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SECRET
3/4
S-15,083/DT-5A
THRU:
VP CA
1 1 MAK 1985
4 MAR 1983
Background Paper for DR
SUBJECT:
Recent Adverse Publicity on Parapsychological Research (U)
1.
(S) PURPOSE: To provide background on the recent adverse publicity in the
event questions are raised regarding possible relationship
to the DoD GRILL
FLAME project.
2. (S) POINTS OF MAJOR INTEREST:
. (S) SUMMARY:
A well-known magician recently released a story to TV
and the press claiming that he succeeded in a hoax involving parapsychological
research.
This magician, Mr. James Randi, claimed that parapsychological
researchers at an academic facility in St. Louis, Missouri, were taken in by
trickery, and that most, if not all of parapsychological research is suspect.
These claims are in fact gross distortions, since the researchers involved
never stated they had observed evidence of psychic ability in formal
experiments. Since this controversy may raise questions on this research area
in general, the basic difference between the academic laboratory under attack
and the DoD GRILL FLAME contractor (SRI International) are also discussed.
It
is shown that considerable differences exist, and that this recent negative
publicity should not have any adverse impact on the GRILL FLAME project.
b. (U) DISCUSSION:
(1) (U) Some aspects of parapsychological research in an academic
laboratory have recently come under attack by a well-known magician, Mr. James
Randi. In a press conference on 28 January 1983, Mr. Randi revealed details of
a hoax that he had designed to show weakness in the experimental techniques
and protocol of the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research, Washington
University, St. Louis, Missouri.
This hoax involved two teenage "plants,"
under Mr. Randi's tutelage, who attempted to demonstrate apparent psychic
ability by use of trickery. This hoax spanned a 3-year period, and amounted
to about 5 weeks of laboratory testing time.
(2) (U) Mr. Randi, in the January 1983 press release, claimed that the
McDonnell Laboratory had been duped and that the researchers had fallen for a
major hoax. These statements by Randi have received considerable TV and press
attention recently (for example, see The Washington Post article on 1 March
1983, page 1: "Magicians Score a Hit on Scientific Researchers.")
Classified by.
OADR
DIA (DT-SA)
SECRET
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(3) (U) While it is true the McDonnell Laboratory researchers never
declared publicly that they suspected a hoax was in progress, and even though
they thought some
of
the early preliminary investigations (not formal
scientific experiments) showed promise, they never claimed nor published
anything that remotely indicated these teenagers had valid psychic ability.
In a 1 September 1981 press release, the laboratory researchers summarized
their work with these two individuals by the following:
" ... thus, although
several events of interest have transpired, we do not claim that evidence
conclusive of "psychic ability" has yet been demonstrated in our research." In
fact, the McDonnell Laboratory discontinued research with these individuals in
July 1982 when it became clear that they could not demonstrate psychic
abilities under the tight controls of formal scientific experimentation.
(4) (U) Thus, it is apparent that Mr. Randi has presented an extremely
one-sided
view
of this hoax attempt.
He even
claims that all
parapsychological research is of questionable value. Most TV and press
coverage thus far also reflect these views. As a result, the general public
is given highly biased perspectives of this research area in general. This
could generate negative reactions toward all parapsychological research, even
for those laboratories where controls are tight and where unsolicited subjects
are not accepted.
(5) (U) It is clear Mr. Randi is solely interested in promoting his
image as a clever magician, and in enhancing his career as a showman, at the
expense of reporting accuracy. The use of tactics involving "plants" raises
significant ethical issues as well.
c.
(S) POSSIBLE QUERIES: This issue is brought to your attention in
anticipation
of questions
that
may
arise
during discussions
with
representatives of Congress regarding DoD GRILL FLAME activities.
These
people may associate the McDonnell Laboratory work with all parapsychological
research ( including the SRI effort).
