THE URI GELLER EFFECT
by E. Alan Price, M.D., The South African Institute for Parapsychology,
Johannesburg.
E. Alan Price is a practising diagnostic roentgenologist in
South Africa, and a former senior radiologist at the Johannesburg
General Hospital. He is also Research Project Director for the
South African Institute for Parapsychology, and the author of
numerous papers on medical, radiological, and parapsychological
subjects.
Uri Geller visited South Africa during the summer of 1974,
giving lectures in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town,
and Port Elizabeth. During his visit and shortly afterward, many
individuals reported that they had spontaneously developed Geller-like
talents. Dr. Price appealed to the public through the press and
radio to send in accounts of the experiences they thought were
related to Geller's visit. Thus, his investigation is a "field
study." His task was laborious and lengthy, for it was essential
to establish a certain degree of reliability in the many reports
he received. Dr. Price's paper presents the investigative methods
he used in weeding out the "good" from the "bad"
anecdotes, descriptions of a number of the actual incidents that
were reported, and his careful analyses of their substance and
significance. Although Price's study cannot offer proof of paranormal
happenings among the general populace, taken with the laboratory
observations of Drs. Thelma Moss, John Hasted, and John Taylor,
it presents a strong case for the existence of psychical talents
in average, normal individuals.
Published for the first time, with the permission of the author.
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS a young Israeli psychic demonstrated in
various capitals of the world, on radio and television, certain
telepathic abilities as well as remarkable psychokinetic powers
to bend metal and to start watches and clocks that have been out
of order for varying lengths of time. He was investigated at
the Stanford Research Institute by Russell Targ and Dr. Harold
E. Puthoff,(14) who have confirmed his extraordinary extrasensory
perception under conditions of sensory shielding.
From the very beginning of Mr. Uri Geller's appearance in Europe
and the United States, strange phenomena have been reported by
various individuals who witnessed Mr. Geller's live demonstrations,
or saw him on television, or listened to him on the radio. These
reports stated that, on following Uri Geller's instructions, they
too were able to bend metal objects simply by stroking them and
willing them to bend, without applying any physical force whatsoever.
Other reports referred to clocks and watches, which have not
been going for many years, starting to "tick" once again
without the direct physical intervention of Uri Geller. The reports
also stated that in many instances the metal objects or watches
reacted without being touched or stroked, and at a time subsequent
to the broadcast or demonstration. It would appear that Uri Geller
triggered off an inherent latent psychokinetic ability, on a hitherto
unprecedented scale, in the population group that either saw him
or listened to him. It is to this phenomenon that one refers
as "The Uri Geller Effect." At the moment it is not
possible to be certain whether the Uri Geller Effect is due to
the psychic ability of Mr. Uri Geller alone or to the arousal
of latent psychic powers within the individual who experiences
the Uri Geller Effect.
By definition, therefore, the Uri Geller Effect occurs at a variable
distance from the physical presence of Mr. Geller. This distance
may vary from a few meters to hundreds or thousands of Kilometers.
Under these circumstances a possibility of trickery or sleight
of hand, misdirection, or any other method of cheating is not
conceivable. The only alternative explanation to that of a paranormal
phenomenon is the possibility of conscious or unconscious fraud
on the part of the person reporting the experience. At a later
stage I shall deal with the evaluation of the evidence of the
present series of cases.
The Source of the Material and the Method of Its Collection
Mr. Uri Geller visited South Africa from mid-July to mid-August
1974. He gave lecture-demonstrations in Johannesburg, Pretoria,
Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth. He appeared four times
on the radio but on only one occasion did he appeal to listeners
to attempt to produce the same phenomena he was producing in the
studio, and to telephone the results to the studio. He met people
at various private functions and appeared at a charity evening
in Johannesburg. From the beginning of his visit it became apparent
that numerous phenomena occur outside the direct physical presence
of, or contact with, Mr. Uri Geller. I then decided to launch
a project that would attempt to collect, record, and analyze the
various experiences that were reported to be taking place throughout
the country. The method adopted was to insert in the programs
a circular appealing for reports on any experiences a person might
have had or witnessed during or after the lecture-demonstration.
We also appealed to the public through the press and the radio
to report to our institute any phenomenon that may have occurred
and seemed to be associated with Mr. Uri Geller. We have also
obtained a tape recording of the telephonic reports by various
people who phoned the offices of the South African Broadcasting
Corporation following Mr. Uri Geller's broadcast and the appeal
to the listeners to report immediately any phenomena that may
have occurred in their homes or to them personally. Many of these
people who telephoned gave their names and addresses and we subsequently
wrote to them. It has to he stressed, however, that the response
of the public to isolated single appeals through the press or
radio produces a poor response. The general public is most
apathetic and very lazy in coming forward to any such appeal no
matter what the scientific project may be. In the case of parapsychology,
the subject is further bedeviled by a reluctance of people to
be associated with the investigator of paranormal phenomena.
It was, therefore, very hard work, and a great amount of perseverance
was required to accumulate the 137 reliable case reports. This
is probably not more than 10 percent of the total number of phenomena
that have occurred throughout the country.
A questionnaire was subsequently sent to all the people who reported
such phenomena. About 85 percent completed the questionnaire.
The reports can be divided into two groups. The first group
deals with Uri Geller and his personal demonstrations and appearance.
The second group, and this is the group we shall be dealing with
in this paper, deals mainly with the Uri Geller Effect on members
of the population or audience who had no direct physical contact
with, and were not subject to the intervention of, Uri Geller.
Order of Presentation of the Cases
There are obviously many ways in which the reported experiences
may be grouped. My order of presentation is of course arbitrary.
I have endeavored to group the cases in such a manner that each
group will demonstrate a certain aspect of the conditions under
which the effect manifested itself. I propose to relate to this
paper only some of the experiences reported to us. No change
was made in the language or substance of the reports. In certain
cases, however, irrelevant material was excluded. Space does
not permit the publishing of all the cases in detail. Only the
initials of writers and percipients or experients are published,
as anonymity was promised to all participants of this research
project.
The Uri GelIer Effect Produced Among Members of the Audience
During a Stage Demonstration
Case No. 30
This report was sent to us by Dr. T.E. of Johannesburg on
December 24, 1974.
The event took place on the 17th July at approximately 10:00 P.M.
during a demonstration by Uri Geller at a charity premiere at
the Carlton Hotel Ballroom. I was holding a teaspoon in my right
band, between thumb and middle finger, concentrating on bending
the spoon through the medium of Uri Geller's efforts, when I experienced
a warm, tingling sensation in the thumb and finger, and the spoon
began to bend. As I was skeptical about the "powers"
of Geller, I would not believe my eyes and started to shout, "The
spoon is bending" and displayed it to people around me, including
my wife and professional colleagues.
