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RAYMOND EDWARD POWELL, JR.; Mental Image Transmission

RemieV

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Raymond Edward Powell, Jr. has completed the application process and is moving forward toward developing a testable protocol for his claim - which involves the ability to transmit images he is looking at into other people's minds.

Powell will be using his own flashcards, and will be in separate rooms from volunteers who will wait until the image has been transmitted into their minds, and then state what the image is. Volunteers will be given a list of potential images in advance to ensure no confusion.

If this protcol is acceptable to Powell, we'll be into the final stages of protocol development!

Keep an eye out for more information on this upcoming test.

~Remie
 
Raymond Edward Powell has told us through his liason that he has purchased flashcards with addition and subtraction problems printed on them for the test (as we have not worked out the protocol, this may have been rather soon to make the purchase).

We have declined the flash cards on the following basis:

If a flashcard said 3+4=7 and Raymond attempted to project it, what would happen if the volunteer saw only the '3'? Because of this possible conflict, we have responded and asked Raymond to use either Zener cards or a single suit from a regular deck of playing cards.

More info soon.

~Remie
 
Mr. Powell agreed to use single-suit playing cards.

Today, I submitted the following loose protocol to Mr. Powell's representative:

If it works for Raymond, we will use cards 2-10. The card to be transmitted will be chosen by rolling a die, which will be purchased specifically for the test.

So far, this is what we have in mind:

Raymond will come to a testing location (yet to be determined).

He will be introduced to five volunteers.

He will be invited to pick one of the five volunteers to work with (to ensure that they can achieve mental closeness. We will not devote a lot of time to the choosing. Whichever one Raymond feels best about based on a ten-second introduction.)

The volunteer will go to a room.

Raymond will go to a room.

Each of the rooms will have a clock in it. The clocks will have been synchronized in advance.

Every thirty seconds, a JREF representative in the room with Raymond will roll the die to determine what card will be mentally transmitted.

Every thirty seconds (in the room with the volunteer) the volunteer will be prompted by a JREF representative to write down (in spaces numbered according to the time) what card they receive.

This time can be extended to one minute each if necessary.

The number of reps and correct answers will be determined when you indicate whether or not this protocol is workable so far.

They have agreed to the protocol and would like to work out a location.

We'll have to figure out statistics and decide whether 30 seconds is a suitable length of time, or if we should increase to one minute.

If all these things come together (and Mr. Powell and his representative have to far taken this without any objection) we will submit the protocol to Randi for final approval and begin seeking volunteers for the test.

~Remie
 
Mr. Powell (through his representative) has agreed to all aspects of the protocol.

We will be sending along a final draft of the entire protocol. Mr. Powell (through his representative, again) has stated that his success rate is 100%, and that he absolutely will not need a buffer of any kind, statistically speaking.

Mr. Powell will need to correctly transmit 8 cards in a row to the volunteer in the other room. He cannot make any mistakes. The cards will be chosen with the roll of a die. A roll will not eliminate any of the cards, and if they come up again, they will be transmitted again.

We will be sending along clarification that during this session Mr. Powell will not be permitted to speak. We will also need to pin down the amount of time needed to transmit each card.

If you have anything you'd like to add to this protocol that needs to be clearer before the final draft, now's the time to mention it!

Once this is sent and agreed upon, the protocol will go to Randi for final approval.

~Remie
 
Mr. Powell has been sent a copy of the following protocol. If he approves, it will then be forwarded to Randi who will offer his guidance and then re-sent to Mr. Powell to ensure he agrees.

If you can think of any final notes to make (and this is more for gaping holes than "I don't like...") please let me know in the associated thread!

Raymond Edward Powell, Jr.
Mental Image Transmission​

Materials:

1 10-sided Die

Cards 2-10 of the suit of Hearts

2 Clocks, synchronized to the second

Lined Paper, numbered 1-10

Pen

Five Volunteers, one of whom will be chosen as the ‘subject’

2 Separate rooms


Stipulations:

No speaking aloud.

No foot-tapping, knocking, or other forms of noise that can be used as communication.

No walkie-talkies or other electronic devices.

No cameras, camcorders, camera-phones, etc.

No sleight-of-hand, trickery, or cheating.


