African shaman performing levitation

You think this is real? or is it one of those Chris Angel stunts?!?

WOW. could be fake and it wouldnt be hard to fake as long as everyone was in on it. Still pretty cool. Dont know what good it would do you in Africa or anywhere for that matter. Just a good way to get more followers and increase your ego.

The effort he puts into balancing himself on some point that we can't see makes me really suspect this as nothing more than a trick.

Ever try the levitation trick that uses your shoes and gets you a few inches off the ground? You do the same thing with your arms trying to balance if you aren't well practiced in it. Even Criss Angel will hold his arms out to balance himself with that trick, he just doesn't wobble.

I think this guy is exhausted because it took a lot of physical exertion to stay balanced on whatever was holding him up.

If he was using psychic/mind power, it would be his head that was hurting right?

Ha! That's pretty cool. Looks real enough... they captured it from multiple angles. Though I won't rule out the possibility of fakery. Magicians these days can do some pretty convincing stuff!

i'm going to have to say that it is indeed real.
i cannot see some tribesman, ahem shaman, practicing trickery. while it may be fake, something is telling me its real.

i believe he is utilizing and possibly changing the mg. resonance around him just enough for him to raise off the ground.

The guy looks like he is balancing on something which makes me also believe this is just a trick. They say he is not on a wire but Chris Angel's camera crew was also involved in his tricks and so is the producer of this tv show. People will believe anything they see on camera.

good video, I like the multiple angles. I think the balance thing is a natural reaction, ever tried floating in the ocean? you try to release but still there is that little natural reaction of trying to keep yourself floating with the currents...could be the same for this guy.

I wanted to believe this was real and got ready to see something extraordinary. I'll talk you through my thought process as I watched it though:

1. Lookie there! He's rising right off the ground!
2. Wow! He's high enough so that you can see the flames behind him, and there doesn't seem to be anything holding him up back there.
3. Hmm I really wish they'd show it from another angle.
4. Ok, at least they're zooming in on him. Looks real enough. Too bad they're not circling him so we can see for sure that there's nothing holding him up.
5. Hey! There's another camera guy over there! Are they actually gonna show the footage from that camera?
6. COOL! They're showing it!
7. Hmm, why aren't they panning up and down the length of his body to show that he's actually floating un-aided?
8. They're just showing him from the shoulders up.
9. *CUT* now they're just showing his feet.
10. Ah! Now they're panning back up WHOOPS something knocked the camera a little to the left, but there's his head again.

This is probably very similar to the way you all watched it, whether you noticed these things consciously or not. The footage we were all waiting for, the "money shot" was cleverly left out. If someone took the time, money and other resources to get two cameras out there to get visual proof of this act, they failed miserably.

Agent Violet, I believe that indigenous 'holy men' are very much into pulling pranks. I can't really back that up but you've probably heard some of the same kind of stories and folklore that I have.

reply to post by Teratoma


good analysis, I like your thought process, I certainly didn't think of it that way.. but now that you mention it.. hmmm.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
reply to post by Teratoma

 

good analysis, I like your thought process, I certainly didn't think of it that way.. but now that you mention it.. hmmm.

The thing is, you probably did, just sans the narrative. I think most people like the folks here at ATS were watching for that, even hoping for - a mere second or two of footage - which would show that there was no trickery involved. What we were shown was that there might not have been trickery involved. Not the same thing. I'm not one of those types that is going to demand proof of some kind, but wasn't that the whole idea of them getting this thing on video? Instead they show very little, and count on the viewer to be looking the other way. Sleight of hand, I suppose. Neat trick, just not a very neat video.

Thanks for the kudos, by the way! I really appreciate them.

i dont know, i'm still betting on him utilizing the surrounding mg. resonance. or something of that nature. plus the whole background music seems to be very trance like, especially their tribal singing/chanting.

besides you cant fake sweating. not that, that proves anything.

Looks like a cable or wire attached to his lower back. Note that the so called camera angles never clearly show his back...

This is why he is trying to balance the way he is...

