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CHRIS CORDERO, ESP (or something like that)

KRAMER

Former challenge facilitator
K
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Messages
1,434
This claim arrived in December 2005, but it was not notarized. I responded by advising the applicant of the rules regarding notarization, and told him to re-submit a notarized application. About 10 days later I received the same application, once again without notarization, and without any note attached that acknowledged my letter to him. Sensing an inability to follow even the simplest of the Challenge rules, I closed this applicant's file.


Dear Dr. James Randi,

I heard about your Challenge while watching HBO's tv show "Penn & Teller B*LLSHI*" which is a great show and I would like to sincerely accept your million dollar Challenge. A little about me, my name is Chris and I am a college student but on a break from school. The ability I would like to demonstrate is ESP more specifically telepathy - the communication from one mind to another in the "6th sense" paranormal type of way. Although it is mainly sending and very rarely receiving.

Proposed test - to do this you can have a list of assorted symbols i.e. the english alphabet, national flags, horoscopes, etc. etc. words, pictures, sentences or even a deck of playing cards about ten or so and I'll send it to someone in another room...or something like that.

Thankx for your time and I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

Chris C.



Dear Chris,
Thank you for submitting a JREF Paranormal Challenge application. However, it cannot be processed without the required notary signature. Please submit a new application, duly executed with the notary signature, and we can proceed.

-Kramer, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept.
 
Today, Feb. 8th 2006, I received a third application from Chris Cordero, once again without the notary signature. I will not offer a response.


Hi there. My names Chris and I would like to take a shot at your challenge.
I first heard of your challenge while watching the Penn & Teller show BS on HBO (GR8 show btw). Here's what I would like to demonstyrate telepathy - the psychic ability or 6th sense of communication that occurs between minds, or mind-to-mind communication.

Now for the test I would be glad to deomsntrate the paranormal ability of mental telepathy. To do so I can be placed in a room and simply send a message like words, symbols, or colors via telepathy to another person outside the room. Example I should be at least upwards of %96 accurate.

I hope everything is in order and the Preliminary Test can be set up soon.

-Chris C.
 
We have a notarized application.

(Chris, if you're reading this.. please send me your e-mail address or postal address, as your application included neither. PM me here or e-mail me at jeff@randi.org)

It reads:
Sorry for the delay... here's my NOTARIZED application. My original letter...

"Hi there. My names Chris and I would like to take a shot at your challenge.
I first heard of your challenge while watching the Penn & Teller show BS on HBO (GR8 show btw). Here's what I would like to demonstyrate telepathy - the psychic ability or 6th sense of communication that occurs between minds, or mind-to-mind communication.

Now for the test I would be glad to deomsntrate the paranormal ability of mental telepathy. To do so I can be placed in a room and simply send a message like words, symbols, or colors via telepathy to another person outside the room. Example I should be at least upwards of %96 accurate.

I hope everything is in order and the Preliminary Test can be set up soon."

-Chris C.
Click to expand...
 
Chris Cordero has gotten back in contact with JREF representatives. We have submitted a possible protocol to him that you may find familiar. It is Mr. Raymond Edward Powell's protocol, slightly altered. If there is any progress in this case, we'll let you know!

Chris Cordero
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
One volunteer, who will be 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. Cordero 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. Cordero will have passed the preliminary Challenge.

Protocol:
Mr. Cordero will go to one of the two rooms, escorted always by a tester.
The subject will go to the second room, also escorted by another tester.
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 tester escorting Mr. Cordero 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 tester escorting Mr. Cordero has rolled the ten-sided die, Mr. Cordero 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 tester to write the card they believe Mr. Cordero 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
 
Mr. Cordero has agreed to the protocol and it is being submitted to Randi for final approval.
 
Mr. Randi has reviewed the protocol and requested this change:

Instead of two clocks, we'll have a signaling system (our 2 way radios)

There will be a JREF volunteer on both ends. When Cordero says he's ready, the JREF volunteer with him will signal the JREF volunteer with the reader to begin reading after waiting a random number of seconds.

