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Double blind, Satan's UFO, failed prophecies.

Article Excerpt
How to Conduct a Double Blind Experiment

At the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) we have had several requests from potential prize applicants who believe that they have the power to dowse, and who need general guidelines on how to conduct a double-blind test before they actually make application. We recognize that not everyone will know what a double-blind test is, so here is a general description.

The term "double-blind" refers to the condition under which neither the subject of the experiment--in this case, the dowser--nor the experimenter, knows the answer that is being sought. As one example, we tested a very enthusiastic dowser named Mike Guska at the JREF headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. He claimed that he could detect gold. When we suggested that the gold sample he had brought with him--a genuine gold nugget--should be concealed in one of ten opaque, numbered, and sealed Styrofoam cups, he agreed that that would be an adequate test.

Before we began, I had him "scan" the entire floor space of our library, where the test was to take place. This was to allow him to determine whether or not there were any distractions present that might mislead him or give him a false reading. Indeed, he found two spots where he said there were anomalies, and these were plainly marked off as not suitable to be included in the test area. (It is of" interest to note that other dowsers, given the same opportunity, have also determined such spots, but significantly, no two dowsers have ever located the same spots!) We then placed the Styrofoam cups, uncovered, at various points...

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