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What makes Uri Geller tick?
Israeli mind-over-matter wizard Uri Geller will
tour Australia in March. His claims to bend
spoons and forks, stop or start watches by sheer
will-power have baffled scientific investigation.
By PHILIPPA
DAY BENSON,
in New York
DAN Uri Geller twist
letal with his will? I
Iwhim bend a fork on
(evisionand 1 believed
Mid millions ot viewers
nt live audiences in the
lofted States and Europe
ft are fascinated by the
t-year-old Israeli psychic
uperstar.
For the past three years,
(fences ha\e been flocking
o see this handsome. 6ft 3in
inner paratrooper perform
BIS of telepathy, clairvoy
oce, and psychokinesis,
foch my dictionary defines
c "The production of
»lion. espe( ¡ally in inani-
mé and remote objects, by
kc exercise of psychic
were."
Keys curl, spoons and
»ks twist when Uri strokes
km. Broken watches start
lick. In Munich, Germany,
ith journalists and
Biographers in tow. he
tertedh stopped a cable
II in mid-air by sheer
incentration. stilled a
loving escalator the same
When he met Dr Wernher
un Braun, the father of the
pace Age. he split the
intisfs we ling ring in
io by staring at it.
Sceptical"? You're not
lone. While bending spoons
-and credibility - on the
iiertainmen! circuit. Uri
idler has heci nie the centre
(considerable controversy
?the US.
Many call him a fake.
(By, though impressed
nih his telepathic feats, are
optical of his alleged
Ifiokinetic skills.
Detractors >>tTer various
'planations of his
wal-bending 'powers." It's
lass hypnosis of his
*nce.a Defence Deparl
"ni psychologist says.
He bends metal with his
after distracting his
"knee, suggests the Great
,ldl- a professional
"arian.
Hw some scientists have
R" taking Uri Geller
my.
"nether he has psychic
*e's. as he claims, or
he's a brilliant
^.Australians will have a
Unce to decide, as he tours
"»ntry in March.
W often begins his
"wmance with a
*°nstration of telepathy.
llask a volunteer (usualíy
Pretty girl) l0 write a name
'color - ur a city - on a
Aboard.
"«ping his eyes averted,
* ihe audience to
M ,1.
but not always - he gets
their message.
Then he may demonstrate
psychokinesis by asking
someone to bring him a
broken watch, having the
owner hold it. and putting
his hand over their's.
Sometimes the watch
starts ticking - sometimes it
doesn't.
He often tries, on stage, to
bend metal objects - though
he won't guarantee success.
He's candid about the fact
that his powers are not
always with him. "Unlike
magicians, it doesn't always
work for me. So what - if it
doesn't work, it proves I'm
real." he says.
With equal frankness,
he's admitted having in-
dulged in a few tricks, along
the wav. to increase his fame
and fortune. (Can't a chap be
true psychic and a magician,
too?)
Geller says the mental
attitude of his audience is
crucial to his performance. If
people are with him. all sorts
of things happen. If they
aren't, little may occur.
On the "tonight" TV
show he wasn't able to
accomplish much. He tried
to detect. telepathically,
which of ten metal film
cannisters contained water
and he tried to bend nails -
and he couldn't do either.
But on the "Merv Griffin
Show" - the one I watched -
things did happen.
Geller's audiences aren't
ls he a messenger from Outer Space
or just a topflight showman?
usually disappointed. He s so
good-looking, so earnest, so
tentative, so seemingly
modest and sincere, you
want him to succeed. He
seems genuinely disappoint-
ed when things don't work
out.
Uri Geller was born in
Israel on December 20. 1946.
He first became aware of his
psychic powers, he sacs,
when he was seven years old
and noticed, in school, that
he could make the hands of
his wristwatch move when he
wanted them to. He told his
parents about it. but they
weren't impressed.
From the age ol' ll to 17,
he lived with his family in
f\ pms then li nn ned to
Israel to join the army as a
paratrooper.
His first job in civilian life
was export manager for a
textile firm.
In 1970. to supplement his
income, he decided to give
performances- to small
audiences, showing off his
psychic skills, and by the end
of 1971 he was famous in
Israel.
