| On 30th
September 2007 Swadlincote Paranormal Investigations hosted an event at the
Bowling Green pub in Ashby De La Zouch. We used this as an opportunity to introduce a new experiment into our events in which the guests can take part in a test to find out their powers of extra sensory perception (ESP). The 29 participants on that evening took part in a variety of tests including the classic Zener cards which consist of 5 shapes. Circle, Cross, 3 Wavy lines, a box and a star. Each shape has a numerical value with the circle being made up from 1 line, the cross made of 2 lines, the 3 wavy lines and so forth. We also used traditional playing cards and 3 boxes containing objects for the guests to pick up on the contents of without viewing or touching them. Section 1 - ESP with Zener cards Five Zener cards were laid out on a table, the participant was to write down what they thought the sequence was using ESP. The actual sequence from left to right was Square, Star, Circle, Lines, Circle.
We also did spot tests with the remained of the cards where the event host Simon shuffled the pack and then picked a card at random, the participant was to write down that they thought the card was and then the actual result. This has been left out of this results page due to the possibility of changing the guessed shape reducing the scientific credibility. Section 2 - ESP with playing cards This test was carried out in the same way as Section 1 but this time we used traditional playing cards. An ace, a 10, jack, queen and king from the suit of diamonds. The main difference is that the participant was aware that there would only be 1 of each type of card. The actual sequence from left to right was queen, king, 10, jack, ace.
As with section 1 the highest score achieved was 3 out of 5 cards scored by 2 participants. Section 3 - ESP with 3 boxes We set up 3 boxes on a table each with an object hidden inside them. The participant was to pick up information on what the object was without being able to see it or touch it.
No one was 100% accurate with their description of the objects but I have decided to mention 2 descriptions which were arguably close. Other objects suggested by the participants included hat, scarf, book, mobile phone, jewellery and a snail. Section 4 - Psychometry Psychometry is the art of ascertaining important information about an object using extra sensory perception. It is a common way for mediums to train and improve their own abilities. The object we gave to people was a metal figure or a wizard. We asked the participant to name the participant which this belonged to. There was only 1 successful answer and the owner was Chris (Figure 1).
Section 5 - Remote Viewing Remote Viewing is an ability which is used to gather information regarding an object, place, person etc which is not physically visible, be it at a great distance or merely separated by a wall. One of the best known studies of this phenomenon was called the Stargate Project; this however was terminated due to lack of evidence and of the utility of the intelligence data produced. - Terminology page For this test we allowed the participants to see a map of the town and were told that there was an object we had placed in one of the buildings featured in the event. The actual location of the object was the Royal Hotel which no one was able to answer correctly. Analysis The highest score by any individual across the tests was 5 which was made up of 3 points on the zender cards and 2 points on the playing cards. While the score was not high enough to stand out as being the result of the participant's ESP ability it was the only score of 5 and so this person will be contacted and informed that they have earned themselves free tickets to our event in November at the Newton Park Hotel. Thank you to everyone who took part in this test, if you come to more events with us then we would appreciate it if you had another attempt. |
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Fig
1. Chris