Randy Foundation: Million Dollar Prize for Mystique

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A well-known American illusionist, TV presenter and popularizer of science James Randi several years ago offered a prize of ten thousand dollars to anyone who unambiguously and unequivocally demonstrates any of the so-called parapsychological or extrasensory phenomena. James Randi was born in 1928, now 89, but he is agile, athletically fit, he has penetrating eyes and a characteristic gray beard — a kind of Randi’s «brand name». As a child, he even left school to become a magician, and achieved his goal: he became a true master of this difficult art. He was able to perform such unique and complex tricks that he soon came to the conclusion that all claims to psychic abilities were a bluff. These are the same tricks, the same trickery, only more sophisticated, well thought out and rehearsed. And if you have the proper experience and how to delve into it, then sooner or later you can bring any sorcerer, soothsayer, telepath, anyone you want to clean water. This is what he does. This is what he is famous for.

In the 1970s, Randy and a few other skeptics formed the so-called «Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Paranormal Phenomena» (CSICOP). The Randy Foundation was founded in 1996. Anyone who claims to have psychic abilities is encouraged to demonstrate them in a highly controlled experiment. If this succeeds, the Fund undertakes to pay a million dollars as a reward. Approximately 50 people a year fill out applications: about half of them are dousers: those who use the «magic rod» (virgulu) to find groundwater and for other purposes. But in fact, only a few people a month try to pass the preliminary tests. And it usually doesn’t go beyond that. And it’s all because of Randy.

So here are some articles:

• $1 for a miracle
• Chimera Destroyer
• Exposing the Whistleblower
• Unrecognized applicants: reasons
• JamesRandiFoundation’s youtube channel, where Randy (in English) tells various stories from his life and shows video recordings of checks.