Chapter 2
Metal-benders and world reactions
Although this book is principally about my own observations, I
cannot avoid giving some account of the activities of metal-benders
I have not investigated in detail and of the behaviour of the
many people who have reacted to the emergence of an apparently
paranormal phenomenon. I shall try to set the stage by taking
a global view of the events.
At the outset the question must be posed; why did mankind know
nothing about metal-bending before the appearance of Uri Geller?
Had the phenomenon actually occurred before, did it fail to be
recognized as such, did it just pass into legend? We can certainly
find descriptions of events which might be classified as paranormal
metal-bending; but what authority are we to give them? Psychic
phenomena have usually occurred in waves, partly due to an 'induction
effect' (chapter 17), and partly due to the alerting of observers
and recorders; we might cite such examples as outbreaks of witchcraft,
and Victorian table-lifting. Did previous waves of metal-bending
occur?
Before the industrial revolution metal objects were of course
much rarer than they are today, and it must be remembered that
the widest use of metal, apart from coins, ornaments and tools,
was for weapons. Swords have historically been treated with reverence,
sometimes given individual names, and even regarded as possessing
magical properties. Not only are there legends of swords such
as Excalibur being immovable except by a magically endowed individual,
but there are also legends of magical renewal of the metal itself.
One of the Galahad adventures in the Morte d'Arthur reads
as follows: (9)
Then Eliazar, King Pelles' son, brought before them the broken
sword wherewith Joseph [of Arimathea] was stricken through the
thigh. Then Bors set his hand thereto, if that he might have soldered
it again; but it would not be. Then he took it to Percivale, but
he had no more power thereto than he. Now have ye it again, said
Percivale to Galahad, for an it be ever achieved by any bodily
man ye must do it. And then he took the pieces and set them together,
and they seemed that they had never been broken, and as well as
it had been first forged. And when they espied that the adventure
of the sword was achieved, then they gave the sword to Bors, for
it might not be better set; for he was a good knight and a worthy
man.
This does not read like an account of blacksmithing, but is more
like the 1970s feats of the Romansh-speaking Swiss metal-bender
Silvio Mayer, who has been able to bond together the pieces of
teaspoons that he has already fractured without the apparent
use of force. German physicists and parapsychologists have investigated
these claims, and do not regard them as frauds; and indeed the
spotless nature of Sir Galahad was never gainsaid. Perhaps there
is a connection, farfetched though it seem.
No real proof exists that metal-bending phenomena occurred in
witchcraft, but there are good reasons for believing that this
might have been the case. Crooked pins were usually vomited by
victims of witchcraft, (¹°) and at least one authority
(¹¹) considered this to be a legal diagnostic of bewitchment.
In some instances the victims found crooked pins poking into their
skin. These things were counterfeited, probably more often than
they occurred naturally, and this makes it difficult to know for
certain how the pins became bent and how they got where it was
claimed they did. The reason we have for proposing that the phenomena
may have occurred paranormally is their similarity to certain
modern events, described in later chapters. I have witnessed teleportation
of objects into the mouth with the same psychic subjects whom
I have witnessed bending clusters of pins in plastic boxes; all
that is missing is the composite event, resulting in bent pins
in the mouth or at the body surface. There are modern cases of
pins being found in large numbers within the arms and legs of
human victims of voodoo. (¹²)
All through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, metal cutlery,
knitting-needles, etc., were in common use in the home, and there
have been many reports of poltergeist hauntings and other psychic
phenomena with physical content; but very few included events
which might be classified as metal-bending. One such case was
unearthed by Scott Rogo; (¹³) an article by Mrs I.K.
Reno in 1905 reports: 'Frequently during the meal hour, milk,
tea, coffee and soup were flying into the
faces of those at the table, several times inflicting painful
scalds and burns. Spoons were broken, or suddenly twisted out
of shape in their hands.'
The English medium Bertha Harris remembers as a child the bending
of her brothers' model railway lines; but nothing came of it except
nursery strife!
There was the incident of Jung's knife. The psychologist Carl
Gustav Jung organized spiritualistic seances in his youth, and
in one of these a breadknife in a drawer inexplicably snapped
into four parts, with a sound like a pistol shot. The four pieces
of the knife are still in the possession of the Jung family.(14)
We shall see in chapter 12 that fractures are very much part of
the metal-bending phenomenon.
There was the wave of paranormal or 'preternatural' bell-ringing
described by Major Edward Moor, FRS, in the Victorian monograph
Bealings Bells. I came across this little-known piece of
psychic research only because Major Moor was a great-great-great-uncle
of mine. In a house at Bealings, Suffolk, which I remember as
a child, the bells were of the tinkling variety pulled by wires
taken around corners by dogleg levers. Each bell was mounted on
a curved piece of spring metal.
Major Moor experienced inexplicable ringings of his bells. He
set about excluding the possibilities of mischievous pulling by
humans, birds, etc., but he never succeeded in explaining them,
and when he published his account of the events several other
families came forward with similar accounts. The generally assumed
interpretation was that something preternatural had been pulling
the wires.
