Macro-Psychokinesis, Part One: Physical Mediumship

Here Stephen Braude discussed large-scale psychokinetic phenomena, typically observed during séances in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These phenomena included table rapping, table levitation, human levitation, apports and materializations. Of particular interest is the case of Daniel Dunglas Home, perhaps the greatest spiritualist medium known in history, who produced such phenomena consistently for a period of twenty-five years. Another well-attested case of human levitation is that of the Catholic saint, Joseph of Cupertino. Braude takes issues with those who believe that the reports of such phenomena are untrustworthy.

Macro-Psychokinesis, Part Two: Apparitions

Here Stephen Braude notes that apparitions were studied extensively by the British Society for Psychical Research in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Basically, there are two categories of apparitions: those of the living and those of the deceased. Thousands of such cases have been reported and researched. The most common of these is known as the “crisis apparition” and often occurs in relationship to a death or accident. Often apparitions are thought of as a mental phenomenon, probably produced by telepathy. Sometimes they are pure psychological projections or are produced by hypnosis. However, Braude maintains that collective apparitions cannot readily be explained this way. He argues that apparitions that are seen by many people simultaneously may be physical phenomena produced by psychokinesis.

Macro-Psychokinesis, Part Three: Philosophical Reflections

Here Stephen Braude points out that psychokinesis is something of a taboo within a taboo – as even parapsychologists have been reluctant to research or discuss the phenomenon, particularly when it occurs on a large-scale. He suggests that so-called primitive cultures may have a better understanding of psychokinesis than in modern societies. He also points out that the experimental method has severe limitations when it comes to studying psychokinesis because it is not possible to isolate the source of psychokinetic manifestations. He recommends studying psychokinesis in natural settings so that it can be better understood in social contexts. He also recommends psychodynamic analysis of psychokinetic manifestations.

Stephen Braude, PhD, served as chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has also served as president of the Parapsychological Association. He is author of Crimes of Reason, The Gold Leaf Lady, Immortal Remains, The Limits of Influence, First Person Plural, and ESP and Psychokinesis. He is the recent recipient of the prestigious Myers Memorial Medal awarded by the Society for Psychical Research for outstanding contributions.

SSE Talks - Mind-Matter Interaction and Robotics

A previous program of human/machine anomalies experiments utilizing a randomly driven mechanical robot has been extended with a sequence of new trials specifically addressing particular physical and subjective correlates. Despite the modest size of this database, acquired under less than ideal laboratory conditions, the absolute and statistical scales of the anomalous effects well exceed those typical of experiments of this class.

Beyond gross replication of the earlier results, the new data display structural aspects that offer additional insights into the fundamental nature of such mind/matter phenomena in general, and suggest potential pragmatic applications in various technical practices. Details of the results and their interpretations will be included in the presentation.

Heath’s The PK Zone

Introduction

For those interested in psychokinesis from a parapsychology perspective, I found “the” book on the topic. It is: Heath, Pamela Rae. (2003). The PK Zone: A cross-cultural review of psychokinesis. Lincoln: iUniverse.

This book is essentially an extensive review of our knowledge about PK, and it can be easily considered as a reference manual. The bibliography is almost 20 pages long. It is not a book to be read like a novel, however, as it is divided in analytical sections, and sub-sections. The first part of the book is a quick review of past approaches to PK-like phenomena (such as in 19th century psychical research), and religious-based understanding of PK (like the levitation of the saints). The second part presents a review of scientific research and theories (and the more scientific portion of psychical research is included in this section). The last part and the most extensive one is about the experiential portion of PK, i.e. how PK relates to altered states of consciousness, dissociation, trust, inhibitors, etc. In the conclusion, the author presents briefly a psychological model linking 14 expérimental elements of the PK experience (pp. 355-357). Graphically, it looks like a “spaghetti” org. chart, and it is not meant to be user-friendly. This book is obviously the outcome of a colossal amount of work, but it is not for those who are seeking “the” answer to PK. It is rather an honest look at the multiple incomplete and imperfect answers that are out there.

It is interesting to note that the author, by focussing on the experiential part of PK, is taking a qualitative (or phenomenological) perspective on the phenomenon. The author offers not only the main findings on various aspects of PK by citing the relevant literature, but she proposes many quotes from people involved in PK experience, or who had spontaneous experiences, to support her claims. This is refreshing to see a parapsychologist able to beyond dry statistical analysis attempting to determine whether it is within or outside chance deviations. From that point of view, this book offers a readily usable analytical guide for the qualitative material (i.e., witness accounts) of the UFO experience (assuming it is indeed a PK-related phenomenon).

PK and parasociology

From a parasociology perspective, however, it is more challenging to use this book as a reference, as the proposed experiential approach is essentially one based on the individual, its key unit of analysis (i.e., a psychology-based approach). A fair bit of careful “translation” between ontological levels (i.e., between the individual level and the social level) will be required to make her findings useful to parasociology.

For instance, “focused awareness” or attention (pp. 283-290) is found to be an important enabler to intentional PK. As well, on p. 287 she notes that focused awareness can occur at the group level (to be understood here as a small group) where people are focussing on the same thing. This can increase the power of PK. Although the author does not expand on it in that chapter, there is an implicit idea that the intensity of a psi effect has a direct correlation with the number of human psyche involved. In other words, psi energy appears cumulative. UFO sightings and UFO waves can rarely be understood as intentional PK (with a few exceptions such as Viéroudy’s experiments presented in an earlier post). Hence, this part of the findings may not be relevant. However, it is also possible to make the argument that once a UFO is seen the focussed attention of the witnesses can possibly have an impact on the changing shape and behaviour of the UFO (a common observation in UFO sightings). But we are still staying at the individual level in this case. On the other hand, the idea that an increased number of people involved in a PK phenomenon (whether they are focussed or not) seems to lead to greater PK effects is an interesting argument in favour of social psi; if thousands (or more) people unconsciously produce PK effects, then the effect should be much more ostentatious, taking shapes like UFO waves, or repeated Marian apparitions. This is certainly one of the key assumptions behind the Global Consciousness Project. Yet again, this issue of focused attention could explain why during a same UFO wave there can be conflicting observations by the different witnesses (which situation often leads ETH ufologists to dismiss the observations that do not fit their preconceived notions, and to declare as “more real” or “better” the ones that fit “the pattern” – from that point of view, the criticism towards ETH ufology as being nothing more than “saucerology” is deserved).

From a methodological standpoint, because accounts of UFOs during a UFO wave are usually coming from individual people, it is still important to take into consideration the individual level portion of the phenomenon. To find social dynamics that would be particular to social psi, however, it is fundamental to maintain a clear analytical distinction between the two ontological levels. Hence, borrowing from Heath’s book will be a delicate balancing act.

As one can see, there is lots of food for thought in this book. I think it would be useful to go in depth through each of the elements of this book, in an attempt to “extract” the findings that could have a sociological level application (i.e., to inform parasociology). This will constitute the bulk of my next posts.

Heath’s on qualitative accounts of PK

As discussed in my previous post, I am reviewing Heath’s book with more depth. This post will be focussing on qualitative accounts of PK, and on some epistemological issues related to qualitative accounts.

In the first part of her book, Heath proposes a review of PK in various religions and cultures, to include miraculous feat such as levitation, stigmata, inedia (surviving without food), teleportation, bilocation (to be seen at two locations at the same time), fire immunity, luminosity, physical mediumship, anomalous healing, “ki” related super performance in martial arts, and poltergeists. To this list, it would have been interesting to add tulpas from the Tibetan tradition, as they have often been associated with non-ETH explanations of UFO sightings. Without going in detail for each of them, it is clear that such feats were recorded in many cultures and across time periods; very much like UFOs and like UFOs were interpreted differently according the local culture. One of the common themes found in these accounts is that strong beliefs and religious fervour seem to play an important role. Another one is the role altered states of consciousness as being an important enabler. This is certainly consistent with findings of modern parapsychology.

