Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi [113]
Just how many people did "see" after they were out of Sue's hands, we will of course never know. We were not in a position to follow up a selected number of cases, as was Dr. William Nolen when he researched his wonderful book Healing. Nor will we know how many of Sue's patients railed against their doctors for failing to find the illnesses diagnosed by magnetic power.
I must mention that Sue Wallace was not charging for these services; she took donations instead, sold pyramids and magnets, and gave out literature extolling her health-food store and her ideas about "disease free living." If her personal appearance reflects her methods, she is a winner. She is physically impressive, to say the least.
This Doctor of Magneto-Therapy, Lecturer, Researcher and Para-Psychologist would stand out in any crowd. Perched on her head was a wire pyramid—to concentrate her powers, of course—and she was selling small, powerful composition magnets wrapped in prismatic mylarplastic and labeled both "North" and "South." Prices ranged up to thirty five dollars for a piece of magnet that can be purchased for one dollar in surplus stores—but without the colorful wrapping and the labels. She claimed that application of the correct pole of the magnet to the right place brought about cures, and they were selling well. I was very glad to have a shot at her and perhaps expose her practices to public view. As you will see, she failed the tests in our filmed Metromedia sponsored meeting, but though this was seen on television in a widely watched program, she still carries on in Stratford, New Jersey.
Miss Wallace had a bizarre method of diagnosis. The patient stood beside her with one arm extended straight out to the side. Sue would think of a part of the body, then pull down on the arm. If the arm went down easily, there was trouble in that area. Do you follow that? Of course, a little experimentation will convince my reader that an arm held in that position can offer very little resistance when pulled down. It all depends on how much force is placed on it.
Sue Wallace, "Doctor of Magneto-Therapy," as she was tested with the $10,000 prize at stake. The wire contraption on her head is a "magic pyramid." Metromedia TV
Sue Wallace used this arm-pulling method in another demonstration that she said she could depend on, which involved cigarettes. In fact, she said, she was trying to sell the discovery to the tobacco companies. She claims she can remove the toxicity of a cigarette by "magnetizing" it. I must not tell you the exact procedure, since she believes she has a million-dollar idea here, but the proof was in a demonstration she performed many times—without a single failure—at the Psychic Fair. A patient was asked to hold a "magnetized" cigarette in his hand, arm outstretched as described. Sue could not force his arm down. But when he held a regular, untreated cigarette, he was affected by the toxins, she said, and therefore his arm sank under her effort. Of course, it was Sue Wallace who was applying the pressure, so the method is obvious.
Lest you think that such a nutty procedure is limited to "doctors of magneto-therapy," witness a recent popular book about "kinesthetics" that actually claimed a subject's arm was more easily depressed after sugar was ingested than before. A New Jersey dentist actually tried to convince me of this, to the amusement of my colleague Alexis Vallejo, who showed me the sugar lump that he had palmed off instead of placing it under his tongue as instructed when the doctor tested him. It was obvious to Vallejo that the dentist