Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there (11 page)

Hydrick’s show-stopping demonstrations on
That’s Incredible!
caught Randi’s eye and he challenged the young psychic to perform his feats under more controlled conditions. In February 1981, the two of them crossed swords on another light entertainment television programme called
That’s My Line
. At the start of the segment host Bob Barker introduced Hydrick and asked him how he had developed his psychic powers. Hydrick seemed to forget about his time behind bars, explaining that a wise old Chinese man called Master Wu had taught him how to reach the fourth level of consciousness (which, it seems, also involved the ability to be highly economical with the truth about his alleged psychic powers). Hydrick then demonstrated his amazing pencil-moving abilities and the audience applauded. Next, Barker placed an open telephone directory on the table and Hydrick called upon the great operator in the sky to help turn the pages. After several aborted attempts, and 25 minutes of less than riveting television, he caused a page in the book to flip over.
 

In the second part of the segment, Barker introduced Randi, who unlocked a large trunk at the back of the stage and removed his secret weapon – a tube of Styrofoam chips. Randi scattered the chips all around the open telephone book and challenged Hydrick to again turn over one of the pages using the power of his mind. Randi explained that he suspected Hydrick had been turning the pages by secretly blowing on them and that if he tried this again the Styrofoam chips would go flying.

Under the watchful eyes of three independent scientific experts Hydrick tried to move a page. After 40 minutes of hand-waving and brow-furrowing, and with the audience getting increasingly hungry and restless, he admitted defeat. According to Hydrick the Styrofoam chips and studio lights were forming static electricity which was pulling the page down and disrupting his psychic performance. Both Randi and the panel of experts agreed that this sounded like total tosh. Hydrick was adamant that his feats were not due to trickery and again tried to move the page using his psychokinetic powers. Once again, his abilities deserted him. Barker, Randi and the independent panel gave Hydrick the thumbs down, and the audience finally got to eat.

Hydrick’s appearance on
That's My Line
was not a great career move. Although his most devout supporters might have been able to convince themselves that their hero was simply unnerved by the sudden introduction of sceptical observers and Styrofoam chips, most viewers came away with the distinct impression that Hydrick’s line was one of trickery. He knew that he needed a saviour. A man who could both promote his abilities and cleanse his public soul of alleged deception. Enter the third and final character in the story – Danny Korem; one-time magician, psychic investigator and self-professed Messianic Jew.

Psychic Puffery

Nowadays, Danny Korem is president of Korem & Associates, a company specializing in ‘rapid-fire on-the-spot behavioural profiling’. According to the company’s website, their unique training programme can help people accurately judge the motivation, personality and communication style of others in seconds. However, in the 1980s Korem was leading a somewhat different life.
 

Korem had gained a considerable reputation as a skilled magician and had, according to his current online resume, ‘read or reviewed over 10,000 books, manuscripts, and periodicals on deception’. He had also developed a keen interest in the paranormal and, like Randi, had written extensively about the tricks of the psychic trade. However, unlike Randi, Korem was a strong believer in God and had co-authored a book, entitled
Fakers
, to help people separate fake supernatural phenomena from the real stuff. (In one section, Korem writes: ‘As stated in Chapter 10, spirits of the dead cannot come back, because of the spiritual laws the Lord has set up’.
⁴⁵
.
 
)
 

In the first part of this genuinely informative but deeply odd book, Korem explains the psychological basis for lots of seemingly paranormal phenomena, including table-tipping, the Ouija board and fire-walking. In the second part he discusses ‘genuine’ supernatural phenomena, explaining, for example, that demons are scattered over the face of the planet and so may appear to be able to predict the future by drawing information from a great many sources (‘Angels were never given this power’). On a more down-to-earth level, Korem also offers practical advice to those trying to separate cases of genuine possession from instances in which a person requires psychiatric care (as Korem notes, ‘The key word is
balance
’).

Korem became fascinated with Hydrick and arranged to meet him. He decided not tell Hydrick about his background in magic
(
‘
Thou shalt not bear false witness’), and instead posed as a documentary maker keen to shoot a film about Hydrick’s life and powers. No doubt eager to recover from the damage inflicted by his appearance on
That’s my Line
, Hydrick agreed to be involved. After carefully observing Hydrick performing his page-turning and pencil-moving demonstrations, Korem became convinced that Randi was right: Hydrick was not using any form of psychokinetic ability but rather blowing on the objects in a highly deceptive and skilful way. Instead of confronting him straight away, Korem returned home and worked hard to duplicate all of Hydrick’s methods (‘Thou shalt not steal’). After much huffing and puffing, Korem felt ready to move onto the next stage of his cunning plan.
 

Korem asked whether he could film Hydrick exhibiting his powers. Hydrick agreed, and happily came along to a taping session and demonstrated his pencil-moving and page-turning abilities. Hydrick was then asked whether he would mind trying to transfer his remarkable powers to Korem. This was not a novel request to Hydrick. In fact, he frequently told people that he could bring out their latent psychic powers, and would then blow as the person moved their hands around the object, thus giving the impression that they did have abilities. Hydrick placed his hands above Korem’s hands and concentrated for a few moments. Korem then leant forward and used the power of breath to move a pencil. Hydrick looked confused and stunned.
 