Qualitative research in PK research – A work in progress

An interesting opening statement by Heath is that “unfortunately, the database of qualitative studies is still a small one. [...] It is only in the last few years that we have started to see phenomenological studies and surveys of what PK performers say about their experiences (Barrett 1996; Gissurarson 1997a; Heath 1999). Clearly there is a great deal of work yet to be done in this area, as well as unexplored directions of research.” (p. xxvi).

This statement by Heath can be put in parallel with the work done by one of the pioneers of non-ETH ufology, Dr. Alex Keul. As stated by KWC Phillips, “Dr. Keul slowly began to work on the missing element in all the various and contradictory reports which came to his attention and, in so doing, came to the somewhat shocking conclusion that the missing factor was the human witnesses: that is, we knew next to nothing about them, let alone the enigmatic UFOs they were to report in large numbers. Even more fundamentally, we knew nothing of the void between the witness and the object perceived.” (Phillips, KWC. (1993). “The psycho-sociology of ufology”. In D. Barclay and T. M. Barclay, UFOs, The Final Answer? Ufology for the 21st century. London: Blandford, 40-64, p. 44.).

The state of research in PK and in the study of UFOs is in many ways similar. Although Keul’s efforts were very innovative, the dominance of the ETH approach had the effect of pushing his ideas under the rug. Given that one of my working hypotheses is that UFOs have a substantial PK component, then any advance in parasociology could be beneficial to parapsychology as well.

In spite of Heath’s innovative standpoint of working outside the usual parapsychological box (i.e. focussing on qualitative approaches), it is also clear that the author is still battling with the ambient positivist attitude in parapsychology. For instance, the author warns the reader that “accounts of miracles tended to mirror the needs and social beliefs of the age. [...] These stories may thus reflect cultural bias, rather than an accurate picture of either PK or fraud.” (p. 1). As a sociologist of science, I would not hesitate a second to turn the table and say that parapsychological accounts (i.e., articles in academic journals) tend to mirror the needs to prove the existence of psi according to the social belief that quantitative and positivist science is the only way to reach the “truth”. The exclusion in parapsychological accounts of the non-quantifiable reality of psi reflects a cultural bias, rather than an accurate picture of what constitute psi or fraud...

This bias is also found when she discusses “Spontaneous Nonrecurrent PK” (pp. 94-105). She clearly states that spontaneous cases of PK “are important not only because they allow us to learn about the range of what is possible, but also because, as Beloff noted, ‘it is the persistence of such spontaneous phenomena that has kept alive interest in the field among the broad public” (p. 94). Yet, in the same breadth she states also that “nonrecurrent spontaneous PK is impossible to study in the laboratory since it is (by definition) a solitary, uncontrolled event. Thus, it can only be speculated about in anecdotal and case study literature” (p. 94). This is a nice example of positivist epistemological bias from someone who is coming from North American psychology. Political science, sociology and anthropology, to name a few, also deal with solitary, uncontrolled events such as a coup d’état, the emergence of a new social movement, or cultural manifestations of all kinds. Archaeological findings and physical anthropology findings also fall into the same category, as a dig occurs only once, and what is declared as being observed can only be accepted if someone trusts the archaeologist or physical anthropologist. Does it make these sciences less scientific, and their objects of study less worthy of our research efforts? Or rather, it is the psychologists’ definition of science that is problematic? Other disciplines have developed extensive methodologies to handle “solitary and uncontrolled events” and developed knowledge that is not speculation about anecdotes. Once again, I would turn the table and say that parapsychology is suffering from an inferiority complex and thus it tries to be more scientific (i.e. positivist) than everybody else. In spite of great research efforts (like Heath’s book) Parasociology will have to be careful in dealing with parapsychologists and their epistemological bias.

Teleportation and alien abduction

Among the older qualitative accounts, teleportation seems particularly pertinent to the study of UFOs. It is a rare spontaneous event (although there are claims of people who mastered it), and appears to be more common among secular individuals, especially children (here read teenagers like in poltergeists phenomenon) (p. 37). People spontaneously disappear from one place and found themselves somewhere else without any memory as to how they got there. Altered states of consciousness and visions of angels were associated with such events. It was also interpreted as a sign of demonic infestation. This pattern clearly resembles cases of “alien abduction,” like the well-known story of Betty and Barney Hill. Heath, however, does not make the connection.

Several of the accounts proposed by Heath about teleportation are drawn from: Rogo, D. Scott. (1982). Miracles: A parascientific inquiry into wonderous phenomena. New York: Dial Press.

Poltergeists and Close Encounters of the Third Kind

It is interesting to note that older accounts of poltergeist activity include more than noise and objects moving violently in the air. Apparitions of various entities are also reported. Heath notes that “St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775) was similarly said to have been assailed by explosions like pieces of artillery being discharged, vision of grotesque animals, the opening and shutting of the warming pan in his room, and being struck and bruised.” (p. 92). Heath also points out that the content of poltergeist events tend to be influenced by idiosyncratic cultural beliefs, “poltergeist agents vomited pins and manifested ’animal familiars’ in culture where witchcraft traditions exist, while in other cultures the agent created apparent demonic manifestations in conformance with their local customs and beliefs. If this is true, it makes an interesting comment on how we feel about technology, given recent poltergeist activity with telephones and electrical appliances going haywire”. (p. 93). Once again, Heath does not make the obvious connection between the space age, encounters with “aliens” from outer space, and the cultural component of poltergeists.

Spontaneous human combustion, balls of light and UFOs

Heath introduces the controversial notion of spontaneous human combustion (SHC). She provides a good tour of what is known about the phenomenon, and some of the possible explanations. One of them is the role of balls of light. This phenomenon “is capable of floating gently along, squeezing through keyholes and chinks in window frames, or down fireplace chimneys, and has even been said to be able to materialize inside rooms or airplane cabins. Furthermore, this natural phenomenon (which is thought to be electromagnetic plasma) can be small as a pea, or as large as a house, and may be violet, red, blue, or yellow, and may even change colors during its brief life”. (p. 100).

The explanation about balls of light is not sufficient to explain some of the more psychological characteristics associated with SHC. “Considering the similarity to the sudden and complete destruction of items by poltergeist fire, the possibility of an ASC [altered state of consciousness] involving a lack of pain, and the correlation with depression, we must consider the possibility of a mind-matter interaction.” (p. 101) But she recognizes that “it is possible that some individuals have a mind that is capable of triggering the combustion, perhaps by materializing or attracting ball lightning, through an electrical discharge of some sort, or even a form of nuclear radiation” (p. 101). Once again, if we link Michael Persinger’s research on the influence electromagnetism on perception and psi abilities, with some of the findings of Albert Budden on electric UFOs, and these comments from Heath about the PK dimension of SHC and balls of light, one can see a pattern of explanation emerging. Yet, once more Heath does not make the connection with UFOs.

Heath’s on PK Research and Theories

This post is reviewing the second part of Heath’s book about PK Research and Theories. The emphasis is placed here on issues that might be of relevance to the study of UFOs, UFO waves, and for parasociology in general.

Spontaneous PK and symbolism

Spontaneous PK tend to have an inherent symbolic component. Louisa Rhine, co-founder with her husband of modern parapsychology, “made the vital observation that spontaneous nonrecurrent PK events are frequently linked with a crisis of some kind, and many of the involved objects were personally meaningful (Roll 1983). She also recognized that there were two people involved—one person who observed the effect, and another undergoing a crisis, often at a distance (Rao 1983). In addition, the process appeared to be unconscious, with neither of the involved individuals knowingly ‘willing’ the experience to happen.” (p.111). This idea of symbolism has been noted also in the particular case of RSPK, “one the more curious kinds of phenomena is when objects seems to arrange themselves into patterns or tableaus inside empty rooms or houses (Gauld and Cornell 1979).” (p. 116). This is a key finding about the general pattern of spontaneous PK, which has a lot of potential for the study of UFO waves. As discussed in the mini case studies, UFOs waves seem to occur when there is a crisis of some kind, oftentimes on matters related to war or national security. The people who are worried about these issues are not the same ones who are witnessing the events. Lastly, as Jacques Vallée found, UFO observations tend to carry a social and symbolic meaning. At the most general level, the patterns seem to be duplicated from the individual psi level to the social psi level, and this would be consistent with the idea that the individual unconscious and the collective unconscious are structured in a fractal arrangement.

