Secrets of The Psychics (Part 1 of 6)

Check out Supernatural drama series:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007m042

Are psychics power is real or fake? This is a great documentary that try to answer that question.

Are some of us born with mysterious powers, able to move objects at will, read a person's thoughts, even cure physical ailments with the power of the mind? Follow master magician James Randi as he uncovers the secrets about psychics.

... magician and investigator of
psychic phenomena.

Don't laugh;
this is science.

For 25 years, Randi has
explored the world of the

paranormal and tested
claims of supernatural powers.

Now, Randi journeys to Russia to
challenge psychics never

before seen in the west.

After decades of research, can
we finally discover

the secrets of the psychics?

Funding for Nova's 20th
anniversary season is made

possible by Lockheed, America's
aerospace company,

supporting math, science and
engineering education for

national technology leadership,

and Johnson and Johnson, the
signature recognized

around the world for commitment
to quality

healthcare products for the
entire family.

Major funding for Nova is
provided by the corporation

for public broadcasting and by
annual financial support from

viewers like you.

From the earliest days,
man has believed that

dreams and the supernatural are
in some way real.

All over the world
psychics demonstrate

powers that their
followers accept as

modern-day miracles.

Here, in Moscow, psychic
healers treat the sick

with chants and incantations.

And, in the Philippines,
psychic surgeons perform

operations without knives.

A metal spoon turns liquid
in the hands of a psychic

performing in Britain.

This is happening.

Nearly everywhere,
fortune-tellers find the

future in cards, crystal
balls, and palms.

Three out of four Americans say

they've had a psychic experience.

Today, you can even find
a psychic at the mall.

Purveyors of the supernatural
have created

a multi-million dollar industry.

But, are psychic phenomena what
they appear to be?

My name is James Randi,
the Amazing Randi.

I'm a magician.

Okay, I have here a pen...

For the past 25 years,
I've been investigating

the claims of psychics.

A psychokinetic
demonstration of a

supernatural nature.

Watch this.

Psychics often say that an
object can be moved using

only the power of the mind.

And it moves in a miracle
fashion like that.

Isn't that amazing stuff?

Stop!

Magicians can produce
the same effect.

Of course, I was just
blowing on the pen.

But, a little suggestion
and a little distraction

go a long way.

As a magician, there's
nothing I like more than a

well-executed illusion.

Just look at what my
friend Jamy Ian Swiss can do.

There are those who use
magic tricks for more than

entertainment; they
convince people that what

they do is real, that
they have special powers.

Magical thinking, you
know, is a slippery slope.

Sometimes it's harmless
enough, but other times

it's quite dangerous.

Personally, I'm opposed to
that kind of fakery, so I

have no reservations at
all about exposing these

people and their illusions
for what they really are.

I've investigated the
claims of hundreds of

psychics.

People aren't always happy
with my conclusions, but I

do have my supporters.

In 1986, I was honored
with a MacArthur Award.

Unfortunately, most of the prize
money went into defending myself

against a series of libel suits related to one of my

earliest and most controversial investigations.

The subject was Uri
Geller, a young Israeli

who claimed to have
supernatural powers.

His remarkable affinity
for metal and his psychic

abilities are well
documented all over the world.

In the early 1970s, Geller
became a superstar,

the most famous psychic
in the world.

Okay, just a second, look
at me.

Visualize everything that you
drew once more.

He claimed to read
people's minds.

I'm going to
show what I got.

Anything wrong, then I'm wrong,
but it really came very
strongly.

It could be two mountains
with a round thing on or

two people - I , uh, I...

Can I show?

Yeah.

Am I wrong?

You're right.

I'm right.

Good.

That's what I got.

He claimed to bend
keys with his mind.

I know you're going to think
this is a set-up, friends,

and old Tom has never
conned you on anything.

This - this guy is bending
this key by rubbing it.

It was bent at about, uh,
a one-degree angle when

you started out, and it's
coming up on 45 degrees now.

It's still moving.

Are you thinking, "Bend?"

Is that what you're doing?

Yes, I'm saying, "bend."

Hard, soft?

I'm saying, "Bend,
bend, bend!"

And sometimes I
say, "Bend, baby!"

But, Geller was best known
for his way with spoons.

Hold the tip of this
spoon very, very gently.

Okay.

What I'm doing is I'm
trying to melt the metal down.

It's like feeling...

It's going...

Yeah.

I did not force it at
all in my hands....

There's no force at all.

Look.

The whole...

You see it's becoming...

... fall off.

It's - touch it here
where I'm stroking it.

There is absolutely no...

That is eerie!

I have a wisdom tooth...

As you can see, the metal
is beginning to crack here.

It's breaking.

Yeah.

Look, it's becoming -
it's like putty wax.

You see?

Look.

And keep - keep
stroking it here.

You see - don't, don't you see,
the crack is becoming bigger?

Yep.

I melt the metal
down so - so...

I want it to bend.
I just say, "Bend."

You melted it.

Now, wait a minute,
wait a minute.

Keep stroking your keys
more and people at home,

want your watches to start
working, or if there is a

radio that is broken,
want it to start working.

Television broken - just want it
- all those broken things.

Now...

What Geller was saying,
effectively, was that

wanting things
could make them so.

I felt that claim
had to be challenged.

The media, even some
scientists, were taking

the Geller phenomenon
seriously, so I decided to

show, for starters, that I
could at least duplicate

these effects using trickery.

Now, a key can be displayed in
such a way

that it looks like it's
bending.

For example, just by
stroking it,

you'd swear that it's bending
right up before your eyes.

Magicians call this
process ratcheting.

But, to do this, the key
has to be bent in advance.

The hard part, of course,
is how to go about bending

the key without letting
them catch you.

Now, there's several ways.

I could, for example, take it
and press the tip

against the top of the table.

That would do it.

Or, in shifting my chair
backwards or forwards, as

I just did, I could've
taken it and dropped it

below the level of the
table and pressed the tip

on the chair I'm sitting
on,

which is exactly what I just did.

Did I fool ya?

Mentalists have
duplicating hidden

drawings for years.

If Mr. Geller had chosen to use
trickery,

he could've used any of a
number of techniques.

One favorite involves turning
your back and

covering your eyes while
the drawing is being made.

Now, I've always wondered
why you would cover your

eyes while your
back is turned.

But, melting metal is
something else again.

It's done something like
this, and it gets soft.

So, I say to it, "Bend,
bend, bend," and it bends.

Of course, it does take
a little preparation.

In fact, it takes a
lot of preparation.

Now, this isn't proof
positive that other

demonstrations aren't the
result of supernatural power,

but isn't this a more reasonable explanation?

And then, of course,
there was Mr. Geller's

appearance on The Tonight Show.

I got a call after they
booked him to appear.

Will you welcome,
please, Uri Geller.

Johnny had been a magician
himself and was skeptical.

I was asked to help
prevent any trickery.

Nice to see you.