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>> This is what
I say bend, melt.
The metal is becoming
almost like plastic.
And then I went like
that and the spoon broke.
>> For the mainstream, the
notion of someone possessing
psychic abilities has been
regulated to works of fiction
or fringe pseudoscience.
Yet there have been and continue
to be scientific studies
into the phenomenon with
truly intriguing results.
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>> In 2010, Lance Storm,
Patrizio Tressoldi,
and Lorenzo Di Risio analyzed
29 ganzfield studies,
a form of sensory deprivation
test, from 1997 to 2008.
Of the 1,498
trials, 483 produced
hits corresponding to
a hit rate of 32.2%.
This hit rate is
statistically significant.
Participants who were
thought to be psi-conducive
were found to perform
significantly better
than control participants
in the experiment.
During the 1970s, Russian
housewife and former member
of the Red Army tank
regiment Nina Kulangina
made international headlines
by demonstrating a series
of astounding psychic powers.
Mainly focusing on her
psychokinetic abilities,
Russian scientists studied
Kulangina in a series of tests
ranging from moving objects
and influencing laser beam
trajectories to the stopping
of a frog's beating heart,
all using only her mind.
Nina could even generate
electromagnetic heat
with her body.
While doing so, she
would occasionally
burn holes in her own clothing.
In one instance,
she accidentally
burnt the arm of a reporter
who happened to be present.
If psychic ability
can be demonstrated
in statistically
significant amounts
through scientific
investigation,
is it possible we all possess
some amount of psychic power?
And if so, can we develop and
hone our own psychic abilities?
>> You know, when I teach
psychic development,
I let those people know
everyone is psychic.
Everyone has the ability to
give some sort of message.
The thing is, is that
not everyone believes
that they are, and nor
is that everyone's path.
They don't have a
passion to pursue,
how do I develop my ability
so that I can help others?
>> If psychic abilities
are indeed a reality,
it stands to reason that world
governments would realize
the huge potential in
utilizing such skills,
particularly in the fields
of defense and intelligence.
In 1975, the CIA tasked two
laser physicists, Dr. Russell
Targ and Hal Puthoff, to develop
a psychic spy program that
spent more than $20
million over 20 years
testing, developing, and
applying psychic abilities.
>> So I formed, together with
my colleague Hal Puthoff,
another laser physicist, a ESP
program at Stanford Research
Institute.
But we felt that
during the Cold War,
psychic abilities might
actually be useful.
So we went to the
CIA and said, we
think we have the
ability to describe
distant places in a way
that would be useful to you.
And the CIA gave us some
demonstration-of-ability task
to do and that was
successful, and we then
had a 20-year research activity.
>> The fact that the CIA spent
millions in taxpayer dollars
over decades investigating
psychic abilities does lend
credence to the
phenomenon's legitimacy.
Yet physical proof
is notoriously
difficult to ascertain.
However, during the
government-funded studies, Drs.
Russell Targ and Hal
Puthoff became interested
in one particular
individual who seemed
to possess remarkable
psychic abilities
and was able to demonstrate
them repeatedly.
This individual's
name was Uri Geller.
>> They were very concerned.
The CIA were concerned that
the Russians were ahead
of them in psychical research.
And I leave in 1972, straight
to Palo Alto, California,
to Stanford Research Institute.
And that's where Dr. Hal Puthoff
and Russel Targ and Edgar
Mitchell, and all
those scientists who
had very direct
links to the CIA,
they set up their
experiments with me.
>> Investigations into Uri
Geller's powers covered
the gamut of psychical areas,
though his ability to use
psychoanalysis to seemingly
bend a spoon was what he is most
famous for.
>> I hold a spoon and I
stroke it very gently,
and I look at it and I say,
bend, melt, bend, melt.
And look!
The metal is becoming
almost like plastic.
Plasticine-- no
heat is produced!
I say bend, melt,
bend, and look.
And then I went like
that and the spoon broke!
I produce an energy
wave and it penetrates
the molecular
structure of the metal.
>> Though Uri's ability to bend
a spoon is Indeed an impressive
demonstration, it hardly
seems likely that the CIA were
focused on this aspect
of Geller's powers.
More likely, it was Uri Geller's
remote-viewing capabilities,
which he previously
utilized for the Mossad
in Israel, that offered
the CIA more interest.
But what is remote viewing
and how does it work?
>> Tell us about remote viewing.
Exactly what is that?
>> It's essentially systematic,
extrasensory perception.
We take the innate ability
that we're all born with,
that intuitive feeling
that we sometimes have,
knowing that the
phone's going to ring.
We turn that into a skill.
So it's very similar language.
The skill itself can be
taught to anyone within weeks.
>> My remote-viewing skills
kicked in and I started asking,
OK, so I'm seeing my
target from this position.
Flip it.
And I drew it that way.
Show me this.
Give me the colors.
Detail after detail, some
of the best remote-viewing
I've ever done.
But all of us focused in
on removing the dark spots,
or the things that we saw--
>> Interesting.
>> --in that.
>> Did you have to see
the person physically?
>> No, not at all.
Actually, we just
used the model.
Think about this, George!
We've got scientists,
physicists, bank owners, CEOs,
people of high intelligence
that are running things
all around the world, coming
in and doing this work.
>> It's clear psychic abilities
have at least some basis
in reality, as the phenomenon
is not simply rejected
by legitimate science and
governmental institutions,
but rather embraced
and investigated.
We know the CIA has explored
the phenomena in the past
and some believe they continue
with these psy-programs
to this day.
If experts believe these innate
skills lie dormant within us
all, imagine a world in
which psychic abilities
are encouraged and developed
instead of dismissed
and rebuked.
So what's stopping you from
testing your own abilities
for yourself?
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