Heath also underlines that “personal significance is a key factor that, although often overlooked by experimentalists, appears to be key to the manifestation of spontaneous PK. This is true whether it occurs as an isolated episode, or, [...] as recurrent event.” (p.111). The same can be said about ETH ufology, as ufological events are almost always presented in a complete social and phenomenological void; the individual witnesses, and what is happening in their life at the time is completely ignored (same attitude is found about social events surrounding the sightings).

One of the challenges for parasociology, however, is that there might be UFO sightings that are only meaningful to the witness (particularly when there is only one witness), and from that point of view it is possible that there is no social psi involved, but only individual psi as the symbolism seems individualistic in nature. Massive UFO waves, on the other hand, can carry symbolism at a social level (e.g., the Belgian UFO wave of 1989-1990 occurred at the end of the Cold War in the country that was the seat of NATO, and where strange flying objects in the sky got the attention of NATO radar stations and of the Belgian Air Force – the social symbolism is pretty clear here). Yet, it is also possible that the phenomenon is composite. Social psi is behind the UFOs, but the witness had their own individual psi projected into an actual sighting (or even no individual psi involvement at all – they would be pure witnesses of events entirely external to them). Thus, UFO sightings could be meaningful on both levels at same time (individual and social) without having a direct relationship between the meanings found at each level. This a common issue in history (the academic discipline). For instance, Barack Obama’s inauguration is certainly an historic event that carries a lot of strong social symbolism linked to slavery, racial discrimination, the American Dream, and democracy in the United States, but its collective meaning could quite different than the meaning attached to the event by someone in the crowd (for instance, a resident of D.C. could see it as a bit too much, and looking forward to normal life to resume in the city when all those visitors are gone).

Heath also mentioned that research on miracles in the 18th century came to very similar conclusions to that of Louisa Rhine (200 years later). Heath underlines the research by Prospero Lambertini (who became Popo Benedict XIV) published in the 1730s. His findings are: “1) psychic experiences can occur to anyone and need not be divine miracles; 2) apparitions have little to do with sanctity or demonic beings; 3) prophecy occurs more often in sleep than in awake state; 4) it is difficult for prophets to distinguish between their own thought and ESP messages; and 5) that predictions often take symbolic forms.” (p. 113).

Many links between psi and his findings can be made. However, if we focus on UFO sightings, especially the ones that involve “aliens” entities, it is clear that altered state of consciousness remains a central feature in apparitions; that perception is almost always mixed with the witness’ thought and psi effect; and symbolism is an important part of the event. More on this in a future post on revisiting the famous story of Barney and Betty Hill.

RSPK and the expression of aggression

One important difference between spontaneous PK and UFO events, however, is that children and teenagers are not over-represented in the case of UFO sightings. One of the first researchers to notice the over-representation of children and teenagers in spontaneous PK is Frank Podmore in Modern Spiritualism published in 1902. Some, like A.R.G. Owen in Can We Explain Poltergeist (1964), have speculated that RSPKs could be linked to the sexual hormonal changes of puberty. But there is no agreement on this hormonal thesis.

Indeed, I would suggest that a psychological thesis can also be put forward: puberty is also a time of deep changes in an individual’s identity (from childhood to adulthood), and such changes occur mostly in the unconscious mind, where psi –related phenomena seem to originate. This alternate explanation would fit what is commonly accepted about RSPKs: “first, that the RSPK agents have strong internalized inhibitions against expressing aggression. Second, that they do not have outlets for the expression of hostility. Third, that there is psychological conflict between the expression and inhibition of aggression. [...] sometimes better approached as a case of total family dysfunction, and need not always concentrate around a central agent” (p. 123). Lastly, Heath underlines that “we are left with the possibility that in times of stress, or where more normal channels of communication seem barred, that the human being may seek nonordinary methods, such as PK, to achieve their goals.” (p. 124).

These findings can be “translated” at the sociological level. One can imagine the case of a community that cannot express some of its deep tensions, which would normally lead to some sort of serious protest or even political violence. Here, I can think of John Keel’s The Mothman Prophecy. The events occurred in West Virginia, which has a long history of repression, in particular from large coal mining companies who used all kinds of means, including violence, to prevent ordinary people to organise themselves to defend their labour and environmental rights. Yet, West Virginia is also deeply religious (part of the so-called “Bible Belt”), where inhibitions against violence and the expression of dissent are strong. At the sociological level, this creates conditions similar to the ones found in RSPKs. West Virginia has a long history of sightings of winged men, big foot, and UFOs. The case investigated by Keel was about a major stress to come, as if the community knew through unconscious premonition of a major tragedy to unfold. If the analogy is applicable, then one indicator would be communities with serious ongoing social tensions, but that does not show organized dissent, nor does it get involved in political violence.

Group PK research

Some authors, particularly Kenneth Batcheldor, conducted group experiments in PK. Although this was done at the level of small groups (i.e., social psychology), there are a number of interesting elements for parasociology. The key findings according to Heath (p. 157) are three important enablers: (1) belief shared by everyone that the paranormal exists; (2) belief that something else is responsible for the paranormal events; and (3) the “normalization” of the paranormal within the group. Based on these goal-oriented experiments, one of the findings suggests that: “the unconscious knows how to do psi—it just needs to have an idea of the goal state to be achieved, and find some way to keep the conscious mind from interfering with PK production (Reinhart 1994).” (p. 157). Once again, if I think about The Mothman Prophecy, people in West Virginia have the reputation of being superstitious, and if true, then this can be translated into a strong belief in the paranormal but assigned to the agency of non-human entities, and it is essentially normalized in the private sphere of people’s life as people take the paranormal for granted. The expression of the premonition about the bridge falling and killing many people became the unconscious goal that remained misunderstood until the event arrived, and thus kept the collective consciousness at bay. As soon as the bridge fell, the paranormal events quickly disappeared.

Other enablers

As Heath mentions, “the naturally occurring (and fluctuating) electromagnetic fields of the earth are another factor that seems to be important. Geomagnetic activity appears to be associated with the magnitude of anomalous cognition and the start of RSPK (May 2001; Puhle 2001).” (p. 167). Another factor that appears to be significant in ESP (and therefore potentially for PK) is the exposure radio wave interferences from the galaxy which occur at its peak around 1900 hours in local sidereal time (i.e. standard time), and the least interference and highest success rate of ESP occurs when there is the least amount of interference from the galaxy at around 1300 local sidereal time. Most UFO sightings occur at night around 21:00 and with a second peak around 3:00 (irrespective of sidereal time). This is a well established fact, but it can probably be explain by life habits of people, rather than through a PK analogy. Once again, this can be linked to many observations and research about the electromagnetic dimension of UFOs.

Theories about PK

Heath (pp. 199-200) confirms that there is no consensus as to whether PK should be construed as a field or as something else. The evidence points towards both directions. Other theories imply that the human mind can modify matter, and PK will perform in various ways to achieve the goal (consciously or unconsciously). Other theories are acausal, like Jung’s synchronicity, which implies that “the unconscious is capable of absolute knowledge, and that the archetypes are able to exert their influence on, and create, events extending beyond the percipient.” (p. 204). Although there are a number of problems with acausal theories, among others it is not amenable to research based on positivist epistemological assumptions (a big problem for more traditional parapsychology), it is more amenable to psi research located at the social level (i.e., to parasociological approach. Social psi can have a dynamic of its own, which implies that it can only be understood if individual percipients are not the central focus of research at that level.