The spoon kept on bending, and the more it bent, the more jubilant
and excited I became until I reached a stage of almost "hysteria."
I kept on shouting, "Look, the spoon is bending more and
more!" The "spoon bending" was continuous and lasted
about four minutes and at the end the teaspoon was bent into a
U shape. (Here Dr. T.E. drew the shape of the spoon before and
after it bent.)
The following information was obtained from his completed questionnaire.
Dr. T.E. is a forty-four-year-old male specialist gynecologist
and obstetrician in private practice. He is married. He was
a complete skeptic about the possibility of such an experience
before it happened. He is a confirmed believer now. He stated
that he did have a previous psychic experience. He believes,
however, that his present experience was induced by Uri Geller,
and does not think that he could repeat it on his own. There
were nearly one thousand people in the audience and he was surrounded
by his family and friends during Uri Geller's performance. The
delay in remitting this report to us appears to be due to the
fact that Dr. T.E. emigrated to Israel in the interim.
The Uri Geller Effect Produced a Day Before and Repeated the Day
After a Stage Demonstration
Case No. 43
The following letter, dated August 16, 1974, was received from
Mr. P.J.M. H.-J., a sixty-three-year-old director of a large electrical
company.
In reply to your circular inquiry following the visit of Mr.
Uri Geller, I would advise you as follows:
1. On the day before I saw his performance at the Colosseum,
I bent a key. It took me the best part of thirty minutes, and
there were no witnesses. I told my wife and showed her the key
and she promptly told me that she did not believe me.
2. The following day my wife and I saw the performance at the
Colosseum.
3. On the day following the visit to the Colosseum I was telling
three of my colleagues at lunch of the events outlined in 1. above.
They promptly agreed with my wife, but suggested that I show
them how I did it. This I did, and rather to my surprise, the
second key bent. This occurrence being observed by two of my
co-directors and my administrative manager - the latter stated
that he felt something as the key bent.
This incident is, therefore, well corroborated.
On the second occasion, the key bent in a couple of minutes,
and after bending I had a marked tingling sensation on the ends
of all my fingers, which lasted for perhaps five minutes.
Both keys are available for inspection at any time.
Yours sincerely,
(signed) P.J.M. H.-J.
In reply to an inquiry from us with regard to this sensation,
which he had experienced while he was bending the above mentioned
keys, we received the following reply on September 24, 1974.
In accordance with your request to me, I wish to confirm that,
as I am stroking a key with the intention of bending it, there
comes a time when the smoothness of the key gives way to a feeling
as though the key was crystalised, and it is at this point, in
my opinion, that if you are experienced, you can keep the object
in this condition, and it will bend. This has been my experience
with two keys and a spoon, but I think it is only fair to say
that I do not have great difficulty, even now that Uri Geller
has left the country, in bending an object to this crystalised
condition, but I am unable to hold it there, and after a moment
or two it goes back to its former smooth surface, and I have,
therefore, failed to bend the object.
We then requested corroborative signed statements from the three
colleagues who witnessed the bending of one of the keys. We subsequently
received the following letter:
This is to advise that some months ago we were having lunch with
Mr. P.J.M. H.-J. when a discussion arose regarding Mr. Uri Geller
who was at that time in South Africa.
During the discussion, Mr. P.J.M. H.-J. demonstrated to us that
he was able to bend a residential key by slowly stroking it.
We all saw the key bend after a short interval of time.
(signed) Mr. G.C.G. - Financial Director.
Mr. E.B.B. - Director.
Mr. R.H. - Administrative Officer.
In reply to our request to have the keys examined, the following
was received on November 8, 1974.
As requested in your circular letter of the 5th November, I am
enclosing my two bent keys. I hope you are not going to keep
them too long, as one of them is my garage key, the other is the
key to an inner drawer in my safe, so it will be rather inconvenient
to do without them, but I do have a duplicate to the safe key.
I have tried to bend other keys after Geller's departure, but
had no success.
The Uri Geller Effect Produced Among the Population During
and Following Radio Broadcasts
Mr. Geller appeared on four radio programs. He twice appeared
on the very popular program, "Deadline Thursday Night."
The first one was in the Johannesburg studio on July 11, at 7:30
P.M. and the second one at a Cape Town studio three weeks later,
on August 1. He also appeared on "The Voice of Science"
program with Professor Arthur Bleksley, Dr. Gordon Nelson, and
Mr. Robin Jackson of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
The, following reports were sent to us by Mr. Timothy Bungey,
who was the producer of the radio program "Deadline Thursday
Night," and
Mr. Adrian Steed who was the announcer during the program and
partook in key-bending and telepathic tests.
Case No. 19
This report was sent to us by Mr. Timothy Bungey, who is a
broadcaster and radio producer, and was responsible for the radio
program "Deadline Thursday Night."
I did not attend any of Uri Geller's theater shows, but as producer
of "Deadline Thursday Night" I was present on both occasions
when he took part in a broadcast on Springbok Radio. The first
occasion was July 11th, 1974. We pre-recorded the last two thirds
of the program and arranged with Mr. Geller that he would take
up the first ten minutes "live" in the studio. We also
arranged to record listeners' reactions over the telephone in
a separate studio, and although Mr. Geller warned us that there
was often some delay before people managed to bend knives and
forks, the calls in fact started to come through before he left
the main studio. As you already have dubbings of these calls,
we do not need to elaborate on this aspect.
At Mr. Geller's request, so that he did not feel hemmed in, I
did not allow anyone else in the studio other than the presenter
of "Deadline," Adrian Steed; the Continuity Announcer
on duty that evening, Paul Beresford; and the inevitable disc
jockeys. There were a large number of onlookers, including Mr.
Geller's own entourage, and the other members of the "Deadline"
team, and, since the word had got round the building swiftly,
there were a dozen or so members of the S.A.B.C. staff watching
as well. Some were in the passage, looking through the windows,
others in the control room that overlooks the main studio, and
still more were in the adjoining continuity studio. All told,
there must have been some thirty to forty people including myself.
Mr. Steed opened the program in the usual way and then introduced
Mr. Geller. He explained what he was going to try and do - bend
metal objects in the studio, mend broken watches (we had supplied
various items beforehand), and tell the listeners how they could
do the same. He asked for Adrian's key ring, selected the car
key, and started stroking it gently. Within a matter of seconds
(not more than thirty seconds) the key began to bend. One may
put it down to mass hypnosis, but there was no doubt in the minds
of everyone present that the key actually bent to an angle of
roughly forty degrees. After this, he took a couple of broken
watches, placed his hands over them, concentrated, and - presto
they began to tick again. Then he explained to the listeners
how they could do the same. "You must want it to
happen," he said. "Just take the knife or the fork,
stroke it gently, and will it to bend." You can learn
the results from the dubbings we sent you. (The dubbings of almost
all the telephone calls are in our possession. E.A.P.)
