i was just watching an episode of unsolved mysteries about dannion brinkley (http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/psy_dannion_brinkley.htm) who became a psychic after being hit by lightning and having a near-death-experience.

i just wondered- why hasn't unsolved mysteries asked a psychic for help solving one of their unsolved cases? for example, while doing the story on dannion brinkley, why not just ask him to solve a few unsolved missing persons cases? and even if they can't solve it (for whatever reason) how about just pointing them in the right direction by giving us some more clues? like tell a psychic the amy bradley story and then ask them where to check next.

has anyone else wondered this? i don't get why we're supposed to believe their psychics if they can't help the very show airing their story.

There is not one recorded case in any police jursidiction in the world of a crime being solved by a psychic.

These people are at best deluded and at worst, actively fraudulent. Most however, are merely attention seeking narcissists, desperate to feel like a hero and add some excitement to their humdrum lives. The fact that they may hinder police investigations and cause added grief to victims families doesn't factor into their considerations.

I really wish UM never paid them any attention, they really hurt the credibility of the show - even more than Resurrection Mary! :lol:

There is not one recorded case in any police jursidiction in the world of a crime being solved by a psychic.

would you like to try again?

http://akorra.com/2012/07/27/top-10-mysterious-police-cases-solved-by-psychics/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Browne


I really wish UM never paid them any attention, they really hurt the credibility of the show - even more than Resurrection Mary! :lol:

how about the UFOs, loch ness monster, crop circles, missing gold in los angeles, bigfoot or mothman? :crazy:

would you like to try again?



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Browne


:

From your cited source (above)

Although Browne has made many public predictions, scientific skeptic James Randi says her accuracy rate has been no better than educated guessing. Among her claims were:
That Bill Clinton was falsely accused in the Lewinsky scandal – proved incorrect.
The cure and prevention of breast cancer by the end of 1999
That Bill Bradley would win the 2000 U.S. presidential election with the Reform Party coming in second– neither event occurred.
The "hiding in caves" of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein – Hussein was found in a "spider hole" in the ground near Tikrit and Osama bin Laden was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The death of bin Laden – later revealed by the Central Intelligence Agency and by his 2011 killing, to be incorrect.
A guilty verdict in the 2005 child molestation trial of Michael Jackson – Jackson was acquitted of all charges.
Browne claimed on a February 26, 2003 episode of The Montel Williams Show that kidnapped child Shawn Hornbeck had been killed by a Hispanic man with dreadlocks. Hornbeck was later found alive. He had been kidnapped by Michael Devlin, a Caucasian man with short hair
That Amanda Berry was dead. Browne told the girl's mother in a 2004 episode of The Montel Williams Show that "She's not alive, honey". Amanda Berry escaped from her kidnapper and was found alive on May 6, 2013.

Janet McDonald, an author of books for young adults, describes her experience receiving a psychic reading via phone, for which she paid Browne $700. Browne predicted a "really long life" for McDonald, who died of cancer at 53, just over four years later

On September 3, 2001, Browne stated on Larry King Live that she would accept the James Randi Educational Foundation's $1,000,000 challenge to demonstrate supernatural abilities in a controlled scientific test. In 2007, Randi stated that Browne had not contacted him and no longer wished to reach him.

A January 2007 episode of Anderson Cooper 360° featured Linda Rossi, Browne's business manager for 35 years, and James Randi. Randi proposed a test where Browne would provide readings for ten sympathetic people, each of whom would then identify their own reading among the ten. Rossi declined on Browne's behalf
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

A detailed three-year study of her predictions about missing persons and murder cases by Ryan Shaffer and Agatha Jadwiszczok for the Skeptical Inquirer found that despite her repeated claims to be more than 85% correct, "Browne has not even been mostly correct in a single case." :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think Sylvia Browne is one of the worst examples and a definite fraud.

While I wasn't too impressed with a lot of the psychics featured on UM, I did like Dorothy Allison and it seems clear that a couple of detectives were very impressed with things she said and she brought comfort to certain families, such as the parents of the murdered teenage girl in helping identify where her body was. Dorothy's obituary mentioned that she was not accurate most of the time, however, I think what's most important is that some people received comfort from her (and if I recall correctly, she did not charge anyone for her assistance).

As for these psychics solving UM crimes, they did bring back Nancy Myers to help solve a double homicide case they were airing. However, her information did not lead to the crime being solved.

Tell you what - I invite anyone who believes in psychics to provide me with a link to a credible media source which demonstrates a psychic conclusively predicted the 9/11 attacks prior to their occurring ( and no general nonsense about " a great tragedy will befall the the US in the new millenium", I mean a specific prediction about a massive terrorist atttack on NYC, involving planes around about when it happened ) and I'll come back on here and admit I'm wrong.

A detailed three-year study of her predictions about missing persons and murder cases by Ryan Shaffer and Agatha Jadwiszczok for the Skeptical Inquirer found that despite her repeated claims to be more than 85% correct, "Browne has not even been mostly correct in a single case." :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

police still seek her help. not sure if she's credited in their report. my question was not whether or not they've solved crimes, but why unsolved mysteries profiles them, expects us to believe they've solved crimes, yet they don't help um solve their own mysteries.

btw: http://www.noreenrenier.com/

I remember that incident with Sylvia Brown claiming Amanda Berry had died but then she was found alive 9 years later. Unfortunately Amanda's mom pass away before she was found, and a lot of people contribute her death to her thinking her daughter was dead via Sylvia's false prediction.

I completely agree with isotope; the police need to stick to proven and scientific methods of finding people.

While I understand that some psychics can be comforting to some people such as grieving parents, I’ve never believed in them. Sure the stories are interesting, but I personally think theyre just really good at reading body language. That’s just me though : ) I don’t think law enforcement can really use them because face it, most of the time psychics are full of it.