Heath’s Phenomenology of PK

This is the last post about reviewing Heath’s book on PK. The focus of the third part of her book remains on individual experience, as she proposes a psychological phenomenology of PK. Phenomenology is understood here as a description of the PK experience by people who are performing PK, from the point of view of the experiencers. As Heath states, “phenomenology is a rigorous method that was developed specifically for this purpose. It allows an investigator to scientifically examine experiences and boil them down to their fundamental essential features.”(p. 207). Phenomenology in psychology is often associated with the Gestalt school of thought.

Another important element of phenomenology is that it does not give the investigator a special observation standpoint that would be “superior” to the one of people experiencing. This constitutes a major difference with other approaches in psychology where it is implicit that the psychologist “knows better” than the subject. To put it in Heath’s words, this means “that the study was not concerned with either the magnitude, or the ultimate reality, of the [PK] event. It only focused upon the experience itself.” (p. 207).

The choice of phenomenology, however, appears to me as more than just out of convenience to document experiences from experiencers. As Heath notices, because PK appears to occur often in an altered state of consciousness (ASC), the description of the experience cannot use “normal” points of reference. Elements like the sense of time, the feeling of knowing something special that cannot be put into words, strange feeling of dissociation and unity with the environment, etc., cannot be adequately describe if ones remains attached narrow materialistic descriptions (which is a common problem in ETH ufology).

Phenomenology is also a well known approach in the social sciences. Hence, it is an interesting approach because both psychology and social sciences can work together using the same epistemological framework. Something to keep in mind for parasociology when reaching out to parapsychology.

For the purpose of “extracting” interesting findings and concepts for parasociology, the review will focus on those elements that could be replicated at the social level, assuming that the fractal arrangement between the individual and social level identified before is valid, and those who can apply more generally to UFOs (particularly to those elements involved in spontaneous PK).

Altered state of consciousness (ASC)

ASC is a common feature of PK. Heath found that the key elements of ASC and PK are (1) a feeling of being in another dimension or alternate reality; (2) awareness of discarnate entities, by accessing our spirit; (3) altered sense of time or of being “out” of the time; (4) a sense of vast complexity, difficult for the ordinary mind to understand; (5) a sense of flow, or being in the “zone”; (6) fusion between the conscious and the unconscious; (7) sense of meditation; and (8) subtle shift in the quality of the experience (pp. 220-222). These elements, of course, cover a wide variety of PK experiences from lab tests on random number generators to RSPK. But I would like to emphasize that the elements (1) to (6) describe very well many UFO close encounters, especially those described by the ufologist Jenny Randles (1983) known under the concept of the “Oz factor”.

When one keeps in mind the factors identified above and links them to Randles’ description of the Oz factor, one can only be struck by the similarities. For instance, she states that "the Oz factor certainly points to consciousness as the focal point of the UFO encounter...Subjective data that override objective reality could be internal [from our subconscious], external [e.g., from some other intelligent agency], or both...The encounter has a visionary component. You might interpret that as meaning it is all in the imagination. But it really means that there is a direct feed, if you like, from the source of the encounter to the consciousness of the witness...Some witnesses report a strange sensation prior to the encounter -- a sort of mental tingling as if they are aware that something is about to happen. They just have to look up and see what is there, as if it had called to them silently...Then time seems to disappear and lose all meaning." (Randles 2004). This points strongly towards a common dynamics behind PK and UFO close encounters.

It is also interesting to note, however, that “ASC may enhance a sense of connecting to the universe or the transcendent realm, and allow us to let go of the belief systems that are of our individual identities. It is possible that this would explain [...] why a person’s belief and level of confidence did not appear to be important to PK performance. They may simply become irrelevant in a deeply altered state. Thus, it may be that they only become important factors when the state of consciousness is normal or only mildly altered.” (Heath 2003, 230). This statement from Heath is of course speculative, but this relates to a number of hypotheses put forward in previous posts.

For instance, could it be possible that the connection with the transcendent realm is a connection with the collective unconscious, as Carl Jung proposed? In such a case, and assuming that the actual content of the collective unconscious is filled with what is going on in a community, then it is possible to explain that UFO close encounters are an individual experience of the collective unconscious. And hence, the individual belief and inner state of being of the witnesses may not be a critical factor at that moment of the UFO experience. The beliefs and state of being, however, may play a significant role in the early stage of the experience when a night light or a day disc is perceived in a normal or lightly altered state of consciousness. From that point of view, the UFO experience would be a composite psi experience both “fuelled” by the individual and the collective unconscious. In turn, this would explain that the structure of UFO events tend to be quite similar from one account to the other, but their actual phenomenological content can vary considerably.

Emotions

Other factors that are more commonly found in spontaneous PK are strong emotions and a strong sense of playfulness. Heath notes that “peak levels of emotion can trigger PK, especially for spontaneous events. This seemed to be true for a wide variety of strong emotions, including anger, frustration with others, sadness, excitement, and love.” (p. 256). Heath also quotes an experiencer to illustrate the role of playfulness, “’play is very important in these sorts of things...it’s entertainment at a certain level...it has a thrilling quality”. (p. 258). Although it is a bit generic, there are clear links with the UFO experience where emotions can run high, including fear mixed with curiosity, which in a way connects both aspects of emotions in PK, i.e., the strong emotions and the thrilling aspect. The famous story of Barney and Betty Hill certainly fits quite well these elements found in spontaneous PK. However, Heath does not identify fear as a key emotion. Given the type of experience selected for her study, this is not surprising.

Heath also underlines that “spontaneous PK tended to be associated with high levels of emotion, physical activation, and a relative lack of awareness of an ASC compared to intentional PK experiences. Also, in spontaneous PK awareness was often focussed on something other than the target, such a thought, memory, emotion, or another person.” (p.264). Clearly, the lack of awareness that people are in ASC during an event is a common issue in the UFO experience. It is only in the 1980s with more astute UFO investigators, like Randles and Schwartz, that this aspect was brought to light. The lack of focus on the target is more problematic in the case of UFO close encounters as it is a very comprehensive event. It can be noted, however, that in the case of Barney and Betty Hill the thought and fear of being stopped by a group of men was the main focus of Barney’s consciousness (which in the context of the racial tensions of the early 1960s in the United States, this was not an unfounded fear), while for Betty it was the willingness to remember the event to prove the ET reality of UFOs (as she was a strong believer in the ETH before the events of September 1961).

Openness to the experience

Heath describes openness as “both something of a personality style and a lack of rigid beliefs that might prohibit PK. It seems to indicate a flexible worldview, which might allow the performer not only to do PK, but also to recognize and accept their experiences. [But...] belief systems seemed to play far less of a role than the literature would suggest.” (p. 307). This is an interesting distinction, but it can also cause quite a bit of confusion. For instance, studies that identified the belief in the paranormal as an important element of the UFO experience (Philips 1993; Spanos et al. 1993; Basterfield and Thalbourne 2001) used the concept of belief not meant to mean necessarily “belief system” but rather a positive attitude towards the paranormal in general. The word belief can therefore mean either “belief system” or “openness”.

In her summary, Heath reassesses somewhat her findings in stating that “in a way, openness to an experience is also a willingness to suspend disbelief, and to see what can happen without the interference of the intellect. It also suggests a lack of attachment to a rigid world view. Hence, it is possible that beliefs could act to modify PK performance either through encouraging the performer to be open to the possibility of PK, and/or willingness to open up to that state[...]”(p. 314). The relationship between belief systems and openness can be therefore more subtle than previously understood by parapsychologists. Here, I can think again of the different experiences of Barney and Betty Hill. Barney had a more rigid belief in “rationality” while Betty was quite open to have an extraordinary experience. Barney had no visual memories of being on “the ship”. It was Betty who provided the bulk of the story about the “Greys”, the medical experiment, the stellar map, etc. The Hill story fits well Heath’s findings about openness.

