Nolan Coppenger
Scholar
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 65
Can Lanford See Through Metal?
The Tests
An amazing series of psychic tests were completed in June of this year at a quiet location in the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa. The subject of these tests, who uses the nom-de-guerre of “Lanfordâ€, was able to accurately perceive printed shapes that had been covered by quarter-inch-thick sheets of steel plating. We are excited to report the details of the “Lanford Experiments†to our registered readers.
Who is “Lanford�
Lanford is something of a mystery. Nondescript in appearance, Lanford is a man of middle age, possibly about 40, slightly balding, mildly overweight, standing about 5' 6â€. As you can see, Lanford has one of those “common†faces; friendly, but unremarkable. Lanford favors earth-tones in his clothing, wears a Rolex, drives a late-model Volvo, and, as he puts it, “Owns two-and-a-half cats and half a dog.†Other than that, Lanford would reveal no details about himself, not even his real name.
“Lanfordâ€
There is also his astounding ability to see through metal as if it were glass.
The Locale
Our experiments were conducted in a wonderfully appointed new home in Pleasant Hill. Lanford had insisted upon a quiet venue; we consulted our guides and an address was revealed to us. On investigating, we discovered that the address was a newer home which the owners had just put on the rental market. Needless to say our little committee quickly made arrangements to see the house with Lanford in tow. Lanford was quite happy with the house and the matter was settled.
The house in Pleasant Hill
We rented the house for a period of six weeks. The first two weeks were spent attuning the house and generally cleansing it of any negative energies. Although it was a relatively new home people had been living in it and precautions needed to be taken in order to provide a neutral environment for the experiments.
We were guided to focus on the dining room as the proper setting for testing. All plants and floor lamps were removed as well as extra furniture, leaving only the dining room table and chairs. As you can see, the result was somewhat Spartan, but that had been our goal.
The dining room
Experimental Preparation
At last we were ready to test Lanford. Keeping in mind that many people do not believe in the special abilities we all practice, we took steps to assure that our tests would be as thorough as possible giving Lanford no chance to cheat. As you know, we test everyone who is invited to join our society and Lanford was no exception. Given the nature of these abilities we always take careful precautions to prevent psychic access or even physical access to test materials.
Keys to the house and the test materials were kept in a safe deposit box. Only two of us had access to the safe deposit box. Both were required to be present when the other opened the box. The bank had been instructed to refuse access to either person if the other person was not present.
We set out the materials the night before Lanford was to arrive. These materials were:
The materials
Two new decks of playing cards.
10 opaque black envelopes.
10 rectangular plates of 1/4†thick steel.
Digital video recorder.
Digital camera.
We set up the digital video recorder and the digital camera. Each stage of the preparation was photographed in order to preserve a record of the procedure which we could check for any sleight of hand. We are all trustworthy but having a truly impartial watchful eye in the form of technology helps to keep everyone careful of details.
After closing the blinds we thoroughly shuffled one deck of cards, leaving the other deck sealed and unopened. Each playing card was placed in one opaque black envelope. These envelopes were then shuffled. Ten envelopes were selected at random. Each envelope was placed in a row on the dining room table. Each envelope was then covered by one steel plate. At this time we turned off the digital video recorder, taking it and the digital camera with us when we left the room, which we locked behind us. The digital video recorder and the digital camera were taken to the bank and locked in the safe deposit box.
Row of steel plates
Lanford Sees Through Metal
In the morning all of us were anxious for Lanford's arrival. Our lieutenants retrieved the digital video recorder and digital camera from the safe deposit box and we all met at the house. There we unlocked the dining room and found that nothing had been disturbed. No sooner had we set up the digital video recorder and digital camera than Lanford knocked on the front door of the house. He apologized for his early arrival but said that he'd had “the jitters†and wanted to get started as soon as possible. Fortunately we were ready for him to begin. We all entered the dining room where the tests would soon begin.
Lanford was given the sealed, unopened deck of playing cards. His task was to discern the playing card hidden below each steel plate and select its duplicate from the unopened deck and place it face up above each plate.