Korem then arranged to interview Hydrick. Taking his life in his hands, Korem told the martial arts expert that he had figured out his methods and that the game was up. Hydrick calmly confessed all. He explained that as a nine-year-old he had seen an American magician named Harry Blackstone Junior, and became fascinated by the psychology of deception. Around the same time his father repeatedly locked him in a cupboard as a punishment for bad behaviour, and so he created the imaginary Master Wu to keep him company. Hydrick went on to admit that Korem and Randi were right – all of his supposedly psychokinetic demonstrations were achieved by air currents. (The only exception was the movement of the punchbags – that was due to them hanging from a metal roof that expanded under the heat of the sun.) Towards the end of the interview Korem asked Hydrick why he had felt the need to fake psychic powers. Hydrick explained that he longed for the attention that he didn’t receive as a child and, after a lifetime of being told that he was stupid, wanted to show that he was capable of fooling the world.

Soon after taping his confession, Hydrick was arrested for breaking and entering. He then escaped from confinement, was re-arrested, escaped again, and was re-re-arrested. Upon his release from jail in late 1988 he moved to California and soon attracted the attention of the police when he started to use his psychic stunts to befriend a group of young boys. When evidence of molestation emerged the police took action and issued a warrant for his arrest
⁴⁶
.
 
Hydrick fled, but then accepted an invitation to appear on a national television show and was subsequently recognized by an off-duty Californian police officer. Hydrick was re-arrested. Still unable to shake off his reputation as a psychic, the security guards driving Hydrick back to California became anxious when they thought he was using his supernatural powers to rock the van, and later warned prison staff not to look him straight in the eye because he might cast a spell on them. A few months after his arrest Hydrick was convicted on several counts of child molestation and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
 

In 2002 a British television programme listed the 50 greatest magic tricks in the world. Hydrick’s pencil and page-moving demonstrations came in 34th, beating Uri Geller’s alleged metal-bending by five places. 

BOX

THE PINOCCHIO TEST

Fake psychics possess an innate ability to deceive others. Take this simple test to discover whether you too are a natural-born liar
⁴⁷
.
 

Imagine sitting across a table from a friend. The following four cards are laying face up on the table in front of the two of you, but there is a barrier in front of one of the cards (in this case the one with the triangle on it) so that your friend can’t see it but you can.

The aim is to speak to your friend and tell them to pick up the card with the star on it (shown by the arrow), but without giving away any information about the hidden symbol. You are not allowed to mention the position of the card so you might say something like ‘Please pick up the card with the star on it’, and your friend would lean forward and pick up the correct card. Got the idea? OK, turn over the page and try the following five sets of cards.

Finished? The test revolves around your behaviour on the fourth and fifth sets of cards. Good deceivers naturally think about how any situation looks from another person’s point of view. On the fourth trial you were shown a small triangle and were asked to conceal the large triangle. However, from your friend’s perspective there was only one triangle – the small one. Therefore, if you said ‘Please pick up the card with the small triangle on it’, this will give your friend a clue that the hidden card has a large triangle on it. How did you perform? The same applies to the final set of cards. Did you ask your friend to pick up the card with the ‘square’ or the ‘small square’?

Try the test on your friends, colleagues and family to identify those with naturally deceptive tendencies!

END BOX

Fooling all of the People all of the Time

Magicians and fake psychics consistently deceive one of the most sophisticated, complex, and impressive evolutionary triumphs in the world – the human brain. They face a formidable foe. Brains have put mankind on the moon, helped rid the world of major diseases, and unravelled the origins of the universe. How, then do people like Hydrick deceive these finely-honed thinking machines?

Most magicians believe that the answer lies in their secret knowledge about how to fake the impossible, and so are fiercely secretive about their methods. However, as illusionist Jim Steinmeyer so eloquently put it in his book
Art & Artifice and Other Essays on Illusion
, they are guarding an empty safe
⁴⁸
.
 
In the same way that Hydrick blew on the objects in front of him, so the methods employed by magicians often amount to little more than sleight of hand, a rubber band or a concealed trapdoor. The real secrets of magic are psychological, not physical. Like most fake psychics, Hydrick employed five different psychological principles to transform the act of blowing into an alleged miracle. Each principle is designed to act like a wall that prevents people from entering the performer’s inner sanctum and finding out what is really going on. Understand the principles and you will understand how Hydrick and others have fooled the world.
 

The first all-important issue is selling the duck.
 

Selling the Duck
 

Imagine that you really like ducks. In fact, you don’t just like them, you adore them. You love the shape of their beaks, the silly ‘quack’ noise they make, you'd love a pet duck and you think it's cute the way your friends quickly lower their heads whenever you mention them. Now imagine that someone shows you the picture below.