The Trickster and the Paranormal
Page 55
Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions by Kenneth A. Kress, Studies in
Intelligence, Vol. 21, Winter 1977, pp. 7-17, (declassified 1996).
12
A transcript of a radio interview Dames did with radio station KIRO (Seattle) on November 18, 1991 was published in Third Eyes Only, No. 2, April 1992, pp. 88-95.
13
Dames’ talk was tape-recorded, and eventually a transcript was posted on
his web site.
14
Stubblebine became romantically involved with psychiatrist Rima Laibow (a reported UFO abductee), later divorcing his wife. Laibow had organized the TREAT conference. For some information on Laibow, see Saucer Smear, Vol. 38, No. 3 (March 1st, 1991), p. 3 and Vol. 40, No. 4 (May 15th, 1993), p. 3.
Alexander was a protégé of Kubler-Ross and did his doctoral dissertation in thanatology under her direction.
Ryan Wood is the son of McDonnell Douglas physicist Dr. Robert M. Wood. Robert Wood is known for his interest in UFOs, and he was the boss of Jack Houck, who in the 1980s popularized metal-bending PK parties. A number of military personnel, including Alexander and Stubblebine, attended those parties, and Alexander later organized parties himself (In 1982 I assisted both Houck and Alexander in organizing parties). Stubblebine was excited by the possibilities of psychic metal bending and became a vocal supporter of it; he subsequently was sometimes referred to as General Spoon-bender. Robert and Ryan Wood later became notorious for touting some ludicrous UFO documents which suggested, among other things, that Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, and J. Edgar Hoover were killed because of their knowledge and involvement with UFOs.
Jim Schnabel wrote a piece on remote viewing for Esquire magazine, but the editors decided not to publish it. He revised the article, focussing on More-house, and posted it on the Internet with the title “An American Hero: The Truth About Dave Morehouse and Psychic Warrior” 7 November 1996. Schnabel’s report was based in part on his review of 700 pages of legal proceedings against Morehouse. Morehouse claimed that the remote-viewing program caused his problems.
Chapter 14—Alternative Religions and Psi
1 King James Version
2
Here I am using Spiritualism (with a capital S) to designate a particular movement. Of course spirits have been consulted for millennia, and there have been thousands of spiritualist (small s) cults.
3
For the often-neglected role of the lower classes in Spiritualism, see Barrow,
1986.
4
See William D. Moore (1997).
5 For more on Spiritualism, see Braude, 1989; Moore, 1977; Nelson, 1969; Oppenheim, 1985; Owen, 1990; Podmore, 1902; Zingrone, 1994.
There is a huge literature on mediumistic trickery, and many of the books by magicians listed in Hansen (1992c) have extensive discussions of it. Keene’s The Psychic Mafia (1976) has an excellent bibliography.
7 Melton, Clark and Kelly (1991).
8 Webb, 1976, pp. 417-487.
9
For discussions of channeling, see Hastings, 1991; Klimo, 1987.
10 Hess, 1993.
11 Guiley, 1989.
12
Kelly, 1991; Adler, 1979.
13
Kelly, 1991, p. 5.
14
Luhrmann, 1989b, p. 255.
15 Luhrmann, 1989b, p. 181.
16 Luhrmann, 1989b, p. 171.
17 Luhrmann, 1989b, p. 171.
Chapter 15—Institutions and the Paranormal
The Top Ten Grossing Infomercials of 1995, Brandweek, June 24, 1996, p.
30.
2
See Baltimore Business Journal articles: Lawsuits Forecast Lasky’s Troubles by David Harrison and Donna De Marco, February 13, 1998, p. 1; NationsBank sues Lasky by Donna De Marco, March 6, 1998, p. 1; U.S. Trustee Unwinding Lasky Firm by Donna de Marco, March 13, 1998, p. 1.
3
Psychic Lines Wither as Regulators, Telephone Firms Crack Down on Scams by James McNair, Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Miami Herald, January 25, 1999.
4
My Life as a Phone Psychic by Sherry Amatenstein, Mademoiselle, May 1997, p. 56.