After a brief chat with Adrian Steed, Mr. Geller left the studio
and the program continued. As I said earlier, the calls had already
begun to come through and they had been answered by "Deadline's
assistant editor. Then Mr. Geller took over for a while, asking
each listener who phoned what had happened; and when he had to
leave, the editor, Bryan Chilvers, continued taking the calls.
We later learned, although this I did not see in person, that
the continuity studio suffered strange happenings after Uri Geller
left.
The turntable on which he had been demonstrating his powers to
the technicians before we went on the air with "Deadline
Thursday Night" suddenly refused to function anymore. (He
had taken a metal object and rubbed it on the surface.) A switch
that no one in his right mind would touch while we were on the
air somehow managed to switch itself off. And then one of the
monitors gave up the ghost and so a bewildered Paul Beresford
and crew were forced to move to an adjoining studio.
That was the first occasion. Three weeks later, when Mr. Geller
was in Cape Town, and as we had had such a fantastic response
to the first broadcast, we decided to ask him to try some thought
transmission with Adrian Steed of our Johannesburg studio. This
time, as we had no idea how long it would take, we played safe
and pre-recorded the session. It was later edited and played
into "Deadline Thursday Night."
There was a slight misunderstanding at the outset. Mr. Geller
had been under the impression that he was simply going to thank
South Africa for the wonderful reception (his agent had passed
on our request incorrectly) and at first he was somewhat reluctant
to try a thought transmission so soon before appearing on the
stage. But at length he agreed to try, and over the line from
Cape Town he tried to transmit an image into Adrian Steed's mind
(he was in Johannesburg, 900 miles away). Adrian sat in the studio
with a piece of paper and a pencil, and he was told to draw what
came into his mind. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts,
he tried another picture and this time Adrian drew first of all
a circle, then a V lying sidewise. These were separate items.
Then he said to Uri Geller that he felt they should come together
and at length he attached the sideways V to the circle. After
that came an eye - and the result was a childlike drawing of a
head.
Mr. Geller sent his original drawing to Mr. Steed later on and
there was a distinct resemblance though it was by no means an
exact copy.
Case No. 110
Mr. Adrian Steed was the presenter of the program "Deadline
Thursday Night" and he sent us the following letter dated
October 4, 1974.
During the now well-known broadcast by Uri Geller I had the experience
of seeing one of my keys bent before my eyes by Uri's stroking
it with his fingers. During the same evening I saw him stroke
a spoon until it broke. Uri also moved the hands of my watch
back an hour by rubbing the back of the watch.
Only this last week I have noticed that two more of my keys are
now bent. Whether this is because they were attached to the same
ring that Uri handled or whether I managed to duplicate Uri's
feat, I don't know because, I must admit, I tried the stroking
myself not in Uri's presence. I certainly wasn't aware of their
bending when I did the stroking but they are available for examination.
Uri also attempted either one or two weeks later to transmit
a picture to me from Cape Town. I succeeded in receiving the
image of a circle, a triangle, and a circle, all of which seemed
to be a face with a nose and an eye. That in fact was what Uri
had tried to "transmit": a face. He was very and genuinely
excited because prior to the experiment he had expressed serious
doubts about achieving anything. Unfortunately I did not keep
the drawing, but Timothy Bungey (radio producer) can verify what
I say.
I feel obliged to tell you that in spite of my experiences I
can't help feeling skeptical. I am not a nut or weirdy, but I
cannot help - in spite of my skepticism - feeling that there are
more things in heaven and earth undreamed of in our philosophy.
There appears to be a slight inconsistency in the date of the
second transmission of the program "Deadline Thursday Night."
According to Mr. Timothy Bungey, it was three weeks after the
first program, which would make it August 1, whereas according
to Mr. Adrian Steed it was one to two weeks later.
The response from the public to the request by Uri Geller to
call the studio was, as Mr. Bungey states, fantastic. One has
to listen to the tape recording of these telephone calls to appreciate
the tremendous impact it has made on the various people who had
experienced the Uri Geller Effect. These calls came from all over
the country, and the telephone lines became jammed at the studio.
Reports from other parts of the world, such as Germany, England,
and France, tell a similar story.
Case No. 76
This report was received from Dr. Gordon Nelson on October 29,
1974. He was one of the participants in the radio program "The
Voice of Science."
Recording Session, Voice of Science, S.A.B.C. - 8th August,
1974.
In the company of Dr. Arthur Bleksley, Mr. Robin Jackson of the
S.A.B.C., Uri Geller bent a teaspoon belonging to Dr. Bleksley.
He then took my watch, clenched his fist over it, and handed
it back to me, one hour slow exactly.
During the recording Mr. Geller moved to a point about 2 meters
from the table facing away from it. He asked Robin Jackson to
make a drawing, came back and asked if it was finished, and produced
a piece of paper with the identical drawing.
After the recording, at home, I was idly stroking a silver teaspoon
during a conversation. After some minutes I lifted the teaspoon
and, noticed it was bent.
Shortly afterward, while having a drink at a neighbor's home,
I was equally idly stroking a small alarm clock, which had not
worked for some time. This suddenly began to go. I had the same
experience one minute later with a second alarm clock, which had
also not worked for some time.
I can offer no explanation of Uri Geller's spoon bending.
The episode involving my watch may have been a matter of rapid
and dextrous manipulation. The "telepathy" involving
the drawing could have been accompanied by very rapid sketching,
in which Geller is a master. My subsequent experience with the
spoon may have involved excessive "pressure" (my relatively
strong hands on the silver spoon, which is fairly soft). The
matter of the clocks may have been due to chance or temperature
changes or both.
The above three reports (Case No. 19, Case No. 110, and Case
No. 76) were sent to us by people who were directly associated
with, or involved in, the three broadcasts in which Uri Geller
participated. The following case reports are from people who
were listening to these programs and had certain experiences that,
according to our definition, are apparently the result of the
Uri Geller Effect.
Case No. 22
This report was sent to us by Mrs. E.C. of Somerset West, Cape
Province, on August 9, 1974. Somerset West is about 900 miles
from Johannesburg.
