Psychoenergetics The
Journal of Psychophysical Systems Edited
by D. F. Lawden, Mathematics Department, University of Aston in Birmingham,
England. Consulting
Editors: V.
Adamenko (U.S.S.R.); E.W. Bastin (U.K.); J. Beloff (U.K.); H. Bender (W. Germany);
O. Costa de Beauregard (France); A.J. Ellison (U.K.); A. Gregory (U.K.); E. Harris
Walker (U.S.A.); J.B. Hasted (U.K.); B. Herbert (U.K.); B.D. Josephson (U.K.);
S. Krippner (U.S.A.); P. Maddock (U.K.); J. Miklos (Romania); H. Schmidt (U.S.A.);
E. Servadio (Italy); C. Tart (U.S.A.); J. Taylor (U.K.). The
journal will publish original selected papers in English describing contemporary
research into the behaviour of psychophysical systems. A psychophysical system
is defined to be any assembly of elements whose behaviour cannot be explained
by appeal to the known physical modes of interaction and where the presence of
mind or consciousness or other psychic factors within the system, suggests the
existence of an additional psychic mode of interaction between its elements. Theoretical
papers proposing mathematical models for such hypothetical psychophysical interactions
will be particularly welcome for consideration, but accounts of experimental or
other scientific investigations of psychic phenomena are also invited. Occasional
commissioned articles surveying the current state of knowledge over a restricted
field will be published. All papers submitted will be refereed by one of the consulting
editors or by other authorities appointed by the Editor. Each
volume of the Journal will be published in four separate parts at intervals regulated
by the supply of acceptable papers. Short
contributions containing criticisms of or footnotes to already published papers,
or progress reports on research currently being conducted, will be collected in
a special section and will be given priority over other material. There will also
be a Book Reviews section. Psychoenergetics,
1983, Vol. 5, pp. 99-128 0278-6060/83/0502-0099
$18.50 Gordon
and Breach Science Publishers, Inc., 1983 Printed
in the United Kingdom Observations
on selected Italian mini - Gellers F.BERSANI Istituto
di Fisica, Università di Bologna, Direttore scientifico del Centro Studi
Parapsicologici (CSP) di Bologna, Italy. and A.
MARTELLI Istituto
di Chimica pharmaceutica, Università di Torino, Membro del Centro Studi
Parapsicologici (CSP) di Bologna, Italy. During
the years 1975-78, we investigated a selected number of youngsters (four boys
and one girl) who claimed to be able to bend metal objects, after watching TV
performances of U. Geller or of his imitators. We performed 194 planned experiments
with these subjects, and during our investigation we witnessed 32 spontaneous
events. The effects observed range from the typical bending of metal objects such
as spoons, keys, bars, etc. to strange effects like light-flashes and teleportation.
The most significant experiments were carried out with samples within sealed containers.
The metal bending events were in some instances recorded by means of resistive
strain gauges. In spite of the lack of an absolutely 'crucial result', we have
collected evidence in favour of genuine paranormal phenomena actually taking place.
We submitted our results to a critical evaluation, and we also consulted two professional
magicians as experts on the feasibility of fraud. 1.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME During
the years 1975-78 we carried out extensive experimentation on a selected group
of local 'mini-Gellers' whose ability to perform metal bending had been brought
to the attention of the Bologna Centro Studi Parapsicologi (CSP) by their relatives
and acquaintances. Relative
to other experimenters (e.g. Hasted, 1976, 1977, 1980, Isaacs, 1981, Taylor, 1975),
we have investigated a smaller selection of individuals (five youngsters), but
we have focussed our attention not only on the phenomena as such but also on the
environment in which they took place. The subjects were four boys and one girl:
Paride Giatti, aged 10, second child of a farmer's family of five children, having
one twin brother; Sandro Gasperini, aged 10, the last of three boys; Lucia Allegretti,
aged 9 1/2, the oldest of three girls; Orlando Bragante, aged 14, an only child,
fatherless since the age of four, and Giovanni d'Emilio, aged 7 1/2, the second
of two boys. Everybody in the group had developed his (or her) abilities as a
consequence of watching on television either Uri Geller or some of his imitators,
including a magician who simulated metal bending experiments. With
these children, we performed 194 planned experiments (PE), and during our investigations
we witnessed 32 spontaneous events (SE). For each trial, a rough reliability scale
was drawn up. The grades were + = poor, ++ = uncertain, and +++ = good. This scale,
of course, was not applied to results which were clearly the outcome of tricks,
of which a separate account was made, nor to negative results, which were also
subject to a separate analysis. It
goes without saying that every test presupposed the honesty of the experimenter,
which guaranteed that the procedure applied was exactly as described. The crucial
nature of a test should depend upon the protocol structure of the experiment,
rather than on the subjective verification of the phenomenon. In
the series of trials we carried out, we encountered a number of difficulties in
obtaining a crucial test proper. Indeed, very often during experiments, some planned
conditions of reliability proved to be missing at some point. Nevertheless, some
experiments were conducted under very satisfactory control conditions. The
experiments were occasionally performed in ad hoc circumstances, but generally