There are considerable differences
between the McDonnell Laboratory research and the SRI effort in this field.
d. (S) COMPARISON TO GRILL FLAME PROJECT: The DoD GRILL FLAME project
relies on an on-site (DIA) monitor to insure that tight experimental protocols
are in fact followed, and the target material used in the experiments or
sessions is never disclosed until after all data is recorded. The types of
experiments receiving the most
severe
attack
by Mr. Randi involve
psychokinesis (PK), an aspect of parapsychology that is not examined under the
SRI contract. PK experiments of the type conducted at the McDonnell Laboratory
are inherently more difficult to fraud-proof than the investigations involving
long distance remote viewing pursued at SRI. In addition, the people used as
remote viewers are not from open public volunteer sources. They have a long-
time association with SRI personnel and are known to have extremely high
ethical standards.
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3. (U) EXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS:
a.
(S) Consequently, this recent adverse publicity to the field of para-
psychology should not have any adverse impact on the GRILL FLAME project. It
should in fact have an overall beneficial effect on open parapsychological
laboratories that are not as tight in experimental technique and subject
selection as they could be.
b. (U) Should it become necessary, additional background can be provided
on this matter.
4. (U) RECOMMENDATION:
None.
PREPARED BY:
APPROVED BY:
Jack Vorona
Sach Veronica
DT-5A
X45860
SG1J
DT
X41157
2 Enclosures
1. The Washington Post
Article, 1 Mar 83,
"Magicians Score a Hit
on Scientific Researchers"
(U) 1 Cy
2. "Public Statements on
Research ... ," 1 Sep 81,
McDonnell Laboratory for
Psychical Research, Washington
University, St. Louis, Missouri
(U) 1 Cy
3
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1 MARCH 1983:
WASH POST
Py 1
Magicians
Score a Hit
On Scientific
Researchers
By Philip J. Hilts
Washington Post Staff Writer
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
During more than 120 hours
of experiments in a university
lab in St. Louis, two young men
performed amazing feats.
They bent dinnerware, moved
objects without touching them,
spun rotors protected by glass-
covered! cases, moved the hands
of watches and made a digital
watch go haywire They saw
through
shielded
envelopes.
They made tiny fuses burn out
suddenly, they created weird im-
ages on film.
All were fakery.
More than three years after
the beginning of the experi-
ments, magician James Randi
exposed the feats as one of the
slyest scientific hoaxes in years.
Randi said he masterminded
the hoax to show that scientific
research on psychic powers is not
as scientific as it should be and
that psychic researchers refuse
the help of magicians to design
experiments that prevent fakery.
Physicist Peter R. Phillips,
director of the laboratory where
the hoax occurred. said that he
JAMES RANDI
... warned of "psychic" trickery
trusted his research subjects
completely and feels "there are
ethical issues involved" in lying
to researchers. At one point, he
said, he was "80 percent sure"
the psychic powers of the young
men were real.
Now he says, "I should have
taken [Randi's] help earlier,"_but
he added that he was glad that
in the end "we never made any
conclusive claims" in print about
the psychics. From now on, he
said, he doesn't intend to accept
psychic subjects from out of
town and will check the back-
ground of those subjects with
whom he works.
Many experiments in psychic
See HOAX, A7, Col. 5
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CPYRGHT
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THE WASHINGTON POST
Tuesday, March 1, 1983
.. . R1 .
A7
Scientists Are Stung
By Not-So-Psychics
HOAX, From A1
research have been "entirely too lax,"
said Robert Morris of Syracuse Uni-
versity, one of those most respected
by believers in psychic research. Hel-
mut Schmidt of the Mind Sciences
Foundation in Texas, another re-
searcher respected in the field,
agreed that "most parapsychological
research is not the tightest possible
research."
With
arguments aside about
methods and ethics, both Randi and
Phillips now agree: the hoax was
worthwhile. It should put future re-
searchers on their guard.
The hoax, which was revealed in
the March issue of Discover, a sci-
ence magazine, began in November,
1979, when two young magicians
showed up, separately, at Washing-
ton University's McDonnell Labo-
ratory for Psychical Research, each
claiming to be a psychic of great
power.