But an equally sound interpretation would be that the metal springs
received paranormal extension or contraction pulses of the type
to be described in chapter 4 and frequently observed in my experiments.
In fact, I shall describe a similar no-touch experiment in miniature
(carried out months before I came across Bearings Bells):
a galvanometer mirror mounted on a small piece of spring
metal experienced paranormal elastic jerky movements, each giving
rise to the deflection of a laser beam. Some time after I became
acquainted with Bealings Bells, the extraordinary similarity
between the two constructions occurred to me. Perhaps Major Moor
was experiencing an attack of paranormal metal-bending.
Since the reports of Major Moor's experiences first appeared,
other instances have come to light; and even after the First and
Second World Wars cases continued, such as in the former hospital
building at South Mimms, Herts.
Notwithstanding these examples, the accounts of pre-Geller metal-bending
are sparse, and credit must undoubtedly be given to Uri Geller,
whatever the defects in his career, for bringing the phenomenon
to the notice of members of the scientific establishment. We can
now at least count the numbers of serious groups researching the
subject in double figures: in the USA, the late Dr Wilbur Franklin
at Kent State University, Dr Targ and Dr Puthoff at Stanford Research
Institute, Eldon Byrd at the Office of Naval Research Laboratories,
Washington, Dr Ronald Hawke at Livermore and Elizabeth Rauscher
at Berkeley; in France, Dr Ducrocq, Dr Wolkowski and, more recently,
scientists at the Pechiney Aluminium Company; in West Germany,
the Freiburg University group; and also Dr Walti in Switzerland.
Professor Dierkens in Belgium, Dr Mattuck and Scott Hill in Copenhagen,
Professor Ferdinando Bersani and Dr Aldo Martelli in Italy, Dr
Charles Osborne in Melbourne; the New Horizons Group in Toronto,
and also Dr Bob Cantor; in Japan a number of different laboratories,
from among which I would single out that of Professor Shigemi
Sasaki in Tokyo; and finally there are reports of serious researches
in China.
The contributions of many of these groups will become apparent
as we proceed with our account. But their activities have not
gone unnoticed. Sceptical science-writers, eventually organized
in the USA and elsewhere into a committee, succeeded in obtaining
widespread publicity for the defects in the picture. To be sure,
much has been publicly claimed in the media which would not stand
up to close scrutiny; and since most psychic histories appear
to be an inextricable mixture of reality and fraud, we would not
expect to find an exception in metal-bending.
When a fraud is 'exposed' (whether or no the exposition itself
would stand up to close scrutiny) this is by no means a proof
that genuine events have not taken place as well at a different
time. Indeed the inextricable mixture appears to be the norm,
so that the psychic researcher must choose his methods with extreme
care.
Before embarking on the account of my own observations, I shall
report briefly on the early history of Geller's metal-bending
a sociological exercise for which I myself am perhaps rather inadequately
qualified. But the exercise must be carried out, so as to remove
various misconceptions that have taken hold of the public mind.
Geller was 'discovered' in Israel in 1971 by Dr Andrija Puharich,
an erratically brilliant field-worker in such fringe science areas
as psychic surgery and hallucinogens. Puharich could not become
extricated from the idea that Geller's 'powers' originated from
extraterrestrial beings, but he reported many observations of
teleportations (chapters 18 and 19) happening around Geller, and
he introduced him to former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, through
whose auspices further research was financed. Geller began five
weeks of experimentation with the physicists Dr Targ and Dr Puthoff
at Stanford Research Institute. The published part of these researches
concerned not metal-bending but the telepathic transmission of
information, in which field Targ and Puthoff have since carried
out extensive work.(5)
Geller toured the USA giving lectures and demonstrations, but
comparatively few scientists were convinced, largely because trouble
was not taken to set up the conditions exactly right. He also
performed on American television shows, but never made sufficient
impression for large numbers of telephone calls to be received
from families who reported cutlery bending in the home. As we
saw in chapter 1, this is what happened in West European countries
as well as Japan, South Africa and elsewhere.
In Britain Geller made several successful public television records
of apparently paranormal bendings of cutlery, and many children
came forward and claimed, sometimes even demonstrated, similar
happenings. Mathematical physicist John Taylor, who was present
in the studio, started a programme of fieldwork and invited numbers
of the children to his laboratory.
He published accounts in a book entitled Superminds, and
publicly affirmed that he believed paranormal metal-bending was
a real effect. Later he was to announce something of a change
of heart, brought about by his failure to detect the presence
of electromagnetic radiation during metal-bending. The reasoning
was that bending must have been brought about by such radiation,
and since none was observed, the bending may well have been produced
normally, presumably by manual action previously undetected. This
reasoning is difficult for physicists to understand.
Later, I spoke to many of these children; I had formed the
opinion that it was a mistake to conduct initial observations
in the laboratory; the children would find the environment strange
and would be anxious to achieve success by any means available
to them. In fact, sociologist Dr Harry Collins(3) at the University
of Bath was able to show this by inviting children to his own
laboratory and viewing them stroking spoons through a two-way
mirror. Five were seen to alleviate their failure by cheating;
the sixth, Julie Knowles, will appear in later chapters.