they were carefully planned in advance. Among the goals of the investigation were
the following three: (i) the assessment of the physical conditions characterizing
the phenomena; (ii) the assessment of the psychological state of the subject during
the phenomena and the clarification of the circumstances under which the phenomena
occurred; (iii) the monitoring of the physiological states of the subjects. Many
of the preprogrammed tests did not take place. In particular, goal (iii) could
not be pursued to any significant extent due to the reluctance of the subjects
to undergo physiological tests (such as E.E.G.). (ii) will be extensively discussed
in another publication. The
trials graded poor (+) do not merit detailed discussion (although they are part
of the overall experimental context); on the other hand, we think it would be
improper to reject those graded uncertain (++), which could comprise genuine paranormal
phenomena. Clearly, the most significant results from the point of view of research
are the ones graded good (+++). As
we mentioned before, we observed a total of 226 phenomena, which were classified
into eight groups, depending on the type of supposed P.K. effect occurring, and
on the material involved, as follows: (1)
Bending or fracture of metal tableware, keys, clips, safety pins, rings, etc.,
with direct physical contact, such as stroking. (2)
Bending or fracture of metal objects, both in the open and within sealed containers,
without any direct physical contact. The enclosing material was either cardboard,
polyethylene, plexiglass, or other plastic material, or glass. (3)
Bending or fracture of non-metallic objects (wood, plastics, glass) both in the
open and within sealed containers. (4)
Phenomena involving light bulbs and fluorescent tubes (flashing, fracture, and
explosion). (5)
Telekinesis phenomena with metallic or non-metallic objects. (6)
Thermal effects. (7)
Teleportation. (8)
Miscellaneous effects, such as interference with pace-makers, infra-red beams,
spectrophotometers, photographic plates, etc. Table
I summarizes the data relative to all the experiments performed by the experimenters. Because
it is difficult to summarize in a single paper a comprehensive description of
the experiments done, in the following section we will describe a limited number
of experiments, chosen from among the most significant ones in terms of the conditions
under which they were performed and of the results obtained. We will devote another
paper to a detailed discussion of a few negative and/or suspicious results and
to the general problem of validation in this kind of investigation. The experiments
reported here involved P. Giatti, O. Bragante and S. Gasperini. The
most gifted and the most extensively studied subject was O. Bragante. He first
started bending spoons and forks and developed in the following months a wide
range of phenomena, including light flashing, teleportation and some spontaneous
effects very similar to RSPK phenomena. In Figure 1, a typical metal bending effect
performed by him is shown.
In
spite of the great number of experiments and observations made by us, the phenomena
were not very frequent, and generally did not seem to occur under strictly voluntary
control. As far as the awareness of what was going on is concerned, for the major
part of the planned experiments the subjects seemed conscious of their goal, but
in some instances, especially for some spontaneous events, the phenomena appeared
to override their intentions and to acquire some characteristics of RSPK. TABLE
1 Classification
of the results of the experiments
TNP | PE
| SE | | | TR
| + | ++
| +++ | NR
| 226
| 194 | 32
| | | 3 | 61
| 61 | 31
| 70 |
PE | NR
| PR | | | PR
| + | ++
| +++ | TR
| 194
| 70 | 124
| | | 124 | 36
| 58 | 28
| 2 |
Group 1
| 2a | 3
| 4 | 5
| 6 | 7
| 8 | PE
| 45 | 89=28+61
| 11 | 8
| 10 | 3
| 17 | 11
| PR
| 37 | 52=14+38
| 5 | 8
| 7 | 2
| 10 | 3
| + | 10
| 16=7+9 | 1
| 2 | 3
| 1 | 3
| - | ++
| 27 | 15=3+12
| 1 | 3
| 3 | -
| 6 | 3
| +++
| - | 20=4+16
| 2 | 3
| 1 | 1
| 1 | -
| Tr
| - | 1
| 1 | -
| - | -
| - | -
| TNP
+++ | PE | SE
| A | B
| C | D
| E | F
| 31=
| 28+ | 3
| 4+1 | 3+1
| 1+0 | 4+1
| 5+0 | 11+0
|
TNP | Total
number of phenomena, not all occurring in the presence of the experimenter.
| PE | Planned
experiments | SE
| Spontaneous events
| Tr
| Tricks (declared
or suspected) | +
| Poor reliability
| ++
| Uncertain reliability
| +++
| Good reliability
| NR
| Negative results
| PR
| Positive results
(here the term "positive" merely refers to the correspondence between the demand
and result, irrespective of possible fraud). | a
| The first figure
refers to the total number of trials, the second to the number of trials with
objects in the open, and the third to the number of trials with sealed objects
| A | Type
4 Phenomena | B
| Thermic phenomena
| C | Transfer
phenomena | D
| Bending phenomena
of objects not enclosed in containers | E
| Bending phenomena
of objects enclosed in soft container | F
| Action on objects
closed in rigid containers | 2.
DESCRIPTIONS OF EXPERIMENTS Experiment
No. 1:Subject: Paride Giatti (PE No. 9) A
puppet having a copper core (2mm in diameter) covered by coloured putty, was placed
in a sealed plexiglass container, where it was sitting on the bottom, with the
arms lying along its body and the legs making a 90 degree angle with the trunk
(Figure 2). The box was 70 X 70 X 110mm. Over the imitation wood plastic lid,
a band of canvas was placed, and was secured by means of two seals at the top
of the lid and on two opposite sides of the box. The seals were formed by melting
sealing wax and were given an original impression.