Lanford selects the cards
One by one, Lanford examined each place without touching anything except the deck of cards in his hands. Slowly selecting each card in turn, Lanford stopped at each plate and placed a card at each position until all ten plates had a card.
In keeping with our agreements, Lanford then left with one of our committee, who drove him to another location while we examined the results.
The Results
Here are the incredible results of the first experiment:
Plate 1: Queen of Diamonds Lanford: Queen of Diamonds
Plate 2: Five of Clubs Lanford: Four of Clubs
Plate 3: Ace of Diamonds Lanford: Ace of Diamonds
Plate 4: Eight of Spades Lanford: Eight of Spades
Plate 5: Jack of Hearts Lanford: Jack of Hearts
Plate 6: Six of Hearts Lanford: Four of Hearts
Plate 7: Ten of Clubs Lanford: Ten of Clubs
Plate 8: Joker Lanford: Joker
Plate 9: Seven of Diamonds Lanford: Seven of Hearts
Plate 10: King of Spades Lanford: King of Spades
Seven clear hits out of ten, with three very close hits, close enough to be virtually identical. When asked how he was able to “see†the hidden cards, Lanford told us that when he concentrates, “the metal just turns to glassâ€. When we asked him how he could see through the opaque envelopes, Lanford said, “I didn't notice envelopes at all.†We asked Lanford why there had been three misses, even though the cards he had chosen were extremely similar to the originals. According to Lanford, “Sometimes there's interference. If I get negative energies the glass effects get cloudy, you know, as if someone breathed on it and fogged the glass.â€
We repeated the experiment once each day for the remaining four weeks. As you can see in this graph, Lanford's hit rate remained consistently high throughout the test period, at times hitting 10 for 10.
This chart shows Lanford's scores
Summary
We feel the results of these tests are truly astounding. Although we have urged Lanford to go public with his remarkable ability, he has said that he is content to remain a private member of our society and does not want publicity. As he so wisely puts it, “These little tricks are unimportant. They're just side effects. What matters isn't seeing playing cards. What matters is what we see in the human soul.â€
Links
The preparation video
The Lanford video
Photo gallery
The Tests
An amazing series of psychic tests were completed in June of this year at a quiet location in the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa. The subject of these tests, who uses the nom-de-guerre of “Lanfordâ€, was able to accurately perceive printed shapes that had been covered by quarter-inch-thick sheets of steel plating. We are excited to report the details of the “Lanford Experiments†to our registered readers.
Who is “Lanford�
Lanford is something of a mystery. Nondescript in appearance, Lanford is a man of middle age, possibly about 40, slightly balding, mildly overweight, standing about 5' 6â€. As you can see, Lanford has one of those “common†faces; friendly, but unremarkable. Lanford favors earth-tones in his clothing, wears a Rolex, drives a late-model Volvo, and, as he puts it, “Owns two-and-a-half cats and half a dog.†Other than that, Lanford would reveal no details about himself, not even his real name.
“Lanfordâ€
There is also his astounding ability to see through metal as if it were glass.
The Locale
Our experiments were conducted in a wonderfully appointed new home in Pleasant Hill. Lanford had insisted upon a quiet venue; we consulted our guides and an address was revealed to us. On investigating, we discovered that the address was a newer home which the owners had just put on the rental market. Needless to say our little committee quickly made arrangements to see the house with Lanford in tow. Lanford was quite happy with the house and the matter was settled.
The house in Pleasant Hill
We rented the house for a period of six weeks. The first two weeks were spent attuning the house and generally cleansing it of any negative energies. Although it was a relatively new home people had been living in it and precautions needed to be taken in order to provide a neutral environment for the experiments.
We were guided to focus on the dining room as the proper setting for testing. All plants and floor lamps were removed as well as extra furniture, leaving only the dining room table and chairs. As you can see, the result was somewhat Spartan, but that had been our goal.
The dining room
Experimental Preparation
At last we were ready to test Lanford. Keeping in mind that many people do not believe in the special abilities we all practice, we took steps to assure that our tests would be as thorough as possible giving Lanford no chance to cheat. As you know, we test everyone who is invited to join our society and Lanford was no exception. Given the nature of these abilities we always take careful precautions to prevent psychic access or even physical access to test materials.