Sense of Knowing and Impact

Heath found that there is a general sense of knowing among experiencers. Knowing that the event will occur; knowing that the healing is working or not. The sense of knowing also manifests itself through ESP-like experiences. It is a well documented characteristic of UFO close encounters that the witnesses “know” that the light in the sky is “interested” in them, and they know what the alien entities are saying even when there are no sounds or spoken word uttered.

Heath also underlines that “impact appears to be a frequent consequence of the PK experience (Heath 1999). This may not be surprising, considering that the events often have intense personal meaningfulness. PK can bring up strong emotions and cause major shifts in world view—sometimes acting as a pivotal life event.” (p. 325). This issue of impact has been identified by Jacques Vallée about the UFO experience early on. However, I think Vallée is wrong in seeing the UFO experience as a control system by creating life changing events for people (for better or for worst). PK is a natural human ability (both individual and collective) and life changing events associated with PK are just a possible outcome of PK. There is no control system behind it. I think Vallée confused two different dynamics. The first one is the life changing capacity of PK/UFO events on one hand, and on the other hand the UFO belief system found in societies that may have been nurtured by intelligence agencies, as described by Bishop (2005). But the linkages between the two dynamics are unintended consequences. Unintended consequences are very common outcomes of complex societies and occur in a large array of issues and topics (bureaucratic miscommunications being the most common and obvious one).

Final comments

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the paranormal in general. Although the author does not touch upon UFO events or hauntings, the link between these phenomena and PK are very strong. It does not provide the proof that UFOs and UFO waves are essentially PK events, but the intense similarity in their dynamics offers a powerful indication that indeed we are dealing with some sort of PK phenomena.

She then went on to mention that marijuana that was going to wash up on a local beach within the next couple weeks and searching police helicopters overhead, which also came true two weeks later. In 1986, Katie began producing gold-type foil from her pores and was videotaped several times. In 1990, Katie was videotaped having a diamond-shape object fall out of her eye and several other objects appear out of nowhere from her body. Most skeptics believe that she is a clever fraudster, but others believe that her mysterious powers are real.

Extra Notes: The case was featured as a part of the October 31, 1990 episode. In this episode they re-created the "gold foil" sweating by using gold leaf purchased in an art store. The "gem falling from the eye" was easily explainable by a magician who showed how she could secrete the stone in between her fingers (below her ring) easily and then pop it out at the right moment. It has also been suggested that she is a self-harmer who inserts objects into her ears and other orifaces (not an uncommon psychiatric phenomenom often found in those who self-harm).

"Philosophers have long made outstanding contributions to psychical research, from Sidgwick and James to Ducasse, Price and Broad, yet they have not tended to get involved in fieldwork. Stephen Braude, professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has not only ventured into several fields, he has dug most of them up, finding both a good deal of rubbish and a fair amount of treasure that but for his efforts might have remained buried... a refreshingly personal... exhilarating, provocative and compulsively readable book.”

— Guy Playfair, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.

“This book isn’t just good, it’s excellent. Stephen Braude is at the top of the intellectual food chain in the study of paranormal phenomena, an accomplished philosopher of science who brings his first-rate intellect to bear in a fair and deep treatment of the supernatural. Replete with personal accounts and anecdotes from his many investigations, The Gold Leaf Lady is a riveting read, a tour through the paranormal that both enchants and instructs us.”

— Fred Frohock, author of Lives of the Psychics: The Shared Worlds of Science and Mysticism.

“The Gold Leaf Lady is a read not to be missed. To initiates it offers valuable updates and insights. To those inconversant with the current state of parapsychological research, it may rank as the best introduction available.”

— AntiMatters

"The writing is so fluid that the book at times seems made for a screen adaptation. (In fact, Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, contributes a blurb to the back of the book. Braude advised Carter on a screenplay he is writing.) But Braude also includes some dense philosophical arguments — especially in a chapter about synchronicity, in which he ponders whether humans can orchestrate unlikely coincidences through psychokinesis, the ability to move or influence objects with the mind."

— Scott Carlson in Chronicle of Higher Education and posted on monstrous.com

“The Gold Leaf Lady describes what happens when a University of Maryland philosopher, a professional in the art of "deep nonsense" detection, collides with the perplexing world of the paranormal. Stephen Braude pulls no punches in his memoir of amazing, amusing, and at times poignant investigations. This book is sure to infuriate some and fascinate many.”

— Dean Radin, author of The Conscious Universe and also Entangled Minds.

“I enjoyed the book for its fascinating anecdotes and discussion of issues they raise... It can certainly be recommended to anyone thinking about entering the 'psi' arena, for it gives a clear impression of the heat to be found in that particular kitchen. One has to admire Braude for having endured it so long with no apparent impairment of his enthusiasm or integrity.” — Chris Nunn, Journal of Consciousness Studies (Click here for review.)

“Braude is anything but pedestrian and writes with flair and humour throughout...The Gold Leaf Lady is not designed to be an exhaustive presentation of the evidence in support of a paranormal interpretation. Rather, it takes the reader on a tour of some of the extraordinary adventures in the life of this philosopher-cum-parapsychologist. Furthermore, the book is peppered with thought-provoking philosophical observations... Braude’s intellectual bravery and disarming frankness shine through.” — Caroline Watt, in Metascience (Click here for review.)

“Stephen Braude’s The Gold Leaf Lady is by turns funny, serious, sad, and mischievous. Whether you’re a believer or not, you read his book hoping that it’s all true.” — Chris Carter, creator and executive producer of The X-Files

“The study of the supernatural has often been rejected by mainstream scientists on the grounds that it has nothing of interest to tell us. Philosopher and parapsychologist Stephen Braude does a beautiful job of proving them wrong. The Gold Leaf Lady is fascinating in its subject and insightful in its premise—that it’s through exploring the world’s mysteries that we truly learn to understand ourselves.”

— Deborah Blum, author of Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death

“Braude provides an incisive, disarmingly frank account of his parapsychological investigations...[His] provocative philosophical forays into the study of synchronicity and mediumship provide insights that deserve greater exposition. This well-written book is...recommended. All readers, all levels.”

— Stanley Krippner in Choice

"Braude carries the discussion about the nature of consciousness and reality in light of the occurrence of anomalous events into deeper waters than those usually entered, thereby giving the reader an opportunity to consider matters at a greater level of complexity. I liked this book. And it was fun to read."

— Imants Baruss, in Journal of Scientific Exploration

"Spending a quiet winter afternoon with the written memoirs of an investigator of parapsychological phenomena can be a real treat... Stephen E. Braude's The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations is a recent release that I eagerly awaited... because throughout his career Braude has provided much scholarship on the nonexperimental evidence for psi. The Gold Leaf Lady presents the everyday challenges of a scholar who dares to take seriously areas of research that are scorned by much of academia."

— Annalisa Ventola, in Public Parapsychology

"This book is an easy read, provides some fairly strong evidence for the existence of paranormal phenomena and I'm sure will entertain most readers—other than [the author's] professional colleagues."—Rob Harle, Metapsychology

"A very enjoyable excursion into the world of hands-on psi research, with all its rewards and pitfalls...One of the most fascinating chapters is the last one, which I approached with some trepidation, because it covers astrology. I have trouble taking astrology seriously. So does Braude, but his attitude came up against a challenge when he married a Serbian immigrant who, in her spare time, cast horoscopes - and made a very good living at it. The method used by Gina Braude is considerably more sophisticated and refined than standard "by-the-numbers" astrology, and requires charting each client's life from the day (and if possible the hour and minute) of birth. Using her techniques, Mrs. Braude was able to forecast the fortunes of sports teams with remarkable accuracy. Braude's wry, winsome description of the couple's successful experiments in gambling is a highlight of the book, though no doubt it will leave skeptics more aggravated than ever."

