SI Jan Feb 2012 NEW_SI new design masters 11/14/11 12:12 PM Page 5

[ NEWS AND COMMENT

Allegations against ‘’ Sally Generate Storm of Bad Publicity for British

CHRISTOPHER C. FRENCH

Ironically, British psychics didn’t see it coming. They have recently been on the receiving end of a veritable storm of negative publicity following allegations that Sally Morgan, who describes her- self on her website as “Britain’s best- loved psychic,” may have been caught using a fraudulent technique to con- vince her audiences of her mediumistic ability. The allegations began September 12, 2011, when a caller named Sue phoned into the Liveline show on RTÉ Radio 1, an Irish radio station. Sue reported that the previous evening she had been to see Morgan in action at the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. She had been seated at the back of the theater on the fourth floor and had initially been im- pressed by the psychic’s performance. However, as the second half of the show started, Sue became aware of a man’s voice coming from an open window just behind her, from a small room (“like a projection room”). She realized that m o c

whatever the male voice said, Morgan s w e N /

repeated on stage about ten seconds t o h s

later. An usher at the theater realized o t o h P

what was happening and quietly closed / I F L /

the window. The voice was not heard e n i a w

again. Other callers supported Sue’s ac- S

f o e

count (visit http://bit.ly/qDlcuJ to listen G to the radio show). Sue believed that the mystery voice plying Morgan with information. Sally month. Following his exposure, Popoff was feeding information to Morgan via Morgan Enterprises also denied that went bankrupt in 1987—but he is now a hidden earpiece attached to her mi- the medium was being fed information back, earning even more than he was in crophone headset. She further specu- during the show. the 1980s. lated that this information may well Most readers of this magazine will The allegations relating to Sally Mor- have been gathered from audience immediately spot the similarity be tween gan initially received very little coverage. members by accomplices of Morgan en- these allegations and the case of Peter The Irish Independent ran the story on gaging people in conversation as they Popoff, the fraudulent faith healer ex- September 13 (see http://bit.ly/mPoi5x), queued up before the show began. posed by James Randi back in 1986. but it looked like that would be the only Given that this is a standard technique Popoff claimed that he was receiving in- coverage the story would get and most of used by fraudulent mediums, this is not formation about members of his audi- Morgan’s fans would probably never even an unreasonable speculation. ence directly from God. In fact, his wife hear about the allegations. I thought that The theater’s general manager was relaying the information to him via the story merited wider exposure, so I claimed that the voice heard by Sue and his “hearing aid.” At the time, Popoff contacted Ian Sample of to other audience members belonged to was fleecing his poor, sick followers to see if he would like me to write the story two theater employees and was not sup- the tune of around $4 million per for the Guardian’s online science pages.

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Ini tially, he wasn’t keen on the grounds none other than Uri Geller to put his tion that the announcement was in- that he didn’t want to give free publicity powers to the test in our laboratory in tended as a scare tactic to try to stem to psychics. I persuaded Ian by pointing order to win Randi’s Million Dollar Prize the outpouring of bad publicity that has out that I thought it was a good idea to (http://bbc.in/npV4MB). Uri’s response? been directed against British psychics in give psychics as much bad publicity as we (Sit down, dear reader—this may come general and Morgan herself in particu- could. My article, posted on September as a shock!) He refused. lar. If that was the intention, the tactic 20, 2011, generated more comments than appears to have failed. For example, any other piece I’ve written for the it was subsequently reported that a Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/science/ video on Morgan’s own website clearly 2011/sep/20/psychic-sally-morgan- shows her removing an earpiece as she hears-voices). comes off stage after one of her shows I do not have psychic powers, so I Most readers of (http://bit.ly/qXAke6). make no apology for not foreseeing this magazine will Simon Singh has published a piece what would happen next. I tweeted immediately spot the about my article and a few dozen people in the Guardian explicitly inviting Mor- retweeted it. Others also tweeted about similarity be tween these gan to resolve the controversy by prov- it, including Simon Singh, Richard allegations and the case ing her claims of psychic ability under Wiseman, and James Randi. The media of Peter Popoff, properly controlled conditions (see http://bit.ly/nUENUg). He is collabo- picked up on the story and within four the fraudulent faith days several British newspapers had rating with Merseyside Skeptics (www. already run articles strongly critical of healer exposed by James merseysideskeptics.org.uk) and my own psychics in general and Sally Morgan Randi back in 1986. Anomalistic Psychology Re search Unit in particular, including the Telegraph (www.gold.ac.uk/apru) to design a suit- (http://tgr.ph/opcWIg), Ex press (http:// able test of Morgan’s claims. Alterna- bit.ly/rpVUyc), and the Daily Mail tively, Morgan can work with us to de- (http://bit.ly/reTW3s). There is a cer- vise a suitably well-controlled protocol tain irony here, as such newspapers that suits her. So far, she has not replied often run stories that are little more On Friday, October 7, 2011, it was to our invitation. You don’t need psychic than gushing endorsements for the lat- announced that Sally Morgan had in- powers to foresee that the negative pub- est psychic superstar. structed Atkins Thomson, a London licity for “possibly-not-so-psychic Sally” There has also been a great deal of dis- law firm experienced in matters of will continue for quite a while! n cussion regarding this case and fraudulent media law, to “commence libel action in psychics in general on local and national relation [to] various articles in the Christopher C. French is the head of the Anom- radio. I have personally done several in- press.” As of the time of this writing alistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths terviews on the topic, as has science (October 23, 2011), it remains unclear College, University of London. He is a fellow of writer Simon Singh. I think my favorite against whom any such action would be the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and editor moment was listening to Singh challenge directed. Indeed, there is some specula- of The Skeptic (United Kingdom).