The scientists at McDonnell, after
observing the magicians bend forks
over dinner the first night, accepted
their story and began running the
two through scientific experiments
to test their powers.
At times, the magicians said, the
whole hoax was in danger, and one
missing staple almost ended it.
In that experiment, magician Mi-
chael Edwards, now 23, was given
specially insulated envelopes and
asked to describe the pictures inside.
The envelopes were closed with sta-
ples, and Edwards was sent alone
into a quiet room "to concentrate" on
the images.
He quickly pulled out the staples,
looked at the pictures, replaced and
rebent the staples to look the way
they had originally.
i
But to his horror, "I dropped one
of the staples," Edwards said. "It was
dark in the room. And I just couldn't
find it." When he left the room he
was sure his career as a psychic had
ended.
Thinking quickly, just before the
envelope was opened, Edwards
spoke up. He asked for one more
"feel" of the envelope. He held it a
moment, put on a concentration act,
then announced its contents and
ripped open the envelope himself so
the missing staple would not be de-
tected. The episode was scored as a
psychic "hit", he said.
!
There were other times when the
experiments were changed and the
magicians had to invent new tricks
on the spot, or suddenly claim "bad
vibrations" and beg off the experi-
ment.
But early on the hoax seemed to
be working.
Physicist Phillips, the chief scien-
tist at McDonnell, says he was taken
in for a couple of years. But finally,
after hearing a rumor that the young
performers were fakes, and accepting
some help from Randi, the experi-
ments were tightened up consider-
ably.
Suddenly, the psychic powers he
had seen for two years vanished.
The whole scheme was cooked up
in 1979 by Randi, the stage name of
James Zwinge, the magician and in-
defatigable hunter of psychic fakery.
To make it more interesting, Randi
worked both sides of the trick.
On the one hand, he sent the two
magicians to Washington University,
which had been given funds to set
up the McDonnell laboratory specif-
ically to run psychic claims through
a battery of rigorous scientific tests.
And on the other hand, he also
sent 22 letters to those being hoaxed
warning against the young men's
tricks, offering to help, and suggest-
ing specific methods of catching
fakery. He instructed the young men
that, if they were ever asked directly
whether they were faking, they.
should admit it immediately. Phil-
lips never asked directly, Randi said.
Phillips said he does not feel
foolish or cheated by being the ob-
ject of a hoax, but "exhilarated" be-
cause in the end he did not publish
any wrong final scientific papers and
finally reached the proper conclu-
sion.
It was a very near thing, however.
The early report said, "Two: ap- i
parently powerful subjects . . . have |
presented themselves to McDonnell
Laboratory for Psychical Research
. ... Both experimenters [Phillips
and Mark Shafer) have observed ap-
parent psychokinetic metal-bending
on numerous occasions, with 'and
without contact by the subjects. In
[Phillips'] first session with Michael
Edwards, he and three others each
in turn placed several straight keys
in their closed fists and asked Mi-
chael Edwards to influence them
..
. Edwards was never allowed
contact with the keys, and in each
instance, when the hand was opened
one of the keys was discovered bent."
Edwards said that he simply
picked up the keys when attention
was diverted and bent them.
Phillips wrote, "Both subjects
seem able to affect photographic
film to the extent of producing
streaks or blotches of light." The ma-
gicians said they simply lifted the
lens cap and snapped pictures when
the experimenter's attention was di-
verted.
Phillips also wrote of the bending
of a 1/16-inch metal rod that was
laid in a lucite mold. When in the
mold, "The rod can be touched but
not so that one can physically influ-
ence it." The young magicians "phys-
ically influenced it" by bending it
before it was dropped into the mold,
they said. They held it at an angle
that made it look straight, and with :
mystical mumbo-jumbo gradually;
rotated the rod so it appeared to be.
bending.
Randi's code name for the whole
hoax was "project alpha". Now, he
warns psychical researchers, a "pro-
ject beta" is already under way. After
beta. "I can go right down the alpha-
bet." he said with relish.
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