welcome to

PARANORMAL PHENOMENA RESEARCH
FOUNDATION INC.

PO  Box  84,  Upper  Sturt,  5156,  South  Australia
Website:  www.paranormalphenomena.org

revised June 2009 

This website describes some 25 year’s of scientific investigations into the enigma of the purported existence of paranormal phenomena, in particular Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis, but also some others.  It deals with the question whether such phenomena are verifiable by the same scientific methodology that is used extensively in the life and mind sciences.

Much of the work was initially carried out at the University of Adelaide, and later at the Paranormal Phenomena Research Foundation, both located in South Australia.

Some of the investigations yielded exceptionally high statistical significance, strongly suggesting the existence of paranormal abilities in a relatively small fraction of the population.  These investigations are described in a book by the title  “An Excursion into the Paranormal”

The full text of this book is available on this website.  It is a revised second edition published in 2009.  It has essentially the same scientific content as the first edition of 2003, but with improved explanatory text that hopefully would improve readability.

The book is not intended to be accessible to scientists only, but also to members of the public who have some scientific background, or who are willing to acquire the necessary background as described in Chapters 2, 3, and 6.

Copies of the book are available from the  Paranormal Phenomena Research Foundation Inc.,  PO Box 84, Upper Sturt, 5156,  South Australia.

The term “paranormal phenomena” refers to phenomena that can be shown to exist by accepted orthodox scientific methodology, but for which currently no scientific explanations can be offered.

Aims  and  Objectives  of  the  Foundation  are:

1. To investigate the reality of the existence of paranormal phenomena, to try to ascertain the characteristic properties of such phenomena by scientifically acceptable means, and to attempt to find scientific explanations for such phenomena.

2. To promote research into paranormal phenomena by fostering cooperation between the Foundation and interested individuals, or other research institutions dealing with paranormal phenomena.

3. To render assistance to members of the public with problems arising out of  perceived  paranormal experiences.

4. To disseminate information on paranormal phenomena through publications.

Investigations  Undertaken  by  the  Foundation:

Investigations into paranormal phenomena are possible only with the cooperation of people possessing paranormal abilities.  The investigations of the Foundation relied on the participation of around 50 such people, most of whom were the residents of Adelaide in South Australia.

The paranormal phenomena dealt with by the foundation fall into three main categories, namely:                   

1. Extrasensory Perception, a term referring to the acquisition of information by the human mind without reliance on any of the five senses, or on inferences, or on any other currently available scientifically explainable means.                      

2. Psychokinesis, a term signifying the ability of the human mind to exercise direct influence on physical processes, without relying on any currently known scientifically explainable means.          

3. Survival Related Phenomena, which involve scientifically acceptable investigations into a range of phenomena suggestive of the survival of the human mind beyond the death of the human body.

Investigations have also been carried out into the Human Aura that some people claim to be able to see, and Corona Discharge (Kirlian) Photography which some people believe to yield pictures of the aura.  Further, since paranormal abilities are often exhibited by people when in Altered States of Consciousness, such states were also investigated, mostly via bioelectric variables, including attempts to enhance paranormal abilities through biofeedback.  

The reality of the existence of the first two categories of these phenomena, namely Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis, may be verified by the same statistical methods orthodox science employs in inexact areas, such as Biology, Psychology, and Medicine.

If orthodox science finds some results for which 100% validity cannot be claimed, but the calculated probability for the results having come about by chance is 1% or less, then orthodox science calls such results “highly significant”, meaning that the results should be recognised as valid, even though there is a 1% probability or less, for the results having come about by chance, and so be invalid.

An alternative way of stating that the probability is 1% or less, is by saying that the probability is 1 in 100 or more.    

Some of the results obtained by the Foundation yielded probability figures of the order of one in a million or more in Extrasensory Perception, and one in a thousand million or more in Psychokinesis.  Such results would not be challengeable in orthodox areas of science, but when it comes to paranormal phenomena, the endlessly repeated notion is: “We know that such phenomena cannot exist, and therefore the results must be false.”

At the dawn of the 20th century Guglielmo Marconi endeavoured to transmit radio waves across the Atlantic.  Prevailing science of the day claimed this to be impossible, as radio waves were known to travel in straight lines, and so they could not conceivably follow the curvature of the earth’s surface.  But then in 1901 Marconi’s radio signals, transmitted from Cornwall in England, were picked up across the Atlantic in Newfoundland.  At that time, science knew nothing of an ionosphere surrounding the earth in the upper atmosphere, which was able to reflect radio waves back to earth.  It seems that orthodox science has learnt little from the Marconi incident, or from many others like it, and still insists that what is not explainable in terms of currently accepted principles cannot exist.

A More Detailed Description of the Foundation’s Work:

Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis:  Extensive tests for extrasensory perception (telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition) and psychokinesis were carried out mostly by electronic means.  During some 25 years a number of individuals were found who were able to produce statistically highly significant results under strictly controlled conditions, in both extrasensory perception and psychokinesis.  Also, spontaneous psychokinetic phenomena in the presence of some psychics were observed at times in the laboratory.                                  