Is b/c no person has ever proven to have psychic abilities not reason enough?

Sylvia Browne is a disgusting person.

The police simply seeking the help of so-called psychics does not equal validation of their abilities.

The one case where Sylvia Browne really struck lightening was The Ski Mask Rapist, where Browne correctly predicted he worked for the government, and under the streets.

The one case where Sylvia Browne really struck lightening was The Ski Mask Rapist, where Browne correctly predicted he worked for the government, and under the streets.

A broken clock is still right twice a day.

A broken clock is still right twice a day.

:clap:

Speaking of Sylvia Browne, here's an interesting website about her that I actually found two days ago: Stop Sylvia Browne (http://stopsylvia.com/home/)

The website was last updated in 2010 and Sylvia passed away in November 2013. However, the stories about her "predictions" are interesting.

Holly Krewson's mother talked to Sylvia Browne on Montel Williams' show in 2002. (Remember that Holly went missing in 1995.) Sylvia told Mrs. Krewson that Holly was alive and in Los Angeles. Mrs. Krewson spent many weekends looking for her daughter in Los Angeles. However, it was later revealed that Holly's remains had been found in 1996. It took them 10 years to identify her!
Montel: Holly Krewson Reading (http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_hollykrewson.shtml)

I remember that incident with Sylvia Brown claiming Amanda Berry had died but then she was found alive 9 years later.

It was the same thing with Shawn Hornbeck. Sylvia Browne told his parents that he was dead, but he was found alive 4 years later.

I'm going to steal this from Christopher Hitchens but if you gave Sylvia Browne an enema you could bury her in a matchbox. Good riddance.

She is clearly a con preying on grieving families. There are numerous examples and the forbidden site has some excellent coverage.

I do believe that there are "psychics" that honestly believe they have some ability to see events either in the past or future that they have no knowledge of. This has been tested and tested again and everyone has failed every well done test of their abilities.

Sylvia Browne made a lot of money off of vulnerable people. Now her son is doing the same.

There will always be marks out there. It is what keeps these parasites in business.

I'm going to hope that no one on this message board is stupid enough to defend a lying assclown like Sylvia Browne, but just in case they are, I have one question: What comfort was the family of Opal Jennings supposed to draw from her reading? (http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_opal.shtml)

:mad:

Yeah, wondering if I should add Sylvia Browne to my "Burn in Hell" list. Before anyone judges me for having such a list in the first place, one, it's not actually written down, and two, it's a very short list.

While I agree with pretty much everything you've all said re: psychics and preying on vulnerable individuals, I do think the Dannion Brinkley prediction was (in Robert Stack voice) in-cred-ible. He absolutely nailed the description of the individual. Knowing quite a bit about that case, I have to discredit any explanation of "oh, the guy was the likely suspect." No, he really wasn't. Police have been very upfront about the fact that if the murderer hadn't confessed to a classmate that the crime would have been unsolved.

I also thought Phil Harris was believable. He was the PI who heard David Chase speak to him in a dream and say, "My name is David Chase. I was murdered." He worked with the wife for the paltry sum of $1. He theorized that David was murdered by his friend. I think he was right on the money, although I don't think he was ever convicted.

I totally agree with the comments that police need to have tangible evidence to convict someone of a crime. I also agree that Sylvia Browne is a horrible human being.

I also agree that Sylvia Browne is a horrible human being.

was. She died just recently.

was. She died just recently.

I'm gearing up to cry over that one. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

While I agree with pretty much everything you've all said re: psychics and preying on vulnerable individuals, I do think the Dannion Brinkley prediction was (in Robert Stack voice) in-cred-ible. He absolutely nailed the description of the individual. Knowing quite a bit about that case, I have to discredit any explanation of "oh, the guy was the likely suspect." No, he really wasn't. Police have been very upfront about the fact that if the murderer hadn't confessed to a classmate that the crime would have been unsolved.

I also thought Phil Harris was believable. He was the PI who heard David Chase speak to him in a dream and say, "My name is David Chase. I was murdered." He worked with the wife for the paltry sum of $1. He theorized that David was murdered by his friend. I think he was right on the money, although I don't think he was ever convicted.

I totally agree with the comments that police need to have tangible evidence to convict someone of a crime. I also agree that Sylvia Browne is a horrible human being.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4BeWRddAjc

http://www.examiner.com/article/dannion-brinkley-blinded-by-the-lies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4BeWRddAjc

http://www.examiner.com/article/dannion-brinkley-blinded-by-the-lies

I'm not talking about his life-after-death story. I never actually bought that it happened. I just assumed it was a hallucination from his brain losing oxygen. I was referring to his murder suspect description in 1993. Dead on.

However, as wiseguy said, even a broken clock is right twice a day. :)

I also thought Phil Harris was believable. He was the PI who heard David Chase speak to him in a dream and say, "My name is David Chase. I was murdered." He worked with the wife for the paltry sum of $1. He theorized that David was murdered by his friend. I think he was right on the money, although I don't think he was ever convicted.

I agree. This is one of the most far-fetched cases on UM...yet Phil Harris seems credible. I don't know how Phil could have known about the clothing being cut off, the broken neck, etc. before that was public knowledge. Like you said, he didn't try to get a bunch of money out of it. He seemed...so genuine, even while logic says that this kind of thing doesn't happen.

It's a bummer he didn't live long enough to be interviewed on UM or help solve the case. I think the "friend" is totally guilty. It's a shame they weren't able to pin the crime on him. The fact that he changed his story so many times is suspicious. The least they could do is pin him with a lesser charge, considering he claimed that he walked away after David "fell" in, and didn't report it...isn't that technically a crime in itself? I guess you could shed some light on that, LookslikeCRicci. ;)

I'm not talking about his life-after-death story. I never actually bought that it happened. I just assumed it was a hallucination from his brain losing oxygen. I was referring to his murder suspect description in 1993. Dead on.

