On one of my meandering journeys across the intertubes, I came upon an interesting letter in defense of Uri Geller.
I have long suspected that Geller is the real deal, but that there is enough of the trickster in his personality to make him supplement his legitimate abilities with sleight of hand and other illusions. This would put him in the same category as Eusapia Palladino, who often cheated but would demonstrate legitimate PK abilities when pressed.
One thing that is certain is that the Geller controversy is far more complex than simplistic skeptical accounts would have us believe. The letter writer, Shauna Shapiro Jackson, makes the same point:
David Ian Salter’s letter regarding Uri Geller infuriated me and compelled me to write my first-ever letter to an editor (Letters, Dec. 29). For Salter to make a blanket statement saying that "Geller has been conclusively debunked as a charlatan" and that "Geller is not psychic" is factually untrue and irresponsible. Slater’s source is mainly James Randi, a man who made a career and plenty of money out of attempting to debunk people.
I have been a close, personal friend of Geller for the past 13 years. We met in 1993, when my husband and I distributed a film based on his life….
Randi’s main assertion is that Geller swaps spoons by sleight of hand tricks. If that is so, how did he effortlessly bend my grandmother’s very heavy silver spoon by gently rubbing it in front of my eyes? The Hebrew writing engraved on it made it impossible for him to switch spoons.
And how does a spoon that he gently caresses continue to bend once placed on the table or in your hands, with Geller out of the room? How does he telepathically duplicate a drawing that you have drawn, and almost every time, his drawing is the exact same size to the millimeter as your drawing? Or, better yet — he has done reverse telepathy on me and members of my family, where he draws something first and then projects it into your mind, and you then draw the exact same picture.
He is a fascinating person, and I am among those who are willing to open my mind to the distinct possibility that he is for real. I also witnessed the big hand on the grandfather clock in my entry hall bend forward inside the glass, with Geller across the room, concentrating on bending it. It was nothing short of amazing.
There’s more. Read the whole thing.
For my discussion of the SRI experiments on Geller, see this essay.