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Did a psychic see my future? No, it wasn’t in the cards…

11/18/2014

 
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by Ken Biddle


On a cold Sunday afternoon, I walked the streets of New Hope, PA with my wife and a close friend. Along with browsing the many shops, my wife enjoys visiting one of the local psychics, to sit for a tarot card reading. The Yellow Pages lists three psychic shops, and her choice for today was Readings by Edith. I agreed not only to accompany her, but to sit for my own reading.  

I’m not a fan of psychics, but I’m not going to discount someone’s claim without allowing them to demonstrate what they believe they can do. Maybe they really can do what they say they can do.

We arrived for our 1:30 appointment and were greeted by Robert, the son of Edith. He explained that he comes from four generations of psychics, and they run the longest running psychic shop in the area (34 years).  He has been a medium for 27 years. In addition to the $30 fee for a tarot card reading, we could ask additional questions at $5 each. 


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Instant paranormal: The ubiquitous use of camera apps

10/19/2014

 
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Here is another piece on paranormal photo investigation by Kenny Biddle. Elementary and middle school educators will be interested in this piece as an example of how to think about possible hoax photographs and developing a protocol for examining and investigating extraordinary claims. 

By Kenny Biddle 

“Ghost Cam Apps” are smart phone applications that place fabricated images of ghosts, aliens, and monsters in actual pictures. There have been cases in which a group or individual attempted to pass off an image from a ghost app as a genuine ghost – even using a “ghost” that is extremely well-known throughout the paranormal community.

Smartphones – they have become an essential part of many of our everyday lives, as much as the keys to our home and vehicle, our wallets or our purses. Their big claim to fame, besides processing power, is the almighty “app”. For the paranormal enthusiast, there’s an overabundance of “ghost hunting” related apps - from ghost cameras that offer a gallery of “ghosts” you can insert into any image, a “radar” that supposedly scans the area and pinpoints otherworldly entities, and even random word generators that supposedly interpret messages from spirits (no, they do not). Currently, there are well over 250 ghost related apps available for Android-based phones available for free or up to $4.99.

Based on the number of hoaxed images circulating on the internet, ghost apps “ghost cameras” are popular. Like other apps in this category, “ghost cams” (as they’re popularly known) make use of your phone’s camera and a gallery of images containing ghosts, aliens, monsters, soldiers, kids, demons, and so on. You snap a picture as you normally would, then are given the option of choosing an entity to insert into the image. You are also given customizing options such as where to place the ghost, rotating it, flipping it, adjusting transparency, and even the ability to erase parts of the ghost! Unsuspecting friends and family unfamiliar with ghost cams, photography, or some of the more famous ghostly images in the history of paranormal investigation can easily be fooled. Hoaxed images are presented with false sincerity by the hoaxer. And make no mistake; these are deliberate actions to deceive.



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    SWIFT is named after Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels. In the book, Gulliver encounters among other things a floating island inhabited by spaced-out scientists and philosophers who hardly deal with reality. Swift was among the first to launch well-designed critiques against the flummery - political, philosophical, and scientific - of his time, a tradition that we hope to maintain at The James Randi Foundation.

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