My husband and I were concentrating on stroking two knives on
the Thursday evening "Deadline Thursday Night" broadcast
with Uri Geller (the Uri Geller experiment referred to). Timepieces
in our house that were stopped permanently as far as we knew were
two wrist watches and a brass carriage clock that was given to
my husband's mother as a wedding present about 1890. This had
not been going for some years and when it did go it gained about
six minutes a day. We had taken it to several watchmakers who
said that a part was worn and would have to be handmade and the
whole clock taken down to fit it - such a big job it was hardly
worth doing. One of the watches was probably in need of a clean
but so impossible was it to start that I had been wearing a gold
watch I usually keep for evenings as my everyday wrist watch for
months. They either would go for a few seconds or stop. All
three were ticking merrily after Uri's broadcast and they have
been going ever since. My husband adjusted the clock and it now
keeps perfect time.
Her husband, who is a retired farmer and ex-naval officer, corroborated
the statement.
In a further letter, dated October 29, 1974, she states that
the clock was useless as a timepiece and had been kept as an ornamental
clock for sentimental reasons and two watchmakers had declared
it irreparable. It has been going ever since that evening. She
also stated that the knife she was stroking bent very slightly
and she felt a tingling while stroking the knife.
Mrs. E.C. is fifty years old, her academic qualifications are
matriculation, and she is a housewife. She has had previous psychic
experiences.
Case No. 56
Mr. S.K. phoned the studio from Witbank, which is 100 miles from
Johannesburg, from where the broadcast was made on July 11 at
7:30 P.M. We subsequently listened to the tape recording of his
phone call. He was extremely excited and said that he had an
old antique clock hanging on the wall. He was standing on a chair
and stroking the clock. Suddenly the door was flung open and
the pendulum thrown out. "We were all rather startled and
amazed," he said. Mr. S.K. gave his name and address to
the man in the studio. We subsequently wrote to him and sent
him a questionnaire. We received the questionnaire on October
14, 1974. He confirmed in writing the above experience. Mr.
S.K. is fifty-four years old, married, and is a director of companies.
He has had previous psychic experiences and he is a spiritualist.
He believes that his experience was induced by Uri Geller.
Case No. 100
The following letter, dated August 16, 1974, was received by
us from Mr. W.L.S. of Port Elizabeth, Cape Province. Port Elizabeth
is about 700 miles from Johannesburg, from where the broadcast
was beamed. This program, "The Voice of Science," had
been pre-recorded.
My wife and I witnessed one of those amazing occurrences after
the Science Hour broadcast a week ago today. We were listening
casually, not realizing at first that Mr. Uri Geller was on the
air together with you gentlemen. Had I known beforehand I would
have recorded the broadcast for further experimentation.
My wife and I were sitting over a cup of afterdinner tea in our
lounge when Mr. Geller suggested that the audience should try
to "bend metal." I took the teaspoon from my saucer
and laid it on the small lounge round table next to the cup, and
asked my wife to concentrate on bending it. I gave it a try myself
for about a minute or so, watching the spoon, then gave it up
as a bad job, but listened intently and very interestedly indeed.
My wife still had her eyes shut, maybe concentrating on that
spoon. Then both of us forgot about the spoon and did not give
it any further attention as nothing had happened and both of us
had been skeptical that anything would happen. At the end of
the broadcast I suggested to my wife that we should also try the
other experiment with the copying of the drawing. My wife, however,
picked up the empty cups and saucers and left the lounge for the
kitchen for some fresh brew.
I had my mind on how to go about the paper-drawing experiment
and the contents of the whole of the broadcast. Turning away
from the hi-fi set I noticed out of the corner of my eye that
the spoon I had taken out of the saucer and put on the table and
that my wife had forgotten to take to the kitchen, had bent through
an angle of about forty degrees. When I looked closely, I did
not want to believe my eyes. The weirdness of it all caused in
me what I would call a primitive fear reaction of the unknown;
I had goose pimples all over me, and my hair started to rise.
I shouted out to my wife in the kitchen and called her to come
and see for herself.
My wife first thought that I was playing the fool with her and
I was at first not sure that my wife had not played the fool with
me. We had another spoon of identical make. I asked my wife
to bend it with her hand. This was a great effort for her, and
caused the metal to make deep red marks in her flesh. I then
tried to bend another spoon myself, which I was easily able to
do with my greater strength and by applying leverage. I waited
a week to write to you about this. It would be quite out of character
for my wife and myself to keep up a pretence so long. I am now
positive that this spoon bent without having been touched by
either of us. I am the President of the Observatory Society
and met Professor Bleksley many a year ago when I was the secretary
and he delivered the lecture to us in the Port Elizabeth City
Hall.
Mr. W.L.S. is sixty-four years old. He is a radio engineer and
has his own business. He studied law at Berlin University. The
experience occurred approximately a minute after the close of
the broadcast. His wife, Mrs. V.K.M.S., is forty-four years old.
Her academic qualifications are B.A. (Birmingham), Dr. of Theology
Honoris Causa. She is well disposed to such psychic experiences.
Her personal psychic experiences are of a religious and mystical
nature.
The Uri Geller Effect and Distance
From a study of many of the cases reported to us, it would appear
that distance did not seem to prevent its manifestation. The
following is a case in point.
Case No. 56
This particular case was described earlier in this paper (vide
supra). As stated earlier, the individual was in Witbank, which
is 100 miles from where Uri Geller was at the moment of broadcast.
The following is another interesting case report. In addition
to the fact that it demonstrates that distance does not prevent
the manifestation of the Uri Geller Effect, it also shows that
the manifestation may occur some time after the event was triggered
off by Mr. Uri Geller and that it may take place without the immediate
conscious effort of the experient.
Case No. 55
Mrs. B.K. of Durban wrote to us on July 26, 1974, as follows:
"Deadline Thursday Night," 11th July, 7:30 P.M. I have
a machine key made of steel belonging to my mother. I got the
same and started stroking it as Uri Geller spoke. Nothing happened
so I put the key down, switched off the radio, as "Deadline"'s
singing irritates me. I went on reading until about 11:30 P.M.
I turned to switch off my bedside light when to my utter shock
the key had bent nearly double. When I showed it to a locksmith
he said the breaking strain was about fifty pounds. To say I
was astonished is to put it mildly. I took a long time to fall
asleep.
Durban is 383 miles from Johannesburg's broadcasting studio,
where Uri Geller made the broadcast "live." This broadcast
was not pre-recorded. Mrs. B.K. is fifty-seven years old and
is widowed. She is a director of a company. She was previously
doubtful but prepared to consider such possibilities. Now she
has a confirmed belief in such experiences. She did have previous
experiences of a psychic nature.
The Uri Geller Effect and Time
Many of the reports indicate that the effect manifested itself
during Uri Geller's demonstrations or broadcasts. Some reports
indicate, however, that the transference occurred before or after
Uri Geller's direct attempt to produce the effect. The following
is an example of a report that indicates that the effect became
apparent before Uri Geller's attempt to produce it.