First Case of Spontaneous Human Combustion? JOE NICKELL As reported by BBC News Online (Sep tember 23, 2011), an Irish coroner has officially declared a seventy-six-year-old man to have died of “spontaneous combustion.” The body of Michael Faherty of Ballybane, Galway, Ireland, was discovered severely destroyed on Decem ber 22, 2010. Faherty’s remains were found lying “with his head closest to an open fire- place”—yet, without ex plaining themselves, firefighters con- cluded that that obvious source of ignition was not involved. Galway coroner Ciaran McLough lin then concluded, apparently using the process of elimination, that the death must have been caused by spontaneous human combustion (SHC) “for which,” he says, “there is no adequate explanation.” In fact, the coroner’s ar-

6 Volume 36 Issue 1 | Skeptical Inquirer SI Jan Feb 2012 NEW_SI new design masters 11/14/11 12:12 PM Page 7

[ NEWS AND COMMENT

Russians Confirm Existence of Yeti—But for How Long? Benjamin Radford

Russian researchers participating in a and news reporters suggested that a Yeti conference looking for the Yeti—the had finally been captured alive, though Asian version of the North American the proclamation turned out to be pre- Bigfoot—claimed to have found “in - mature: embarrassed officials eventually disputable proof ” of the long-sought admitted it was nothing more than a mystery beast in October. The Yeti is said mangy civet—a small, cat-like animal to be muscular and covered with dark native to the region. grayish or reddish-brown hair and is be- So what is this new, indisputable lieved to weigh between 200 and 400 proof? Apparently some gray hairs found pounds. The Yeti is supposedly relatively in a clump of moss in a Russian cave. Ac- short compared to Bigfoot’s ten to twelve cording to a spokesman for the Ke- feet, averaging only about six or seven feet merovo region in western Siberia, “Dur- m o

in height. Despite dozens of expeditions ing the expedition to the Azas skaya cave, c s w e N

into the remote mountain regions of conference participants gathered indis- / A P E /

Russia, China, and Nepal, the Yeti’s exis- putable proof that the Shoria mountains A H T S

tence remains unproven. are inhabited by the ‘Snow Man.’ They E R H S

Could the new find be true? This is found his footprints, his supposed bed, A R D N

of course not the first time searchers and various markers . . . which the Yeti E R A have claimed strong, or even indis- uses to denote his territory.” N putable, proof of the Yeti. In 2007, It’s not clear why, if the researchers American television channel host and explorer Josh Gates displays an alleged footprint of the mythical American television show host Josh were certain that the Yeti had recently snow man “Yeti” at his hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal. Gates claimed he had found three mys- used the cave, they didn’t simply set up terious footprints in snow near a stream cameras to record the creature—or wait cave. In fact, the event seemed more of a in Nepal’s Himalayas. Locals were skep- for it to return to the cave, where it could media circus than a scientific expedition tical, suggesting that he simply misin- be trapped and captured alive, offering when former Russian heavyweight boxer terpreted a bear track. No follow-up in- conclusive proof of the Yeti’s existence. Niko lai Valuev recently toured the cave formation ever emerged, and the Gates Some Russians view the announce- “searching” for the Yeti, to great media at- track, once touted internationally as ment with considerable suspicion and tention. All new evidence of Bigfoot and strong evidence of the Yeti, is now , suggesting that the sudden Yeti should be carefully and scientifically largely forgotten. discovery is a publicity stunt to in crease analyzed; however, if history is any guide, In 2010 a strange, nearly hairless an- tourism in the impoverished coal-mining this latest Yeti discovery will soon fade imal was captured by hunters in the region. So far it seems to have worked, as away, leaving the creature’s existence in Sichuan province of China. Research ers hundreds of people have come to tour the question.