In
order to check any motion that the child could have brought about by ordinary
physical means, the following device was used: A small covered cylindrical plastic
container (50mm X 30mm), containing two finely subdivided materials of different
colours in superimposed layers, with a small empty space at the top to permit
mixing, was fixed inside the box by means of putty. Such a method was often utilized
in the course of experiments involving sealed containers, since it provided a
sort of self-guarantee that allowed the experimenters not to be present all the
time. The
choice of the puppet was intended to provide the child with some emotional involvement
with the object itself, with which he could to some extent identify and which
he could try to animate. The aim of the experiment was to determine whether PK
capacities were 'addressable', i.e. whether they could be directed toward a precise
target, such as the arms or the head of the puppet. The box was left with the
boy in his home for thirteen days, after which time he returned it, with the seals
intact, and the control cylinder materials unmixed. The arms of the puppet were
rotated upwards at a right angle to the trunk which in turn was slightly bent
down, while the head was upturned (Figure 3).
The
subject said he had had the intention of getting the puppet to perform 'Hitler's
salute' and his father reported that the deformation had taken place in two steps;
first, the head and one arm were bent, then the other arm followed. In both cases
the boy had operated while in a room all by himself. If
we allow for the possible authenticity of the phenomenon, since it seems unlikely
that the boy could have counterfeited the seals, it appears that in this instance
the subject has succeeded in 'addressing' the action. Magicians'
Opinions Magician
A: The experiment seemed to provide a good test. However, he felt uneasy about
the box remaining for a long time in the boy's house. Magician
V.B.: He had doubts about the effectiveness of the cylinder control device, although
he could not be specific in regard to his doubts on the matter. He thought that
the sample could have been counterfeited by taking the seals off the box and gluing
them to a new box (without touching the lid) or that the original seals could
have been imitated. Experiment
No. 2: Subject: Sandro Gasperini (PE No. 30) The
set task involved a material other than metal, viz. a rigid plexiglass spatula
(3cm) which was coated with an aluminium paint and enclosed in a plexiglass cylindrical
box (see Figure 4). The size of the box was 50mm X 30mm. The lid was of semi-rigid
plastic material, closed with two strips of material sealed to the sides by means
of sealing wax with an original impression. In addition to the impressions on
the seals, the unique gutter of the wax on the strips was used as a control against
manipulation.
The
idea behind the aluminium coating of the spatula was to make it more acceptable
to the subject who was accustomed to dealing with metallic objects. The sample
was left with the boy for ten days and was returned with the seals intact and
with the rod broken. The container was undamaged. Instead
of bending as requested, the spatula had broken, in accordance with the characteristics
of the material employed. The fracture had occurred at one third of the distance
along the free handle portion and there were paint chips on the container walls.
This detail is very significant since the effect, which was unpredictable for
the subject who was unaware of the true nature of the spatula, demonstrated the
fact that the fracture had taken place suddenly inside the box. A
number of checks demonstrated that the spatula could not be broken by shaking
the box. Moreover, the fracture was clean, without any smoothing effects such
as thermal effects, and seemed of mechanical origin. In
conditions very similar to those described above, the subject also obtained a
bending effect on two samples enclosed inside two plexiglass graduated cylinders
(100ml). The cylinders were typical chemistry laboratory accessories. Each cylinder
was closed by means of a rubber stopper, sealed with a strip of canvas and two
wax seals. The inserted portion of the stopper was such as to make extremely difficult
any external manipulation of the same without breaking the seals. The first cylinder
contained a tea-spoon, the second one a screw-driver (the stem: 45mm X 3mm). The
two objects were bent by S. Gasperini as shown in Figure 5.
Comments
of magicians Magician
A: He was perplexed about the spatula breaking instead of bending. He asked whether
a lid could be raised without breaking the seals, to which the experimenters answered
that it was impossible, or whether the sample could be broken by shaking the box,
which was also excluded. He suggested that the opportunity existed of always operating
with double samples so as to make the phenomenon 'reproducible'. Magician
V.B.: He expressed the opinion that it could have been possible to raise the lid
without breaking the seals, contrary to the opinion of the experimenters. No
judgment was expressed by the magicians on the experiment with graduated cylinders.
Experiment No. 3: Subject:
Orlando Bragante (PE No. 68) This
trial, carried out in the Physics Institute of the University of Bologna, was
similar to the previous one, in that it called for the bending of a similar strip
of metal-painted plastic. A difference was that the plastic lid was taped to the
box with Scotch tape, rather than sealed with strips of material and sealing wax.
On the other hand, the object was held by the boy in front of the experimenters
for a very short period, circa five minutes, whereupon a sharp noise was heard,
and the strip inside the box appeared to have been broken at about one third of
the distance along the handle. One of the two fragments remained sticking to the
container wall, as if the varnish was acting as a glue. The explosive break took
place suddenly while Orlando held the object in his hands, being watched by the
experimenters from a close proximity. No suspicious motion was noticed, and no
shaking of the container. The experimenters had the impression that the sharp
noise of the fracture was out of proportion to the nature of the object.