Source: Michael Prescott's Blog - Occasional thoughts on matters of life and death

INSIDE FRONT FLAP:

For over thirty years, Stephen Braude has studied the paranormal in everyday life, from extrasensory perception and psychokinesis to mediumship and materialization. The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations is a highly readable and often amusing account of his most memorable encounters with such phenomena. Here Braude recounts in fascinating detail five particular cases—some that challenge our most fundamental scientific beliefs and others that expose our own credulousness.

Braude begins with a south Florida woman who can make thin gold-colored foil appear spontaneously on her skin. He then travels to New York and California to test psychokinetic superstars—and frauds—like Joe Nuzum, who claim to move objects using only their minds. Along the way, Braude also investigates the startling allegations of K.R., a policeman in Annapolis who believes he can transfer images from photographs onto other objects—including his own body—and Ted Serios, a deceased Chicago elevator operator who could make a variety of different images appear on Polaroid film.

Ultimately, Braude considers his wife’s surprisingly fruitful experiments with astrology, which she has used to guide professional soccer teams to the top of their leagues, as well as his own personal experiences with synchronicity—a phenomenon, he argues, that may need to be explained in terms of a refined, extensive, and dramatic form of psychokinesis.

Heady, provocative, and brimming with eye-opening details and suggestions, The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations will intrigue both adherents and detractors of its controversial subject matter alike.

BACK FLAP:

Stephen Braude is professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of some sixty journal articles and four previous books, including The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science and, most recently, Immortal Remains: The Evidence for Life after Death.

BACK:

“Stephen Braude’s The Gold Leaf Lady is by turns funny, serious, sad, and mischievous. Whether you’re a believer or not, you read his book hoping that it’s all true.” —Chris Carter, creator and executive producer of The X-Files

“The study of the supernatural has often been rejected by mainstream scientists on the grounds that it has nothing of interest to tell us. Philosopher and parapsychologist Stephen Braude does a beautiful job of proving them wrong. The Gold Leaf Lady is fascinating in its subject and insightful in its premise—that it’s through exploring the world’s mysteries that we truly learn to understand ourselves.” —Deborah Blum, author of Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death

“This book isn’t just good, it’s excellent. Stephen Braude is at the top of the intellectual food chain in the study of paranormal phenomena, an accomplished philosopher of science who brings his first-rate intellect to bear in a fair and deep treatment of the supernatural. Replete with personal accounts and anecdotes from his many investigations, The Gold Leaf Lady is a riveting read, a tour through the paranormal that both enchants and instructs us.” —Fred Frohock, author of Lives of the Psychics: The Shared Worlds of Science and Mysticism

“The Gold Leaf Lady describes what happens when a University of Maryland philosopher, a professional in the art of ‘deep nonsense’ detection, collides with the perplexing world of the paranormal. Stephen Braude pulls no punches in his memoir of amazing, amusing, and at times poignant investigations. This book is sure to infuriate some and fascinate many.” —Dean Radin

Source: The University of Chicago Press; www.press.uchicago.edu; ISBN-10: 0-226- 07152-9; ISBN-13: 978-0-226-07152-7

The days of large-scale physical phenomena, which so enthralled our Victorian and Edwardian predecessors, seem now a long way away, to the extent that reported cases are treated with suspicion even by those who are generally sympathetic to psychical research. An interesting and long-term case is the group called Society for Research in Rapport and Telekinesis SORRAT, which was founded by John G. Neihardt (1882–1973, who made his career as a poet and literary critic after initial training in physics (Richards, 1973). Aware of such phenomena from his own youth, he worked quietly throughout his life until he felt ready to form this group in 1961 at his home at Skyrim Farm near Columbia, Missouri. “SORRAT” is his acronym for “Society for Research in Rapport and Telekinesis,” in that order; for central to his philosophy was that rapport is the key to telekinetic processes, an essential cause for the effects that take place. This has remained a key feature for the group. 

When sittings were held, very large-scale phenomena soon occurred: apparently heavy furniture rose and fell, entire rooms shook, and tables went walkabout into the farmyard. In his career, Neihardt had taught at the University of Missouri at Columbia; so the news spread there soon, and derision and persecution came back rapidly. From an early date, therefore, SORRAT has kept much to itself, while welcoming serious newcomers. The most substantial account to date is the book on the group by John Thomas Richards (born 1937), a teacher of English with an engineering background (Richards, 1982); since Neihardt’s death he has coordinated much of the work of the group, maintaining the (informal) membership list and corresponding with members and others, and holding sittings in his own home in Rolla, about 100 miles from Columbia. These usually take place in the “Isolation Room,” about 5 feet by 10 feet, located in the basement.

External appraisal has been rare. Hansen and Broughton (1991) found evidence of tampering with a pack of playing cards, while Wiseman and others (1992) decided, on statistical grounds, against a test involving the reading of a sealed pack. In a book on religious belief, the American sociologist James cClenon included SORRAT in a chapter on small sitter groups, but was rather agnostic about the probity of the events experienced, mainly because of his principal concern with belief structures rather than the events (McClenon 1994, Ch. 14). Berthold E. Schwarz (1994) drew more positive conclusions from his experiments on linking rings.

Schwarz’s experiments were carried out in collaboration with Edward Cox, an associate of J. B. Rhine. Neihardt launched SORRAT experiments about 1966, in part with the encouragement of Rhine, who also suggested a new means of staging experiments: a glass container set on a wooden or metal base with a securely lockable lid, in which artifacts were placed and any phenomena observed without interference. Cox built the first such frame, which was known as a “Cox box”; since then the more informative name “Minilab” has been attached to it, and it has been used elsewhere in psychical research.

After moving to Rolla in 1978, Cox carried out over many years a wide range of experiments, such as rings linking and unlinking, balloons inflating, metal bending, and methods of alerting a film camera to the start of a phenomenon. Many of these experiments were carried out in the Isolation Room, using a lab built with another SORRAT member and local resident, Steve Calvin…

From: “Real Communication? Report on a SORRAT Letter-Writing Experiment,” Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 13, No. 2, citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.518.5976&rep=rep1&type=pdf

See: Sorrat: A History of the Neihardt Psychokinesis Experiments, 1961-1981 by John Thomas Richards, available on Amazon.

The Society for Research in Rapport and Telekinesis (SORRAT) is an experimental organization based on the concept of rapport as set forth by John G. Neihardt. The group is now under the stewardship of Tom Richards Ph.D., MO.   Dr. Richards has written seven books including The Arizona SORRATS.  You can receive a list of his books by writing to him at: Dr. J.T. Richards, 309 West Ninth Street, Rolla, Missouri 65401.

The physical phenomenon experienced in this group has been well documented in many books and articles.  One very good article describing an ongoing letter-writing experiment was published in the Society for Scientific Exploration in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Volume 13.2, Real Communication? Report on a SORRAT Letter-Writing Experiment by I. Grattan-Guinness.  Here is the PDF. Especially see Figure 3 on page 21, the film canister passing through glass.

Apportation Experiment

Doctor Berthold Schwarz submitted an empty, sealed, plastic jar, a small glass envelope similar to a light bulb without base or filament, and a spoon to the SORRAT lab with the request that the entities place the spoon and glass envelope in the jar and return it to him.  As is customary with the entities, and with the intention to further the development of rapport, the jar was mailed to our address.  It was for us to return it to Doctor Schwarz.

As can be seen in the photograph at the left, the spoon was bent and placed in the jar along with the glass envelope.  Also as is the custom of the entities, a small “toy” coin was enclosed along with a piece of paper with a note wishing all a happy Valentine’s Day.  We received the jar the day before Valentine’s Day. The objects were placed in a locked box and that the entities were to move the objects into the jar, and move the now full jar into a supplied mailing carton and apport the mailing carton to a post office for delivery.  Doctor Schwarz had placed the necessary postage on the carton.