gument is a classic example of faulty logic called “an argument function like a wick, absorbing melted body fat to fuel more burn- from ignorance”: basically, “we don’t know, therefore we do know.” ing to destroy still more tissue—a cyclic process known as Certainly, we cannot explain one unknown by invoking another. the Wick Effect. In this manner the body is consumed over time Questioned about the case by CBS News’s online Health Watch at a relatively low temperature that may have little effect on sur- (Septem ber 27), I noted that the Irish authorities seem unaware roundings. of the scientific research into alleged SHC—not a single case of In researching the purported phenomenon, forensic analyst John which has been confirmed by mainstream science. In typical F. Fischer and I investigated thirty historic cases and pub lished the cases victims are impaired by age, infirmity, or drugs and so are results in an arson investigation journal, as well as in my Secrets of more likely to have an accident and are less able to respond ef- the , 1988, pp. 149–57. (See also my “Not-So-Spon - fectively to it. A spark dropping from smoking materials or pro- tan eous Human Combustion Deaths,” SI, November/December pelled from a fireplace may land on the clothes, smolder, 1996, and Mark Benecke’s “Spon taneous Human Combustion: and burst into flame. As the victim succumbs, his clothing may Thoughts of a Forensic Biologist,” SI, March/April 1998.)

Skeptical Inquirer | January / February 2012 7 SI Jan Feb 2012 NEW_SI new design masters 11/14/11 12:12 PM Page 8

iPhony Cures May Have Cost Apple’s Steve Jobs His Life

GARY P. POSNER

Quack medical cures posted on the In- ternet seduced one of the world’s great- est visionaries into delaying surgery for a potentially curable disease, possibly costing him his life. In the recently published Steve Jobs, biographer Walter Isaacson unveils many heretofore hidden details sur- rounding the life and death of the notoriously guarded genius, whose in- novative “i” (standing for “Internet”) gad getry has revolutionized the way hu- manity interacts in work and play. Jobs’s gaunt appearance in 2003 led to much public speculation about his health. It was not until the following year that he underwent surgery to re- m

move a cancerous tumor from his pan- o c s w creas, and his subsequent liver transplant e N / A P

in 2009 seemed a last-ditch effort to sal- E / Y E V

vage a few additional months or years of A D

. M

life from one of the most uniformly A C I N

deadly of all diagnoses. O M But the type of cancer that Jobs had— an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor— assumption that he could will things to joy” nine months earlier when the nee- often offers a far more promising prog- be as he wanted.” dle biopsy results had unexpectedly of- nosis than does the typical pancreatic One relatively benign example: Jobs’s fered far more than a mere glimmer of adenocarcinoma. Whereas the latter al- belief that he needn’t bathe more than hope that their patient might survive for most uniformly leads to death within a once per week when adhering to a strict the long haul. But the hiatus may have year of discovery, Jobs’s cell type, which fruit-and-vegetable diet, which he often provided the window of opportunity for comprises only 5 percent of cases, can did even as a teenager. A less benign his malignancy to spread—three liver carry a greater than 50 percent chance for one: that what Penn Jillette would term metastases were found. Jobs’s ensuing cure if treated in time. “He was lucky,” “NewAge (rhymes with ‘sewage’)” ther- chemotherapy, which worked amazingly writes Isaacson, “that it was detected so apies might prove as effective as the well for a time, was uniquely targeted to early—as the by-product of a routine kid- dreaded knife in ridding his body of can- his tumor cells, thanks to his having ney screening—and thus could be surgi- cer. From the book: “Specifically, he kept “become one of the first twenty people cally removed before it had definitely to a strict vegan diet, with large quantities in the world to have all the genes of his spread.” of fresh carrot and fruit juices. To that cancer tumor as well as of his normal Jobs fancied himself a lifelong skep- regimen he added acu puncture, a variety DNA sequenced.” tic—for instance, he abandoned Chris - of herbal remedies, and a few other treat- The price tag for that procedure ex- tianity at age thirteen when his pastor ments he found on the Internet or by ceeded $100,000, a drop in the bucket couldn’t explain to his satisfaction why consulting people around the country, in- for a billionaire. Jobs’s magical mystery God allows famine to claim the lives of cluding a psychic.” (de)tour through the world of iPhony innocent children. But his skepticism After such “alternative” therapies cures may have ultimately proven far seems to have been mostly directed to- failed to magically effect a cure, Jobs fi- more costly. n ward the conventional rather than the nally capitulated to the pleadings of . As Isaacson puts it, “In the physicians and family that he undergo Gary Posner, MD, is founder of Tampa Bay Skep- past he had been rewarded for what his surgery. His wife described for Isaacson tics and a CSI scientific consultant. His website wife called his ‘magical thinking’—his “her husband’s doctors tearing up with is www.gpposner.com.

8 Volume 36 Issue 1 | Skeptical Inquirer 8 Volume 36 Issue 1 | Skeptical Inquirer