From Reader Steve Vaughn:

It's funny you mentioned that "haunted" Spiderman Watch in the UK. [2 weeks ago] My wife is a preschool teacher and she had a little electronic toy that one of the kids wanted her to watch while the child was on vacation. This was an interactive device that was popular at the time. It involved feeding an egg which turned into a dinosaur or something. Well she put the thing on her cabinet of school items and every morning at around 2:30 am this thing would go off and say, "I'm hungry, feed me" a few times then go into sleep mode. It drove me nuts for about three days because I knew I was hearing something and didn't know what it was, it actually was very unnerving to hear without knowing where it came from. On the fourth night I got up and sat in the front room so when it went off I was able to easily follow the sound. The toy ended up in the car for the rest of the week. Let me tell you, the sound of a quiet voice waking you up, and not knowing the source, isn't any fun. Damn toys.

Just think of how many creaky boards and resident rodents gave rise to major "hauntings" in earlier times. And consider how easily these events became hyperbolized after a few re-tellings and re-thinkings. A pretty good story can metamorphose into a major miracle, given a chance.

I have had several excellent examples of stories that changed and grew in impact. As a magician back in the 1950s, I did a lot of TV work, and I would frequently be button-holed by an eager questioner who wanted an explanation for some feat or other performed by another magician. I'd listen patiently, and often would find myself hearing a grossly distorted version of one of my own "miracles," the recounter not aware that I was the performer involved. It was no use for me to reveal this, since I would get a vigorous shaking of the head and the insistence that it was another magician. The teller already had his or her "reality" established, and that was that.

One example: a questioner related how the magician had been locked into handcuffs, then wrapped in a straitjacket, and thrown into a swimming pool, only to bob to the surface moments later, free. I told him that he was combining three different appearances of mine, and offered to prove it. I got the shaking head, and the insistence that this was "his" reality, not mine. I pointed out to him that a handcuffed person cannot also be placed into a straitjacket; topologically, it's impossible. That was no problem to him. He insisted that he "knew" what he'd seen, and that was enough.

I'm still getting correspondence from people who relate what they are sure happened to them, and challenge me to provide explanations. An example, just last week:

I've ruled out any of the possibilities that even you could come up with, and I still can't explain how these things happened. There has been no history of mental illness in my family either. Mr. Randi, there must be somebody that you know that you trust completely. Most of us, I think, have someone that we trust enough to believe when they tell us things. I have much more to tell, but my point is this: These things happen. We can't make them happen at our will. I don't know WHY they happen. I just KNOW that they do.

This writer confuses belief with actuality. Yes, I can believe his story, in that he believes it to be true. But does it represent the reality? His decision is made. He will not listen to any discussion of whether the wonders he described really took place as described; he only wants an explanation.

I think you can see the problem.

Reader John Sahs, Clarendon Hills, IL, comments on the recent brouhaha about King of Pop, Michael Jackson:

But it's not all about bringing Michael down. NBC News also talked to "longtime friends Donald Trump and Uri Geller," in the words of the news release. Those two are, of course, paragons of credibility and anybody's first choice for character witnesses. On the other hand, it is, at best, difficult to imagine the course their friendship might take. Three-handed pinochle, perhaps? Karaoke?

At least Geller's participation raises the possibility that viewers might take something useful out of this. People of America, hold your broken watches up to the set as he speaks. But hide your spoons.

It was a pleasure to see the media taking some well-earned, yet tongue-in-cheek, jabs at Mr. Geller. I must admit, I do wonder exactly how he and Michael became friends — both hanging out with Diana Ross, maybe? Bidding against each other for famous skeletons? Ah, a mystery for the ages.

Jackson knows Geller because he believes in just about everything. He's what L. Sprague de Camp called, a "credophile." He jumps for every sort of quackery and pseudoscience, and he could not have failed to be attracted to Geller's mythology. He even showed up for Geller's renewal-of-vows ceremony, a stunt that rather backfired on Geller when Jackson and his cane got all the attention.