After 30 seconds, the JREF volunteer with Cordero will radio to stop receiving, and the die will roll again.

Three reps of 4 out of 9 are required.

***

A copy has been sent to Mr. Cordero. If he agrees, we will begin plans for a test.
 
The Final Protocol has been signed by Mr. Cordero and faxed to the JREF. Mr. Cordero's Preliminary Challenge Test has been scheduled for TAM 5.5.

Chris Cordero
Mental Image Transmission​


Materials:


1 20-sided die (with 0-9 repeated twice each)

Cards 2-10 of the suit of Hearts (from a Bicycle Poker 808 Deck)

2 two-way radios (with CALL button)

Lined Paper, numbered 1-9

Pen

One volunteer, provided by Mr. Cordero, who will be 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, aside from those used by testers, within the test.

No cameras, camcorders, camera-phones, etc. aside from those used by the JREF or testers within the test.

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. Cordero is attempting to send matches the card the Subject has written, the result will be considered a ‘hit’. If there are four hits out of nine attempts in each of a series of three reps, Mr. Cordero will have passed the preliminary Challenge.


Protocol:


Mr. Cordero will go to one of the two rooms, escorted always by a tester.
The subject will go to the second room, also escorted by another tester.
Each of the testers escorting Mr. Cordero and the subject will be given a two-way radio.

The tester escorting Mr. Cordero will roll the provided twenty-sided die, which will decide the corresponding playing card. When Mr. Cordero states that he is ready to begin transmitting, his escorting tester will signal the tester escorting the subject using the “CALL” button, after waiting a random number of seconds. After thirty seconds of transmission, the tester escorting Mr. Cordero will radio to end transmission.

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

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
0 – Ten of Hearts

After each transmission, the subject in the second room will be urged by the tester to write the card they believe Mr. Cordero is transmitting in the proper spot on the lined and numbered paper where 1 is the first transmission, 2 is the second, 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 forty minutes.
 
Mr. Cordero's chosen receiver will be unable to attend the Challenge Test at TAM. Mr. Cordero has requested that we put him in touch with a registered TAM attendee within the next couple of days to ensure we have a receiver he clicks with.

We are now in the process of screening and contacting potential receivers. If you are attending TAM 5.5 and are interested in being a part of a Challenge test, please PM and let me know.

Thank you,

Remie
 
Breaking news from TAM 5.5:

RemieV asked me to post the information that Chris has unfortunately had to cancel his attendance, so there will be no live challenge, and no web-cam presentation of the challenge.
 
Mr. Cordero's MDC File has been closed due to the following:

And now, what you've all been waiting for. A breakdown of what happened here.

Mr. Cordero applied for the Challenge three years ago.

My contact with him began in October of 2007.

Mr. Cordero was invited to preliminary test at TAM 5.5 on November 21st, which he immediately agreed to.

Mr. Cordero informed us on January 17th that his receiver would be unable to come to TAM 5.5 and asked if we could provide an individual for him.

On January 20th, Mr. Cordero stated that he did not want to choose someone from the audience, and would prefer that we chose someone for him and put him in contact with them via e-mail, pm, or instant messenger in advance of the test.

On January 21st, I requested an e-mail with full, stated, explicit approval of the JREF choosing the receiver for the test.

Mr. Cordero sent approval.

On January 22nd, he was put in contact with volunteers for the test.

On January 23rd, I had still not received Mr. Cordero's flight information and began to worry, and sent multiple e-mails asking if he was going to cancel the test, and saying again and again that I would need that information in advance so we could schedule an additional speaker at TAM.

On January 24th, Mr. Cordero stated that he was coming, and said the arrival time of his flight.

Two hours and fifteen minutes later I responded and asked if he needed transportation from the airport.

Four hours and twenty minutes later, Cordero wrote and asked if we could reschedule the test.

I received the e-mail on the 25th, and with Jeff's approval, told Mr. Cordero that we will not be re-scheduling his test, that we are very unhappy that he waited until two days before his test to decide he wasn't coming, and that he may re-apply again in one year should he fulfill all the Challenge qualifications at that time.
 
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