I know, I know. I really shouldn't.
But somehow I must.
Yes, I just have to make a few comments about the latest posts by Victor Zammit. It's wrong, and I know it, but I am weak and lacking in self-control.
Zammit, as you may recall, is the Australian lawyer who has a Web site devoted to the afterlife. I used to think of him as sort of an ally, in as much as we both write online articles presenting evidence for life after death and other paranormal phenomena. But I made the "mistake" of questioning the protocols in some materialization seances in which he participated. He does not take criticism kindly, it appears, even when the criticism is intended to be constructive.
Well, he is still sitting in on these seances with medium David Thompson and still announcing their "world shattering" results. Here's some of the latest news:
MS. CAMILLA PERSSON, SWEDISH PSI INVESTIGATOR SITS WITH DAVID THOMPSON : we had a great many people from around the world wanting to participate in David Thompson’s materialization experiments. Because of technicalities, at the moment this can’t be done but may be possible later when David will be on tour in the future sometime.
That's nice and specific, isn't it? Investigators "may" be invited to attend the seances "in the future sometime," but for the present such an option is ruled out "because of technicalities."
I'm glad that's clear.
One special concession was made to a psi investigating lady from Sweden who stated among other things that she a [sic] psychic investigator and an author.
I would have thought, given the groundbreaking nature of these phenomena, that someone rather more prominent in the field of psi research might have been invited - Dean Radin, say, or Charles Tart. A Google search for "Camilla Persson" + "psychic" turns up no relevant hits.
She sat with us last Sunday and witnessed these world shattering events taking place. She witnessed the precaution we take to prevent fraud – tying the medium with one-way tags, gagging the medium, putting some ten seals on David.
One-way tags (otherwise known as flex-cuffs) are also routinely used to tie up Colin Fry, another materialization medium and a friend and sometime business associate of David Thompson. Despite these restraints, Mr. Fry was once caught in flagrante delicto when the lights came on unexpectedly, revealing that he had extricated himself from the cuffs and was simulating the levitation of a trumpet by holding it in his hand.
Escape artists have ways of, well, escaping. That's their job.
The room had one window, the window was blocked and physically impossible to open because of obstacles placed near it. There was one door, that too was sealed.
None of which matters in the slightest if the conman is already in the room, especially if he is in the companyof an accomplice. Zammit doesn't tell us who tied and gagged Mr. Thompson, but in another seance (not conducted by Zammit) it was Thompson's wife who did the honors, and who then sat next to him in the dark. Is the same procedure being followed here?
Ms Persson met William, who has been dead for over 100 years. He materialized, walked over to where she was, held her face in affection and talked to her in a clear, strong, resonant voice. ‘Jack’, one of William’s team materialized, walked over to Ms Persson and shook hands with her and also talked to her, using strong voice.
So two male figures, one at a time, walked to Persson in the dark and talked in a strong voice. Why doesn't Thompson materialize any female spirits?
It was a spectacular experience not only for Ms Persson, but for all of us. Others materialized too: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Louis Armstrong - now regular visitors; Gandhi – who is still having some problems vocalizing when fully materialized and little Timothy who handles the ectoplasm.
Hello, little Timothy!
Ms Camilla Persson also witnessed the father of one of the sitters from the afterlife coming through - giving his daughter an apport - an exquisite jewelry (butterfly). These were all convincing not only beyond reasonable doubt, but absolutely!
Cool. Zammit is absolutely convinced, which means you should be, too.
Ms Persson was quite ‘shocked’ by the sensational results. She talked to, touched even smelled the materialized entities – saying all had a different smell, different voices, different attitudes, different interests and different priorities.
Now if this isn't proof, I don't know what is. The entities "all had a different smell." Not to mention different voices, attitiudes, interests, and priorities! No actor could pull off a series of impersonations like that - especially in total darkness! Color me persuaded.
In another report on what is apparently the same seance, Zammit tells us,
The medium gagged, was tied down to his chair by way of ten ‘one way’ straps and some twelve seals.
It's too bad the medium gagged. I hope someone was there to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Oh, wait, I think there should have been a comma: "The medium, gagged, was tied ..." That's better.
Notice that earlier there were ten seals (see above) and now there are twelve. It's this kind of meticulous attention to detail that makes Zammit's reporting so reliable.
We had a couple of surprises: 1) the brother of the visiting Swedish guest materialized and gave Ms Persson a piece of paper with a message for her in Swedish- none of the sitters speak or can write in the Swedish language. He tried to speak, but he had no experience with speaking through ectoplasm – he did say a few words- enough for Ms Camilla [sic] to recognize it very likely was her brother.