Case No. 25
Mrs. G.M.C. wrote on October 8, 1974, from Durban.
As requested, I am writing to tell you of my experience. I wrote
to Dr. Arthur Bleksley at the S.A.B.C. some weeks ago. [This letter
was not referred to us.] I don't know if the following will be
of interest to you and I am afraid I cannot remember the date
on which it happened. I didn't see Uri Geller on stage but I
am sure I saw him in West Street (the main street in Durban),
and he looked straight at me. It was on the day that he was to
"open" at the Playhouse Theatre in Durban. At 6:50
P.M. I was sitting alone in my flat and thinking that a clock
looked rather dusty. I picked it up an started to rub the glass
over the dial. I must add that the clock is about 100 years old
and had not worked for at least fifteen years. As I polished
it I wished that I could see Uri and to my astonishment the clock
started ticking and it is still working. At the time Uri was
not speaking on the radio and had not appeared on stage. I was
very surprised and couldn't understand it although I was thinking
of Uri.
I would have written to you before but have been ill, as you can
see from my bad writing. I hope that I have not wasted your time.
Mrs. G.M.C. is over sixty years old and widowed. She has had
no psychic experience before.
The following is a report that would suggest that the Uri Geller
Effect occurred after the appearance of Uri Geller at the Playhouse
Theatre in Durban.
Case No. 45
Mr. A.N.H. wrote to us on August 17, 1974, from Hilton, Natal.
In response to your request on the wireless for incidents consequent
on Uri Geller's meeting, I have the following to report. Some
twelve to fifteen months ago the electric clock attached to my
stove suddenly stopped. The first electrician called in to mend
it and said it had been struck by lightning. I pointed out that
the plate and oven worked! As the quote to mend it was rather
high (R30.00) we decided to leave it. Toward the beginning of
July this year, one of the plates went out of order so we called
in the Maritzburg agent to mend it and have a look at the clock
also. The plate was fixed but he reported that the clock was
beyond repair and we would need a new unit, which would cost R45.00
plus labor and three months' delay. Again we decided to leave
the clock. On Thursday morning, the 25th July, the morning after
Uri Geller was purported to have said in a show somewhere in Natal
that "all clocks that hadn't gone for some time will start,"
the clock was working and has kept perfect time ever since.
Mr. A.N.H. is a teacher in a well-known private school. His
wife, Mrs. J.E.H., who is also a teacher, confirmed this report
on October 13, 1974. Here is what she wrote:
My electric clock attached to my Frigidaire stove (new one) stopped.
When an electrician was called in he said it had been blown out
by lightning. Another man said it was finished and we would have
to buy a new one. We left it for a while and just before my daughter's
wedding I had a great longing to have my electric clock in the
kitchen. So great was my longing that my husband decided to buy
a new one for me. It was rather costly as it was a beautiful
stove and we were debating this when I heard over the news that
Uri Geller was going to set clocks going in Natal. I was very
interested but in no way thought it would be mine, as the electricians
were so adamant it was finished, or rather blown out by lightning.
The next morning, when my husband made me my early morning cup
of tea (6:00 A.M.), he dashed into my bedroom and told me to get
up and come to the kitchen. I couldn't believe my eyes when I
saw the clock was working. It was a miracle. When we told the
electrician Uri had got my clock to go, he was amazed too.
Mrs. J.E.H. is fifty-eight years old and states that she is well
disposed to the possibility of such an experience and is now a
confirmed believer in such experiences. She believes that the
experience was directly induced by Uri Geller.
Comment: As neither Mr. nor Mrs. H. looked at the clock
the evening before, it is not possible to be certain when the
clock started going again.
The Manifestation of the Uri Geller Effect when the Experient
is Handling the Object
On studying the various reports, it became obvious that the Uri
Geller Effect may manifest itself in some instances when the expedient
is handling the object and in others without any direct handling
of the object.
Case No. 46
This report relates to an experience when the object was handled
by the experient. Mrs. J.H. of Johannesburg, who has a Bachelor
of Arts Honors degree in psychology, wrote to us at the end of
August 1974 (her letter is undated).
My daughter, Debbie, volunteered to go onto the stage at a performance
of Uri Geller. She was asked to write the name of a capital city
and draw a simple picture. She chose Reykjavik as a capital that
Uri had never heard of. He "received" all the letters
from the audience in a slightly mixed order but then called on
Debbie to transmit the name correctly. He asked the audience
how many of them had heard of Reykjavik and by a show of hands
almost 40 percent of the audience had not heard of it.
In the second half of the program Debbie, who was not on the
stage, held a cake fork in her hand, which she stroked gently.
The cake fork "melted" and is now bent into a complete
U shape and will be submitted to you should you request it.
Since that evening, she is able to name the numbers of playing
cards face down.
An interesting "aside" is that she had been seriously
ill on the evening we had booked for her to attend the performance
and was unable to see the show. She was almost unreasonably disappointed
but I managed to book a seat for her two days later. She made
a dramatic recovery, attended the show, and despite the fact that
she is a very shy person, seemed almost magnetized on the stage,
with dramatic result!
We wrote to Mrs. J.H. and asked for a report from her daughter
and sent her a questionnaire to be completed. We received the
following reply:
After some telepathic work with Uri Geller on the stage (transmitting
a picture into his mind and giving him a capital city) I returned
to my seat, certain that I would bend my own fork.
I did not try to force the fork to bend, but rather pictured
it bending in my mind -I gave it a "loving" look. The
fork continued to bend all the way home until it was in a full
horseshoe shape. The metal did not get hot but became pliable,
like putty. (The metal seemed too pliable to break completely.)
The following morning I guessed twenty-six cards correct out of
thirty-four cards that I placed face downward. I guessed their
suits and their numbers. I always felt quite sure of the cards
that were correct, and guessed at the eight cards that were wrong.
That morning I also managed to bend a teaspoon slightly.
I have not been able to do anything in this field since then.
In answer to certain inquiries in our questionnaire, Miss D.H.
states that her experience was accompanied by a sense of affection
and a real belief that the metal will bend. She also had a feeling
of warmth and tingling. She had previous psychic experiences,
such as dreams about the future, and winning races, etc.
Case No. 51
This report describes the manifestation of the Uri Geller Effect
without the experient's handling the object.
Mrs. R.J. of Port Elizabeth wrote to us on August 2, 1974.
Briefly: I attended the Uri Geller performance plus lecture on
the 22nd July, 1974. Toward the end of his show, he mentioned
that people might find that they had bent keys in their possession.
When I took mine out of my bag, I found that my front-door key
was bent. People around me were impressed. When I arrived home
I found it was now twisted. The following day I found another
key badly out of alignment and a few days later I noticed that
the key to the cellar, which I don't use often, was slightly out
of alignment.
