Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi [164]
Early in 1979 Piero invited me to Italy again (I had been there the year before to be filmed for the TV series) to respond to more than forty wonder-workers who had taken me up on my offer of $10,000 to anyone able to perform just one genuine paranormal feat. As the weeks went by between my acceptance and my departure for Italy in March, the challengers dropped out one by one. This was partly owing to my conditions that they had to agree in advance that the presence of a skeptical observer such as myself would not inhibit the results and that they had to allow me to use any data obtained during the tests. Some of these folks believed that they could get me to agree (as Uri Geller had with many of his investigators) not to reveal the results if they failed. By the time I arrived in Rome to meet the performers, only ten were left.
Accompanied by a colleague, William Rodriguez, I went into conference with Piero Angela. RAI was covering the event, and made two special Sunday programs from the film they shot. The aspirants came from all over Italy, divided, as usual, into two distinct groups: those who mistakenly believed they had genuine powers and those who were out-and-out fakes. The latter group was small and confined to the table- tippers. Here are the stars of our drama:
Mrs. Antonetta Petrignani, who produces "spirit pictures" with a Polaroid camera.
Professor Giuseppe Festa, a mummifier of fruits and meat. He holds the sample between his hands to "irradiate" it.
Mr. M. Salvatori, specializing in projecting dream images into the nighttime thoughts of his subjects.
Mrs. Catarina Zarica, a table-tipper and table-knocker, assisted by her husband.
Mrs. Clara Del Re, a table-tipper, assisted by her husband and daughter.
Mr. Fontana, Professor Borga, Mr. Stanziola, and Mr. Senatore, all water-dowsers; some able to find metals as well.
Mr. Jacovino, a key-bender and watch-stopper (who failed to show up at the last moment).
Thus there were nine ready-and-willing contestants scheduled to perform, and various claims were involved.
My thirty-five years of experience in this field dictated that certain necessary steps be taken. Such performers are consistent in one thing above all: They offer rationalizations and convoluted excuses of the most outrageous sort when a test fails. To thwart these alibis, I insisted that a long questionnaire be answered first, so that we understood one another. I will discuss the challengers in turn, detailing the main features and problems of each case.
First, Mrs. Petrignani from Milan. This little lady, I must say at the outset, impressed us all as one who was honestly deceived by her inability to take good pictures. This became sadly evident to me when I examined a huge stack of several hundred Polaroid photos she brought with her and listened to her interpretations of what she saw therein. One of them showed—to her eyes, at least—a man crouching on a plank with a rock beneath it. I could see nothing but a blur of gray and white against a black background. As she sorted through the prints, I put that one aside for later use in a test I had in mind. Mrs. Petrignani had taken these photos with an electric-eye Polaroid camera, using square- format, black-and-white film. She habitually pressed the shutter release with the camera pointed at her face under poor lighting conditions. At first she was steady and composed. She pressed the shutter release slowly, allowing the automatic shutter to make the correct exposure. But as she continued and went "into trance," she shook and wobbled about, pushing the shutter release violently and jerkily. She did not allow the automatic feature to operate, and all pictures came out black