Larry King, ever-alert to ratings, even brought Geller in on an otherwise responsible media show that discussed Jackson's situation. Personally, I have very mixed feelings about the Jackson "scandal." Geller's presence brought in a carnival atmosphere that I think Jackson could have done without....

Dr. Brendan Roycroft, of Cork, Ireland, writes:

I was talking to some women a few years ago, and they asked me what I worked at. I said I worked on semiconductor materials, where very pure crystals of, for example, silicon, are grown. The crystals have to be very pure in order that the electronic and optical properties come out right, or else the devices won't work.

Well, one of the women was delighted. She had always known that crystals were special, and she knew this by intuition because she was in touch with the true inner nature of things, whereas we scientists only knew about the boring "outer nature" and so missed all the interesting bits. The conversation changed before I could get my jaw from the floor, so she went away perfectly vindicated. Another victory for the crystal believers.

I guess this means there should be a good market for old Intel 386 processors, though.

Well, doctor, there's a certain satisfaction for me here, knowing that I'm not the only one who gets this kind of treatment. Welcome to the club!

Reader Nick DiCiaccio went to see "Touched" at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. This is a film featuring the work of Harvard's Dr. John Mack, about alien abductions and the people who believe they experienced them. He writes:

This past Thursday night, I attended the world premiere of "Touched" at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The "MFA" as it's known, has a film program that screens many films most people otherwise wouldn't see, including many hard-to-find foreign and artistic films. Imagine my surprise when I found out that "Touched," which tells the stories of people who believe they've had contact with extraterrestrials, was on the schedule. I'd thought to myself that the MFA had sunk to a new low, pandering to popular fads instead of showing worthwhile films. However, upon looking more closely at the schedule, I found out that a couple of special guests would be at the premiere, which excited my interest in attending. The first would be the filmmaker herself, Laurel Chiten; the second would be John Mack, MD, the psychiatrist on the Harvard University medical school faculty who believes the stories of those who claim to have been in touch with, even abducted by, aliens from another world or dimension. The more I thought of it, the more I knew I couldn't pass up the chance to see "Mack-o the Wacko" (as he's been described in a column by Boston Globe writer Alex Beam) in person.

My wife and I purchased tickets online last month, and this Thursday night we braved late rush-hour Boston traffic to drive into the MFA for the 8PM showing of the film. It was a good thing we'd bought our tickets early; a sign on the parking lot booth as we drove into the MFA lot stated that "Touched" was sold out. We crowded into our seats in the packed auditorium, comprised mostly of "normal-looking" people, and then we were treated to the showing of "Touched."

Truthfully, the film itself was quite good. It wasn't the sideshow I'd feared; on the contrary, it was quite artistically done and in my opinion shone as a piece of filmmaking. As for its content, it wasn't pro-or-con as far as whether extraterrestrials exist and love to snatch people in the middle of the night, a point stressed by Ms. Chiten when she spoke at the conclusion of the film. The film was about telling several stories surrounding the phenomena of alien contacts and kidnappings and how this affected various peoples' lives.

The film showcased the stories of two people, Karin and Peter, and how they feel they've had contact with and been abducted by aliens, and the effects on their families. (Peter attended the premiere with his wife, Jamy, and was introduced after the showing.) The film also prominently featured Dr. John Mack, and his relationships not only with his patients who'd claimed to have had alien contact, but also with his peers at Harvard and in the medical community at large. Other people, including the Vatican's own "demonologist", one Father Balducci, were interviewed and gave their opinions on the subject of alien visitations. (Father Balducci allowed for that possibility.) The filmmakers also journeyed to Brazil, to interview people there who'd claimed contact with aliens, including one musician who'd claimed that extraterrestrials had planted a device in his ear, which they'd extracted through his nose at a later visitation. I suppose this was to show that delusions are cross-cultural...?

As for Dr. Mack, in the film he came across as quite sane and cultured, and it was easy to see how members of the general public could be swayed into believing alien abductions are real phenomena. His academic "vitals" were even brought up by a Dr. Relman, a fellow member of the Harvard med school faculty interviewed in the film who doesn't share Dr. Mack's views on aliens — his publications, his Pulitzer prize, etc.

