‘Today I Lit A Candle With A Spoon’

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This is a true story. It has nothing to do with Uri Geller and his “ability” to bend spoons. (For more on that, see “The Stargate Folly—It’s Never About The Science, It’s Always About The Funding,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, April 28, 2022).

Well, maybe it is. In a metaphorical way.

The family went to a cousin’s wedding reception this weekend. The location was phenomenal. They held the party in a custom-built barn specifically designed as a wedding venue. It looked original. Its solid timber frame (including the use of wooden pegs to connect joints) gave the appearance of a 19th century construction. I used to work in a renovated building erected in that era. It looked similar. It wasn’t. But it could have fooled me.

What do you call something like this? Yes, the word “retro” fits. But I’m thinking of something more meaningful. It’s not quite “thinking outside of the box.” It’s more “thinkingContinue Reading “‘Today I Lit A Candle With A Spoon’”

Patrick H. Price – Savior, Savant, or Sacrifice?

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The Watergate hearings began in earnest in May of 1973. All of Washington feared the end was near. Wagons were circled. Anything the least bit nefarious was to be swept under the rug. It was all coming to a head.

For a little over a year at that time, two little-known California physicists had been receiving secret funds from the CIA to research a phenomenon known as “remote viewing” – the ability to see in detail a far away location while safely ensconced within the confines of a secure location. The researchers had brought in Uri Geller and Ingo Swann, two professional psychics (or magicians, depending on your point of view) for this purpose.

The CIA, whether because of impressive results or the heat of Watergate, decided to Continue Reading “Patrick H. Price – Savior, Savant, or Sacrifice?”

The Stargate Folly – It’s Never About The Science, It’s Always About The Funding

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On August 1, 1973, Johnny Carson introduced Israeli mentalist Uri Geller to America on The Tonight Show. Geller’s claim to fame was his ability to bend spoons with his mind. Admittedly a skeptic, Carson gave Geller more than twenty uninterrupted minutes to show his stuff to the audience. Geller never had a chance. Here’s why.

Carson sought to shame Geller. He suspected Geller was a fraud (for calling himself a psychic, but a very good illusionist). He contacted his friend James Randi, a magician and psychic skeptic, to trap Geller. When Geller showed up on set, he sat down between fellow guest Ricardo Montalbán and host Johnny Carson. In front of him was a table with an array of trinkets on it.

For the next twenty minutes Geller hemmed and hawed and didn’t do a thing. His “bent” spoon wasn’t very bent at all, with Carson sarcastically saying “A spoon that’s got a slight Continue Reading “The Stargate Folly – It’s Never About The Science, It’s Always About The Funding”

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