Comment:  The entities consist of a group of now deceased people, one of which is said to be able to move physical objects.  We have seen pictures of a pen in the process of writing on supplied paper, but without visible support.  We have also seen pictures of levitated objects in the locked lab.

The results of the SORRAT experiments do seem to be more dramatic than what is usually experienced in such phenomena.  However, before you decide to discount them as fraud, please note that there is no financial gain by the SORRAT members in this work.  Yes, the claims have been investigated many times with mixed results, but the same can be said of EVP.

Rapport: A form of nonphysical energy that is thought to be made available through the interaction of members of a group.  In effect, there are lines of influence between you and people and things in your environment.  You can think of this network as a pool of energy.  As you think of a friend, you strengthen that line of influence between you and your friend.  You make it even more energetic when you take time to contact that friend.  John Neihardt held that this energy represented by the rapport amongst friends is a necessary ingredient needed by nonphysical entities to communicate with our side of the veil.  If you are to have physical phenomena, you must have ample energy and that energy is made available by rapport within the group.

Imperator Group: A group entity providing etheric support for the SORRAT experiments. This group is thought to have been the control for Rev. W. Stainton Moses and Lenora Piper. Within the group are a number of personalities who signed SORRAT letters at one time or another. See Imperator and Rector for more information.

References

• Hansen, G. P. & Broughton, R. S. (1991). Card-sorting with SORRAT. Artifex, 9, 19.

• McClenon, J. (1994). Wondrous Events: Foundations of Religious Belief. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

• Richards, J. T. (1973). Luminous Sanity: Literary Criticism written by John G. Neihardt. Cape Girardeau (MO): Concord.

• Richards, J. T. (1982). SORRAT. A History of the Neihardt Psychokenesis Experiments. Metuchen (NJ) and London: The Scarecrow Press.

• Schwarz, B. E. (1994). Presumed paranormal linkage of rings. International Journal of Psychosomatics, 42, 95

• Wiseman, R., Beloff, J. and Morris, R. L. (1992). Testing the ESP claims of SORRAT. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 58, 363.

Life

Owens was born in Bedford, Indiana, USA on February 10, 1920. His father was a gambling addict; he was raised by grandparents who, he said, both had psychic gifts. His grandmother’s mother had been known for an ability to find lost objects and predict deaths; his grandfather was a dowser. Owens claimed his first psychic experience was a spontaneous levitation at age four, followed by another at age thirteen. He said he had an ‘imaginary friend’ who taught him to read precociously, and that he learned hypnosis by reading about it, going on to perform demonstrations at parties as a teen. By his own account, he graduated from high school by blackmailing a teacher with a photograph of an embarrassing moment. 

From 1941 to 1945, Owens served in the US Navy, first assigned to learn electronics at Purdue University, then deployed in the south Pacific in 1943. During this time he felt he had gained mind-reading ability, and contacted parapsychologist JB Rhine at Duke University, who gave him a job as a typist. Rhine never considered Owens one of his star subjects, and he is not mentioned in any of Rhine’s books. Owens claimed to have PK powers at this time. Mishlove asked other people who’d been with Owens at Duke, and none were able to recall specific instances of him performing PK, though they said that ‘odd things’ happened around Owens, without elaborating. Owens studied at Duke until 1947, after which he started a construction job in Houston. Here he claimed to have acquired the ability to control lightning by invoking a female spirit named ‘Big Lornie’.

In 1963, he claimed, he and his second wife were suffering from blistering heat on a summer day when he decided to invoke rain, pointed his finger at the sky and projected the words ‘rain, storm, lightning’ into the air. A storm followed in a short time, and to ensure it was not coincidence, Owens claimed he repeated the feat numerous times in the next two weeks.

By 1965, Owens had concluded that his PK powers came from Space Intelligences (SIs) who had been trying to contact him from childhood, and who had been the cause of his sighting a ‘cigar-shaped’ UFO while driving in Texas in 1955. The SIs telepathically explained to him why they’d chosen him to be their prophet:

I’m an experiment with them—to find out just how much of the PK power a human being can absorb and stand. It took them literally ages to find a human being, myself, with whom they could communicate back and forth...

Later he would compare himself with the biblical figure Moses, and Mishlove notes that this comparison ‘engendered a belief in Owens that, whatever harmful consequences resulted from his demonstrations, they served a higher purpose’. Henceforth Owens felt he need not answer to earthly authorities but only the SIs.

From 1965 to 1969, Owens repeatedly attempted to control storms or produce Atlantic hurricanes, and began repeatedly informing US government agencies about his claimed abilities, to no avail.

By 1969, when Owens published his book How to Contact Space People, he had begun trying to document his actions by announcing them in writing to other people beforehand and having witnesses write out and sign affidavits. It is only through seeing this documentation, Mishlove writes, that he was able to put any credence in Owens’s claims.

In 1969, Owens gave up regular work altogether to concentrate on paranormal efforts. For the rest of his life, he did so, moving with his children from one place to another in the continental United States. In 1987, he called a sympathetic tabloid journalist, Wayne Grover, to say that he had moved his family to New York State

to be picked up by UFOs. He sent drawings of UFOs by his son and an affidavit from a neighbour affirming local UFO sightings. This was followed by a flurry of phone calls whose contents Grover did not disclose, saying only that the predictions made at that time changed his life. On December 28, 1987, Owens died of cirrhosis of the liver.

Claims and Predictions

Mishlove identifies four researchers who were open to receiving correspondence from Owens to document his claimed PK actions, starting in 1968: clinical psychologist Leo Sprinkle, astronomer J Allen Hynek, psychiatrist and parapsychologist Berthold Schwarz and popular UFO author Otto Binder. They kept files up to the early 1970s. Sprinkle and Hynek eventually ceased corresponding with Owens due to his increasingly threatening approach to self-promotion.

From these files, files by other scientists and from his own correspondence from Owens, Mishlove compiled the phenomena he considered the most impressive: Lightning Strikes. According to a Philadelphia lawyer, Sidney Margulies, he and Owens were watching a rainstorm in the city on the night of May 8, 1967 when Owens offered to make lightning strike any place Margulies chose, and apparently succeeded, producing the only bolt in the rainstorm. Later Kenneth Batch and Charles Jay, both of Merton, Pennsylvania, wrote in an affidavit that they had witnessed three lightning strikes directed near the town’s city hall after requesting that Owens produce them there, and another in a different area of the sky when they asked him to produce one there.

Nixon’s Resignation

Owens’s prediction that US president Richard Nixon would resign or be forced out of office was published by Warren Smith in What the Seers Predict for 1971 and in Saga Magazine the same year, before the Watergate scandal became public. Mishlove notes that no other American president had resigned or been forced out of office before.

Revenge on Cleveland

In May 30, 1972, after a disappointing reception to his claims in the city of Cleveland, Illinois, Owens wrote to several contacts saying he would wreak destruction on the city in the form of heat, drought and people acting strangely. He told another friend there would be electrical disturbances, lightning storms, plane crashes and shipping accidents; he later also predicted odd animal behaviour, high winds and blackouts. That summer, lightning caused three fatalities and an unusual amount of damage, including a blackout; a week-long heat wave was blamed for an unusually high number of people claiming to ‘hear the voice of God, receive messages from outer space, or be secret agents on secret missions’ phoning City Hall.

Warm Winter

On October 25, 1972, after US government officials had warned Americans they could face fuel shortages if winter were severe, Owens wrote to Sprinkle and others announcing his intention to create unseasonably warm weather in the nation, particularly Virginia. News reports from the US eastern seaboard did reveal an unusually warm winter, especially in Virginia.

Texas Earthquake

After being badgered for a demonstration by radio broadcasters in Dallas, Owens wrote to one of them on February 12, 1974 that he would cause freakish weather including heat, storms and lightning attacks, but promised no one would be killed. These things did happen, destroying a good portion of the Texas wheat crop. There was an earthquake; some people were killed in car accidents caused by freezing rain.

