Films for a New Age – Experiments with Uri Geller (1972)

In the course of research I ran across this lovely advertisement from the Institute of Noetic Science offering universities and scientific research organizations the opportunity to rent the film created during the Stanford Research Institute experiments involving Uri Geller:

Noetic News – The Newsletter of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Vol. 1, Issue 1, November 1973 (1)

Just imagine (or remember) – there was a time when you had to be associated in some way with a university or research center, send a $100 deposit, wait for IONS to get your deposit, wait for IONS to process the request, wait for the film to come, arrange for a projector and room to watch the film and then send it back to IONS – rather than simply typing Uri Geller into a search engine and watching the footage at will:

Experiments with Uri Geller (Stanford Research Institute, 1972)

Now imagine what would happen if the ‘Geller Effect’ hadn’t been defused and tempered through a multi-decade campaign of organized skepticism:

“From the very beginning of Mr. Uri Geller’s appearance in Europe and the United States, strange phenomena have been reported by various individuals who witnessed Mr. Geller’s live demonstrations, or saw him on television, or listened to him on the radio. These reports stated that, on following Uri Geller’s instructions, they too were able to bend metal objects simply by stroking them and willing them to bend, without applying any physical force whatsoever. Other reports referred to clocks and watches, which have not been going for many years, starting to “tick” once again without the direct physical intervention of Uri Geller.

The reports also stated that in many instances the metal objects or watches reacted without being touched or stroked, and at a time subsequent to the broadcast or demonstration. It would appear that Uri Geller triggered off an inherent latent psychokinetic ability, on a hitherto unprecedented scale, in the population group that either saw him or listened to him. It is to this phenomenon that one refers as “The Uri Geller Effect.”

At the moment it is not possible to be certain whether the Uri Geller Effect is due to the psychic ability of Mr. Uri Geller alone or to the arousal of latent psychic powers within the individual who experiences the Uri Geller Effect.”(2)

–

(1) http://www.ebdir.net/enlighten/ions_newsletter_vol_1_no_1_11_1973_h.pdf
(2) The Uri Geller Effect, E. Alan Price, M.D. (South African Institute for Parapsychology, Johannesburg) https://www.urigeller.com/scientific-paranormal/the-geller-papers/the-uri-geller-effect/

Note: Link to the video for Experiments with Uri Geller courtesy of James Iandoli (Engaging the Phenomenon)