Science: The Magician And the Think Tank

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News of the unusual activity at Menlo Park reached the Department of Defense, and investigators were soon on the scene. One of them was Ray Hyman, a psychology professor from the University of Oregon who is used frequently by DOD as a consultant. Another was George Lawrence, DOD projects manager for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). He was accompanied to SRI by Robert Van de Castle, a University of Virginia psychologist and longtime researcher in parapsychology. Van de Castle decided that Geller was "an interesting subject for further study," but neither Lawrence nor Hyman was impressed. After spending a day with Geller and Physicists Targ and Puthoff, Hyman was, in fact, incredulous.

As Geller demonstrated ESP and psychokinesis (ability to move or bend objects without touching them) to the delight and excitement of Targ and Puthoff, Hyman said that he was able to spot the "loopholes and inconclusiveness" of each feat. He also caught Geller in some outright deceptions that Targ and Puthoff apparently did not discern.

In one case, Geller asked Lawrence to think of a number between one and ten and to write it down, as large as possible, on a pad. While Lawrence wrote, Geller made a show of concentrating and covering his eyes with his hands. But Hyman, carefully observing Geller, noticed that the Israeli's open eyes were visible through his fingers. Thus Geller was probably able to see the motion of Lawrence's arm as he wrote, and to correctly identify the number, ten. Knowing how to read arm movements, Hyman notes, is important to every magician.

Later, Geller caused a nearby compass needle to turn about five degrees. Lawrence, noting that Geller had moved his body and vibrated the floor, did the same, causing the needle to deflect even more. Geller, startled, accused Lawrence of using trickery, and Targ insisted on examining the DOD man to see if he had magnets hidden in his clothing. (He did not.) Hyman notes that Targ did not feel that it was necessary to search Geller. Hyman's impressions were admittedly based on observations made on a day when normal testing routine was not in effect. Nevertheless, Hyman wrote in a letter to a friend, SRl's tests of Geller were performed with "incredible sloppiness"; the records from previous days, which Targ and Puthoff offered as proof of Geller's powers, were "the most uncontrolled and poorly recorded data I have ever encountered."

Sensation. SRI continued to study Geller seriously for another three weeks (for a total of six), filming his feats, paying him a $100-a-day honorarium and providing him with an automobile and all expenses.

After leaving SRI,* Geller volunteered to demonstrate his powers to TIME'S editors. Last month he appeared at the Time-Life Building in Manhattan and projected thoughts and images, claimed to read minds and caused a fork to bend—supposedly by using psychic energy. After Geller left, Professional Magician James Randi, who had been present, duplicated each of his feats, explaining that any magician could perform them. The fork bending, said Randi, was accomplished by sleight of hand; after distracting his audience, Geller had simply bent it with his two hands.