Comments of magicians
Magician
A: He expressed the opinion that the strip could have been broken by shaking the
box, taking advantage of the slackening attention of the experimenters. Magician
V.B.: He expressed the opinion that within the three to five minutes he had the
box in his hands, the boy could have contrived to open the lid and break the strip,
by turning his back to the experimenters. He was not convinced about the control
applied by the experimenters, and judged that it would have been impossible to
distinguish whether the boy had his fingers inside or outside the transparent
container. The sharp noise heard could have been produced by a coin snapped against
the container walls or by the resonance inside the container. Experiment
No. 4: Orlando Bragante (PE No. 69) The
purpose of this trial, carried out at the Physics Institute of the University
of Bologna, was to establish whether the supposed psychokinetic bending of a metallic
strip was taking place rapidly or instantaneously, or rather slowly and progressively.
In order to see this, a zinc plate (dimensions 60 X 9 X 1mm) was equipped with
a strain gauge, connected to an amplifier and a chart-recorder, and was placed
on a suitable U-support placed on a table. The least bending would have been monitored
by the recorder, which had been zeroed on a base line corresponding to the initial
state of the strip. The overall experimental setting is as indicated in Figure
6 and the amplifier circuits as in Figure 7. The use of strain gauges was initiated
by us with this experiment (1975) and it has been widely employed in this kind
of research, especially by J.B. Hasted. We can therefore omit a detailed description
of such equipment.
The
trial started at 4.50 p.m., in the presence of the experimenters (F.B. and A.M.)
and of the boy's mother. At about 6.30 p.m., F.B. had to leave the room. After
a while, Orlando, who had been closely controlled, asked permission to take a
short walk and left the room. A.M. checked that the strip was intact and the recorder
did not monitor any event. Suddenly the boy, who was in the corridor, complained
of palpitation (reinforced, but not accelerated, heartbeat), a symptom observed
fairly often during experimentation with this subject. A.M. and the mother went
out into the corridor where Orlando was, and the boy's heart beat immediately
went back to normal. A.M. went rapidly back to the room, where he saw that the
recorder pen had shot off scale and then had gone back to a position different
from the previous base line. In particular, the pen was drawing the part of the
graph marked by the arrow in Figure 8. The meaning of the recorded curve is that
the strip had first undergone an elastic deformation and then a permanent deformation.
Indeed a bend of about 25 degrees was observed (Figure 9). The type of bending
shown by the recording is certainly compatible with the mechanical properties
of the material, which will undergo an elastic deformation first and a permanent
one subsequently when acted upon by a suitable stress. A control trial effected
by manually bending a similar zinc plate gave rise to a graph very similar to
the one which illustrates the supposed PK action. The time required by the pen
to return to the original base line was in this case 20 seconds, as reckoned from
the chart advancement rate, while the time required to perform the off scale shoot
to the beginning of the elbow was circa 1.5 seconds (the off shoot being so sharp
that the upward and downward branches are superimposed).
From
the above it can be deduced that, at the moment A.M. re-entered the room (finding
the pen at the beginning of the elbow), not more than two seconds should have
elapsed since the beginning of the essentially instantaneous deformation. This
single calculation thus allows us to exclude any manipulation on the part of Orlando
or of his mother. From
a physical point of view, the phenomenon could not be explained, in the sense
that the origin of the force that brought it about was unknown, while the kind
of bending monitored by the recorder was quite plausible for the material at hand. The
trial lasted 1 hour 50 minutes. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: On the basis of the description related to him, he could raise no objection
regarding the reliability of the results. Magician
V.G.: On the basis of the description of the phenomenon, he only suggested that
the event could have been random(!). Experiment
No. 5: Subject: Orlando Bragante (PE No. 85) This
experiment was carried out somewhat informally, yet the thermal effect was observed
under good control conditions. Orlando had reported occasionally causing a considerable
heating of metal objects he was trying to bend. While having dinner at Orlando's
house, the experimenter expressed some doubts regarding this observation of the
boy and suggested it might have been just an impression. The boy took a spoon,
held it in his fingers for a few seconds for everyone to see, then gave it to
the experimenter who felt a sensation of high temperature. The spoon was burning
hot at the point where the boy had held it. In this case, Orlando could not have
produced the heat by bending and straightening the spoon in rapid succession,
nor by using heat sources such as candles or lighters. The trial was repeated
several times and the four persons present all noticed clearly the heating of
the metal. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: He suggested that the use of chemical substances, such as mercury, could have
been responsible for the phenomenon, but this was excluded by the experimenters.
He remarked that he could not offer any explanation, provided the use of other
heat sources, such as candles and lighters was also impossible. Magician
V.G.: He suggested the boy could have utilized two 4.5V batteries, carrying them
in his pockets, and having two wires going through his sleeves, connecting them
to terminals placed on his fingers. As an example, he quoted a trick he used to
perform, in which he caused a light electric shock in a person who, along with
him, touched with his finger a coin placed on a table. He said, however, that
in this performance he would wear gloves, and he thought it unlikely that the
boy, sitting at the dinner table with a naked hand, could perform something as
sophisticated as this.
