General – Page 4 – Unbelievable

Rest in Peace Robert Van de Castle

February 13, 20140

Dr. Robert Van de Castle passed away on January 29th. Van de Castle worked as a research associate at the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University in the 1950’s and I talked with him a few times for my book. He told me how shocked and flattered he was when he wrote J. B. Rhine, the head of the Lab, and Rhine wrote back. “It was like a letter from Jesus Christ himself.” Van de Castle was only around 21 or 22 years old at the time.

Van de Castle was great for descriptions of what the people who worked at the Lab were like, ie, “Peggy Price had a stewardess personality” and Betty Humphrey was “austere.” (I think she scared him a little.) He also said that J. B. Rhine told him that “he was the worst team member he ever had.” He seemed pretty proud about that!

Carlos Alvarado, who knew him better, wrote an appreciation which you can read on his blog here.

The picture is a screenshot from an interview conducted by Dream Cloud.

A New Website: In Defense of Animism

January 3, 2014January 3, 20140

It was set up by James G. (Jim) Matlock, M.L.S., Ph.D., and you can visit it here. From the website:

“This site is dedicated to bringing together anthropology and parapsychology, especially on problems relating to the nature of the human being, interaction with a spirit world, and reincarnation. Both disciplines are concerned with these problems but their approaches are very different. Anthropologists document the beliefs and practices of peoples other than themselves without asking if there is any underlying truth to them, whereas parapsychologists are interested in evidence of human capacities transcending those furnished by the physical body and the question of whether some aspect of the human being might survive bodily death and subsequently reincarnate.”

I know from experience while researching my book that Matlock is a thorough and serious researcher. You can see this in the blog he set up on the site, which is dedicated to the subject of reincarnation. He begins with an extensive review of Jim Tucker’s new book, Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives, a book that deserves the kind of attention Matlock has brought to it.

Great start Jim, and congratulations on the new site!

Rest in Peace, Eileen Coly

November 23, 20130

From the email I received this morning:

“It is with regret that we announce that Eileen Coly peacefully passed away in Manhattan at the age of 97 on November 18th, 2013. She served as President of the Parapsychology Foundation from 1970 until her retirement in 2011. She continued to share the founder, her mother Eileen J. Garrett‚s vision for the Foundation which is to formulate a multi-disciplinary international approach to the study of psychic phenomena with an emphasis on scientific methodology and education.

“Born and educated in England, traveling extensively with her mother the famed psychic and author, they were separated during World War II, during which she remained in England, surviving the London Blitz. Settling in the United States in l947 she worked at Creative Age Press and Tomorrow Magazine before joining the Parapsychology Foundation in l966. She is the recipient of the 2001 Parapsychological Association‚s Outstanding Career Award „for her generous support and dedication to the science of parapsychology.

“With her French born husband, Robert R. Coly, now deceased she raised two children, Lisette and Robert Louis Coly. She is survived by her daughter, Lisette, who continues to serve as current President of the Parapsychology Foundation in Manhattan and Greenport as well as her son-in-law George E. Damalas and three grandchildren: George Robert Damalas, Anastasia Eileen Damalas and Robert Alan Coly. She has resided in Greenport since l990. In lieu of flowers donations in her name to: The North Fork Animal Welfare League, the Visiting Nurse Society of New York Hospice and Palliative Care and Parapsychology Foundation, Inc.”

Carlos Alvarado did a lovely appreciation here.

The pictures of Eileen Coly come from Susan MacWilliam’s website for the film 13 Roland Gardens, which features Eileen Coly talking about her mother, Eileen Garrett.

Nov. 16th: An Evening of Possibilities, Interactive Demonstrations, and a Fundraising Auction at the Rhine Research Center

October 31, 20130

On Saturday, November 16th, 2013, the Board of Directors of the Rhine Research Center will provide a night of fun, information, interactive experiments, and a fundraising auction to support the cutting-edge research being done by the Rhine in the field of parapsychology and consciousness studies. The evening’s events will include:

– Wine, food, and refreshments.
– An opportunity to be part of ESP testing and other interactive activities.
– A live auction of spectacular services, unique experiences, and one of a kind opportunities.
– The BIG FINISH: A spoon bending party (spoons provided).

