Approved For Release 2000/08/11
: CIA-RDP96-00792R000400330017-0
Source:
"Shukan Asabi" iasue dated 10 Feb 84
FUJI TV SHOW EXPOSES ESP HOAX
..
Vri.f lull
the ESP craze has shown signs of a comeback.
Recently, a
F»Jli“»«rI
shooting . special documentary on ESP succeeded In recording
several questionable demonstrations.
-•
•
j
•
v
VwvnTveii' two "college
'studeht s
'
,
‘hlg'hly tegdrddd by TV
'
the
mIsuAI
age
21,
a third-year student at .Senshu University,
viewers.
One islUYOTA Masuahl,
ge
»
' M and psychic photography using
whose repertoire includes twisting and bending^
carcer ln gIcat
Polaroid llln.
Sunday Halnlchl,
twisting spoons and "seeing through"
detail since last
«e S! a lecond-year student at Tokyo
blindfolded.
£ SSBSS
”
DeC f
tfltor TACHIBANA Takashi, SUZUKI Matsumi, director of the Japan Acoustic
InBtitute°(Hlppon Onkyu Keokyujo) and OTANI Soil, professor of psychology at the
Defense Academy.
u
pc
t*he TV crew tried,
they were unable to record the much
No matter how many times the TV
J
rew *
’
*1 comP iete sequence.
KIYOTA
publicized spoon
twisted, never
^re?
hVias
ES°LuteftKrmoVtwlsted the spoon with his hands when nobody
was looking*
4-^T-f^sy
tr\ rprord
the spoon sequence,
a strange thing
.
Whl
J
e ‘iL^rrsrpIrsonTo notJce tLt .soeeth^g vas wrong was producer URUTA
.
,
happened.
The first ,pers
Masanori observed that KIY0TA,
grasping the handle
Toshio.
On 29 Dec, writer HATA Masanori o us
the
Q slowly as
if he
bend the ipodn with Ms hands.
..
. Oh ‘ Jan, MlOlh^appeared on^Nl^pn l^levlsloQ^s^NooD^Wlde^Show^^ Eu
^ ^
.
' co^dlnatot^s^hoort.^^e^hldden'camera^recorded a sequence where KlVOTi was
seen'
bending the spoon with his hands before he went on the show.
During the psychic
blunder.
Four cameras were used for this demons ration,
^ last Bet up
camera, one set up in the exha
JJ®YQ
“Ct
g hiaself alone,
slipped a Polaroid
behind a see-through mirror.
KIYOTA,
finding hinseir
later> he
film into bis Pocke
^ ^^fi^toVholder,
then appeared to make a psychic
^tfgrlph^^sMng a /sign to the panel, he jested1 "Friday the 13th must
be my
lucky day for I see my psychic powers have not deserted me.
Approved For Release 2000/08/11
: CIA-RDP96-00792R000400330017-0
Approved For Release 2000/08/11
: CIA-RDP96-00792R000400330017-0
Producer URUTA speculates,
After he vent to the re6troom, a lady vho was In
the area said she heard what sounded like somebody breaking open a wrapper.
Probably, that's when he developed the film."
TAMASHITA's demonstration was equally suspect.
The blindfold he used was his
own,
a black cloth filled with cotton padding.
Blindfolded, he was able to read
cards and dice with total accuracy.
Complex figures he was able to reproduce using
a pencil.
However, during the demonstrations, the panel noted that^hisclaltv<^aqt,
A
"‘pbWerfi 'were restricted ‘tb^S hbVrW'fieldof vlslonIv’ ,
'Xis
is ‘shown'id' tfie diagram ’on’
*'*pb<refd
.P .160, he was .able to see clairvoyantly within a -specific -field located directly.-
below his blindfold.
• SUZUKI' observes that his field of vision was about what one
would expect If a blindfolded person were looking out through a narrow opening.
CLAIRVOYANT SEES ONLY OBJECTS CLOSE AT HAND
.
.
..p
‘
•
.
.
.
.
f
.
|
J.
.
.
,
^
;
.
.•
.
.
...
.
..
V.
^
''
Incidehtaiiyi YAMASHITA was unable to read objects placed
. behind a curtain .made.
.
•of the same 'material as the blthdfold.
’ SUZUKI observes ,
•"Even an. opening as small
'
as 0.1mm under the. blindfold could made a world of difference.
You must remember
he has sharp features,
including a prominent nose.
We suggested sealing his eyes
completely, but he said the pressure on his eyes would restrict his psychic powers."
So it was not until the ninth day that- YAMASHITA finally agreed to have his
eyes sealed completely.
Needless to say, his clairvoyant powers deserted him at
that point.
Magicians are able to read cards while blindfolded for the same reason.
When SUZUKI demonstrated this trick for YAMASHITA,
the latter complained,
"The
important difference here is I keep my eyes shut when blindfolded but you don’t."
If YAMASHITA is telling the truth,
I can only say that ESP is beyond my
comprehension.
TACHIBANA says,
"Whether we can call this ESP
is very questionable."
On 14 Jan,, the last day of the shooting,
the panel confronted KIYOTA ,with all
the evidence
it had gathered.
Overwhelmed, KIYOTA admitted the demonstrations were
fraudulent.
His confession was recorded
by. a hidden camera and shown
later, to TV
viewers.
In that sequence, KIYpTA demonstrated how .he .bent
. the. spoon with his
.
...
•'
hands.
' That sequence is shown in photostat right .
. Firsts he cradles
the. $ppon .in
’.hid .right; band, grasping tW handle
witii'^his'iteft 'hand.
Placing ‘his
' thumbs at the
- narrowest part -of the spqqnA -he /bends
it, X-.Z timeh, twistihg it by
vmoving his » hands
v back and forth.
This takes one second if done slowly, v0.5 seconds,^f, dqqe
.............
v
. ajiybqdy'>hb..can 4iyett, the.
at'tehtlqn ofy^the. audientCe
f.or. 0,5 secopdsj. can qualify
as..-a psychic.-
Panelist SUZUKI put on his own demonstration,
adding,
"Even a grandmother of
years can learn this trick.
Once you become fairly good at
it,
the spoon bends
easily and you almost begin to wonder if you are not indeed psychic."
KIYOTA, after being exposed as a fraud,
said,
"The pressure to perform within a
limited
time frame became so great
I
just had to use physical force.
But
I must
say this is the first time
it has happened."
TACHIBANA is skeptical,
"Since we caught them cheating this time,
we have
to
suspect
this isn't the first
time."
SUZUKI, who appeared on a Nippon Television show on ESP before,
once measured
the 34.5_megshertz radio waves emitted -by KIYOTA's brain.
KIYOTA showed me
a
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