Early SRI Uri Geller experiments

Just to be clear, this is a discussion about the experiments carried out by the SRI in 1972 NOTHING ELSE. Please dont bring up that he has been proved to be a hoaxer in some other circumstanse, thanks.

In 1972 the Stanford research institute carried out paranormal experiments with Uri geller and the results can be viewed in these (authentic?) videos below:

www.remoteviewed.com...

There is no question about wheter or not these experiments where carried out or not it's a known fact they where, and it can be read on wikipedia amongs other sources.

What i would like to discuss is wheter or not this video is from the actual SRI experiment carried out at that time. Or if it's a fake?

Also if it appears to be valid, what do debunkers have to say about it?

And please remember stick to this experiment in particular.

Found a better video of this, and yes, it's a serious (not fake) video.

Google Video Link

These are experiments done under controlled conditions by serious researchers!

[edit on 2008/10/12 by TrappedSoul]

Scientists are not infallible, I would expect that somehow Uri got the better of them and was able to cheat, people have done it at times, I believe James Randi showed a few ways that naive scientists could be beaten.

reply to post by andreas b


While these are interesting videos, Uri Geller was unable to do the same tricks for Johnny Carson. Mr Carson did not let Mr Geller or his people near the props that were used. He was not allowed to touch the items, and that was suspect. The early parts of Mr Geller in these videos where he draws the pictures and also guesses numbers has been done by regular magicians. While they are cool to look at and they fooled the scientific study, Penn and Teller can do the same thing.

For anyone whos tried to do telekinesis, i would understand why he could not move props that were given to him simply for this reason:

If you had a psi-wheel, or any other object like a spoon you wanted to bend or whatever the hell your doing, there seems to be a point where the object becomes highly responsive to you, like reacting from a simple gaze in some cases, but before you can do that it seems like you have to kind of charge it.

Sometimes I won't be able to affect something, but I'll go meditate or do something for an hour and come back and get a boost out of it, although a short one. It might take half an hour just to charge the object, or perhaps become aware of it. The technique some people use involves blending their energy or field with the object, kind of making it resonate to their beat so they can feel it in their mind, stuff like this can take time.

But again, don't take my word for it until I post vids showing I can do more then moving a cardboard psi wheel, which for me is still extremely difficult compared to paper (and yes all the windows are closed and I'm wearing a dust mask).

And then you have another factor working against you, if telekinesis involves putting ones will into an action, there is also the combined will of others working against it. If theres a whole audience that doubts the person would succeed or WANTS them to fail, well then theres lots of intent which could be translated into resistance.

I believe this to be one reason why its harder to do infront of a crowd.

And again, if going by standard telekinesis theories, it works both ways.. the desire to move something counter-acted with doubt or desire for failure.

It reminds me of that vid where that tai chi master got beat up by a traditional fighter, I think the fighter just simply believed he couldnt be affected by this, and that was enough. Just watch the Biology of perception, I think Dr Bruce Lipton nailed it, that our bodies (matter or energy same thing) respond to signals that we choose.

At the end of the day, who care's what someone else can/can't do. Do it for yourself, for your own search for truth, its pretty hard to guage the authenticity of anything if we don't experience it for ourselves.

How do I even know its raining in China, I didn't experience it, for all I know I could be living in a holographic box.

I like discussing this stuff, its wonderful.

Personaly I wouldn't fully trust anyone who considers him/herself to be a magician or illusionist. I'm not sure if Uri Geller ever claimed to be either. But if that is the case, magicians are specialized in deception, which should say something.

Kidflash how do you explain the dice in the box experiment? Magic trick?

Also i dont really get how a "magician" would pull off the painting experiment when it's in a sealed envelope and not brought or held by him in any way?

I find it rather impossible to trick a whole group of scientists repeatedly on their own terms and conditions.

Actually unless someone debunks this video to be fake i consider this real proof of paranormal perception.

reply to post by kidflash2008



Totally agree dude, Uri Gellar time and again has been proven to be a complete fake. Few magiciacians calim to be anything other that conjuors and entertainers etc, howevere Gellar calimed to be the real deal which made him a complete twat when he was caught out time and again.

The buffoon no longer bends spoons or fixes watches etc he just spouts PMA junk when he gets a chance to get his chops on TV.