Chicago Chaos

In a letter dated October 8, 1975, Owens wrote to a radio announcer in Chicago responding to a request for a UFO demonstration. He said he would cause UFO sightings, and that these would be accompanied by people doing strange things; there would also be electromagnetic anomalies, poltergeist phenomena, equipment and human errors at O’Hare Airport. Finally, he promised to sabotage the Chicago Bears football games for several months, without anyone being hurt.

Mishlove notes newspaper clippings reported a ‘mysterious radio signal’ coming from a bridge in the city, the slaughter of animals by a UFO group from Oregon, unusual traffic jams at O’Hare, unusual weather and a disastrous season for the Bears, characterized by mishaps and ineptness.

Freak Storm

On June 1, 1977, Owens telephoned Charles Powell, the chief of police for Cape Charles, Virginia and told him that he would bring a hurricane to the area. On June 6, an intense storm with high winds and golf-ball-sized hailstones struck the coast, causing five deaths.

Australian Drought and UFOs

An Australian man who identified himself by the initials BK, wrote to Owens on April 9, 1980, requesting that he act to end a disastrous drought that threatened to turn the southern part of the island into a dustbowl and had killed thousands of kangaroos. BK asked that Owens start on the northern tablelands and the north coast of New South Wales. Sudden storms brought flooding rains, starting in the area that BK had specified; the Sydney Morning Herald declared the drought over on May 30. At the same time, a rash of UFO sightings over Australia was reported by the media.

California Drought

On January 30, 1976, Owens wrote to parapsychologists Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ that he would end a drought that was approaching disastrous proportions, with crops and livestock in danger, by using storms, lighting attacks and high winds and rain until the state was ‘swimming in water’. On February 5, as reported in new stories, the first snowstorm to hit San Francisco since 1887 also brought lightning, and was followed by several weeks of snow, lightning, and rain so severe that millions of dollars of damage was caused by flooding and some lives were lost. Many UFO sightings in the area was reported by news media.

Florida Drought and Hurricane David

In early 1979, southern Florida was suffering the worst drought in 40 years. Owens proposed to Grover a year-long demonstration of weather control starting March 1, about which Grover was to write a story for the tabloid paper National Enquirer. On March 7, Owens wrote Grover saying he intended to create electromagnetic oddities, violent freak storms, blackouts, heat waves, hurricanes and UFO appearances. On April 15, after a request by Grover to end the drought, Owens promised over the phone to send rain in a few weeks: ten days later a storm inundated the coast. However, Owens felt he had been double-crossed by the tabloid after it killed the story due to a failed UFO filming session. Accordingly, he wrote Grover on May 15 that he’d bring the drought back to Florida. The summer of 1979 was virtually devoid of precipitation, as reported in a newspaper at the time; water rationing was imposed in Florida Keys. On August 22, Owens phoned Grover saying that a hurricane he had promised in February, but that would not cause ‘unnecessary deaths’ was now in the making. The monster storm Hurricane David was threatening Florida on September 2; Grover phoned Owens to say that thousands of people would be killed if it struck the state directly. Owens wrote back the next day to say he’d ‘cooled the cane’, and it did indeed weaken unexpectedly before hitting the state. Grover reported that Owens had phoned to say he’d turn the storm away from where Grover was living; this happened also.

Sports Sabotage

Mishlove devotes a full chapter to Owens’s apparent ability to wreak havoc on sports competitions, noting that this received more newspaper coverage in sports sections than his purported ability to control the weather received on the front pages. Owens said he could not help a team he favoured but could hinder one he opposed by causing human error. Sports writers are said to have witnessed him on different occasions effectively sabotaging the Philadelphia Eagles, the Baltimore Colts, the Los Angeles Rams, the Baltimore Bullets, the Virginia Squires, the Dallas Cowboys and many more.

Destruction

In June 1972, Near Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, Owens demonstrated an ability to make PK-energy show up on radar, according to an affidavit by Bill Richards, a friend who had access to the equipment. Owens then predicted that rainstorms and plane crashes as well as other accidents would happen as a result. There were indeed rainstorms, and several accidents including one Navy jet crash. Owens also claimed to have inadvertently caused the crash of a plane and the deaths of more than 100 passengers in New York. He also warned of a severe fire season in California, declaring the state would become ‘hell on Earth’ – from pique at the refusal of newspapers to give him credit for ending the drought.

Decline

As the 1980s progressed, Mishlove reports that Owens became more and more angry that he was not receiving the recognition that he felt he deserved. His communications became more grandiose and threatening. At this time he was homeless, and said the SIs would launch a war on the US if he was not provided with luxurious lodgings and an enormous salary; this war would only end when a book about him that was being written by Mishlove and paranormal writer D Scott Rogo was published. His relations with Mishlove soured when Mishlove pointed out that Owens’s declarations were increasingly failing to materialize, and chastised him for his threats and destructiveness. However, the pair later became reconciled.

Criticisms

Mishlove notes that Owens took credit for more events than he himself found reasonable, even assuming such large-scale PK events are possible. He points out, ‘the newspapers are full of unusual events. Every day something unusual occurs, and it is not always the result of psychokinesis’. Robert Todd Carroll in his Skeptic’s Dictionary calls Owen ‘a man many others would call delusional and in need of professional mental health services’.

References

Mishlove devoted three episodes of his video blog New Thinking Allowed to Ted Owens:

• Interview with Stephen Braude

• Interview with Debra Lynne Katz

• Interview with Jason Reza

KM Wehrstein: Main Source

Mishlove, J. (2000): The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter. Charlottesville, Virginia, USA: Hampton Roads.

Source: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk

Reflections on The PK Man with Debra Lynne Katz

Published on May 12, 2016

Debra Lynne Katz, MSW, is both a talented remote viewer and a psychic reader. She is author of You Are Psychic: The Art of Psychic Reading & Healing, Extraordinary Psychic: Proven Techniques to Master Your Natural Psychic Abilities, and Freeing the Genie Within: Manifesting Abundance, Creativity, and Success in Life. She is a parapsychology researcher, having twice received the annual Warcollier Prize from the International Remote Viewing Association for an outstanding research proposal. She is the director of the International School of Clairvoyance.

Here she turns the tables on New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, and interviews him about his book, The PK Man. In so doing, she expresses her own interest in this case and in learning how to cultivate her own PK abilities. She focuses particularly onTed Owens’ own story, as he described it himself to Jeffrey. She also raises questions concerning the safety and ethics of cultivating Psychokinesis.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). His master's degree is in criminology. He has served as vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and is the recipient of its Pathfinder Award for outstanding contributions to the field of human consciousness. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities. 

• Martial arts students influence the past by Julian Brown (1994) (review)

• The strange properties of psychokinesis by H. Schmidt (1987)

• Channeling psi effects by H. Schmidt (unpublished manuscript)

• Channeling evidence for a PK effect to independent observers by H. Schmidt, R. Morris, and L. Rudolph (1986)

• Mental influence on machine-generated random events by D. Radin (1981)

• PK tests with pre-recorded and pre-inspected seed numbers by H. Schmidt (1981)

• Exploratory PK Tests with a Programmable High Speed Random Number Generator by D.J. Bierman and J.M. Houtkooper (1975)

• PK Effect on Pre-Recorded Targets by H. Schmidt (1976)

• Comparison of a teleological model with a quantum collapse model of psi by H. Schmidt (1984)

• Comparison of PK action on two different random number generators by H. Schmidt (1974)

• Observation of a PK effect under highly controlled conditions by H. Schmidt (1993)

• Addition effect for PK on prerecorded targets by H. Schmidt (1985)

• Can an effect precede its cause? A model of a noncausal world* by H. Schmidt (1978)

• Collapse of the state vector and PK effect* by H. Schmidt (1981)

• PK tests with a high-speed random number generator* by H. Schmidt (1973)

• A radioactivity test of psycho-kinesis by J. Beloff and L. Evans (1961)