CLAIM: That Mr. Geller was asked by NASA to use his psychic powers to open a jammed antenn

From: James Randi --- Wizard Message-ID: <23k4u9$3fs@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> Reply-To: geller-hotline@ssr.com Newsgroups: sci.skeptic CLAIM: That Mr. Geller was asked by NASA to use his psychic powers to open a jammed antenna on the Galileo spacecraft. FACT: When contacted, NASA replied that they'd never heard of Mr. Geller, had not asked him anything, and that the antenna was already working. CLAIM: That Mr. Geller originated the clever scheme of printing a "charmed" colored dot on a newspaper page so that the Faithful could touch it and be blessed with good luck, riches, healing or whatever. FACT: Two elderly California ladies who also profess psychic powers came up with the idea years before Mr. Geller did, and used it in the National Enquirer, that paragon of journalistic virtue and accuracy. (Admittedly, their dot was blue, while Mr. Geller's is orange. That may make all the difference.....) CLAIM: That Mr. Geller has participated in an alchemical experiment in which base metal was turned into gold. FACT: The base metal stayed base. Besides, if the miracle had worked, would not Mr. Geller now be busily turning out gold bricks in great number? CLAIM: That Mr. Geller has found the Holy Lost Ark of the Covenant. FACT: A confusion probably arising from the fact that Steven Spielberg is often mistaken for a documentary film maker. Also, Harrison Ford is not REALLY an archaeologist; he's just an actor who puts on makeup and plays the part. CLAIM: That Mr. Geller was asked to beam good thoughts at Gorbachov during a Soviet/West conference. FACT: I wouldn't be at all surprised that he was asked, knowing how bright some folks are. However, the USSR just folded up due to other causes, an event not foreseen by Mr. Geller or by any other "psychic." CLAIM: That Mr. Geller was paid one million pounds sterling "up front," non-refundable, by eleven mining companies, to find gold and oil for them by psychic means. FACT: Not so. Only one company paid anything, and that was far from a million pounds. Nothing was found but sand. The company is not happy with that result. CLAIM: That Mr. Geller invented two devices, one to detect counterfeit money and another to detect if a diamond is real or not. FACT: Not so. The counterfeit detector has been around a long time and does not work, the diamond idea uses a principle known long before Mr. Geller was born. CLAIM: That Mr. Geller stopped Big Ben (actually, Tower Clock) by his mental powers. FACTS: (a) That clock stops about twice a year, anyway. (b) Mr. Geller only announced the miracle AFTER it stopped. (c) Mr. Geller had been promising to do this wonder for some twenty years. CLAIM: Mr. Geller promised that he would bring back from the moon, by his powers, a camera left there by astronauts. FACT: The camera is still there, more than 20 years after the promise. CLAIM: Mr. Geller has said that he will find Lassiter's Reef, a lost gold lode in Australia. FACT: Lassiter's Reef is still lost. CLAIM: Mr. Geller has said that his psychic powers enable him to know that he will win his present lawsuit against James Randi. FACT: I'm waiting...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ These are eleven claims made by Mr. Uri Geller. When, oh when, are we going to see these wonders? Surely just ONE of them will come to pass? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** FOR YOUR REFERENCE ** Requests to be added to or deleted from the geller-hotline mailing list must be sent to: geller-hotline-request@ssr.com Comments to Randi or other parties should be sent to: geller-hotline@ssr.com Mail to this address is not echoed. --------------------------------------------------------------------- From: James Randi --- Wizard Message-ID: <23qnea$8n0@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> Newsgroups: sci.skeptic Re the first statement in "Promises, Promises," I've received a number of welcome corrections. My information came through a 1-800 NASA information number, where the lady who answered me was literally in hysterics when I asked if Mr. Geller had been asked to free the High Gain Antenna on the Galileo space craft. The facts are that (a) the HGA is still jammed, though REAL efforts are being applied to try unsticking it, (b) the LGA (Low Gain Antenna) is working well, and some 70% of the originally planned projects can still be accomplished by Galileo, (c) I was not completely informed by the information person. My apologies for the error. The fact remains that Mr. Geller was NOT asked by NASA to use his wondrous powers to help them. That was my original point, among many. NEW POINTS: correspondents have reminded me of other promises made by Mr. Geller. Here are just a few..... CLAIM: In 1988, Mr. Geller said he would launch a Health Cosmetic line, a perfume called, "Uri" (with a real crystal in the bottle! Wow!) and a fast-food restaurant chain. FACT: We don't have healthy cosmetics, Uri perfume (avec or sans crystal) or Uriburgers. Not yet. CLAIM: He said that he has a leisure wear clothing company that makes "about $20 million a year," and he expects it to grow to "about $100 million a year." FACT: Mr. Geller may very well have such a company going. However, it does not show up anywhere I've looked. CLAIM: Mr. Geller says that with the use of his "powers" he has "destroyed cancer cells" for scientists. FACT: This accomplishment is unknown to cancer researchers. CLAIM: The South Korean government gave him $10,000,000 "to locate tunnels." FACT: The South Korean government is unaware of having paid Mr. Geller for anything, let alone finding tunnels. CLAIM: A Japanese company gave him $1,000,000 to find gold in Brazil. FACT: This may be true. No evidence has been offered. And on it goes..... JR