Harary, 1992. Harary bitterly complained about the media’s portrayal, but that is ironic, because in a letter to Skeptical Inquirer (Vol. 15, No. 3, Spring 1991, p. 331) he objected to being called a psychic himself. He did not wish to be tainted by the label, and his own unwillingness to accept the designation subtly reinforced the negative view of psychics. For an autobiographical piece, which perhaps casts some light on his ambivalence, see Researcher Profile 6: Hidden Worlds by Keith Harary, Exceptional Human Experience, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 1992, pp. 5-15.
6 Iaccino, 1994; Carroll, 1990.
7 Clements, 1987, p. 37.
8 Clements, 1987, p. 39.
9
Polan, 1986, p. 161.
10 Polan, 1986, p. 320.
11 Clements, 1987, p. 41.
12
Polan, 1986, p. 161.
13
The X-Files Meets the Skeptics, in Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 21, No. 1, January/February 1997, pp. 24-30. For Tyson’s comments see page 28.
14
Readership statistics from Barry Karr, Executive Director of CSICOP, August 19, 1991.
15 Melton, 1996.
16 Edith Turner, 1993, p. 9.
17 Ibid. p. 11.
Chapter 16—Anti-structure and the History of Psychical Research
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1998, Mahwah, NJ: World Almanac Books, 1997, p. 250. Figures based on box office sales in the U.S. and Canada.
2 Warner, 1980.
3
Dawes, 1994.
4
Christensen & Jacobson, 1994.
It is true that some forms of psychotherapy have come under increasing criticism, and insurance providers refuse support for some. Nevertheless, many of the relatively ineffective forms have been institutionalized and remain so today.
6 See Gauld, 1968; Oppenheim, 1985.
7 Gauld, 1968, p. 138.
Psi Experiments with Random Number Generators: Meta-Analysis Part 1, by Dean I. Radin, Edwin C. May & Martha J. Thomson, in The Parapsychological Association 28th Annual Convention Proceedings of Presented Papers Volume 1, August 12-16, 1985, The Parapsychological Association, pp. 199-233, see p. 223.
9
The FRNM changed its name to the Rhine Research Center in 1995.
10 Mauskopf & McVaugh, 1980, p. 217.
11 Mauskopf & McVaugh, 1980, p. 217.
12
For comments on the role of the popular press in publicizing Rhine’s work see “Parapsychology’s Reliance on a Free Press” by J. B. R.[hine], Journal of Parapsychology, Vol. 20, 1956, pp. 266-268.
9
Mauskopf & McVaugh, 1980, p. 139.
10
See Hansen, Deception by Subjects in Psi Research, 1990a, pp. 34-35.
The Hypothesis of Deception by J. B. Rhine, Journal of Parapsychology, Vol. 2, 1938, pp. 151-152.
16 Mauskopf & McVaugh, 1980, p. 304-305.
For some reflections on leaving Duke, see “FRNM’s First Decade: Lessons in Retrospect” by J. B. Rhine, Journal of Parapsychology, Vol. 36, 1972, pp. 317327.
Gardner, 1989; Hansen, The Research with B.D. and the Legacy of Magical Ignorance, 1992d.
19
Child, 1985; Ullman, Krippner with Vaughan, 1973.
20
Krippner, 1975, see p. 253.
21 Schechter, 1993b.
22
The ganzfeld method involves partial sensory deprivation. A telepathic receiver is put in a sound proof room and typically has halves of ping pong balls placed over the eyes with red light shown upon them. This creates an unpatterned visual field. White noise (noise without pattern) is played through headphones. A telepathic sender in another rooms tries to transmit an image or idea to the receiver.
23
E.g., Berger, 1985a, 1985b; M
auskopf & McVaugh, 1980; Osis, 1985.
24
Members, Publications and Endowment, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 8, No. 11, pp. 527-529.
25
For biographical information on Hyslop see Anderson, 1985; Arthur S. Berger, 1988.
26 Osis, 1985, p. 506.
27
Osis, 1985.
For the following years the Journal did not publish its circulation figures, though postal regulations required it. In 1998 I inquired to the Society about the figures, but they did not respond. In fact I was even unable to learn if I was still a
member.
29
This general pattern is confirmed by Karlis Osis’ discussion of his years at the ASPR. He quotes Gardner Murphy telling him that “Karlis, money is actually thrown at me now [by foundations], but I cannot get anything for this [psychic research].” Osis went on to describe how they were more successful with individuals. See Osis, 1985, p. 513.