However, as wiseguy said, even a broken clock is right twice a day. :)

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there on this case but I found one article-

Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont said detective Mike Sward took the call from the security chief who said he had some vague information about a student talking about a killing in the area.

Sward determined the information concerned the Bosco murders and referred the security chief to the state Criminal Investigation Bureau, Dupont said.

He said Sward also called the CIB with the information.

Two investigators from CIB, Ward McKay and Arlyn Greydanus, went to Oregon on Dec. 6 to follow up the lead, said Lake County Sheriff Joe Geldrich.

Geldrich said Clark told friends about the crime and the friends reported it authorities.

Antoinette Bosco, the mother of John Bosco, said she spoke with a psychic several weeks ago about the murders.

She said the psychic predicted the murders would be solved in December and that the murderer was someone who did jobs around the house.

She said the psychic said the murderer was “someplace out west” of Montana and “that he was just a young kid.”

So it seems the case was actually solved because like many criminals he couldn't keep his mouth shut. There is no mention in this article of the cops working with this guy, just a grieving mother desperate & likely upset the case wasn't moving along as she wanted consulting a psychic for help & no independent verification he actually came up with anything. Also is she into this kind of stuff? As a true believer she would be even more likely to be pushing this angle.

What you find in these cases is the psychics make vague statements & then people & sometimes the cops retrofit the clues to give credit where really none is due.

I'll dig a bit deeper, but if I recall from the UM segment, he predicted the kid was "slight" and had "dark hair." He also said he was somewhere "west of Montana" and possibly at a "small college."

All of those were true.

I don't think I ever said Brinkley was working with the police. I apologize if that was somehow implied in my previous statements. I believe he was working with the family, specifically the deceased's mother. I don't think his information led to the arrest of the murderer. I just found the coincidences between the reading and the actual arrest pretty amazing.

EDIT: From the unsolved.com website: Dannion was also asked to consult on a brutal murder case. On August 12, 1993, in Big Fork, Montana, John and Nancy Bosco had been shot to death, execution style, as they slept. The police investigation turned up absolutely no leads. Two months later, John's mother Toni met with Dannion.

Dannion described the killer as a slight-built young man with black hair who knew John and the layout of the house. Dannion said that the man was in a college somewhere in the West, but predicted that he would be arrested in the very early part of December.

Incredibly, Dannion was correct on all counts.; 18-year-old Joseph “Shadow” Clark was arrested in December, and later convicted. Just as Dannion predicted, Clark had lived in the murder house, had known the Boscos, and was attending college in the West.

I'm going to steal this from Christopher Hitchens but if you gave Sylvia Browne an enema you could bury her in a matchbox.

Not a bad line. Very good, actually. I had mixed impressions of Christopher Hitchens. For such a big talent too bad he wasted so much energy defending certain actions about a decade ago. And if Sylvia Browne needed help removing materials from her backside, Hitchens made very poor choices regarding input on the front side. Likely contributed to his early demise, by his own account.

In fairness to psychics, I'm worried that this new wireless era could be messing with their signals.

Sylvia Browne was a disgusting human being. She was a total fraud. She always preferred at her events to talk about peoples "spirit guides and their names" Obviously, because nobody could call her on her lies if she talked about the BS. She was convicted of fraud and that's why she added an "e" at the end of her last name following the conviction years prior.

The only one I like was Dorothy Alison? from UM (spelling). She didn't charge police or investigators for her assistance and seemed genuinely concerned about wanting to help the victims. I think taking no money says a lot of somebody. Whether or not you believe in physics, at the very least they were trying to help and not take financial advantage of the victim. However, if even those stories of the guy missing who took the train home and disappeared but was later found in the river is true, its amazing. The bow and arrow and in water but after leaving work? It seemed amazing. I definitely believe energy never dies and there is something to it but what I have no idea and couldn't even begin to speculate.

I will say I think that most "physics" on TV frequently or who are constantly in the media are frauds and money hungry.

Let me clarify, I'm not a "believer" in physics , into supernatural topics, and I'm not even religious but I do think there are somethings that we will never fully understand. I will say Sylvia Browne was a fraud and a morally corrupt person. I think most "famed" psychics are. However, I am not egotistical enough to think that we quite know how everything in this universe works.

I'll dig a bit deeper, but if I recall from the UM segment, he predicted the kid was "slight" and had "dark hair." He also said he was somewhere "west of Montana" and possibly at a "small college."

All of those were true.

I don't think I ever said Brinkley was working with the police. I apologize if that was somehow implied in my previous statements. I believe he was working with the family, specifically the deceased's mother. I don't think his information led to the arrest of the murderer. I just found the coincidences between the reading and the actual arrest pretty amazing.

I wasn't sure-often the psychics claim they are working closely with the police & the police say it is bs when asked.

Problem is people will give psychics information via cold reading without even knowing it-like was somebody in the house doing work for them, age of person, appearance of person etc.

It is also very possible he just used logic-young people are often the ones doing robberies, being young they are often going to college & need to pay fees & books etc, dark hair-well it is either dark or light so you have a 50/50 chance-if he said the perp had one green eye & one brown & had red hair & it was true that would be impressive, west of Monana-well that is a pretty big area & as usual for psychics very vague & easy to attribute as a hit if it turns out to be the case.

Really if you have psychic abilities you should be very specific-yet there is never any detail. Bereaved widows always get don't blame yourself, I am in a good place etc, never anything useful like the winning lottery numbers or what shares to invest in & when to sell them-I guess those spirits have nothing better to do than pop back to talk to some random conduit to pass on bland things the other person already knew like they love them, or tell people the dead person is near an unspecified stretch of water.

