How to Test a Miracle

SI May June 2010 pgs_SI MJ 2010 3/26/10 9:23 AM Page 21 NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD M A S S I M O P O L I D O R O How to Test a Miracle few years ago, my colleague Luigi when Dr. Giorgio Gagliardi, a physician Preparing “fool-proof” containers (e.g., Garlaschelli and I were asked if from Milan, prepared two such wax- bags, envelopes, or boxes), which do not Awe would be interested in testing sealed containers: one was kept in his allow the subject access to the item con- a twenty-two-year-old mystic woman office and a second identical one was tained inside, has always been a challenge. who talked with the Virgin Mary and sent to Manduria, which was returned to However, preventing access to the item could create supernatural phenomena. him weeks later with some oil in it—still (e.g., by placing it in a steel safe) is prob- Debora Moscogiuri was a mystical seer sealed. Nothing had happened inside the ably not as important as making sure that living in Manduria (Taranto) in southern jar kept in Milan. Realizing that wax and the container is “tamper-evident,” mean- Italy. During ecstatic periods, she could tape seals are inadequate against tampering it is prepared in such a way that any supposedly see and receive messages from ing, Gagliardi asked us about secure, improper attempt to open it can be easily the Madonna, which she would then “tamper-evident” containers. detected. Special security items are now deliver to worshippers. Other phenomena used to this end. The old sealing wax, for were said to take place in and around the Evidence of Tampering example, has been replaced by self-adhe- seer’s home, including religious icons (pic- When testing psychic claimants, it is sive labels that show signs of physical tam- tures and statues) allegedly weeping sometimes necessary to allow the subject pering, such as attempts to peel it off or blood. As is usually the case, none of these to take some target material away from the application of heat or solvents. These phenomena had been carefully investi- the laboratory in order to try and obtain strips also carry unique identification gated or documented, nor were DNA a psychic effect on it in his home. Until numbers, used to determine when some- tests performed to ascertain the origin of a short time ago, the importance of one has replaced a strip with a duplicate the blood. using foolproof containers when con- after opening the container. In 1995 one of Mos cogiuri’s statues of ducting this kind of experiment was not the Virgin Mary allegedly began to drip fully recognized. Consider, for example, Sealing the Tubes olive oil. Sealed containers, such as small the naiveté with which some parapsy- Returning to our investigation of Debora bottles or jars, left in the proximity of the chologists investigated the claimed psy- Moscogiuri, Luigi and I confirmed with statue were later found to be partially chokinetic powers of children and Gagliardi that the kind of seals he had filled with oil. These had been tied with teenagers in the past. Since children and used could be easily opened and later ribbons, taped, sealed with wax, and teenagers were thought unlikely (or replaced. Therefore, we prepared a set of placed inside plastic bags. At Mos cogiuri’s unable) to cheat, they were too readily sealed test tubes as follows: a) an olive leaf request, some olive leaves were placed left alone with target material, such as was put into each glass test tube; b) the inside the bottles before they were sealed. spoons or pieces of metal to bend. Then, tubes were flame-sealed on a Bunsen This phenomenon was reproduced when bends were found in the material, burner, taking care not to scorch the leaf psychic investigators immediately as - inside; c) each tube was numbered in Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the sumed that some kind of psychic force several positions using a vibrating glass- paranormal, lecturer, and co-founder and was at work. Later investigations showed etching instrument; d) each tube was head of CICAP, the Italian skeptics these suppositions to be wrong, and checked for invisible gaps by holding it group. His Web site is at www.massimo now stricter controls are (or should be) under water (in such conditions small polidoro.com. used when testing psychic claims. air bubbles would escape from those SKEPTICAL INQUIRER May / June 2010 21 SI May June 2010 pgs_SI MJ 2010 3/26/10 9:23 AM Page 22 imperfectly sealed); e) the tubes were of flame (of the Holy Ghost) approach the the side, and the glass was deformed, weighed on a precision lab balance tubes and take one of them away, leaving leaving a large bubble. One tip was also (tared just prior