His passport to
international fame was
furnished by Dr Andrija
Puharich. a New York
physician, who had been
investigating psychic claims
for many years.
Studying Geller at a
laboratory near Tel Aviv.
Puharich became convinced
of the young man's unusual
powers. He enlisted the help
of physicist and ex-astronaut
Edgar Mitchell, who had
conducted ESP experiments
on the moon during the
Apollo mission in 1971.
Mitchell, who now runs
an institute for the study of
psychic phenomena, raised
the money to bring Uri to the
US and also arranged to
have Uri tested at the
Stanford Research Institute,
one of the nation's most
notable "think-tanks."
Geller spent six weeks al
the Institute. with the
following published results.
Precognition: He predict-
ed the throw of dice eight
times in a row. Stanford puts
the odds against this at a
million to one.
Clairvoyance: He guessed
12 times without error which
one of ten aluminium cans
contained objects, at odds of
a trillion to one.
Telepathy: SRI research
ers selected line drawings
from a locked sale and
mentally "transmitted" them
to Geller. He drew almost
exact reproductions seven
times in a row.
Psychokinesis: Geller
reportedly deflected a
calibrated laboratory balance
under ajar without touching
it. He also perturbed a
magnetometer. a device
measuring magnetic fields,
through apparent force of
will.
Stanford has refused to
accept Geller's ability to
bend and break things with
his will because, to do so. he
has to touch them.
But the two physicists
who conducted the tests.
none Help
Un Geller: Energy from
Outer Space, he says.
Harold Puthoff and Russell
Targ. reported: "We have
observed eertain phenomena
for which we have no
scientific explanation. Furth-
er investigation is clear!)
warranted."
The influential science
magazine "Nature" carried
the researchers' report, which
concluded that Geller has at
least some of the powers he
daims. The magazine
carefully dissociated itself
from the findings, saying it
carried the report to spur
further inquiry.
But another physicist,
Joseph Hanlon after a
two-month investigation of
Geller and the SKI
experiments, criticised the
controls and wrote, "No
matter how good they are as
laser physicists. Russell Targ
and Hal Puihoff are no
match for Uri Geller."
Controversy doesn't faze
Uri. who says that he is now
being studied by leading
scientists throughout the
world. He mentions that, at
the University of London's
Birkbeck Laboratories he
triggered a Geiger counter lo
500 times its normal count.
The US Naval Ordnance
laboratories have been
studying his influence on
metal, particular!) on nitinol.
a recently-invented alloy
which behaves totally
opposite to its built-in
characteristics under the
"Geller-effeet." he sa\s.
adding: "I'm working with
some of the top scientists in
the world and soon the
planet will be blanketed with
scientific papers. Then
everyone will have to admit
that these psychic powers
exist.
"1 believe that there are
other dimensions and other
universes and this energy
that comes through me is
coming from another
universe . . . and that it is
sent to me for a purpose.
"If people on earth will
accept the fact that there are
other intelligences out there.
I believe these energies will
come here very soon. There
will be many red faces on
that day. many red faces."
But Uri isn't giving any
definite answers a's to the
source of his psychic powers.
People will have to wait and
read his autobiography, "Uri
Geller: My Story." which
he's now writing.
The man who does offer
the answers is Dr Puharich.
now Uri's friend and mentor.
Puharich believes thal Uri
is here as an ambassador
from extraterrestrial intelli-
gences inhabiting a spaceship
called Spectra - stationed
53.069 light years away to
prepare mankind for the
powers' eventual takeover of
our planet.
A computer on Spectra,
called Phombus 4 D gave
Puharich permission to wrote
his book called "Uri." which
was published last year, he
says.
Bul. one way or another,
we're bound to hear more
about Geller.
A major film of his life is
now being planned by
Australia's Robert Stigwood.
who produced "Jesus Christ
Superstar."
Geller's audiences don't
seem to mind whether he's a
messenger from Outer Space
or a very fine magician. He's
a charismatic fellow, and his
performances are intriguing.
His first appearance is at
Newcastle's Civic Theatre on
March 6: then Sydney Town
Hall. March 7: Brisbane City
Hall. March 8: New Concert
Hall. Perth. March 15:
Apollo Theatre. Adelaide.
March 18: and Melbourne
Town Hall. March 19.
$