Mrs. J.R. is sixty-seven years old and married. She has a B.
Economics degree. She had no previous psychic experiences but
is well disposed to the possibility of such experiences. She
has stated that the keys are available for examination.
Cases Nos. 16, 7, and 8
These are reports from three people concerning the same experience,
in which they were all involved. As in the previous case, the
Uri Geller Effect manifested itself without the experient's handling
the object.
Case No. 16
Dr. E.G.B. and Mrs. B. of Kempton Park, Transvaal wrote to us
on October 11, 1974. Dr. E.G.B. is thirty-three years old and
is a general medical practitioner.
We went to the Uri Geller show purely for entertainment. We
took no spoons, broken watches, etc. with us. However, my husband
has a fairly large bundle of our keys and other keys, which he
always carries with him and which he put in a friend's handbag,
mainly because she had a large bag that evening. We all forgot
about those keys during the evening, and certainly no one touched
them.
After the show we had coffee at the restaurant directly opposite
the theater where, for the first time, our friend handed back
the keys before she and her husband drove home in their own car.
As she took the keys out of her bag and handed them across the
table to my husband, a piece of key fell onto the table. No one
had given those particular keys another thought and naturally
we were all very surprised. It was the key to the front door
of the surgery and was broken off neatly from the round piece
still hanging on the key ring. The key next to the broken key
belonging to a wrought-iron door in our house is a Yale key and
this was bent. Both those keys were in perfect condition before
the show. Of this we are positive.
The next morning, however, we noticed that the Yale key had evidently
bent considerably on its own during the night, as it was much
more bent than it had been the previous night.
This letter was signed by Mrs. B., and Dr. E.G.B. confirmed it
when he returned the completed questionnaire. Dr. E.G.B. states
in his questionnaire that before this experience he was doubtful
but prepared to consider the possibility. After this experience,
however, he is a confirmed believer in such experiences. He had
never had any psychic experiences personally and the keys are
available for examination. This event occurred on the night of
August 7, 1974, at an evening performance at the Colosseum Theatre.
Case No. 8
This report came from Mrs. M.A.A. of Kempton Park, who is thirty
years old and in whose handbag the keys were placed during Uri
Geller's demonstration on August 7. She wrote to us on September
27 about this episode, which also appeared in the newspaper.
She confirmed the report in the newspaper and added the following
remark: "The experience was accompanied by a feeling of amazement.
However, my husband was absolutely in a state of shock."
Case No. 7
Mr. B.A. is the husband of Mrs. M.A.A. in whose handbag the keys
were placed, as reported above. He is thirty-six years old and
holds a B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering. He makes the following
remarks:
Being an amateur magician, I was most skeptical about Geller.
I was not at all impressed by his stage presentation, which I
can perform by "standard conjuring methods." However,
I have no explanation for what happened to the keys held by my
wife after the show. I am not prepared to say that this was in
fact caused by Geller, but can find no logical explanation.
Spontaneous Occurrence of the Uri Geller Effect (Unrelated
to Geller's Public Performances, Radio Broadcasts, or Private
Meetings)
Case No. 20
Mrs. L.C. of Rosebank, Johannesburg, wrote to us on August 25.
I would like to report an incident that occurred while Uri Geller
was here although I never saw him or never even listened to him
on the radio.
On Friday, July the 19th, at about 2:30 in the afternoon, I went
to Sandton City to do some shopping. As far as I can remember,
my route was as follows . . . from Rosebank to Goldfields Supermarket
and a bookshop in Sandown, then to Sandton City. I noticed that
the escalators were not all working at the time. Coming home
at, about 3:30 in the afternoon and taking out my front-door key
to open the door, I found that it was bent so that I could not
use it. The key is on my key ring with my car keys and while
I did my shopping the ring was either in my hand or in my shopping
bag. I cannot remember anything that would have caused any damage
to the key. It had certainly worked very well when I came home
from work at 1:15 that same afternoon. There seems to be no explanation
for the bending that I can see. I would have noticed if the key
had been caught anywhere during my shopping trip.
Mrs. L.C. is forty-one years old. She is married and her academic
qualifications are "candidate of philosophy from the University
of Helsinki." She is a part-time teacher and part-time bookkeeper.
She states that she did have previous experiences of a psychic
nature and she believes that this experience was induced directly
by Uri Geller.
The Uri Geller Effect Following
a Pre-recorded Radio program
The manifestation of this type of effect following a pre-recorded
program would suggest that the response or association of the
experient is related to the radio voice rather than to Uri Geller
as a person. A number of such experiences were reported.
The radio program "The Voice of Science" was pre-recorded
on August 8, 1974, and broadcast the next day. Thus, all reported
experiences relating to this program were triggered off by an
electronically produced voice. Some of the previously described
cases fall into this category. Here is an additional case.
Case No. 69
Mr. R.D.Mc. of Springfontein wrote to us on August 16, 1974.
My wife and I were touring the Eastern Transvaal and were in
bed in our Combi at Loskop Dam.
We happened to be listening to the program on the air when you
were interviewing Uri Geller. The program was "The Voice
of Science," Friday the 9th August at 7:45 P.M. When Uri
Geller invited listeners to take part in his metal-bending exercises,
my wife, whose age is sixty-four years, took a heavy tablespoon
and held it with both hands and after a minute or two the handle
was bent at an angle, I should say of near forty-five degrees.
I was dubious and straightaway tried to straighten it, but can
assure you that she had not the power to bend it at will. She
told me that while holding it she could feel it bending on its
own. I might add that she is suffering from arthritis in her
hands, which means that it is quite impossible for her to do the
bending.
Mrs. Mc. was a nurse but presently is a housewife. She had previously
had experiences of a psychic nature. She believes the experience
was induced by Uri Geller and is now a confirmed believer in such
experiences.
Spontaneous Disappearance of the Changes
Produced by the Uri Geller Effect
A number of reports indicated that the metal objects have either
partly straightened themselves or completely returned to normal
after a lapse of time. The following is an interesting report
of such an occurrence.
Case No. 105
This report was sent to us by Miss G.S., who was closely connected
with the public relations aspect of Mr. Uri Geller's visit in
South Africa.
Having been in close contact with Uri Geller during his visit
to South Africa, I naturally saw most of his performances. After
the charity performance at the Carlton Hotel we all went to the
home of Dr. E.A.P. for a party. During the party I asked Uri
to bend a personal key of mine. We went into the kitchen, as
this seemed to be the only room without people around. He was
a little tired of bending keys and said he would do mine very
quickly. The key that I gave him was the key to my mother's flat
. . . a solid silver-colored slightly tarnished Yale key. In
a matter of seconds the key he stroked very gently bent. In fact
it bent so quickly that I asked him not to let it break. The
key bent from the center at about a seventy-degree angle. This
key has been with me personally ever since that evening (the 17th
July, 1974).
