RKO Pathe 1937 Dunninger on Spirit Swindles

Dunninger had a standing offer of $10,000 to anyone who could prove that he used confederates or "stooges." He often said he could raise that offer to $100,000. Through the Scientific American Magazine and the Universal Council for Psychic Research, Dunninger made this offer to any medium who could produce by psychic or supernatural means any physical phenomena that he could not reproduce by natural means or explain in convincing materialistic terms.

zerdini wrote:Dunninger had a standing offer of $10,000 to anyone who could prove that he used confederates or "stooges." He often said he could raise that offer to $100,000. Through the Scientific American Magazine and the Universal Council for Psychic Research, Dunninger made this offer to any medium who could produce by psychic or supernatural means any physical phenomena that he could not reproduce by natural means or explain in convincing materialistic terms.

I am not quite sure what the point of the offer was really. I would have thought it was the mechanism that mattered not the nature of the phenomena in this case.

Z raised Dunningers name with me and I have been digging at what is another interesting case. So many Magicians have taken a close interest in teh goings on of Spiritualist thaey make a study in themselves. Sometimes I feel they achieved effects without fully understanding the mechanism involved when when they thought they did. I must have a look at that and dig out some examples.