Experiment
No. 6: Subject: Orlando Bragante (PE No. 95) This
experiment was carried out in the laboratory connected with the Medicina Radiotelescope,
near Bologna. In Figure 10, a map of the laboratories is shown. The purpose was
to perform a bending experiment under strictly controlled conditions, with strain
gauge recording. The original project called for the subject to occupy an experimentation
room (ER) where, on a table, there was a sealed plexiglass box containing a metallic
strip sitting on a small U-shaped support and connected to a strain gauge, which
in turn was connected, through a signal amplifier, to a chart recorder. The container
was also originally controlled through a video-recorder, which allowed the subject
to be left alone in the room. The plexiglass box was 180 X 110 X 110mm and its
walls were glued with acrylic resin, except for one side, dovetailed to fit to
the box, which was sealed with four lead seals with original impressions. The
dovetailing was such that, after impressing the seals, nothing could possibly
have been inserted into the box. Furthermore, a sealing tape was wound around
the box and secured with sealing wax seals with original impressions. The
aluminium strip (70 X 10 X 2mm) was supported by a U-shaped plexiglass stand.
One of the rest points was left loose by carving a little indentation on the support
and there was above it a piece of plaster. The
strain gauge applied to the strip had its wires connected with clips to the sealed
wall, where two contacts had been drilled to permit amplifier connection (Figure
11). The box was on the table and the external wires led to a locked amplifier
situated in the same Experimentation Room. Finally, two screened cables connected
the amplifier to a two-channel recorder on the lower floor (RR), the channels
having sensitivities differing by a factor of ten. This recorded a quartz clock
driven time signal every minute. The experimenters were assisted by colleagues
and technicians (names available on request).
At
4 p.m. the trial started, and the boy, who was supposed to effect a bending of
the plate, asked that the video control not be turned on during his first attempt.
After trying for half an hour, Orlando asked to be able to hold the strip in his
hand for a while, so he could 'establish contact' with the metal. The box was
opened and, after ten minutes, was sealed once more, after an accurate inspection
of the state of the specimen, which did not exhibit any sign of manipulation.
Orlando was left alone in the ER while the experimenters went to a recording room
(RR) on the lower floor. At 5.05 p.m. the boy went down to the RR, asked the experimenter
to wait for him to return to the RR and to leave him alone in the ER even if a
signal were to appear on the monitoring device. Then he returned upstairs and
at 5.06 p.m. a remarkable signal appeared on the recorder. Two minutes later the
boy came back and said that something had happened. Indeed, in ER the box was
intact but the support inside was overturned and the strip nearly completely broken
in two fragments, which were held together by the strain gauge (Figures 12, 13).
The graphic recording (Figure 14) showed a series of very close negative and positive
peaks, almost as if two invisible hands had alternately bent the strip this way
and the other, for about two minutes, up to its moment of fracture.
Even
though the box was intact, and even admitting that it could have been shaken and
then placed back on the table, this could have only explained the overturning
of the support, but not the breaking of the strip. On the other hand, that the
strip had been broken when Orlando had held it in his hands in order 'to establish
contact' could be excluded, since the experimenter would have noticed when placing
it back inside the box. On that occasion, some photographic pictures were taken
so as to secure a witness of the phenomenon, but unfortunately none came out.
Since the attention of the experimenters never slackened, it seems unlikely that
a manipulation could have caught them unaware. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: After asking about the technical details of the experiments, he said that the
only non-PK explanation was if the strip had been broken before being replaced
in the box, without the experimenters noticing it. In that case, the support could
easily have been overturned, and the recorder signals provoked by just shaking
the box. Magician
V.B.: He did not consider it likely that the experimenters would not have noticed
the strip being broken before replacing it. He was not too sure about the unfeasibility
of opening the box without damaging the seals, but the experimenters did not agree
with that. (The box is still intact, and may be inspected by anybody interested).
Experiment No. 7: Subject:
Orlando Bragante (PE No. 106) In
this experiment, which was carried out in the house of the subject, the object
was a zinc strip covered with putty and painted with aluminium paint, placed diagonally
inside a sealed plexiglass box. The metal was thus sandwiched between two layers
of putty. The metallization was meant to simulate a completely metallic object.
