around her feet

and pulling out her skirt.

Just really upsetting and irritating and aggravating,

especially when you're pressed for time

and you've got to get some place.

What, what?

Your brother will help you find the shoe.

Help him find his shoe.

It's probably over there in the corner.

Hey, ma, did you give them breakfast yet?

I'm doing it now honey.

JEANINE (VOICEOVER): Don't forget

the apples that are in the back of the refrigerator

for the lunch.

MOTHER: And she is just going like this, ironing away,

you know.

And I'm looking at the iron.

The iron wasn't plugged in.

What, what, what?

MOTHER: I looked at the plug, and I looked at her,

and I said, Honey, would you like me plug the iron now?

DR. ROLL: We do not know what type of energy

it is so we invent a term for it, PK, psychokinesis.

And that is just as for our ignorance.

We don't know how it operates.

By looking at the brains of people such as Jeanine,

we might get an understanding of the form of energy

that causes these types of incidents.

Scientists Scientists are far from explaining

the mysterious forces of psychokinesis.

Even high tech tools like magnetic resonance imaging

have failed to reveal all the secrets of the human brain.

Still the exploration has helped Jeanine Price

cope with the powerful forces she

says once dominated her life.

JEANINE: If I can bring at will the energy that I have when

I'm frustrated or tired, I've been

told that people like myself--

that energy has been used and channeled

in to people with illnesses--

If I could do that I would like to do that.

HOST: In a moment, a stunning, clairvoyant vision

leads a woman to the body of a murder victim

as Mysteries of a Psychic Mind continues.

As a young girl, Etta Smith says she

had the occasional odd feeling about events yet to happen.

But nothing that led her to believe she

possessed special abilities.

Then at the age of 32 Etta had a single

extraordinary psychic experience that changed her life forever.

In 1980 Etta Smith was working in an aerospace facility

in Burbank, California.

On December 17th a news bulletin triggered

an overwhelming sense of dread.

RADIO: Police in Los Angeles report

they have located the truck belonging to Melanie Uribe.

The young nurse is missing since--

HOST: 31-year-old Melanie Uribe had not been seen for days,

and investigators feared the worst.

Despite a massive search no one knew what had happened to her.

A house-to-house search is currently underway.

We will keep you posted--

She's not in a house.

It was as if someone was talking to me.

It was a mental thought, but it was as

if someone was speaking to me.

She is not in a house.

After that thought registered, it was as if I saw a picture.

I saw a canyon area.

I saw a road.

I saw it curving.

I saw a dirt path.

I saw shrubbery and a soft white through the shrubbery.

I could not clearly see what the white was,

but it was something distinctively white.

And when I thought about that, I thought, well,

if what I'm experiencing is the possibility of where

this person could be, maybe the white I see is her uniform,

knowing that she was a nurse.

Detective Ryan?

HOST: For Etta, the vision was so powerful and so profound she

felt compelled to tell the police,

even at the risk of being ridiculed.

Excuse me, Detective Ryan?

Etta Smith?

Yes.

Desk Sergeant said you had some information

on Melanie Uribe.

ETTA: I couldn't just let it go because I kept wondering

if this person needed help.

And if their life depended on that help,

it would be very wrong of me not to do something.

It's kind of hard to explain, but I think I've seen her.

You've seen her?

I gave her a lot of credibility based on the fact

that she came in on her own.

You'd found her truck.

She indicated her conscience was bothering her, which

triggered a response in me that possibly her conscience

is bothering because maybe she knows

more than she's telling us.

But then again, maybe she is in fact sincere and real.

So let's treat her in that light until we find out otherwise.

HOST: Based on her psychic vision,

Etta pinpointed the area in Los Angeles

County where she thought the missing nurse might be found.

ETTA: Lopez Canyon, that's it.

HOST: Despite Detective Ryan's willingness to listen,

Etta worried that the police would not

do anything immediately, so she decided

to investigate on her own.

Accompanied by her daughter Tina,

Etta drove to Lopez Canyon.

I just don't understand this.

I am so certain.

HOST: When Etta stepped out of her car

at the top of the canyon, the feeling of dread returned.

ETTA: Maybe I was wrong.

HOST: Etta was certain that Melanie had not

only been there, but that something

horrible had happened to her.

Oh, no, she's here.

No, she is definitely here.

I felt trauma and I felt scared.

And I felt, it was like an energy that

was like tingling inside of me.

It was sort of like how you feel when

you get an adrenaline rush.

Let's look for something white.

HOST: On the way back down the canyon,

Etta and Tina noticed a set of fresh tire tracks.

ETTA: Wait a minute, wait a minute.