Wow, the spirit gave her a note in Swedish! Question: Did Thompson or his wife or any of his close friends know that a visitor from Sweden was going to be at the seance? Because, you know, it might be possible to come up with such a note in advance. That might also explain the spirit's difficulty in talking. It's easier to write down some Swedish than to learn how to articulate it well enough to fool a native speaker.
Another entity materialized stating it was that brilliant jazz New Orleans musician Louis Armstrong. After he sang What A Wonderful World he walked over to where I was sitting. After a very brief conversation we shook hands – I was in jazz music myself in my younger years. His voice was identical to the voice we know of how he sounded when he lived on planet earth: his voice sounded deep, Southern, very resonant, uniquely friendly, Armstrongique intonation, with the same pace, rhythm, pitch, with a lot of feeling and with that peculiar Louis Armstrong nuance in his communication.
Could a skilled mimic imitate the voice of a famous singer? Why not go to Las Vegas and find out?
I cannot guarantee it was Louis Armstrong himself, but prima facie, his voice, using Audacity software gives us a clue that yes, it could very well be Louis Armstrong.
As I've previously pointed out, Audacity (a bare-bones freeware program) cannot be used for voice comparison.
I do absolutely guarantee that I did shake hands with a materialized entity which more likely than not was Louis Armstrong. We need more time. We are diligently working on empirically identifying these etherians.
Well, I do absolutely gaurantee that Zammit shook hands with somebody. Whether or not it was "a materialized entity," a.k.a. an etherian, is another matter.
Having recounted the world-shattering seance, he proceeds to give us this gem:
WHY DON'T YOU ATTACK YOUR ATTACKERS VICTOR? My comment: Why should I? My attackers are closed minded skeptics - which means they are losers and defeatists. Attackers and debunkrs [sic], especially those who are a 'nobody', 'non-entities' - only attack those who are perceived to have value.They attack the charismatics. They attack the successful - such as Allison Dubois, John Edward, James Van Praagh and others. These debunkers are trying to get some spark in their miserable boring lives.
It's good to know that Zammit never attacks his critics. I was under a somewhat different impression, since he has posted the following about me:
... a non- entity, a nobody, someone who is colossally ignorant, without debating skills is trying to attack me on the Internet. He tries hard to be funny, but he’s as funny as frog. Of course he cannot debate the facts, he descends to his familiar place somewhere where he finds himself at home throwing mud. Mr.Prickott, stay down there where you belong and leave the thinking to those who can. For those who come across him, just ignore him. He’s nothing. He’s a nobody. He’s a loser and a defeatist.
I guess this was not an attack, after all!
Anyway, in explaining his policy of not criticizing his critics, Zammit continues:
But notice very varefully [sic], they NEVER attack my objective evidence for the afterlife because they now admit my objective evidence for the afterlife just cannot be rebutted. Instead they try to throw mud!
Notice very varefully carefully that I have criticized the objective evidence offered in David Thompson's seances, on prior occasions and today. For instance, I have pointed out that Audacity cannot be used to back up Zammit's claims. A professional-quality voiceprint analysis system is needed. Similarly, allowing Thompson's wife to secure him (if this is what's being done) and to stay in the room with him, in the dark, is an obvious violation of the most elementary precautions against deceit. This isn't throwing mud; it's stating a fact.
Hitherto, no scientist, no debunker, no skeptic - just no one has been able to rebut the classic objective evidence for the afterlife - if they could they would - and beat my $1,000,000 challenge!
His $1,000,000 challenage is as phony as Randi's, but in a different way. Zammit is asking his critics to prove a negative, which logically cannot be done. In the case of the Thompson seances, he's demanding that critics "duplicate" Thompson's act. Whatever Thompson is doing, it takes skill and practice. I could no more duplicate his feats than I could duplicate Penn & Teller's magic act - but that doesn't mean Penn & Teller are using paranormal powers.
Finally, someone asks Zammit if negative psychic energy can be directed at another person. Zammit responds that this is possible (which, I think, is probably true), and adds some sage advice:
NEVER, under any circumstances indulge in negative energy!! There is the Law of Cause and Effect – what you send unto others, will eventually return to the sender. You have been warned!
Hmm. Negative energy like, say, this?
... they are losers and defeatists. Attackers and debunkrs, especially those who are a 'nobody', 'non-entities' - only attack those who are perceived to have value ... These debunkers are trying to get some spark in their miserable boring lives.
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