30
The same pattern was recently demonstrated in Japan. Masaru Ibuka, co-founder of Sony, established a parapsychology laboratory in the company. He died in December 1997, and a few months later the laboratory was closed. See Closing the Dream Factory by Patrick Huyghe, Fortean Times, No. 115, October 1998, pp. 44-46.
31
CIA’s Psychic Spies Under Scrutiny by Sally Lehrman, Nature, Vol. 378, 7 December 1995, p. 525. The Vision Thing, Time, December 11, 1995, p. 48. CIA Psychics and Spooks: How Spoon-Benders Fought the Cold War by Gregory Vistica, Newsweek, December 11, 1995, p. 50. In a telephone conversation on 24 August 1998 Ed May indicated that the $20 million figure was slightly understated.
32
The full story of the secret government psychic programs has not yet been told, but some accounts are available. For a bit more on the history of the SRI research, see the section on Psi Tech in the chapter Small Groups and the Paranormal. The early SRI work did not escape the problems of trickery. Uri Geller was one of the early subjects, and numerous allegations of fraud followed him. He
has been covered in an earlier chapter.
33
Telephone conversation 24 August 1998.
34
See Palmer, Honorton, & Utts, 1989; May, 1996.
35
The NRC made Rosenthal’s report available, but their published report did not even acknowledge its existence.
See Gardner, Science: Good, Bad and Bogus, 1979/1981b, p. 190.
37 Tart, 1979.
38
Schouten, 1993. Schouten’s data on psychologists came from Census of Psychological Personnel: 1983 by Joy Stapp, Anthony M. Tucker, and Gary R. VandenBos, American Psychologist, Vol. 40, No. 12, December 1985, pp. 1317—1351.
39
See Four Decades of Fringe Literature by Steven Dutch (1986).
40
See Truzzi, 1987; Thalbourne, 1995. See also MacLab, St Louis, to Shut by Tim Beardsley, Nature, Vol. 317, 5 September 1985, p. 6.
41
For biographical information on Slick, see Tom Slick and the Search for the Yeti by Loren Coleman (1989).
42
The figures for the Mind Science Foundation budget are from two researchers who worked there.
43
Per Gary Heseltine via telephone conversation and written note, 25 October 1998, 08 December 1998.
44
The PRL RNG was a modified version of one built by Dutch physicist
Dick Bierman.
45
Questions for the Cosmos by Steve Fishman, New York Times Magazine, November 16, 1989, pp. 50-55.
46
Hansen, Utts, & Markwick, 1992.
47
Letter from Richard Broughton, 10 December 1998.
48
Information on SURF from Gary Heseltine via telephone, 25 October 1998; and Rick E. Berger, 15 November 1998.
Chapter 17—Unbounded Conditions
1 Steiner, 1993.
2
Whaley, 1990.
3
Melton, 1996.
4
Telephone conversation with John Keel, 13 September 1998.
5 Telephone conversation with Keel, 13 September 1998. Keel, The Mothman Prophecies, 1975b, p. 171.
Keel, The Mothman Prophecies, 1975b, p. 168.
8 Popper, 1963/1984, p. 123.
9
For some examples of occult and conspiratorial ideas, see Architects of Fear by George Johnson, 1983.
The New Millennium by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Fate, Vol. 47, No. 1, January 1994, pp. 30-36.
11 Ellis, 1991.
12
Kottmeyer, 1989. Martin Kottmeyer examined ufology as “an evolving system of paranoia.”
13
See Peebles, 1994, p. 277.
14
For examples see Middleton & Winter, 1963.
Chapter 18—Government Disinformation
Friends in High Places: Our Journey from Little Rock to Washington, D. C. by
Webb Hubbell, New York: William Morrow and Company, 1997, pp. 282.
2
Saucer Smear, Vol. 44, No. 6, June 20th, 1997, pp. 2-3.
3
An amusing trickster connection with cattle mutilations can be suggested. On the day Hermes was born, he stole Apollo’s cattle and killed some of them.
4
Under the rubric of “paranormal” I am including psychic and UFO phenomena and cattle mutilations. In cultural terms, these areas are defined as paranormal. In the scientific sense, there is massive evidence that some psychic and UFO phenomena cannot be understood within conventional scientific frameworks. I have seen no reasonable evidence that ET aliens are visiting earth, but some UFOs have produced physical effects that defy explanation. The evidence for
some fundamentally unexplained aspect of cattle mutilations is yet unclear. There has been much less investigation of that phenomenon. 5 Fawcett & Greenwood, 1984, p. 206.