Sylvia Browne was a disgusting human being. She was a total fraud. She always preferred at her events to talk about peoples "spirit guides and their names" Obviously, because nobody could call her on her lies if she talked about the BS. She was convicted of fraud and that's why she added an "e" at the end of her last name following the conviction years prior.

The only one I like was Dorothy Alison? from UM (spelling). She didn't charge police or investigators for her assistance and seemed genuinely concerned about wanting to help the victims. I think taking no money says a lot of somebody. Whether or not you believe in physics, at the very least they were trying to help and not take financial advantage of the victim. However, if even those stories of the guy missing who took the train home and disappeared but was later found in the river is true, its amazing. The bow and arrow and in water but after leaving work? It seemed amazing. I definitely believe energy never dies and there is something to it but what I have no idea and couldn't even begin to speculate.

I will say I think that most "physics" on TV frequently or who are constantly in the media are frauds and money hungry.

It is worth remembering that many psychics actually do really believe they have special powers even though they are happy to cheat a little bit.

Financial motives are not the only motives, also many want to feel special/feed their egos.

Sure these things seem impressive on first glance-but let us not forget UM is an entertainment show designed to draw ratings for a network with an interest in keeping things mysterious.

http://www.cicap.org/new/articolo.php?id=101007

http://www.livescience.com/7130-sketchy-skills-psychic-sleuth.html

http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/the_atlanta_child_murders_evidence_vs._psychics/

Let me clarify, I'm not a "believer" in physics , into supernatural topics, and I'm not even religious but I do think there are somethings that we will never fully understand. I will say Sylvia Browne was a fraud and a morally corrupt person. I think most "famed" psychics are. However, I am not egotistical enough to think that we quite know how everything in this universe works.

We will likely never know how everything in the Universe works-we are constantly finding new things out & reevaluating the things we thought we knew 100% as new evidence comes to light with new technology.

However it comes back to the adage of extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence & the total lack of psychics to back up their claims-they never stand up to proper study or scientific experiments with controls on them.

All we have had thus far is cold reading, hot reading, as many names/details thrown at the wall where people remember the odd hit that falls perfectly within the laws of probability you would expect & people forget about the 90-95% of misses in that same reading & very vague information rather than specific details.

I wonder about this topic too. I mean, it would be nice, but I think there are a lot of people who are just fantastic cold readers (some might not realize this is the seat of their "special powers"). But I always try to keep an open mind.

Anyone know about Noreen Renier? She says LE should view a psychic as another tool in their kit, and that police solve cases, not physics. She seems to have an aura of legitimacy, but as we all know, this profession has a long legacy of charlatans.
http://www.noreenrenier.com/

As I said, I'm not necessarily a believer in psychics but wasn't it Einstein that said "energy never dies?". Yes, I know UM was a format for entertainment and I always take that with a grain of salt.

I wonder about this topic too. I mean, it would be nice, but I think there are a lot of people who are just fantastic cold readers (some might not realize this is the seat of their "special powers"). But I always try to keep an open mind.

Anyone know about Noreen Renier? She says LE should view a psychic as another tool in their kit, and that police solve cases, not physics. She seems to have an aura of legitimacy, but as we all know, this profession has a long legacy of charlatans.
http://www.noreenrenier.com/
She may be the only alleged psychic that I liked on the show. When I was a kid naturally I was more drawn to the paranormal cases and that aspect hooked me on UM. I thought she made a good point at the end of her segment when she said she used her brain. I think most detectives have to use their mind sort of like a psychic would to solve cases. So for that reason I think many detectives may have been open minded in that regard. I think you have to be careful when mixing alleged psychic ability with law enforcement as we saw in one segment when a wrongfully accused committed suicide. And there is that aspect that they may be in the business of personal gain. But there were interesting cases where law enforcement relied on unexplained paranormal tips to solve their cases.

Of course UM was for entertainment, but I think it stood out as a show that dealt with real mysteries that had no known explanation.

Any investigation of the supernatural or paranormal has to be fair in the sense that any supposed psychic expert should be allowed to give his or her 2 cents.

For the record....I have not met or seen a single person in my life who had real psychic ability.

It was at its best dealing with murders & missing people etc. When it got involved with stuff like psychics, rain boy, objects coming out of peoples eyes etc it lent heavily towards promoting a supernatural theory over rational explanations-skeptics might or might not appear & if they did they would usually get a very brief edited down statement.

As I said, I'm not necessarily a believer in psychics but wasn't it Einstein that said "energy never dies?". Yes, I know UM was a format for entertainment and I always take that with a grain of salt.
Good point I bumped this because I was laughing at some
Of the psychic reinacting jobs lately. Noreen Renier is my favorite. I don't believe in it and I think it is educated guesswork that helped solve cases. I like William rolle too. Always quick to look for that electro-magnetic field to explain away a ghost. Electromagnetic energy is great.

I think it is deeply regrettable that a discussion on the credibility of Sylvia Browne has hijacked this discussion on psychics on Unsolved Mysteries. As far as I know, Sylvia was never profiled on the show. It is my personal belief that Sylvia may have had some talent in early in her career and then went "Hollywood", became a star, and through her arrogance, lost her connection and found her gifts were diminished. I saw her on a television show and was repulsed by her behavior and the things she was telling people - at times she seemed cruel.

I don't include her in the same category as Noreen Renier or Dorothy Allison, two of the psychics profiled on Unsolved Mysteries. And while I think there is good reason to be healthily suspicious of anyone who claims they have gifts in this area, there are other people who are so skeptical that they won't acknowledge that there is clearly something mysterious going on when Allison found the missing boy who drowned, or Renier described the elderly couple who were shot in their home or the business woman who was kidnapped. In Renier's case, the police don't ask for your help on close to 400 cases if you are some crackpot who speaks to your dead cats from beyond the grave.