Another note, this could be an African American dressed up on a beach in Florida for all we know

I really would love to see this feat on film, but I can tell you, if a legitimate effort was made to document something like this on film, the film would be nothing like this. There was no reason why that second camera man couldn't have panned up and down and walked around the "shaman" to get absolute proof that there were no wires, cables or mirrors. Instead, we get one camera angle that shows him rise, and a second camera angle that shows NOTHING. Be entertained, but don't be fooled!

I do think levitation is possible, but I don't think that this is what it looks like.

I just dont understand the point of levitation what good does it do. What does he use it for in his role as a shaman.

Hard to tell really as you never see a clear back shot of the shaman doing his 'feat.' You see his face, frontal body and feet but not the back. Any slight glimpse you get is very very dark and cast in the shadows.

It looks real enough, but then what counts as looking real or not real? He's performing a supposed feat of physical alteration that none of us has seen happening before in front of our eyes so we don't know how levitation would look like. Yes he's wobbly...could he be wobbly because he's on loose supports? That could very well be the case. But then he could be wobbly because he's floating or is suspended on an invisible force, or layer or energy that is not very solid and stable like a concrete floor for example. As we have never seen levitation happen in front of our very eyes (well I certainly haven't,) it's very hard to say exactly what levitation should look like when witnessed.

The same goes for the fall at the end. Was that put in to add more weight to him falling off the energy source when it was really a trick? Or did he actually use up all the energy and concentration from his body? Again, very hard to say unless you know what you're talking about in the field of mind alternating subjects.

I feel that you can't really conclude anything from the video, for or against the possibility that the shaman might be performing levitation. The camera angles weren't always the best, it was at night time so his back and other areas were cast in shadows and unfortunately we know very little of the location, background of the supposed shaman, and the camera men involved. It could be a trick, or it could very well be real.

All in all though, it is very interesting.

[edit on 1-9-2007 by Arawn]

reply to post by agent violet



first off, we're taking the narrator's word that this guy is a "shaman" he could be the last guy to try out for DJ on good times for all we know. also
teratona makes a good point that they never showed this fella from behind and why wasn't it filmed during the day instead of at night. at least criss angel does his stunt during daylight hours as well as at night.
my 2.5 cents

Originally posted by Novise
The effort he puts into balancing himself on some point that we can't see makes me really suspect this as nothing more than a trick.

I noticed that as well.He seems having much more problem balancing than defying gravity.Its also convenient that he's doing it under cover of darkness as well.

Hmmm. Let's see.

He waits until it's dark.
One strike against him.

He wears an ornate (and large)
girdle-looking apparatus.
Fair enough.

But, wait. Look at the trees/bushes
behind him.
Conveniently parted, directly behind
him.

These "shaman's" wouldn't have the
need for wires and rigs to support them.

A simple lever mounted behind them,
operated by an "apprentice" would do
just fine.

In my opinion, pure-d hokum.

Regards,
Lex

Okay guys here is the deal... NO one has magical powers on this earth..

Why do I think that? Well for starters, if this guy is really doing this with magic why the minor tricks??
His own country is in turmoil and he magically levitates???

If anyone had magical powers they would be out saving people of the world over! They wouldnt be doing stupid little tricks to impress people okay.

To me anyone who wants to pull of a trick and claim they really did it with the powers of magic, then I lose all respect for them..

If he has these powers? Then why is he not helping more people across the world.. Presay floating in the air around a camp fire??

Sure its really kewl trick and all... But please people understand these are tricks, and not real magic.. No man on this earth is any more magical than the next guy..

As if they where somehow magical, what are they doing to help others?

No they only try to impress and manipulate those around them, to do their bidding.. Now that could be a power in itself, but we all could do it given enough time to prefect that craft..

Thus, I say nay sir... He is no more magical than micky mouse...

And if he was magical, then shame on him for just doing parler tricks and not helping the people of his own country.. Africa is in dire need of some real help.. Where the magic there?

In Africa all is possible from voodoo/hoodoo/holy men/witch doctors/witches/zombies