Fawcett & Greenwood, 1984, p. 207. 7 Fawcett & Greenwood, 1984, p. 207. Haines, 1997, p. 72. There are no consistent page numberings on the Internet version of Haines’ paper. The quote here appeared just before footnote 33.
9
Haines, 1997, p. 73. The quote appeared a bit before Haines’ footnote 46. Haines, 1997, p. 83. Quote in Haines’ footnote 90.
11 Ibid.
12
Haines, 1997, p. 78. This statement appeared in Haines’ text after footnote 89.
13
Haines, 1997, p. 83, footnote 90.
14
For a brief overview of the pervasive alien motifs in American popular culture in the 1990s, see Dean, 1998. For data on movie grosses, see The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1998, Mahwah, NJ: World Almanac Books, 1997, p. 250.
Todd’s suspicion that the Roswell crash object was a Mogul balloon was leaked in Saucer Smear, Vol. 38, No. 4, May 1st, 1991, p. 4. See also Skeptics UFO Newsletter, No. 30, November 1994; Saler, Ziegler, & Moore (1997).
16 UFOs and the U.S. Government by William L. Moore, MUFON UFO Journal, No. 259, November 1989, pp. 8-16, 18, No. 260, December 1989, pp. 8-14.
There is much written about the MJ-12 documents. For a useful reference see UFOs, MJ-12 and the Government: A Report on Government Involvement in UFO Crash Retrievals by Grant Cameron and T. Scott Crain, Jr., 1991.
Randle issued an open letter on September 10, 1995. It is reported in Saucer Smear, Vol. 42, No. 9, October 10th, 1995, pp. 5-6 and Skeptics UFO Newsletter, No. 36, November 1995, pp. 3-4.
19
Fawcett & Greenwood, 1984, pp. 224-225. Greenwood has since voiced
suspicion about these, see Just Cause, No. 50, March 1997, p. 5.
20
Moore did not say that he had never been paid for his services, but only
that he was not on the payroll, as pointed out by Jacques Vallee (1991, p. 47).
21
Source Confesses Role as ‘Controlled Informant’ by Don Ecker, UFO,
Vol.
7, No. 1, 1992, pp. 11-12.
22
See the report “Will the Real Scott Jones Please Stand Up?” (Durant [& Hansen], 1992).
23
Howe, 1989/1993, p. 147. Howe had reported some of this in a letter published in CAUS Bulletin, No. 9, December 1987, pp. 2-4. See also Just Cause,
No. 16 (New Series), June 1988, pp. 2-7 for material from Howe, Doty, and Barry Greenwood. More material is found in Just Cause, No. 13 (New Series), September 1987, pp. 8-9.
24
Vallee, 1991, pp. 13-42.
25
Gersten’s meetings are reported in Linda Howe’s An Alien Harvest (pp. 134-136). Gersten confirmed the accuracy of her account in a letter to me postmarked 28 Oct 1998. Briefer accounts appear in Just Cause, No. 16 (New Series), June 1988. This includes “Notes on Peter Gersten’s Meeting with SA Richard Doty, 1/83 (phone con with Gersten after his trip to New Mexico.)” by Barry Greenwood.
The Anatomy of a Hoax: The Truth About the ‘Ellsworth Case’ by Bob Pratt, MUFON UFO Journal, No. 191, January 1984, pp. 6-9.
27
Letters and telephone calls with Linda Howe, 15, 29 October 1998 and 5 November 1998.
For more information, see the Epilogue in Clear Intent by Fawcett and Greenwood.
29
Gullibility of Moore, Shandera and Friedman Revealed by New Data on Their Principal MJ-12 Source—Richard C. Doty—”Falcon” by Philip J. Klass, one page, dated 4/14/89.] Klass later reported that “The USAF decided against a court-martial because it would disclose counterintelligence details.” Skeptics UFO Newsletter, #34, July 1995, p. 6.
30
Airman Mendez vs the Bureaucracy—A Case of UFO “Espionage”, Just Cause, No. 28, June 1991, pp. 1-8; Airman Mendez vs the Bureaucracy—Part Two, Just Cause, No. 29, September 1991, pp. 1-8.