Project Alpha: magicians infiltrate a university lab
🎓 Academic research
James Randi · Washington Univ’s McDonnell Lab ($500K grant) · USA, St. Louis · 1979–1983
Randi sent two teenage magicians posing as ‘psychokinetic kids’ who fooled researchers for 3 years by trickery; after the 1983 reveal the lab closed.
VerdictProved psi experiments without a magician are easily fooled.
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He Zuoxiu’s signed envelopes vs Zhang Baosheng
🎓 Academic research
CAS’s He Zuoxiu · ‘Science and Technology Daily’s Lin Zixin · China, Beijing · 1988-05-21
Faced with signed-sealed envelopes and nailed-shut pill bottles, Zhang failed everything and was caught switching.
VerdictAs in the Telekinesis entry.
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The experimenter effect (Wiseman × Schlitz)
🎓 Academic research
As in the Psychic Shield entry · UK · USA · 1997–2006
As above.
VerdictNull whenever a sceptic ran it.
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The decline effect
🎓 Academic research
Rhine (1930s) · Schooler’s ‘Nature’ commentary (2011) · USA · 1930s–2011
Effect sizes in parapsychology and psychology at large shrink with repeated experiments.
VerdictPublication bias and regression to the mean explain most of it.
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Randi & Geller on ‘The Tonight Show’ 1973
📜 On record
NBC · Randi advised on prop preparation · USA · 1973
On Randi’s advice the show supplied its own props and barred Geller’s team from touching them; Geller said he ‘didn’t feel strong’ and did nothing for 22 minutes.
VerdictA classic ‘nullification’ with a sceptic present.
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The Propaganda Dept ‘three-no’ policy & research shutdown
🏛️ Official record
CCP Propaganda Department (1982-04) · China · 1982–1999
On psi: ‘don’t promote, debate or criticise’; a mid-1990s wave of debunking followed, and official ‘somatic science’ research essentially ended after 1999.
VerdictNullification at the administrative level.
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