On Sunday, November 3rd, that is, 3 1/2, months after the key
was bent, I was at my sister's home in Florida, and for some reason
took my bunch of keys out, and the key that Uri had bent was dead
straight. The last time I recall seeing the key bent was on Friday,
November 1st.
I can give you the names of at least ten people who saw that
particular key bent and who have also seen it since it straightened.
I will be delighted to give you this key should you require it
for research purposes. I must point out that at all times I have
been a positive believer of Uri's psychic powers, even before
he actually arrived in South Africa.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate
to contact me.
This letter reached me in the middle of November 1974.
The Uri Geller Effect and the Mini-Gellers
One of the most interesting manifestations of the Uri Geller Effect
is described in the reports we received from adolescents, children
and their parents. These reports claim that, as a result of seeing,
listening, or reading about Uri Geller, the people reporting were,
and in many cases still are, able to perform metal-bending and
watch-"repair" feats similar to those of Uri Geller.
A detailed laboratory study of these mini-Gellers is planned
for the future if funds and time will become available. Up to
the moment we had neither the time nor the facilities to undertake
such a study. From a pilot laboratory experiment on one mini-Geller,
undertaken at the end of 1974, it became apparent to us that very
sophisticated and tightly controlled conditions would be required
to assess these mini-Gellers.
In this paper I will deal with the reports that we had received
from our mini-Gellers.
Case No. 87
This report was received from Dr. D.C.P., the father of Elizabeth-Ann,
who is nine years old. Dr. D.C.P. has a Ph.D. degree and majored
in industrial psychology. He is a management consultant and a
registered industrial psychologist. He is a great personal friend
of mine and I do not doubt his integrity or powers of observation.
Report on Elizabeth P.
Thursday evening 11th July, 1974. The time was approximately
7:25 P.M. and the family was gathering in the study to listen
to the program "Deadline Thursday Night" on Springbok
Radio. Interest was stimulated by a radio announcement that Uri
Geller would participate in this show. I received a long-distance
call, which kept me occupied long enough to miss most of Uri Geller's
demonstration. However, I came on the scene to hear the radio
announcer expressing his amazement in no uncertain terms that
Uri Geller had just bent his key. Uri Geller then invited the
radio listeners to get hold of any object, such as a spoon, key,
or an old watch, and try to do the same. The family, that is,
my wife and two daughters, aged 9 and 6 respectively, promptly
fetched spoons from the kitchen and started stroking them. I
looked on with a cynical eye as I was under the impression that
the program was canned. (I later discovered that Uri Geller's
program was not canned.) I left them to get involved in a job
in the garage. A few minutes later my wife came to call me to
see "it." She stated that the spoon the elder daughter,
Elizabeth, was stroking, was bending upward. I went to the study
and saw the bending spoon lying untouched on the table. I was
amazed when it was obvious that it was still proceeding to bend
further, although untouched by anybody. This I found a bit weird
and uncanny. The spoon involved was a grapefruit spoon, made
of stainless steel. I, as an adult, found I could only bend a
similar spoon with two hands with an effort that would be difficult
for a child of Elizabeth's age and size. We phoned neighbors,
B. and V.M., to come over and see the event, and they arrived
about five minutes later. The spoon continued to bend further
in their presence.
Later that night, at about 8:40 P.M., Elizabeth bent another
spoon just by gently stroking it. During the process, she was
the epitome of concentration. Her eyes were closed. I must mention
that the other participants, my wife and the other little daughter,
were unsuccessful. My wife soon gave up and the other one tried
for the best part of an hour.
On Friday night, the i2th July, Elizabeth bent another spoon,
made of stainless steel, that a child of her physique would bend
with extreme difficulty. This was done in the presence of my
brother. She held the spoon in one hand and stroked it lightly
with her finger. After my brother took it from her, the spoon
continued to bend in his hand.
We watched Elizabeth in action. She once again concentrated
hard; her eyes were closed and she had a serious look on her face.
She wanted silence and nobody was allowed to talk when she was
in action. Comments annoyed her. When I asked what she was thinking
while bending a spoon, she stated that she was saying to herself
all the time, "Bend . . . bend . . . bend . . ." She
really believed that she could bend spoons.
On Saturday evening, the 13th July, while visiting her granny,
Elizabeth managed to get a wrist watch going by stroking it gently.
According to my mother-in-law, this watch stopped about six weeks
before. She herself had tried without success to get it going
again and was about to take it in for repairs. After two months
now, it is still going.
On Sunday, the 14th July, Elizabeth bent another grapefruit spoon,
also made of stainless steel, in the presence of a friend, Mr.
J.G. She was immensely annoyed when he pulled her leg by telling
her that she bent the spoon by force.
In the following week she bent at least a dozen spoons either
in the presence of us (my wife and myself or her friends and neighbors.
An interesting incident happened on Friday, the 19th July, in
our presence. Elizabeth started the bending of a spoon by gently
rubbing it. It continued bending down on its own where it was
left, on a cupboard in the lounge. This continued until the stem
was folded double and was nearly touching the bowl of the spoon.
Suddenly it developed a second bend, which had as its axis the
point where the stem was nearly touching the bowl.
By now social complications began showing up. Because of this
we had to take the decision to discourage Elizabeth from any further
spoon bending. Relations between Elizabeth and her younger sister
became strained. The latter tried without success to bend spoons.
A visit from Elizabeth's cousin ended with a very competitive
situation because of spoon bending. At a later stage, we may
consider experimenting again with Elizabeth.
It was definitely established that she could bend spoons for
at least ten days after listening to Uri Geller on a live show.
We tried to encourage a certain procedure with Elizabeth when
she was bending spoons for us. She had to stay in our presence
all the time. We preferred that she gently stroke a spoon while
it lay on a table. On a few occasions, she was rewarded with
a small sum of money (10 to 20 cents a time) after she managed
to bend a spoon.
(signed) Dr. D.C.P. (dated) 18th October, 1974.
P.S. This report is based on notes made during July and August,
1974. (signed) D.C.P.
Case No. 38
On August 14, 1974, we received a letter from Mrs. R.S.A. of
Johannesburg, who is the mother of Master D.F., a young lad of
sixteen and a scholar. It reads as follows:
My son, David, first began bending metal objects without force
when he heard Uri Geller's broadcast over Springbok Radio on the
11th July at 8:15 P.M. At first his powers (except when Uri was
on the air) did not seem to be very strong and seemed to come
and go. But now, after almost four weeks of practice, he is metal-bending
better than ever. At first he got very severe headaches from
the concentration, but now he doesn't even seem to have to concentrate
so hard all the time. However, he has complained of eyestrain.