TINA: What is it?

I stopped, and for reasons unknown to me,

I wanted to look at these tire marks

and I wanted to put my hands in them.

I'm starting to feel more trauma.

And it's starting to build.

And I'm getting more nervous.

Oh, my God.

TINA: What's going on?

She was here.

She was right here and--

When it got to that point, it was like I was on overload.

She was so frightened and--

When we got back in the van, the only thing that I could think

about is I want to leave here.

I don't want to be here anymore.

HOST: Further down the canyon, Etta

stopped again when Tina noticed something unusual in the brush.

I don't see anything.

It's right up there, Mom.

ETTA: I walk within six feet of this object.

I could not tell what I was looking at.

Wait a minute.

The only thing that I could truly

distinguish and know what this was, was she

had on white nurse's shoes.

Go, go, go!

HOST: Etta immediately contacted the police.

An autopsy later determined that the body

was indeed Melanie Uribe.

She had been robbed, raped, and beaten to death.

Etta Smith's clairvoyant vision had been confirmed.

Would you have a seat right here?

We just want to ask you a few questions.

HOST: That evening, Etta was summoned to the police station.

At 7:00 PM, she was questioned by two detectives

she had never seen before.

You don't mind if I call you Etta, do you?

No, that's fine.

Did you know the victim Melanie Uribe?

No.

No, I never met her.

I just-- I heard about her on the news.

Hmm.

You've been up to Lopez Canyon?

ETTA: They wanted me to explain to them how

the whole thing had unfolded.

Mrs. Smith, whose--

ETTA: And that seemed very normal to me.

But after I felt I had finished telling them everything

and filled in the blanks, it's like, OK,

let's start at the beginning.

Tell us this again.

Let's just move through the psychic thing one more

time, OK?

ETTA: So we go through the story again.

And again.

And again.

I saw it in my head.

And you really expect us to believe this?

ETTA: This went on for hours.

I don't-- I don't know what you're going to--

Until about 10 o'clock that evening

when it becomes very obvious to me that now I'm a suspect.

You're a liar.

Do you think I had something to do with this murder?

Mrs. Smith, you know too much.

There's too much of a coincidence.

I don't have any idea what happened to that woman.

The investigating officers, having no other leads or clues,

didn't have any other choice at that time

but presume she was in fact an accessory,

either before or after the commission of the crime.

MAN: Is today Monday?

ETTA: Yes.

HOST: Etta volunteered to take a polygraph exam.

At midnight, five hours after she was first

brought in for questioning, Etta underwent

the first of two tests.

Etta passed both exams.

However, the detectives withheld that information.

They were still convinced that only someone

involved in the crime could know the details Etta had revealed.

You failed the polygraph test.

No.

I wasn't sure if it was a bluff or what.

I was so tired, I don't think I really cared anymore.

I wanted to get away from them.

It was like I was either going to go home,

or I was going to jail.

I'm not sure I cared.

But I did get angry.

You can't leave me here.

HOST: At 5:00 AM, Etta Smith was formally

booked on a charge of murder.

Contact one of the jailers.

They'll know how to reach me.

But I'm telling the truth!

HOST: For four days, Etta languished in jail,

unaware of certain dramatic events

taking place on the outside.

Etta?

Seems like we made a mistake.

We've just arrested two young men who confessed

to the murder of Melanie Uribe.

HOST: In the end , Etta Smith was completely absolved.

15 years later, the two confessed killers

are still in prison.

DETECTIVE RYAN: In Etta's case, I was quite amazed.

And I think a lot of other people were, too,

but I think a lot of them were reluctant to want to admit it.

Had it not been for Etta Smith, I

don't think this case would have been solved as rapidly as it

was, or possibly not at all.

I sometimes wonder what it was that transpired

from this innocent person who was murdered,

how her death somehow reached out and touched me.

I think it's one of the mysteries in life

that many things happen to us throughout our life that

are an explainable.

Since the remarkable psychic experience in 1980,

Etta Smith has honed her apparent powers.

She has assisted police and crime victims in several cases,

always providing her services free of charge.

In a moment, you will meet a different kind of psychic,

a man who claims his paranormal abilities enable him

to communicate with the dead.

Even for a professional psychic, an unusual occupation

in itself, the man you're about to meet is unusual.

James Van Praag claims that he can contact the spirits

of the dead and convey the detailed messages

to those they left behind.

It may sound outlandish, but who among us, if given the chance,

wouldn't want to communicate with a loved

one who has passed away?

April 24, 1994, Burbank, California.

A moving collection of photographs

celebrates the brief life of a young man named Doug Raskin.