Altered States of Consciousness:  Individuals exhibiting psychic abilities usually do so while in altered states of consciousness, often involving activities by individuals who are not consciously aware of being responsible for such activities.  The question arose whether bioelectric variables correlated with the alterations in the states of consciousness. Investigated variables included brain waves, muscle tension, heart signal, galvanic skin response, and respiration.  It appears from these investigations that alterations in the states of consciousness are primarily mental processes correlating with biological variables to a minor extent only.

Biofeedback:  Bioelectric variables monitored while subjects were in altered states of consciousness were fed back to the subjects in the form of light, sound, electric and magnetic fields in the hope of enhancing the altered states, and associated psychic abilities.  These attempts yielded minimal results only.

Aura:  Following the ideas and suggestions of earlier investigators, it was found that the human aura is not electromagnetic radiation (visible light, ultraviolet or infrared); that psychics do not have extended vision frequency-wise or intensity-wise; and that the aura is not due to detectable particles emitted from the skin absorbing or reflecting light. However, the skin does, in fact, radiate visible light, but such radiation is three orders of magnitude below the threshold of human vision.  It seems that the aura is seen the same way as apparitions are seen, the image being created by the mind and brain of the observer in response to extrasensory signals exchanged between the subject and the observer.

Corona Discharge (Kirlian) Photography:  It was found that the spectra of corona discharges from inanimate objects and biological sources (including plant leaves and the fingertips of normal and psychic subjects) are the same, and are almost solely due to nitrogen spectral lines, predominantly in the ultra-violet region.  Photography greatly distorts these spectra, yielding intriguing, often beautiful, but largely useless pictures.  The many bright spots in some pictures are likely to be points of high conductance. Attempts to replicate the phantom leaf effect, that is small cutaway portions of a plant leaf still showing in the corona discharge photograph, were unsuccessful.

Facilities:  The Foundation possesses electronic test facilities for extrasensory perception and psychokinesis; test facilities for the determination of the intensity and spectral distribution of very low level radiation (visible, ultraviolet, infrared); facilities for the analysis of bioelectric variables, in particular the spectra of brain waves; and also facilities for the detection of physical variables, including electric fields, magnetic fields, and minute changes in temperature.

Needs:  The primary needs for research into paranormal phenomena are psychic individuals willing to participate in experiments and undertake tests, in the hope of securing more statistically significant and scientifically defensible results. Cooperation from hypnotherapists for attempts to enhance psychic abilities by hypnosis could be helpful.  There is also a need for updating equipment, often difficult as the cost for some items runs into tens of thousands of dollars.

Publications:

A detailed account of the investigations carried out by the Paranormal Phenomena Research Foundation Inc., over a period spanning around 25 years, is described in a book titled  "An Excursion into the Paranormal".  The book was published by the Paranormal Phenomena Research Foundation Inc., in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2003 and revised in 2009.  It consists of an introduction, thirteen chapters, and appendices to five chapters, on 285 pages.  The work of the Foundation was carried out by the book’s author with occasional help from associates.  Much of the work was done at the University of Adelaide, where the author lectured in Electrical Engineering for over 30 years, and after the retirement of the author from that university, the work was continued at the Paranormal Phenomena Research Foundation Inc.

Any undisputable results must be quantitative, the deduction of which could be unfamiliar to some readers.  The author attempted to maximise the readability of the text partly by keeping the essential mathematics as simple as possible, and partly by devoting Chapters 2, 3, and 6, to providing the necessary scientific background in the simplest possible terms. Hopefully, this will enable most readers to judge the results for themselves, without having to rely on orthodox scientific opinion.  Copies of the book are available from the Paranormal Phenomena Research Foundation Inc., PO Box 84, Upper Sturt, South Australia, 5156.   

The full text of the book may be accessed free of charge on this website:     (www.paranormalphenomena.org)

To view the text of the book on this website, the Adobe Acrobat reader must be installed in the system.  If the Adobe Acrobat is already installed, please ignore this paragraph.  If the Adobe Acrobat reader is not yet installed, it needs to be downloaded from the Adobe website first (click here to download).

To view the complete book, (approximately 4 Mb), please click here. This will open the Adobe Acrobat inside the browser window, after which the book can be read on line, page by page.  Alternatively, the entire book may be downloaded to the hard drive before reading it.  This may take considerable time. To do so, right click here, and choose: “Save Target As…”. Having completed the downloading, the book may be read off line. Some relevant information about the book is:                        

AN  EXCURSION
INTO  THE  PARANORMAL

By
George  Karolyi

Published  by
The  Paranormal  Phenomena  Research  Foundation  Inc.
PO Box 84,  Upper Sturt,  5156,  South Australia
First published in 2003, revised in 2009

Printed in Australia by Peacock Publications
ISBN 1 921008 83 0
 

Contents:

Any part of the contents of this book may be copied for personal use, provided that the source is acknowledged.