to this operation), just seven (the number of the Virgin’s sor- slightly cracked. All three of these phials recording all digits within a milligram of rows). Later, there was speculation that contained traces of a black substance, precision; f) each tube was then pho- some of our tubes contained oil. and the leaf was partially or completely tographed with additional close-up Through the intermediacy of Gagli - carbonized. lenses to record the etched number and ardi and Civerra, we managed to get our It was quite apparent that some shape of the sealed tip, where the glass tubes back. We then examined them crude tampering had occurred, which had been melted. during a videotaped meeting attended by was indicative not of a miracle but, on When these tubes were slightly heat - both Gagliardi and Civerra. Afterward, the contrary, of some sort of fraud car- ed, the leaf inside gave off a few tiny all participants signed a statement of the ried out by somebody in Moscogiuri’s droplets of water. The general look was results. Civerra had put the tubes we had group. However, Civerra did not accept quite different from that of oil, the total prepared into a jar and then into a plas- our suggestion of fraud, claiming that he weight of course did not change, and the tic bag; each of these containers had been placed more trust in his own external droplets were re-absorbed after a few wax-sealed. For the reasons given above, days. Thus we decided not to worry we disregarded these extra security mea- wax seals and that any deformity in the about this detail. Each tube could then sures and requested that only our tubes tubes was due to the “Holy Ghost’s be identified by its weight and photo- be taken out and checked. It should be flame” in Moscogiuri’s vision. graph, and each was “tamper-evident,” as noted that when asked, Civerra admitted Despite Civerra’s claim, we concluded there is no way that glass can be melted that he had no way of verifying whether that such flame-sealed glass test tubes— and resealed exactly in its original shape. his wax seals had been tampered with prepared with the few simple control pro- Eight of these vials (numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and replaced. cedures described above—could actually 6, 7, 8, 10) were delivered to Mos cogiuri It turned out that: a) one of the eight be a useful tool in the hands of researchers through Gagliardi and Father Civerra, a tubes (number 3) was missing; b) tubes testing psychokinetic abilities. Catholic priest who followed the seer. We 1, 2, and 7 were intact and did not con- As for Debora Moscogiuri, it appears did not know the whereabouts of the sealed tain any liquid; c) tube 4 had a broken that she still claims to have visions and tubes, nor what was happening to them at tip that had produced a small gap, but periodically receive messages from the the other end of Italy. no liquid was present; and d) tubes 6, 8, Virgin Mary, but strangely enough, mate- and 10 contained a yellow viscous liquid. rializations of oil inside containers no Surprise, Surprise! A comparison with the photographs longer take place. ! Two notable events followed. We re ceived of the originals showed that the tips had news from Civerra, wherein he reported a been melted and resealed. The shapes of Acknowledgment mystical vision by Moscogiuri of the the tips were clearly different. One of This study would not have been possible Blessed Virgin: she had seen a large tongue the tubes had been tampered with on without the work of Luigi Garlaschelli. Announcing New Online SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Newsletter The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Features include photos, guest-authored articles from key magazine have created one more way for readers to keep up figures in today’s skeptical movement, introductions and suc- with news and events. The inaugural edition of the electroni- cesses of skeptics’ groups, reports from events and conven- cally delivered Skeptical Inquirer News (yes, SIN) launched tions, news of investigations, updates on developing stories, December 17, 2009. With this free monthly e-news publica- matters of concern to the skeptical community, legislation tion, CSI will keep readers updated on new material, activi- and policies to keep an eye on, links to media stories featur- ties, and events of interest to the skeptical community. ing CSI members, and more. To receive the free Skeptical Inquirer News, enter your address in the “E-Mail Updates” box in the left-hand column of the CSI homepage (www.csicop.org). 22 Volume 34, Issue 3 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER.

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