I don't know why it is hard to believe that some people have an ability to hone in on a vibration or frequency and get information that others of us are unable to. It would be inconceivable for most people in 1750 to imagine what we are able to do with our iphones, Skype, downloading and all kinds of other technology. Just because they might not have thought you could dial a number in NY and hear someone's voice in England, doesn't mean that it wouldn't become possible one day. I suspect that years from now, people who have gifts in this area like Allison, won't be so exotic and rare and "mysterious" as they continue to be now.

And while there are people, no question, who are narcissistic and greedy (I think Browne became both at the end of her career), I personally have had experiences that I can't logically describe - I'll leave it at that. When it happens to you, it is not as easy to dismiss. And I'm not talking about the random "I see a tall dark stranger" but names, places and dates. I love that this show gave a forum for people like Renier, who I believe have been helpful to police. No one should be convicted because of a psychic - but if you watch the episode with Renier, I though it was amazing that not only did she come up with details the police hadn't told the public, but the composite drawn from her psychic description, I thought, looked more like the guy that was eventually caught then the composite done by someone who actually WITNESSED the crime. That's pretty incredible and I have a great respect for her gifts, at least what was displayed for the program. Even if some skeptics believe the show gave her information - the man she described to the criminal artist during the segment hadn't been caught yet and was revealed in a later UM update.

It would be ignorant for someone to accept just anyone who walks in the door as says I'm psychic and there must be professional standards. But what bothers me is that some people find it really "hip" to just dismiss and hate on ALL psychics and psychic ability - beyond healthy skepticism. I find this a lot with men (I'm a man, by the way) who will even dismiss what we call "women's intuition", or connections between family members.

I had an experience once, while traveling in a foreign country, where I went to bed and dreamt that my sister was speaking with a police officer. I was concerned and called her as soon as she was awake in the US. She confirmed that someone had broken into her car, and she had been speaking to an officer when she filled the report. I can honestly say, I had never made that call to her before in my life or since, and that was the first time she'd had that experience. Yet, I woke up that morning in Europe knowing that she had dealt with the police. This isn't earth shattering psychic police work, but I think it is something to note, and to consider, perhaps to study, and that extends beyond simply coincidence.

At some point, doesn't it become another kind of ignorance to see that something obviously is happening beyond our understanding and act as if NOTHING is there and they are ALL liars? I'd like to acknowledge the ones with talent, and I find that missing, overall, in this thread.

I think it is deeply regrettable that a discussion on the credibility of Sylvia Browne has hijacked this discussion on psychics on Unsolved Mysteries. As far as I know, Sylvia was never profiled on the show. It is my personal belief that Sylvia may have had some talent in early in her career and then went "Hollywood", became a star, and through her arrogance, lost her connection and found her gifts were diminished. I saw her on a television show and was repulsed by her behavior and the things she was telling people - at times she seemed cruel.

I don't include her in the same category as Noreen Renier or Dorothy Allison, two of the psychics profiled on Unsolved Mysteries. And while I think there is good reason to be healthily suspicious of anyone who claims they have gifts in this area, there are other people who are so skeptical that they won't acknowledge that there is clearly something mysterious going on when Allison found the missing boy who drowned, or Renier described the elderly couple who were shot in their home or the business woman who was kidnapped. In Renier's case, the police don't ask for your help on close to 400 cases if you are some crackpot who speaks to your dead cats from beyond the grave.

I don't know why it is hard to believe that some people have an ability to hone in on a vibration or frequency and get information that others of us are unable to. It would be inconceivable for most people in 1750 to imagine what we are able to do with our iphones, Skype, downloading and all kinds of other technology. Just because they might not have thought you could dial a number in NY and hear someone's voice in England, doesn't mean that it wouldn't become possible one day. I suspect that years from now, people who have gifts in this area like Allison, won't be so exotic and rare and "mysterious" as they continue to be now.

And while there are people, no question, who are narcissistic and greedy (I think Browne became both at the end of her career), I personally have had experiences that I can't logically describe - I'll leave it at that. When it happens to you, it is not as easy to dismiss. And I'm not talking about the random "I see a tall dark stranger" but names, places and dates. I love that this show gave a forum for people like Renier, who I believe have been helpful to police. No one should be convicted because of a psychic - but if you watch the episode with Renier, I though it was amazing that not only did she come up with details the police hadn't told the public, but the composite drawn from her psychic description, I thought, looked more like the guy that was eventually caught then the composite done by someone who actually WITNESSED the crime. That's pretty incredible and I have a great respect for her gifts, at least what was displayed for the program. Even if some skeptics believe the show gave her information - the man she described to the criminal artist during the segment hadn't been caught yet and was revealed in a later UM update.

It would be ignorant for someone to accept just anyone who walks in the door as says I'm psychic and there must be professional standards. But what bothers me is that some people find it really "hip" to just dismiss and hate on ALL psychics and psychic ability - beyond healthy skepticism. I find this a lot with men (I'm a man, by the way) who will even dismiss what we call "women's intuition", or connections between family members.

I had an experience once, while traveling in a foreign country, where I went to bed and dreamt that my sister was speaking with a police officer. I was concerned and called her as soon as she was awake in the US. She confirmed that someone had broken into her car, and she had been speaking to an officer when she filled the report. I can honestly say, I had never made that call to her before in my life or since, and that was the first time she'd had that experience. Yet, I woke up that morning in Europe knowing that she had dealt with the police. This isn't earth shattering psychic police work, but I think it is something to note, and to consider, perhaps to study, and that extends beyond simply coincidence.

At some point, doesn't it become another kind of ignorance to see that something obviously is happening beyond our understanding and act as if NOTHING is there and they are ALL liars? I'd like to acknowledge the ones with talent, and I find that missing, overall, in this thread.