RABBI: Jewish tradition teaches us that when a person dies,

it is only the body that dies.

I believe that those of you who feel Doug's presence--

HOST: One week earlier, just shy of his 33rd birthday,

the brilliant attorney and accomplished outdoorsman

had fallen to his death while climbing Mount Fuji in Japan.

Doug's parents, Sue and Don Raskin,

did not know how or if they could overcome their grief.

Just seemed like nobody could comfort us.

And one of my relatives had mentioned James

Van Praagh, who was a medium.

And I kind of picked up on it real fast,

because I was looking for anything or anybody who could

help Don and I at this time.

I couldn't imagine anybody have the ability

to be able to see somebody in another place,

and I was very, very skeptical.

I really didn't feel that that was where I was at the time.

I wasn't feeling well, and yet, I was still hurting

and needed to find something.

The way it works--

HOST: Before their meeting with James Van Praagh,

the Raskins gave the psychic no details

whatsoever about themselves.

This recreation is strictly based on transcripts

from the actual session.

Did you have a son?

Did you have a son that passed over to the other side?

He's here.

Yes, oh, God.

Was this some kind of accident?

SUE: Uh-huh.

Because he gives me accident.

Was it car or something?

No, mountain.

And was there head injuries?

HOST: The Raskins were duly impressed

from Van Praagh accurately stated that their son had died.

Their excitement grew as Van Praagh

began to talk about other family members who had passed away.

Is there a Nicky or a Mickey?

Mickey's my father.

And is there a Dottie or a Dorothy?

I have an Aunt Dorothy.

JAMES: Did she pass over?

Yeah.

Who's Ben?

Ben's my dad.

When he told us all about these events and named all the people

that were already gone many, many years-- some of them were

gone a dozen or so years ago--

and their personalities that they had that were so right on,

I mean, there's just no way possible.

HOST: Sue and Don were astonished as James recounted

specifics of Doug's funeral that only

those who had been at the service could have known.

JAMES: Did you have a whole bunch of pictures

of him doing different things?

He saw that.

On one side of the room was a whole bunch

of pictures or something.

Yes, a collage.

JAMES: A collage of different pictures.

Yes, he saw that.

And then there was like one main picture, was there?

Yes, in a card we made for him with a saying.

I just couldn't believe that James

would know all these things.

And he specifically addressed the fact

that the pictures and the collage that we had put out

for that event for the celebration

were absolutely spectacular.

He says I couldn't have done it better myself.

And I really laughed at that, because that

would be Doug saying that, because he loved photography.

Basically, I'm a clairsentient and I'm clairvoyant.

A clairsentient means clairsensing.

I'm an individual who senses feelings

and emotions with spirit people, people

that passed to the other side.

I'm a sensitive.

I'm able to pick up their thoughts,

and I feel their emotions when they come through,

and that's what I relate to people.

And he shows me flowers all around.

HOST: For the Raskins, any residual doubts

he might have had were erased when James

spoke of another family tragedy that

had occurred 33 years earlier.

You don't have another son, do you?

SUE: No.

Did you ever lose a baby?

Yes.

She lived for five days.

I had completely forgot about that because I

was there only for Doug.

And I said, what?

I made him repeat it.

He says, your daughter's all grown up today.

I said, oh, my God, he knows about our daughter.

Then I became such a believer.

He likes the picture of himself taken

at the base of the mountain.

Was there a picture of him taken at the base of Mount Fuji,

do you know?

I don't know.

Haven't seen it.

HOST: The seance brought enormous comfort

to Sue and Don, even though Van Praagh was not 100% accurate.

In fact, the Raskins felt that he completely

missed the mark when he talked about photos of Doug

on Mount Fuji.

They had been told that Doug's camera

equipment was never recovered.

Two months after we had been to James,

I went to the mailbox, and I saw an envelope from Japan,

and I came running in to the house and yelled, Don,

there's an envelope here from Japan.

Well, open it.

HOST: As it turned out, Doug's climbing team

had gone back to the spot where their friend

perished and unearthed his camera

from beneath mounds of snow.

Inside the package was a photograph

James Van Praagh had talked about.

DON: This is the picture taken at the base of the mountain.

Oh.

Sweetheart.

Isn't that beautiful?

There was just so many things that occurred that James

could not have known about.

It would be impossible for him to have ever looked

up or researched for anything.

And that is really what made me a believer in him.

Almost everything he said was correct.

And it really changed my whole belief, there is another side,

and that James was able to open it up to us.

Does Van Praagh have genuine psychic abilities

that enable him to communicate with those in the afterlife?

