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February 16, 2005
Natalya Demkina's X-ray vision
As I saw on Channel 4's Monday-night broadcast of the documentary Bodyshock, teenager Natalya Demkina's ability to diagnose illness with her X-ray eyes mysteriously dissolves when she is prevented from interacting with the subject. Dr Chris Steele, ITV's resident MD, is nonetheless impressed.
10 year-old Natalya Luvova accepts James Randi's million-dollar challenge to prove she has parapsychological powers, and fails.
Both Natalyas are preceded by a long tradition of Russian psychic claims: Alla Vinogradna and Ninel Kulagina are discussed in this article by Massimo Polidoro.
Polidoro writes: "For years, psychic research in the USSR, owing to the aura of secrecy that surrounded it, has been regarded as some kind of myth. It was said, for example, that the Russians were far ahead in parapsychological discoveries and that the West had better invest more in the field to avoid a "psi-gap"." This was the CIA's incredible response to the threat of Soviet psychic warriors.
Posted by michele at February 16, 2005 7:56 PM