Inside the he box, the little control cylinder device, illustrated in Experiment
No. 1, was placed. The box was also weighed with a precision of 0.01gm. The purpose
of this trial was to clarify the bending mode of the strip, i.e. the mechanism
by which the supposed PK action took place on a macroscopic level. With this kind
of sample, three hypotheses are possible. If we imagine, for the sake of simplicity,
that the strip is resting horizontally with its ends on two supports, in order
to bend it we could: (1)
Apply to the free ends forces exerted in a more or less uniformly distributed
manner on the upper and lower surfaces, i.e. pressures exerted on the surface
of the strip of manual bending type. (2)
Apply shearing forces parallel to the longitudinal axis, increasing in one sense
when going from the neutral plane to the upper surface, and in an opposite sense
going from the neutral plane to the lower surface, so that a lengthening of the
fibres in the upper part and a shortening in the lower part results in bending. (3)
Apply a uniform force field, vertical for instance, which is exerted equally on
all elements of the strip. This is what happens to a beam that is bent by its
own weight because it is immersed in a gravitational field. If
we assume that the hypothetical PK force acts on the soft part in the same way
as on the metallic part, in the first case we should expect to see in the putty
the fruits of the pressure exerted. In the second case, we would also expect to
find some effect on the putty. In the third case, there should not be any effect
of differential deformation. A
similar sample (without the powders test control device, PE 99 - rated ++) previously
given to Orlando, had shown a bending of the third type. This seemed to exclude
a direct manipulation (made impossible, of course, by the box being sealed), but
left open the possibility that as the strip leant on both extremities, it could
have been acted upon by an inertial force due to a sudden downward motion of the
box abruptly stopped. This was in principle possible, but many trials involving
similar strips and identical containers, which were effected to verify the possibility
of this occurrence, did not bring about the hypothesized result. The order of
magnitude of deceleration obtained by muscle action (lowering motion and sudden
arrest) proved insufficient to give rise to a permanent sizable deformation. The
possibility that the boy might have utilized centrifugal forces is discussed below. In
the trial PE 106, he went to the living room all by himself, placed the box on
the piano and started playing. At a certain point, he stopped, then he started
playing again. After five minutes, he came back with the box, in which the strip
was bent. The result confirmed that of PE 99, since the action manifested itself
with modalities similar to inertial forces. No macroscopic deformation was detectable
in the soft coating, and the thickness of the putty layer had remained constant
except for an anomaly, viz. a slight shift outwards of one part only of the coat
at one end (Figure 15).
In
this instance too, it appeared that the action had taken place as if a uniform
force field had acted upon every material element of the strip. The powders in
the cylinder were practically unstirred, which excluded the possibility that the
box had been shaken. Since the walls were all glued in, its opening was also excluded.
Finally, the possibility of obtaining a similar effect by means of rapid downward
motion and abrupt stoppage which, in the presence of the mixing control, must
have occurred in a perfectly vertical, jerk-free fashion, was excluded in view
of the trials performed as explained above. The only reasonable alternative would
have been centrifugal motion and the only device available to Orlando would have
been the automatic washing-machine which, however, was located on a different
floor of the house (reachable only by a trap door). Trials
were carried out with a similar strip placed in an identical container and inserted
in a dishwashing machine in the absence of water, and in the presence of material
suitable to keep the box in place. After ten minutes of centrifuging, the strip
showed a deformation about one-third of the one produced by the boy. However,
he could hardly have utilized it while playing the piano in the room upstairs.
A positive rating therefore seems warranted, unless some incredible scheming and
ability of the subject is assumed. One strange effect also occurred. After O.B.
returned the box, for about half an hour the aluminium varnish leaked from the
lower end of the strip on to the box floor (see Figure 16). Was this a testimony
of a softening effect?
With
the same sample as indicated in PE 106, Orlando performed another experiment,
two days later, in which he again tried to bend the covered specimen. He asked
to be left alone with the box for about fifteen minutes, saying that he needed
that in order to concentrate, and came back with the box intact and the strip
more thoroughly bent than before (PE 113). In
PE 99 the zinc strip dimensions were 105 X 10 X 2mm, those of the box were 90
X 75 X 55mm. The thickness of the putty coat was about 2mm on all sides. The box
lid was sealed with acrylic resin. In
trial 106 the box dimensions were 95 X 85 X 80mm. The strip placed across the
box bottom was 130 X 10 X 2mm. The thickness of the putty layer was 1 mm. The
box was sealed with acrylic resin, and the weight of the box was controlled to
within one centigram. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: He envisaged the possibility of the boy having prepared an identical sample
beforehand or having stolen one from the experimenters, who denied such a possibility. Magician
V.B.: He judged the trial well planned and did not raise objections. Experiment
No. 8: Subject: Orlando Bragante (PE No. 114J In
this experiment, the aluminium strip was 60 X 15 X 1mm and had been suitably prepared,
as others of this kind, in the Physics Institute of the University of Bologna,
by treating it with a recrystallization process. The plexiglass container was
identical to the ones already described, its length being such that the strip
of metal lay on the bottom. This type of recrystallized aluminium strip was prepared
in order to make an X-ray diffraction analysis afterwards to see the variation
in size and distribution of crystalline grains. This can also be of use in obtaining
some information about the problem of 'softening' in metal bending. As a comparison,
we prepared a work-hardened strip of aluminium in order to watch, after bending,
if some point of recrystallization appears. The
experiment was carried out in the subject's home. In this instance, the bending
occurred immediately after the boy was given the sample, as if responding to an
irritating stimulus with a fit of rebellion. Indeed, a disconcerting episode had
just occurred, which aroused certain suspicions in the experimenters, and this
in turn caused the boy to become upset. He scratched, with a cocky gesture, the
sealed box containing, along with the cylinder device, a recrystallized aluminium
strip (Figure 17) and left the dining room, where he returned after a few seconds,
with the box intact and the strip bent on one side so that one of the edges was
raised. Since the resting points were not the ends of the strip, such an effect
would have been very difficult to contrive.