Keys to the house and the test materials were kept in a safe deposit box. Only two of us had access to the safe deposit box. Both were required to be present when the other opened the box. The bank had been instructed to refuse access to either person if the other person was not present.
We set out the materials the night before Lanford was to arrive. These materials were:
The materials
Two new decks of playing cards.
10 opaque black envelopes.
10 rectangular plates of 1/4†thick steel.
Digital video recorder.
Digital camera.
We set up the digital video recorder and the digital camera. Each stage of the preparation was photographed in order to preserve a record of the procedure which we could check for any sleight of hand. We are all trustworthy but having a truly impartial watchful eye in the form of technology helps to keep everyone careful of details.
After closing the blinds we thoroughly shuffled one deck of cards, leaving the other deck sealed and unopened. Each playing card was placed in one opaque black envelope. These envelopes were then shuffled. Ten envelopes were selected at random. Each envelope was placed in a row on the dining room table. Each envelope was then covered by one steel plate. At this time we turned off the digital video recorder, taking it and the digital camera with us when we left the room, which we locked behind us. The digital video recorder and the digital camera were taken to the bank and locked in the safe deposit box.
Row of steel plates
Lanford Sees Through Metal
In the morning all of us were anxious for Lanford's arrival. Our lieutenants retrieved the digital video recorder and digital camera from the safe deposit box and we all met at the house. There we unlocked the dining room and found that nothing had been disturbed. No sooner had we set up the digital video recorder and digital camera than Lanford knocked on the front door of the house. He apologized for his early arrival but said that he'd had “the jitters†and wanted to get started as soon as possible. Fortunately we were ready for him to begin. We all entered the dining room where the tests would soon begin.
Lanford was given the sealed, unopened deck of playing cards. His task was to discern the playing card hidden below each steel plate and select its duplicate from the unopened deck and place it face up above each plate.
Lanford selects the cards
One by one, Lanford examined each place without touching anything except the deck of cards in his hands. Slowly selecting each card in turn, Lanford stopped at each plate and placed a card at each position until all ten plates had a card.
In keeping with our agreements, Lanford then left with one of our committee, who drove him to another location while we examined the results.
The Results
Here are the incredible results of the first experiment:
Plate 1: Queen of Diamonds Lanford: Queen of Diamonds
Plate 2: Five of Clubs Lanford: Four of Clubs
Plate 3: Ace of Diamonds Lanford: Ace of Diamonds
Plate 4: Eight of Spades Lanford: Eight of Spades
Plate 5: Jack of Hearts Lanford: Jack of Hearts
Plate 6: Six of Hearts Lanford: Four of Hearts
Plate 7: Ten of Clubs Lanford: Ten of Clubs
Plate 8: Joker Lanford: Joker
Plate 9: Seven of Diamonds Lanford: Seven of Hearts
Plate 10: King of Spades Lanford: King of Spades
Seven clear hits out of ten, with three very close hits, close enough to be virtually identical. When asked how he was able to “see†the hidden cards, Lanford told us that when he concentrates, “the metal just turns to glassâ€. When we asked him how he could see through the opaque envelopes, Lanford said, “I didn't notice envelopes at all.†We asked Lanford why there had been three misses, even though the cards he had chosen were extremely similar to the originals. According to Lanford, “Sometimes there's interference. If I get negative energies the glass effects get cloudy, you know, as if someone breathed on it and fogged the glass.â€
We repeated the experiment once each day for the remaining four weeks. As you can see in this graph, Lanford's hit rate remained consistently high throughout the test period, at times hitting 10 for 10.
This chart shows Lanford's scores
Summary
We feel the results of these tests are truly astounding. Although we have urged Lanford to go public with his remarkable ability, he has said that he is content to remain a private member of our society and does not want publicity. As he so wisely puts it, “These little tricks are unimportant. They're just side effects. What matters isn't seeing playing cards. What matters is what we see in the human soul.â€
Links
The preparation video
The Lanford video
Photo gallery