Except Allison did not find the boy, you should be able to find Joe Nickell's books on psychics & ESP reasonably cheaply on Amazon-he goes into great detail about the antics of her, Browne & Renier & others.

As far as I know, Sylvia was never profiled on the show.
She was briefly interviewed in the Moss Beach ghost segment, but thankfully the focus wasn't on her.

I don't know why it is hard to believe that some people have an ability to hone in on a vibration or frequency and get information that others of us are unable to. It would be inconceivable for most people in 1750 to imagine what we are able to do with our iphones, Skype, downloading and all kinds of other technology. Just because they might not have thought you could dial a number in NY and hear someone's voice in England, doesn't mean that it wouldn't become possible one day. I suspect that years from now, people who have gifts in this area like Allison, won't be so exotic and rare and "mysterious" as they continue to be now.



At some point, doesn't it become another kind of ignorance to see that something obviously is happening beyond our understanding and act as if NOTHING is there and they are ALL liars? I'd like to acknowledge the ones with talent, and I find that missing, overall, in this thread.

There's a complete difference between "psychic" powers that can't be proven, and technology. Everyone can witness and experience technology, whereas no on else can see these "psychic powers". It's like when preachers claim that they talk to God. He never talked to me, so should I believe them?

I understand a lot of people have premonitions, and dreams where something comes true, it happens to me, but it's not what I would call "psychic powers". Its cool for people to claim that they're psychic in their own homes, but bungling investigations, and misleading families for a quick buck is scum material. Most are scam artists who get lucky at best. That's all.

It's not ignorant to not believe in psychic powers. I don't. If my child went missing I'd rather spend the extra time searching, rather than hiring someone to speak in tongue backwards to a shoe with their eyes closed. It's not wrong for you to believe in them, but to call others "ignorant" for not believing in something they have no evidence in is foolish.

There's a big difference between a lady sniffing my cats butthole and claiming she knows where my lost child is V.S. dreaming that you ate a piece of cake, and your job served cake later that day.

There's a complete difference between "psychic" powers that can't be proven, and technology. Everyone can witness and experience technology, whereas no on else can see these "psychic powers". It's like when preachers claim that they talk to God. He never talked to me, so should I believe them?

I understand a lot of people have premonitions, and dreams where something comes true, it happens to me, but it's not what I would call "psychic powers". Its cool for people to claim that they're psychic in their own homes, but bungling investigations, and misleading families for a quick buck is scum material. Most are scam artists who get lucky at best. That's all.

It's not ignorant to not believe in psychic powers. I don't. If my child went missing I'd rather spend the extra time searching, rather than hiring someone to speak in tongue backwards to a shoe with their eyes closed. It's not wrong for you to believe in them, but to call others "ignorant" for not believing in something they have no evidence in is foolish.

There's a big difference between a lady sniffing my cats butthole and claiming she knows where my lost child is V.S. dreaming that you ate a piece of cake, and your job served cake later that day.
Your post, and the contempt that it shows for any claims to psychic ability, makes my point.

I'm not sure what you would do if your child was missing, but if you had no leads and someone like Dorothy Allison had some suggestions, I seriously doubt that you would hang up the phone up on her. While she didn't walk investigators to the missing boy and the girl who was found in the well, the clues that she offered police, I believe, were more than a coincidence. In fact, as I recall, the father had looked in the area where Dorothy said the girl would be found and because of Dorothy's reading, he went back and looked again, found the numbers or words that would painted on the rock beside the well where she was, etc. This is different than just saying, "She's runaway" or "I feel her energy." And it's not reading a cat's butthole. Whatever you think of Dorothy Allison, as she doesn't charge anything and offers her time, I think her work deserves more respect than that and it seems she brought that family some peace.

What also encourages me to believe are the segments when a hard-boiled, "I don't have time for bull****" police officer works repeatedly with some of the people profiled. These officers, usually men, seem like some of the most hardcore skeptics, they really don't have time to waste, and yet some of them are genuinely amazed. The fact that they go back and ask for more help suggests to me that they see something there, or they wouldn't waste their time. Just like you wouldn't go back to a doctor or dentist who had no idea what he or she was doing.

It's useless arguing with people about this - it's like arguing about faith on some level. But I much prefer Robert Stack and the tone of the show- no one says don't think critically, but he offers it as a possibility - which is why it is an "unsolved mystery." The ignorant part isn't the skepticism, it's watching the cases where its seems something is going on that we may not understand - unless you are convinced that the show and Stack were lying - and still saying, it is all just junk. I would love to know the probability statistics for the information that Allison gave.

What I find irritating are the people who say, no way, it can't exist, no possibility, it's all lies, fake, etc - in the case of every person who claims psychic ability. I'd have much more respect for someone who says, "I don't personally believe, but there have been some interesting examples." For instance, Nancy Myer, giving the police a detailed description and leading the police to the neighborhood of the janitor who was wanted for those sexual assaults which lead to his arrest- if I remember the case correctly.

I understand being skeptical - while I have had some psychic experiences in my life that I can't logically explain , I have never seen a ghost, spoken to someone from "the other side" or seen a UFO. I'll admit, I've rolled my eyes during some of these segments - but the truth is, I'm not prepared to dismiss them entirely because of the sincerity of some of the people profiled. I just think we should try and keep an open mind.

Your post, and the contempt that it shows for any claims to psychic ability, makes my point.

I'm not sure what you do if your child was missing, but if you had no leads and someone like Dorothy Allison had some suggestions, I seriously doubt that you would hang up the phone on her. While she didn't walk investigators to the missing boy and the girl who was found in the well, the clues that she offered police, I believe, were more than coincidence.

It's useless arguing with people about this - it's like arguing about faith on some level. But I much prefer Robert Stack and the tone of the show- no one says don't think critically, but he offers it as a possibility - which is why it is an "unsolved mysteries."

