Michael Prescott has posted an informative blog entry, revisiting the infamous ‘Project Alpha‘ scandal of the early 1980s, in which James ‘The Amazing’ Randi arranged for two young magicians to infiltrate a parapsychology lab in order to confound the researchers. The scam has long gone down in skeptical folklore as a major coup against parapsychological research, but Michael provides some clarification as what actually went down. One of his main sources is an article by Michael A. Thalbourne from the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, titled “Science Versus Showmanship: A History of the Randi Hoax“, which you can download as a PDF. Fascinating read.
Revisiting Project Alpha