Countless
attempts to reproduce manually this effect, carried out with similar samples,
with and without the cylinder control device, never had any success. In the PK
experiment, it might be added that no mixing inside the cylinder was noticed,
even if the cylinder itself appeared slightly inclined. Also, the very short time
in which the phenomenon occurred was remarkable. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: He could give no explanation, barring the opening or the substitution of the
container. Magician
V.B.: He asked whether the boy knew beforehand the type of container utilized
(he did), but did not offer any comments. Experiment
No. 9: Subject: Orlando Bragante (PE No. 103) The
results of this experiment, which was carried out in the home of the subject,
were reminiscent of phenomena reported by other researchers. The task of Orlando
was to bend a spoon enclosed in a sealed semi-rigid plastic jar. The spoon had
been covered with rice wax, in order to detect any 'prints' that might appear
on the waxy coating. The polyethylene semi-rigid jar was 120 X 60mm with a screw
cap of 55mm, sealed with tape and sealing wax impressed seals. The spoon had been
coated in advance by melting rice wax over it, which had a melting point between
780 C and 810 C. The jar was given to Orlando who held it
for a few seconds, ten perhaps, the time necessary to open the door, go out into
the entrance, reopen the door and come back with the sample perfectly sealed,
but with the spoon clearly bent. A manipulation could be excluded due to the short
time lapse. Furthermore, the wax had been removed from the end part of the handle,
and had fallen to the bottom of the jar, so that the spoon was sticking in it
and was standing vertical without leaning on the jar wall. When it was given back
to the experimenter, the object was not particularly warm anywhere and showed
no sign of thermal or mechanical alterations. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: He asked whether the jar was compressible (it was semi-rigid) and whether heating
would produce the observed effect (it would not). He could not offer a valid explanation.
Experiment No. 10: Subject:
Orlando Bragante (PE No. 118) This
experiment took place in the home of Orlando. It is an atypical kind of experiment,
in that it recorded the occurrence of a luminous phenomenon, probably of electrostatic
origin. In
previous experiments, it had appeared feasible that the boy could cause a light
bulb to illuminate by simply holding it in his hand. During PE 118, before the
experimenters proposed to verify this possibility under controlled conditions,
the boy said the bulb as such had little importance, and he felt he could 'turn
on' a bulb-shaped liquor bottle. The trial took place in the living room and during
it the boy sat at the table and was constantly clearly visible to the experimenters
since the room was lit. After about one hour, at a moment when both experimenters
were looking toward the sitting subject, who was slightly bent forward, his arms
resting on his knees under the table and his face at about 20cm from the liquor
bottle, a very bright flash was seen above the bottle, which made the boy jerk.
The experimenters had the feeling that the light did not come from under the table,
but was localized between the bottle and Orlando's face. The light was not as
blinding as a magnesium flash and was different from that of an electric torch
or of a flame. Before the experiment, all the photographic flashlights in the
house had been set aside. An accurate scrutiny did not reveal anything suspicious
about the boy or the room. Comments
of magicians Magician
A: He found odd the fact that the flashing had occurred right at the moment when
one of the experimenters was re-entering the room. He suggested that at that moment
a 'misdirection' might have occurred. In particular, he thought the boy could
have produced the phenomenon by operating a magi-cube type of flash, but this
was excluded by the controls effected, Also, the experimenters were not of the
opinion that the light seen could have been simulated by a flash cube. Magician
VB: he suggested the use of a magi-cube or of a small flash bulb connected to
a battery. The bulb could have been placed between the teeth and the trigger could
have been operated with the tongue. After flashing, the small bulb could have
been cooled with saliva and hidden under the tongue. The attenuation of the flash
could be obtained with some enamel. The experimenters were of the opinion that
such a device would have impaired the boy's speech. Moreover, they had not seen
the light come from his mouth, but from somewhere between his face and the bottle. 3.
CONCLUSIONS The
experiments described above are only a small part of the total tests performed,
but they show in a significant way the type of methods used and the results obtained.