What is very sad is the thousands of gullable people who accepted him as the real deal and even claimed to be able to perform similar feats as he with his help, without once putting him to a real test.

Mr Gellar was a jesus of our time in some respects, thousands of sheeple extolling his powers on blind faith ,without any avidence or even completely ignoring evidence showing him to be a fake.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, ar hum ar wel erm you wont erm fool me again, lol

Thank god for the guallable, they keep the money going around.

reply to post by andreas b


Watch how Mr Geller does the tricks in the first video. He is performing just like a magician, and he is adding a little suspense while he rules out canisters. If he were a psychic, then he would just pick out the one with the steel ball or water in it. No need for him to show all that filler as they just want the results and have not paid him to entertain. Basically you are watching a performer, not a psychic.

If a psychic claims they can bend spoons and move objects with their mind, then they should do so without touching the objects. Once they touch the objects, there could be many ways in which trickery is involved.

Sorry to break the bad news to you but everytime Geller has been tested under circumstances were he couldn't manipulate the props etc, he has failed miserably. . . You also have to remember that he was apparently an accomplished conjuror in his early years! He's also very insecure about criticism, sometimes threatening people with court who have simply said they don't believe he has psychic powers!
I personally think he's a huge fraud. The only paranormal thing about geller is how he has got away with it for so long!

Originally posted by kidflash2008
reply to post by andreas b

 

While these are interesting videos, Uri Geller was unable to do the same tricks for Johnny Carson. Mr Carson did not let Mr Geller or his people near the props that were used. He was not allowed to touch the items, and that was suspect. The early parts of Mr Geller in these videos where he draws the pictures and also guesses numbers has been done by regular magicians. While they are cool to look at and they fooled the scientific study, Penn and Teller can do the same thing.

Yea I was just going to say the same thing, so instead I will provide this video of him failing on the tonight show with Johnny Carson.



Its amazing, Uri cant have it set up his way and suddenly he is to tired to perform. Imagine that.

Still none is able to debunk this video? Funny how a magician can fool a group of scientists in a laboratory on their own therms.

But seriously stick to the subject, can you or can you not debunk this experiment?

It doesnt matter if he couldnt perform at that show one time, if he has performed under supervision of scientists and had confirmed success that's all there is. He did it, enough said.

This type of achivement is probably very hard to do. Compare it to doing say for example, a 360 flip on a skateboard. Just because you fail once doesnt mean you never have done or cant do it. When you on the otherhand have it on film and confirmed by scientists, i find it rather ignorant to say he is not able do it.

i agree with andreas, it doesn't matter; does anyone have any proof that debunks the original videos of the tests???

reply to post by andreas b


I do not now how he did his magic tricks. He was able to fool the "scientists" and it is not known if he did touch or go near the props.

Watch the videos and you will see a magician working his audience. While I do not know how exactly he did his tricks, he is performing them like a magician. Why didn't he just pick the canisters with the ball or water immediately instead of going through all that drama?

I am sure there are some magicians here who can tell you how he did it.

Also, he cannot do the SAME EXACT tricks on the Johnny Carson show? It makes me think he or his assistants were involved in helping him pass the "tests".

[edit on 10/14/2008 by kidflash2008]

Originally posted by andreas b
Still none is able to debunk this video? Funny how a magician can fool a group of scientists in a laboratory on their own therms.

But seriously stick to the subject, can you or can you not debunk this experiment?

It doesnt matter if he couldnt perform at that show one time, if he has performed under supervision of scientists and had confirmed success that's all there is. He did it, enough said.

This type of achivement is probably very hard to do. Compare it to doing say for example, a 360 flip on a skateboard. Just because you fail once doesnt mean you never have done or cant do it. When you on the otherhand have it on film and confirmed by scientists, i find it rather ignorant to say he is not able do it.

If I remember rightly either the Society for Psychical Research or its American equivelent investigated how these tests were done and found that there was ample time for Geller to cheat and tamper with the props etc. They found that some of the claims of the actual investigators were dubious, some even denying that they had said what had been written in the transcripts.
It seems that they proved what we already know! An academic investigator who believes in psychic powers will be less likely to suspect fraud, or put in place controls to stop it, than a none believer. . .