What I find irritating are the people who say, no way, it can't exist, no possibility, it's all lies, fake, etc - in the case of every person who claims psychic ability. I'd have much more respect for someone who says, "I don't personally believe, but there have been some interesting examples." For instance, Nancy Myer, leading the police to the neighbor of the janitor who was wanted for those sexual assaults - if I remember the case correctly.

I understand being skeptical - while I have had psychic experiences in my life , I have never seen a ghost, spoken to someone from "the other side" or seen a UFO. I'll admit, I've rolled my eyes during some of these segments - but the truth is, I'm not prepared to dismiss them entirely because of the sincerity of some of the people profiled. I just think we should keep an open mind.

You do realize how absurd this post is, right? You're too emotional/passionate about psychics to the point of I don't know if you're joking or not. You're literally chastising people for not believing in psychics. As I've stated previously, feel free to believe in them, but don't force this nonsense down other peoples throats.

We don't have to believe in what you believe in. This isn't arguing different viewpoints of a segment, but rather talking down to people because they don't believe in psychic powers.

What if you weren't religious and I went on a tirade about how you NEED to be religious? You're a cool poster, but this is bottom of the barrel logic. I don't NEED to believe in psychics, because I've never seen it happen before. It's like screaming at people who don't believe in bigfoot because they never seen it. If you want me to believe you then show proof.

100% of people who claimed to be psychic were debunked. I'm sure you heard of James Randi. NO I don't believe in psychics. And I'm sure not going to believe in them now because someone on a UM board is upset that I don't believe in what he believes. Set your priorities straight, this is incredibly stupid.

Again, I have no problem with people who believe in psychic powers, more power to you, but don't shove this crap down my throat when I have ZERO evidence that any of this ever solved a case, or actually happened.

I'm not sure what you do if your child was missing, but if you had no leads and someone like Dorothy Allison had some suggestions, I seriously doubt that you would hang up the phone on her.

How much do you want to bet? If my child went missing, and some nut called saying that they were psychic and could help me find my child, then I'm going to think that it's a crackpot who wants to capitalize off of my missing child, and that's really going to piss me off.

You show me that psychic powers actually exist, and then I'll believe them. Until then, I DO NOT believe in psychics, and that is NOT up for debate.

While she didn't walk investigators to the missing boy and the girl who was found in the well, the clues that she offered police, I believe, were more than a coincidence. In fact, as I recall, the father had looked in the area where Dorothy said the girl would be found and because of Dorothy's reading, he went back and looked again, found the numbers or words that would painted on the rock beside the well where she was, etc. This is different than just saying, "She's runaway" or "I feel her energy." And it's not reading a cat's butthole. Whatever you think of Dorothy Allison, as she doesn't charge anything and offers her time, I think her work deserves more respect than that and it seems she brought that family some peace.

You realize that isn't psychic powers, correct? That is nothing more than saying "go look at the area again" and he found something. It's like if you lost your keys, and I closed my eyes, sniffed a birds butthole, and told you go to look in your car again, and you found them under your seat. I can see how the gullible would piss their pants with excitement and claim that I was psychic, but I was just really saying "go search harder". Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she painted it herself.

Whatever you think of Dorothy Allison, as she doesn't charge anything and offers her time, I think her work deserves more respect than that and it seems she brought that family some peace.

She doesn't charge anything, so she can come off as legit. She's getting paid with free advertisement, and attention. Only the gullible fall for such nonsense. If word gets out that she doesn't charge anything, then more people will want to hire her because she comes off as a "real psychic who wants to help people" so more people will feel comfortable hiring her. It's like companies who offer you a free sample or trial. They're hoping you like the first lick and will spread the word. They're rubbing their hands hoping you'll buy more later - that's Dorothy Alison.

She's scum like the rest, but was smart enough to hide her facade to come off as "real and innocent" to trick the weak. "Wooo she doesn't charge anything, she must be a real psychic with great intent! What's her number?!?!?!" Next.

Your post, and the contempt that it shows for any claims to psychic ability, makes my point.

Psychic claims deserve contempt-because there has never been any evidence they have solved a crime.

I'm not sure what you would do if your child was missing, but if you had no leads and someone like Dorothy Allison had some suggestions, I seriously doubt that you would hang up the phone up on her.

I certainly would, however a lot of parents of missing kids are believers.

While she didn't walk investigators to the missing boy and the girl who was found in the well, the clues that she offered police, I believe, were more than a coincidence. In fact, as I recall, the father had looked in the area where Dorothy said the girl would be found and because of Dorothy's reading, he went back and looked again, found the numbers or words that would painted on the rock beside the well where she was, etc. This is different than just saying, "She's runaway" or "I feel her energy." And it's not reading a cat's butthole. Whatever you think of Dorothy Allison, as she doesn't charge anything and offers her time, I think her work deserves more respect than that and it seems she brought that family some peace.

http://www.cicap.org/n/articolo.php?id=101007


What also encourages me to believe are the segments when a hard-boiled, "I don't have time for bull****" police officer works repeatedly with some of the people profiled. These officers, usually men, seem like some of the most hardcore skeptics, they really don't have time to waste, and yet some of them are genuinely amazed. The fact that they go back and ask for more help suggests to me that they see something there, or they wouldn't waste their time. Just like you wouldn't go back to a doctor or dentist who had no idea what he or she was doing.

Police officers are no less susceptible to seeing patterns that don't exist than the rest of us-it is a human trait & then no matter how much evidence there is of retrofitting, guessing/throwing endless names etc out there with 90% misses etc those people are highly unlikely to look at the rational facts.

It's useless arguing with people about this - it's like arguing about faith on some level. But I much prefer Robert Stack and the tone of the show- no one says don't think critically, but he offers it as a possibility - which is why it is an "unsolved mystery." The ignorant part isn't the skepticism, it's watching the cases where its seems something is going on that we may not understand - unless you are convinced that the show and Stack were lying - and still saying, it is all just junk. I would love to know the probability statistics for the information that Allison gave.