As has been seen, we often preferred to place the objects to be bent in sealed
containers, in order to avoid direct hand contact and in order to avoid the necessity
of the subjects being always under the strict invigilation of the experimenters. The
containers were generally made of plastic material, mainly plexiglass, often not
standard, but made to specification. It is interesting to notice that we have
also used objects (e.g. keys) within Pyrex glass tubes completely sealed with
a torch, but no results were achieved. The subjects all justified their failure
by saying that they were frightened by the possibility of the tube breaking. We
also used strain gauges as have other experimenters (e.g. Hasted, 1976; Isaacs,
1981), but for the purpose of clarifying the dynamics of bending rather than revealing
micro-bending effects. The
experiments described show that the authenticity of the paranormal action seems
in most cases highly likely, as many of these experiments were performed under
good controls. Nevertheless, we have to admit that it is very difficult to bring
about a truly crucial experiment. By 'crucial experiment', we mean the kind of
experiment in which it is not possible to admit any possibility of manipulation
or trickery. Often, during well planned experiments, at some points in the chain
of events leading to the result, control was lost; a typical example is seen in
experiment No. 6, in which O.B. requested the video recording to be turned off;
another was the failure in photographic control - it is ironic that this failure
was not due to the subject but to the experimenters (for no clear reasons). In
such circumstances, the experiment has to be considered as very good, but certainly
not totally satisfactory. This
kind of situation is quite common in macro-PK experiments, and would require further
discussion beyond the scope of the present paper. Another feature of these phenomena
is their tendency to avoid direct observation. Only on rare occasions did we have
the opportunity directly to observe the bending event, and perhaps not in the
best of conditions. As
far as the magicians' opinions are concerned, it must be noted that these were
based only on an accurate description of the experiments performed, as they were
not present during the experimental sessions. Clearly, it appears that their speculations
about a possible fraud are often more theoretical than practicable, because some
of the suggested tricks require a very sophisticated technique and suitable means
to be available; but we have found it interesting to submit our experiments to
tricks experts just to see if our methods were reliable enough. Nevertheless,
we consider the problem of fraud very important, and we were advised of possible
tricks which warrant a deeper discussion. Taking
the above considerations into account, it seems a little difficult to draw general
conclusions from the experiments here described, and from all our observations,
because each of them is subject to a different degree of reliability. We
shall, however, accept as genuinely paranormal the experiments classified as good
( +++ ) and thus summarize the main results as follows: (a)
Paranormal bending (or fracture) is possible not only with metal objects, but
also with non-metal ones (e.g. plastics). (b)
The characteristics of the bend signals, as monitored by strain gauges, do not
look different from a normal bending, as could be obtained by hands or other physical
means. Nevertheless, this result does not contradict those of Hasted (1976, 1977,
1980, 1981) and Isaacs (1981), who found signals too fast to be due to a muscular
action, because our monitoring system was too slow to detect time intervals smaller
than 0.1-1 sec. (c)
The observations of strips covered with soft material seem to indicate that the
bending action was very similar to a uniform field of force acting upon all points
of the strips, rather than a pressure applied on the surface of the specimen or
a distribution of stresses acting along its length. (d)
We observed thermal and softening effects, but we were not able to determine whether
or not such effects could be related to the bending itself as proposed by Hasted
in some instances (1981, p. 111). An indirect indication could be the softening
of the varnish in experiment No. 7 on the covered zinc strip, but no definite
conclusion can be drawn. Nor have we obtained certain indications by strain gauge
signals. For example, in experiment No. 4, the signal reveals an elastic component
followed by a plastic deformation, just as we should expect from the nature of
the material used. (e)
No clear effects have been revealed that were inconsistent with the nature of
the material employed. For example, we attempted to obtain bending with brittle
materials, but we only obtained fractures. When we analyzed (by X-ray diffraction
and microscope techniques) the aluminium specimens specially prepared to observe
any effects on the microcrystal grains, no significant results were obtained,
and some interesting differences between specimens treated by the subjects and
by hands were below a level of true statistical significance. Similar experiments
have recently been performed by Scutt (1981), who has obtained some interesting
but non-conclusive results about a possible difference between mechanical bending
and Paranormal bending. Other tests were performed on a key and a ring which had
been broken, but they will be considered in another publication. (f)
We observed some light flashes which could have been due to some paranormal electric
phenomenon of a type very similar to that investigated by Hasted (1981). (g)
In some instances, the bending seemed intentionally directed, as in the 'puppet'
case (experiment No. 1). This is rather exceptional, because generally the PK
action does not appear to be under precise control of consciousness. It seems,
rather, that a conscious decision may catalyze an unconscious activity.
Acknowledgments
The authors
are gratefully indebted to the subjects and to their families. They are also greatly
indebted to Dr. P. Cassoli, Dr. A. Peduto, Dr. A. Bononcini, Dr. G. Plicchi, Dr.
R. Zannoli, and to colleagues of the Physics Department, University of Bologna
and of the CSP, for their help and criticism. References
Hasted, J.B. An experimental
study of the validity of metal-bending phenomena. J. Soc. Psych. Res.,
48, 365-383, 1976. Hasted,
J.B. Physical aspects of paranormal metal-bending. J. Soc. Psych. Res.,
49, 583-607, 1977. Hasted,
J.B. Speculations about the relation between psychic phenomena and physics. Psychoenergetic
Sys., 1, 1-15, 1978. Hasted,
J.B., Robertson, D. Paranormal action on metal and its surroundings. J. Soc.
Psych. Res., 50, 379-398, 1980. Hasted,
J.B. The Metal-Benders, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1981. Hasted,
J.B., Robertson, D. Paranormal electrical effects. J. Psychophys. Sys.,
4, 169-187, 1981. Isaacs,
J. Psychokinetic Metal-Bending. PSI News, 4, 1981. Scutt,
D.C. An investigation into metal bending 'Geller effect' with Ori Svoray, J.
Soc, Psych. Res., 51, 1-6, 1981. Shafer,
M.G. PK metal bending in a semi-formal small group. Parapsychological Association,
23rd annual convention. Programme of research papers and symposia, 74-93,
Reykjavik, Iceland, 1980. Taylor,
J.G. Superminds. An Analysis of the Geller Effect, London, Macmillan, 1975.
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