Or is he highly perceptive, uncommonly skilled

at scattershot guesswork?

To find out, we invited 10 people to a seance

this past December.

None of the participants had ever seen or talked

with Van Praagh before.

They all hoped, however, to make contact with specific loved

ones who had passed away.

Now keep in mind, the session lasted several hours.

We have excerpted some of the more dramatic moments.

The lady that stands behind you,

and she's a very pretty woman.

I'm going to tell you, she is a very pretty woman.

Her skin is very soft, I'll put it that way.

And I feel she's a young lady.

I got to tell you--

HOST: Paula Hartman came to the seance anxious to find

out about her mother, who had passed

away in 1986 from emphysema.

Said something about having some

regrets, she had some regrets.

And when she comes back, she's very connected to you, OK?

It's your mom, it's your mother. Your mother passed over.

Mm-hmm, yes.

HOST: For six of the 10 participants,

Van Praagh was able to correctly identify the people

he had hoped to contact.

For some, he even revealed the cause of death.

Jackie McDonald's daughter had been

murdered in her own home, a scenario

that Van Praagh sketched in detail.

Yes, and then she goes back into bed,

and she thinks, oh it's just her mind playing games.

And she climbs back to bed.

And I have to say that she falls asleep, and she shows me--

ah, see, the next thing she shows me is her being attacked,

and there was someone on top with a knife.

And I see the man--

oh, boy.

He grabbed something on the counter.

It looks like the knife was in-- it was in a--

In a block.

It was, wasn't it?

It was in some kind of a holder, because he pulls it out.

- Yes, the big block of knives. - That's it.

Because it's not a drawer.

The daughter showed me a visual.

It's almost as if it's a very quick movie

in front of my head in my mind.

And I see things very fast.

It's a little shadowy, but certain details stick out.

And she loves birds, by the way.

HOST: Cathy Hall wanted to find out about a friend

who had killed himself.

But in this case, as in others, Van Praagh drew a blank.

Can I ask any questions?

Sure

Is there anybody-- is there anything there from Freddy?

Anything there from Freddy.

Who's Freddy? Who's that?

Freddy is a friend of mine.

That passed over.

Joking around.

I'm being told Freddy is joking around.

I don't know why.

Joking around.

Did he have trouble breathing at one point?

No.

How did he pass, of a heart attack?

CATHY: He killed himself. - Oh.

No, I don't get that.

No, I'm not getting it. Sorry.

Can't get it if it's not there.

It's hard to tell sometimes.

I admit, it's very hard to tell all the time exactly.

It's not going to be 100% what's black is black and white

was white.

Was that his ring?

HOST: During the seance, James Van Praagh was unaware

that this man, Professor Michael Shermer,

had been planted in the group by Unsolved Mysteries.

JAMES: And was he bleeding at the time?

HOST: Shermer is a publisher of a magazine that

investigates, among other things,

claims about psychic phenomena.

MAN: I carried him all the way to the hospital.

All the way to the hospital.

MICHAEL: Van Prague is a mentalist.

A mentalist is a magician doing an act.

He's doing what we call cold reading.

That is, you meet somebody you've never seen before,

and you tell him things about them.

You start general, you throw things out rapid fire.

You watch their facial expressions to see if you're

getting hits or misses.

When you get a miss, you go right on to the next thing.

You don't even blink.

When you get a hit, you follow that until the end,

until they start saying no again.

And then you go to the next thing,

and you just keep doing that.

Did she say different doctors at one period of time?

WOMAN: Yes. - Thank you.

She was bedridden also, wasn't she?

Was she in a bed at the--

Just briefly.

OK, OK.

Was this cancer that your mom--

WOMAN: No.

No, it wasn't.

The reason I ask questions, yes or no questions,

is, number one, I am also very human.

I have to validate that what I'm getting from the spirit

is indeed I'm on the right level with this individual

that I'm speaking with.

I want to make sure that the spirit

person is coming through right, that information is correct.

I've got to give you something about a marriage here.

Something about a marriage.

Was there a separation with a marriage, please?

Yes.

JAMES: Did your husband pass over?

Because your husband's standing next to me,

and your husband is here, OK?

I get a very strong impact with him.

An impact.

Was it a car he was driving, a pickup truck?

He wasn't driving, no.

JAMES: He was walking and just went down?

Was he crossing somewhere?

LAURA: Yes, well, he was-- - And someone hit him?

He was in the street, yes.

JAMES: And someone hit him as he was walking.

HOST: Laura Wachler-Lenc's husband had indeed been

struck by a car and killed.

No.

HOST: For Laura, Van Praagh went on to make what seemed

an astonishing revelation.