Occasionally child metal-benders have been able to recall instances
of bending occurring before the Geller revelation; but they failed
to recognise it as unusual. Masuaki Kiyota makes this claim.
A fanatically sceptical conjuror, known as 'The Amazing Randi',
started a campaign to probe the weaknesses of much of the reporting.
His publications contained interesting material, but I found it
extremely easy to find faults in his reporting; he attempted trickery
during a visit to my office, and the level of the interview was
so low that I have decided that a detailed discussion of it here
would serve only to embarrass him. Other conjurors have contributed
a rather more balanced view; two of the British, David Berglas
and Ali Bongo, whilst sceptical, have responded to my requests
for advice and help. A number of others observed Geller and other
metal-benders and stated publicly that they could detect no fraud.
These included Zorka and Abb Dickson in the USA, Leo Leslie in
Denmark, Henk Vermeyden in the Netherlands, Ranky in France and
Rolf Mayr in Switzerland.
Geller's public performances represent a gray area into which
the serious student should not venture. It is reported that his
business associate, Yasha Katz, publicly alleged trickery, which
Geller has denied. I have myself been present at only five performances,
two in London and one each in Southampton, Longleat (near Bath)
and Tokyo. Although I found no evidence of trickery, I was not
personally responsible for the arrangements, so that the protocol
was not always as I could have wished. It is worth mention that
the softening of the large piece of heavy silver cutlery produced
at Longleat was almost beyond dispute genuine. For the visits
by Geller to my laboratory I was responsible for the protocol,
such as it was (not what I would have wished, for several reasons!);
again, I found no evidence of trickery, although a number of incidental
strange events happened unwitnessed, and therefore could not be
taken as evidence. I believe that this also applies to the visits
by Geller to the Kent State and Berkeley Laboratories in the United
States.
It will be valuable at this point to enumerate the names of various
metal-benders in different countries who have allowed investigation
of their talents by scientists and others. Most of these were
children at the time when the 'powers' first became manifest,
nearly always after watching Geller's television appearances.
The exceptions include JeanPierre Girard, whose abilities will
be discussed in chapter 13; Silvio Mayer, who also paints pictures
of a visionary nature; Christine Wild, a housewife from the English
Midlands; James Blevens from Verona, Wisconsin, and Mrs T.W. of
Detroit.
Child metal-benders were sometimes known as 'mini-Gellers' and
in Italy 'Gellerini'. Two of the Italians are Paride Giatti, who
has been investigated by physicist Professor Bersani, and Orlando
Bragante. The latter, investigated by Dr Aldo Martelli, is reliably
reported to have bent cutlery enclosed in a sealed box. Other
Italian metal-benders include Lucia Allegretti, Sandro Gasperini
and Giovanni d'Emilio. In Israel, sixteen-year-old Ori Seboria
has been investigated by Dr H.C. Berendt and others; when Ori
visited Australia, scientists at the Caulfield Institute of Technology
in Victoria also made observations, and other Australian children
showed some powers. Sometimes, as in the case of Lisa in Denmark
and Bernard in Belgium, real names are not published in order
to preserve privacy. In Switzerland, observations have been made
with Edith Aufdermauer. In Japan, the most dedicated metal-bender
is Masuaki Kiyota; but there are also Hiroto Yamashita, Yasushi
Murasawa, Makoto Hirota, Toro Osaki, Jun Sekiguchi, Seiyuri Tanaka,
Satoshi, Masao and Koji.
Finally we come to the British metal-benders; John Taylor has
compiled a list of at least thirty-eight. My own investigations
have covered rather fewer. There are those who not only have strong
'powers', but who have had the patience to collaborate extensively
with me; they include Nicholas Williams, Andrew G., Stephen North,
Julie Knowles, Willie G. and Mark Henry. There are also those
who have successfully participated in at least one experiment
with positive results. They include Belinda H., Graham P., Richard
B., David and Steven Nemeth, Susan Clarke, Clifford White, Alison
Lloyd, Neil Howarth, Gill Costin, Kim Griffiths and Ian L.
There are some others with whom I have not had the chance to work,
such as David Jefferies, Douglas Smith, Russell Jennings, Stephen
Coates, Mark Shelley, Janet H., V. S. and Heidi Wilton.
Two English adults fall into unique categories as metal-benders.
One is Matthew Manning, who as a child experienced strong poltergeist
phenomena and has written much about his psychic experiences.
When he visited Canada, several investigators at the New Horizons
Research Foundation in Toronto observed his metal-bending; but
he has since lost interest in the phenomenon, and seems never
to have been at home with it.
The second is Dr Rob Basto, a space physics researcher who became
seriously involved with transcendental meditation. He undertook
to practise for hours at a time over a period of several weeks;
after this he was able to produce effects on sensitive detection
equipment, to my own and his satisfaction.
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