Ted Serios

[[File:Ted Serios 1.png|thumb|right|165px|Serios, fighting with a camera in 1967]]
{{paranormal}}
'''Theodore "Ted" Serios''' {{lived|1918|2006}} was a [[Chicago]] bellhop who, during the 1970s, achieved fleeting fame for his alleged ability to produce images on Polaroid film by using [[psychic]] powers alone.<ref>[http://archive.is/I8XvL About Ted Serios] Leonardo Sirios</ref>

=="Thoughtography"==
[[File:Ted Serios thoughtograph.png|thumb|left|165px|An alleged thoughtograph]]
The idea of 'thoughtography' was first proposed by Japanese [[psychologist]] Tomokichi Fukurai in 1913,<ref>透視と念写 (''Tōshi to nensha'') by Tomokichi Fukurai 1913) Taishō.</ref><ref name=cheroux>''The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult'' by Clément Chéroux et al. (2004) Yale University Press.</ref>{{rp|155}} which was later translated in to English in 1931.<ref>''Clairvoyance & Thoughtography'' by Tomokichi Fukurai (1931). Rider & Co.</ref> Fukurai resigned from his university professorship in 1913 after being accused of using unscientific methods.<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of the History of Psychology: Global Perspectives'', edited by David B. Baker (2012) Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195366557.</ref>{{rp|354}}

An unemployed [[alcoholic]] bellhop, Serios not only convinced Denver-based [[psychiatrist]] {{wpl|Jule Eisenbud}} {{lived|1908|1999}} that he could imprint images on Polaroid film with his mind but that it worked best when he was totally drunk. Serios used what he called a “gizmo”, a paper tube placed against the camera lens that he claimed helped him focus his mental energy. Eisenbud expended three years from 1964-1967 (and who knows how many bottles of [[whiskey]]) testing Serios and concluded that Serios was undoubtedly capable of "thoughtography" because he couldn't find any evidence of trickery or fraud,<ref>''The World of Ted Serios: "Thoughtographic" Studies of an Extraordinary Mind'' by Jule Eisenbud (1967) Morrow</ref> which since there is scant detail of the nature of the tests one may ascribe to [[credulity]] on the part of Eisenbud.

==Trickery and fraudulence==
Serios agreed to a public challenge, but when magicians asked to examine the paper tube immediately after a photo exposure was made, "Serios backed away, putting his hand in his pocket." Investigators guessed that Serios' "gizmo" concealed a second, much smaller tube, most likely a common jeweler's loupe or transparency magnifier. With a tiny magnifying lens at one end and a section of a 35mm transparency affixed with tape at the other, the device could effectively project the transparency image into the lens of the Polaroid camera. Photos produced by investigators using this method were nearly identical to Serios' "thoughtographs."<ref>Joe Nickell [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZMCQ7YHw4CgC&pg=PA197&dq=thoughtography+psychokinesis&hl=en&sa=X&ei=x-aMUvvAK4Tm2gW8j4CIDw&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=thoughtography%20psychokinesis&f=false Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation] University Press of Kentucky.</ref> After being summarily debunked and exposed by various photo experts and [[James Randi]] (when Randi replicated Serios' tricks on a live TV show, Eisenbud was reportedly "flabbergasted"), Serios faded into obscurity.<ref>James Randi [http://archive.is/6VOUL ''Yellow Bamboo Surprise, Fear of Technology, and Answering Montague Keen''] James Randi Educational Foundation.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.skepdic.com/thoughtography.html Thoughtography] The Skeptic's Dictionary.

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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