Yes, you're going to get married again, he says.

You will get married again.

You will.

And he's going to help you.

He's going to help you get married again.

And he says, honey, I'm going to--

LAURA: I was shocked that he would know that,

because only myself, my fiance, and my sister,

and his mother knew.

They aren't even in the state.

And it wasn't something I was thinking about.

That kind of solidified things for me.

Most people who lose a spouse eventually do get remarried.

And Van Praagh will always keep it positive.

He wants you to know he loves you.

Well, of course. What else is he going to say?

He wants you to know you'll be remarried.

Well, what's he going to say, you'll never be married again?

You'll be miserable, miserable spinster the rest of your life?

This isn't going to happen, right?

So these are just general principles of cold reading.

JAMES: And he says you have to--

HOST: Stan Wheel attended the seance with his wife Theresa.

They intentionally sat on opposite sides of the room.

JAMES: You've had major loss.

A traumatic loss.

Gotcha, thank you very much.

And you're connected, aren't you?

You two, you two, is this your wife?

Yes

Because he's pointing to her, you know, you're his wife.

What's your name?

THERESA: Theresa.

HOST: The Wheels had come to the session hoping to find out

about their 19-year-old son Kevin, who had been innocently

gunned down in 1991, allegedly by gang

members in a drive-by shooting.

Yeah, I want to bring in your-- is it a boy that passed?

THERESA: Yes.

Because I get a boy, OK?

So this son.

He says, I'm their son.

- Yes. - OK.

Was he killed? THERESA: Yes.

Because he says, I was killed.

THERESA: Yes.

JAMES: Was there a gun involved here, please?

Yes.

Because he shows me a gun, and he says he was shot.

Yes.

I don't feel he was shot once.

I feel he was shot more than once, OK?

Yes, yes.

I feel riddled, I really do, with bullets.

I do.

I feel many bullets in me.

And this is what he's giving me here.

I'm sorry.

It's a gang, it's a gang.

- Yes. - Gang of kids.

Gang of kids.

STAN: When Theresa approached me to come in to see James Van

Praagh, I was very skeptical.

I really didn't want to come.

But then to know that Kevin was killed with a gun

and it was multiple shots, it was outside on a street,

he just kept alluding to more and more of the things

that he had no idea, he would have had no idea.

I got a big K, and I don't know why.

But I being given the K. Is his name with a K, please?

Yes.

JAMES: Like Kevin or Ken?

Kevin.

JAMES: Kevin, thank you.

That's what I said, Kevin.

He said, I see a big K. And the first name he said

was Kevin.

I mean, how can-- you can't get that off of,

you know, just being around this room.

It was just amazing.

I think he's wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

First of all, she had her son's ring on.

Big black ring with a K in diamonds

on this ring around her necklace and around her neck.

Now maybe he saw that and maybe he didn't.

I don't know.

I got a big K, and I don't know why.

But I'm being given the K.

MICHAEL: Well, I was watching her eyes.

You know, she starts crying, and her eyes are like saucers.

And he already knows it's her son that died.

So two most common names for boys starting with a K,

Ken and Kevin. He says, Ken are Kevin.

She says, Kevin.

Bingo, Kevin.

Now she'll run home and tell everybody,

he got my son's name, Kevin, right

like that, I didn't tell him.

No, he didn't get it.

HOST: However, Theresa claims that Van Praagh couldn't have

seen the ring because she had kept it hidden

in the bodice of her dress.

But perhaps disagreements about the tales are beside the point.

While Van Praagh may not have satisfied

everyone at the seance, most felt

a sense of comfort and healing.

JAMES: You used to do-- You did that.

Yes, I used to sit there all the time.

I do feel a little more at peace.

I know that there is another life after this, because what

James had told me through Kevin, and the fact

that he sees me, that he hears me talking to him,

that it's not all in vain, is what

really makes me feel at ease.

Sometimes you don't know how you're going to make

it from one minute to the next.

It's so horribly painful.

But now I know that my Debbie can see me

and that she can hear me, and I can tell her I love her.

There was just quite a few things

that were close enough that made you think, well,

he's tapping into something.

I'm just not quite sure what it is.

And when one realizes that there is a life after death,

it indeed will change their life and how they live on the Earth

and how they treat each other.

And that is really my most important belief, my mission.

HOST: On our next Unsolved Mysteries.

In 1988, a massive explosion killed six firefighters

in Kansas City, Missouri.

In the tragic aftermath, investigators

determined that arson was the cause,

making the six deaths nothing less than cold-blooded murders.

Join me next Friday for another intriguing edition

of Unsolved Mysteries.

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