If any of the above listed are violated, or if it is determined the subject has attempted to tilt the results in his favor due to trickery of any kind, the test will be halted immediately and considered a failure.

If there is a setup or technological problem, or if for any reason the test must be halted due to extenuating circumstances rather than trickery, the test may be conducted up to two additional times. However, the subject must not be changed once the individual is chosen.


Successful Test:

If the card Mr. Powell is attempting to send matches the card the subject has written, the result will be considered a ‘hit’. If there are nine hits out of ten attempts, Mr. Powell will have passed the preliminary challenge.


Protocol:

Raymond Edward Powell, Jr. will enter the testing location and be introduced to the five volunteers for no longer than five minutes total. Mr. Powell will choose one of the five volunteers, who will thereafter be the ‘subject’ and recipient of Mr. Powell’s mental image transmissions.

Mr. Powell will go to one of the two rooms, escorted always by another of the volunteers.

The subject will go to the second room, also escorted by one of the remaining volunteers.

In each of the rooms will be a visible synchronized clock that will show hours, minutes, and seconds.

Every minute on the minute, beginning at a previously agreed-upon time, the volunteer escorting Mr. Powell will roll a ten-sided die to determine which playing card will be mentally transmitted.

The ten-sided die will be numbered 0-9, and the associated mental transmission will accordingly be:

0 – Ten of Hearts
1 – Disregard and roll again
2 – Two of Hearts
3 – Three of Hearts
4 – Four of Hearts
5 – Five of Hearts
6 – Six of Hearts
7 – Seven of Hearts
8 – Eight of Hearts
9 – Nine of Hearts

After the volunteer escorting Mr. Powell has rolled the ten-sided die, Mr. Powell will attempt to mentally transmit the corresponding playing card to the subject in the second room.

Every minute on the minute, the subject in the second room will be urged by the volunteer to write the card they believe Mr. Powell is transmitting in the proper spot on the lined and numbered paper where 1 is the first minute, 2 is the second minute, etc.

In the absence of a clearly mentally transmitted image, the subject will be asked to provide their best guess.


Time required:

No more than twenty minutes
 
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Note:

A raised concern regarding this protocol is that the subject will begin writing before Mr. Powell begins transmitting (since he will not be transmitting until roughly 3-5 seconds into the minute, due to the volunteer having to roll the die, Mr. Powell to look at it, and begin transmission).

Voice your concern in the thread if you feel that this requires a line in the protocol.
 
Second Note:

Another issue has been raised that a minute is not long enough for everyone to have time to complete their assigned tasks, and that two minutes might be better.

According to Mr. Powell, his mental image transmissions are immediate and overwhelming.

Should we add more buffer time, or assume that one minute is long enough for: Roll, Pick up card, Transmit, Receive, Write?

Feel free to express your opinions on this and other matters in the corresponding thread!
 
Another individual has raised the concern that the protocol outline is not specific on who is providing the volunteers. That will be changed in the final protocol - the JREF is providing the volunteers, not Mr. Powell.

All materials for the test will be purchased by the JREF in advance unless Mr. Powell would still like to use his own playing cards. As per the Challenge Rules, however, Mr. Powell will have to reimburse expenses, which should be negligible.
 
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A question arose as to whether or not the no-speaking rules are universal for everyone involved, including the volunteers.

This is so. Not even the volunteers will be able to speak aloud during the test. Any prompts will be hand gestures.

It has been suggested that we use flashcards that say things like "Begin Transmission" or "10 Seconds Left".

Let us know what you think of this idea!
 
It went unsaid that the volunteer in the room with Mr. Powell would also have to keep track of what was rolled in what order. Of course, this would be necessary ;)
 
There has been no response to the protocol from Mr. Powell's representative so far.
 
We have received word that Mr. Powell has had a falling out with his representative, Trey. Mr. Powell does not have internet access, and will be contacting soon through another individual.
 
Mr. Powell has gotten back in contact, and stated that he will not agree to the stipulations in the protocol disallowing talking, foot tapping, and hand motions.

Mr. Powell also stated that he feels four out of nine hits should be statistically significant enough to clear the preliminary Challenge test.

Negotiations continue, and we will let you know the results as soon as they are available.
 
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