You do realise that Unsolved Mysteries was an entertainment show looking to do ratings & it was in their interests to lean towards the supernatural where it regarded aliens, ghosts, ESP, psychics etc? The skeptics they went to for some modicm of balance so they could knock back any criticism reported that most of their stuff ended up on the cutting room floor.

What I find irritating are the people who say, no way, it can't exist, no possibility, it's all lies, fake, etc - in the case of every person who claims psychic ability. I'd have much more respect for someone who says, "I don't personally believe, but there have been some interesting examples." For instance, Nancy Myer, giving the police a detailed description and leading the police to the neighborhood of the janitor who was wanted for those sexual assaults which lead to his arrest- if I remember the case correctly.

Not many do say it is impossible-it could exist, but the problem is nobody to date has proven it. James Randi had a million dollars going for decades to anybody that could prove they had a supernatural talent under proper controlled conditions-of course the big name psychics like Browne agreed to take the test & then as predicted by Randi & others never did, others did take it & were unable to produce the results-the majority of course then came up with excuses as to why-too many skeptical/negative forces in the room messing up their powers, trying to change the agreed upon conditions etc.

I understand being skeptical - while I have had some psychic experiences in my life that I can't logically explain , I have never seen a ghost, spoken to someone from "the other side" or seen a UFO. I'll admit, I've rolled my eyes during some of these segments - but the truth is, I'm not prepared to dismiss them entirely because of the sincerity of some of the people profiled. I just think we should try and keep an open mind.

I think most have an open mind-but like religion has had thousands of years to prove the existence of God & produced nothing, while stacks of evolutionary evidence contradicting the bible has emerged. So psychics have had centuries prove their claims scientifically & not one has, so yes you can see why people are skeptical.

To Facebook and James T,

I've read what you've both written above, but I am genuinely curious: if you don't believe in psychics 100%, how do you account for the "hits" that Allison, Renier and Nancy Myer got for the cases they helped solve? I have to watch the segments again, but I'd like to know - in situations where they were given no information about the cases other than who the victim was, how did they come up with the details that they did, specifically in Allison's case? Where did the information come from?

To Facebook and James T,

I've read what you've both written above, but I am genuinely curious: if you don't believe in psychics 100%, how do you account for the "hits" that Allison, Renier and Nancy Myer got for the cases they helped solve? I have to watch the segments again, but I'd like to know - in situations where they were given no information about the cases other than who the victim was, how did they come up with the details that they did, specifically in Allison's case? Where did the information come from?

They could've done their own investigations prior to meeting the clients. They could've gotten snippets of information from the police, and made some of it up. Just because you're slick doesn't mean you're psychic.

I do think you're a great poster, take no offense to this argument.


To Facebook

I hope that was intentional :lol: :lol:

To Facebook and James T,

I've read what you've both written above, but I am genuinely curious: if you don't believe in psychics 100%, how do you account for the "hits" that Allison, Renier and Nancy Myer got for the cases they helped solve? I have to watch the segments again, but I'd like to know - in situations where they were given no information about the cases other than who the victim was, how did they come up with the details that they did, specifically in Allison's case? Where did the information come from?

Because the 'hits' were misreported-again if you read skeptical books on this & search online you will see the reality of what actually happens in these cases is very different from what the psychics claim & was shown on UM & sections of the media. The information is typically vague-the body will be found in or near a body of water for instance, then after the body is found-usually by somebody walking their dog etc then the hit is claimed.

Because the 'hits' were misreported-again if you read skeptical books on this & search online you will see the reality of what actually happens in these cases is very different from what the psychics claim & was shown on UM & sections of the media. The information is typically vague-the body will be found in or near a body of water for instance, then after the body is found-usually by somebody walking their dog etc then the hit is claimed.
I suggest you watch the Nancy Myer and Allison episodes again. The hits were much more specific than that and we both know it.

I suggest you watch the Nancy Myer and Allison episodes again. The hits were much more specific than that and we both know it.

They're nothing more than magicians dawg. They make your money and common sense disappear

The Dorothy Allison segment was really good, I didn't care much for the other ones. James van Praagh etc ugh.

I suggest you watch the Nancy Myer and Allison episodes again. The hits were much more specific than that and we both know it.

Even broken clocks are right twice a day. Of course UM would highlight their success and reduce - or omit - where they were wrong.

For some reason I love the Dorothy Allison segment...very well made and a nice vintage UM piece. I have done a lot of research and watched many shows and docs. on psychics, and there are many I do not believe one bit, but there are some I do lend some credence to. Personal opinion I'm sure. I can tell you, my wife and I went to a "Long Island Medium" event in the past and she was a blatant fraud, jumping from person to person until she got somewhat of a hit...and the general public was "in awe" of how she was able to do this. Pretty insane and sad.

I suggest you watch the Nancy Myer and Allison episodes again. The hits were much more specific than that and we both know it.

Again, you are getting their version with the Unsolved Mysteries presentation, it doesn't mirror the facts.

For some reason I love the Dorothy Allison segment...very well made and a nice vintage UM piece. I have done a lot of research and watched many shows and docs. on psychics, and there are many I do not believe one bit, but there are some I do lend some credence to. Personal opinion I'm sure. I can tell you, my wife and I went to a "Long Island Medium" event in the past and she was a blatant fraud, jumping from person to person until she got somewhat of a hit...and the general public was "in awe" of how she was able to do this. Pretty insane and sad.
She's doing a show here in a few weeks & I know a few ppl who want to see her. If y'all have Amazon prime watch penn & tellers show bullsh*t .. they expose these types of mediums & kinda go into detail how they scam ppl