David has bent knives, spoons, keys, and a solid brass pestle
about half an inch thick. (See Plate 57.)
In the interests of science I feel it my duty to advise you of
David's metal-bending ability and to give my permission for further
investigations as long as there is no interference with his schoolwork.
P.S. David is sixteen years old. He is my son by my first marriage.
David subsequently sent us a completed questionnaire. In it
he stated that he first saw Uri Geller at a stage performance
on July 10. His own personal first experience was at 8:15 on
Thursday, July 11, following the broadcast by Uri Geller on "Deadline
Thursday Night." He saw Uri Geller subsequently once more
at a private meeting in his hotel suite.
I personally have since heard from many people that David continues
to bend metal at parties and friends' homes with the greatest
of ease.
Case No. 126
On July 26, 1974, and on July 29, 1974, news reports appeared
in the Natal Daily News, and on July 30, 1974, in the Natal
Mercury, about a child, Derek W., who can produce metal-bending
feats similar to Uri Geller's. Derek is seven years old and lives
in Wartburg, Natal. We wrote to the mother and on August 5 we
received from her a letter in which she claims that Derek proved
beyond any doubt that he could still perform as well as when he
initially saw Uri Geller on the stage (August 9, 1974), listened
to him on the radio (July 25, 1974, at 7:40 A.M.) and at a private
meeting (August 9 at 8:30 P.M.). She thinks that his ability has
improved even more since Uri Geller left Durban. She further
says that Derek states that he feels a sort of pulsing "power"
in the head, arms, and hand. When he is wearing a wrist watch,
the "power" goes as far as the watch only. Derek is
a scholar in Standard 2.
We sent her a questionnaire and a request for further information,
and on October 8, 1974, we received the following reply:
I wish to thank you for your correspondence of the 16th September,
1974. I herewith return the completed questionnaire as requested.
It would be a lengthy affair to describe in detail all the experiences
Derek has had since hearing Uri Geller. Suffice it to say that
he has bent in the region of three dozen items of cutlery. The
most spectacular being spoons, which have been bent almost double
and one of which actually cracked at the bend. Sometimes spoons
go on bending after he has left them. He has had some success
with making the hands of a watch move. At times the watch has
started to "tick" but at other times appeared to move
without starting to tick at all. Other bent items include nail
files, a couple of Yale keys and a couple of three-inch nails.
Many items were straightened but items of cutlery remained bent.
I trust these brief details will not merely serve to frustrate
you. If further details are desired, I should be only too glad
to elaborate on any particular cases which you choose.
Yours sincerely,
(signed) Mrs. R.W.
On August 9 the child was brought to Johannesburg by a newspaper
to see Uri Geller and was introduced on the stage to Uri Geller.
The following day the mother and the child were brought to see
Professor Arthur Bleksley, who is known to be interested and involved
in the research project on Uri Geller. Dr. A. Bleksley made the
following notes after the visit:
"Derek is a seven-year-old boy. He is quiet and introverted.
Likes to get bending started while he is alone (!); then carries
on in front of observers."
We subsequently wrote again to Mrs. W. and asked for any progress
notes and whether we could have for examination some metal objects
Derek had bent. She sent us a number of objects (which are discussed
together with other objects later on in this paper), and added
the following notes, dated October 25, 1974:
In reply to your queries -
1. Yes, I shall send you some items for examination. I am only
too eager to know your findings. Unfortunately, a lot of the
cutlery was straightened out for table use as we were running
short! Also, some of the items have been bent more than once.
His first "victim" was a knife similar to the pearl-handled
one I shall send you. The original bent nail was lost. He could
not get the enclosed sample to go any further. The soup spoons
bent most spectacularly. A couple actually dropped as we watched.
The curved fork bent into that shape as Derek held it over his
knee.
2. About the thermometer I can tell you very little except
that I felt my blood pressure rising rapidly! Derek wasn't feeling
well and wanted to stay off school. I felt that I should take
his temperature although he had no cough or other obvious ailment.
When first I looked it showed a reading of just below normal
(about go degrees F). These thermometers seem to work slowly so
I told Derek to leave it in his mouth just a little longer. I
left him for about one minute and on return found the thermometer
still in his mouth. On looking at it I got the shock of my life,
as it read 110 degrees F. I phoned the doctor and a neighbor
in a bit of a panic, I can tell you. Only hours later did it
occur to me that Derek's "power" had affected the thing.
(Note: at that time I had not read the book Uri) I asked
Derek about the incident much later and he insists that he did
not touch the thermometer. No one but myself saw the high reading
as his father was at work and I shook it back as I normally would
do, not realizing, as I had said, that Derek must have affected
the thermometer. It was not a faulty thermometer as the doctor
suggested. I tried to get Derek to repeat the performance only
two days ago (23rd October, 1974). While he had the thermometer
in his mouth, it cracked and broke. He insists he did not bite
it. I shall send you the pieces of glass and the mercury I rescued.
3. A few points of interest in chronological order: 25th July,
1974. Had interview with Uri Geller on Port Natal Radio and bent
two knives (pearl-handled), Yale key, and four-inch nail. This
was the only time he bent a Yale key convincingly.
12th August, 1974. Soup spoons started off by Derek continued
to bend for at least one hour after he had left them. One spoon
kept by N.P.B. staff at Midmar Dam did this until bent to a U
shape. This still happens sometimes but not always.
15th September, 1974. Derek stopped rubbing metals and
started bending objects by holding them and looking at them.
He can always tell if something is going to "work."
He feels a power in his head, which he says throbs, and extends
into the metal. In the presence of some people this works well
but in the presence of others, particularly myself, he loses his
"power." I have to sit well away (approximately 10 ft.)
or his power immediately goes. Yet, when we experimented with
my watch, I held the watch in my hand and Derek did feel "power."
The watch had stopped but Derek managed to move the hands half
a minute at a time. Once they moved four minutes, continuing
to move for twenty-four hours. In that time they moved on their
own an hour.
Obviously, this action of bending needs quite a lot of concentration
but Derek will do little or nothing when he is tired, e.g., after
school plus one hour of homework. He seems to suffer no ill
effects when he is in the mood and things do bend.
4. The date on your questionnaire, 21st September, 1974, was
misleading. That was merely the date on which I completed the
questions.
Trusting that what you were waiting to know has been successfully
put over by me.
Yours sincerely,
(Mrs.) R.W.
We have reports from a total of ten mini-Gellers. The parents
claim similar if not more spectacular results.
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