Among the auction items are a private phone reading with Allison Dubois (the tv show Medium was based on her life) a remote viewing session with Joe McMoneagle (Project Stargate’s remote viewer #1) and a full-course online program with instructor Loyd Auerbach (parapsychologist) including Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate the Paranormal. There are many, many other great items to bid on and not all are parapsychology related, like an overnight stay for two at the Washington Duke Inn (a beautiful place, I’d go for that one if I was in the area).

Don’t miss this, it’s going to be a great party!!

For more information and to register, click here.

A PK party. That’s Sally Rhine Feather at the lower right, and the late Dr. Elizabeth McMahan (aka BettyMac) on the left.

Helmut Schmidt, Rest in Peace.

October 9, 2013October 9, 20132

I only just learned that Helmut Schmidt, a German parapsychologist I’d researched, died on August 18, 2011. How sad that I heard about this two years after the fact. From my book:

Many years later [I was writing about the 1940’s] Helmut Schmidt, a German physicist who worked at Boeing’s research laboratory, and later for Rhine, would develop a PK experiment involving a device called a random number generator. Using the process of radioactive decay to randomly illuminate a circle of lights, subjects were asked to influence which direction the lights lit. The results were so impressive that when referring to later versions of this test, scientist and skeptic Carl Sagan would grudgingly concede that “by thought alone humans can (barely) affect random number generators in computers,” unable to resist pointing out that modern PK tests, like the telepathy tests, indicated a weak effect, as if weak effects are trivial or unimportant. The effect of aspirin in reducing hearts attacks is even weaker, but nonetheless life-saving. The fact that the effect of PK is weak does not in itself diminish its significance.

Schmidt’s time working for J. B. Rhine was not a happy one alas, and when I tried to talk to him about it he told me he found the memories so hurtful he didn’t want to discuss it. I do know that he later reconnected with one of Rhine’s daughters. I believe through her the wounds were healed.

That is Helmut Schmidt in the photograph below. From the caption that came with the photograph:

A recent development in the testing of precognition is the electronic machine shown. It emphasizes elements of fun and challenge to prevent build-up of emotional blocking mechanisms in the subject. The four lamps of different colors light up in different sequence: The subjects task is to predict which one will light next and push the corresponding button. The machine uses single quantum processes which may form nature’s most elementary source of randomness. And electronic counter that counts (at a rate of 10 to the 6th power per second) in the sequence 1,2,3,4 1…is stopped at the random time when an electron emitted by a radioactive source (strontium 90).

This machine and others is on display at the Museum at the Rhine Research Center.

Presentation about the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University

September 9, 20130

On Monday, October 28, at 8pm, I’ll be giving a presentation about the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University, followed by Q&A and a book signing. It’s going to be held at the Observatory in Brooklyn and I’m going to be selling the paperback edition of my book, Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and other Unseen Phenomena, From the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University at a special sale price to be announced at the event. Admission is $5.

I’ve posted this picture before, but when you go to the Observatory you get to walk through this lovely very New York alley.

Communicating with the Dead: Compelling Evidence from Two of the World’s Most Famous Mediums

July 24, 20130

I’m sorry to be so last minute about what looks like an interesting lecture about mediums Leonora Piper and Eusapia Palladino, presented by the Rhine Research Center. From the website about Leonora Piper:

“We shall look at the life of this remarkable woman and the evidence which convinced so many esteemed figures of her authenticity and ability to communicate with the dead. Some stunning transcripts will be presented as well as pictures of Mrs. Piper in a trance and what automatic writing looks like.”

And about Eusapia Palladino: “Palldino’s early and later life will be discussed as well as some of the controversies which swirled around her. Evidence for telekinesis and materialization will be presented as well as the historical significance of these fascinating individuals.”

It’s this Friday, July 26th, 7:00 PM through 9:00 PM, at the Stedman Auditorium on the Duke Center for Living Campus 3475 Erwin Road Durham, NC.

The great thing is, especially since I posted about this so late, is you can sign up to watch it live from your computer.

More info here.