At one point, Dr. Mack scoffs at the late Carl Sagan's views that many stories of alien abductions were in fact recountings of hallucinations." What does [Carl Sagan] know about hallucinations," growled Dr. Mack in the film. (Personal note: Apparently more than you, MD and all, Dr. Mack.) Audio tapes of the psychiatric sessions with Peter were also featured in the film; these were quite disturbing, to say the least. On the tapes, Dr. Mack was leading Peter through "regression therapy" using hypnosis. The screams and cries as Peter remembered, or imagined he remembered, abductions and various discomforts at the hands of the "aliens" were disturbing to hear. Through the film's playing of those tapes, I thought not only how deluded Peter was, but how deluded Mack was.

I almost wish I could say that the tapes showed a self-serving psychiatrist exploiting a patient for his own special notoriety, but I didn't get that impression. What I got was the impression of a doctor who had been sucked (at least partially) into the fantasy world inhabited by his patients (another phenomenon cited by the late Dr. Sagan in his book, "The Demon-Haunted World") and was questioning them as though the delusions really occurred. As any psychiatrist, psychologist, or even reasonably intelligent lay person could tell you, a doctor who's been drawn into the delusional world of his obviously disturbed patient, isn't doing that patient any good and at the same time is doing himself quite a bit of harm.

While I didn't get the sense that Dr. Mack was completely drawn into the world of his patients, I did get the sense that he would at least consider that the worlds they described were real — dangerous enough in and of itself.

Both in the film, and in the post-showing Q&A session that followed, when Dr. Mack spoke about his beliefs I honestly got the feeling he was somewhat, umm, fluid. He didn't come right out and say that these people were abducted by aliens who came down from spaceships; he allowed for the possibility that they came from other dimensions or planes of existence, somewhere out of normal time and space, places that were ethereal, without physical substance perhaps. (Convenient explanation for the utter lack of any convincing physical evidence, eh, doc?)

I got the sense that Dr. Mack was espousing the viewpoint, "Well, science can't disprove the existence of other dimensions, planes of existence, etc." True enough, Dr. Mack, but as is often pointed out, the one claiming a particular view who wants the approval of the scientific community of that view, must be the one to prove that view; it's not up to the community to disprove it. And when the mental health of several persons is at stake, taking jaunts into the "alternate" world is irresponsible at best. In the film, Dr. Mack also poo-poohed "Western science" for its lack of imagination, for its supposed refusal to allow anything into its circle of thought that couldn't be proven. Isn't that what science is about? Also, just like there's no such thing as "conventional" vs. "alternative" medicine (just medicine that works vs. medicine that doesn't) there's no "Western" or "Eastern" science. There is just "science."

One may believe what one wants, in the metaphysical or spiritual sense, but if one wants to claim the "approval" of science then one has to do better than Dr. Mack has done.

From my sense of the audience, the film didn't seem to convince anyone there that extraterrestrials have visited Earth and have abducted people, including those who appeared in the film. There was a lot of laughter throughout the film, though not directed at those who shared their stories; there were many humorous moments, thanks to the filmmaker's talents. One such moment was when Ms. Chiten showed images of newspaper articles on Dr. Mack, including one titled "Should Harvard Beam Him Up?" It was my sense that, during the sequences when tapes from Peter's sessions with Dr. Mack were played, people were made very uncomfortable by what they heard. I honestly don't believe Dr. Mack won over any fans with those sequences.

I'd recommend the film highly, if someone wants to hear human stories about seemingly normal, yet torn people, and the people in their lives. I'd also recommend it as a superb piece of documentary filmmaking, and Ms. Chiten is to be commended for her artistry. I don't believe this film would convince any skeptics that aliens walk among us, and to Ms. Chiten's credit that's not what she set out to do. The film tells human stories, the physical truth behind them is left to the viewer, and I honestly don't see any rational viewers coming away from the film scared they'll be abducted from their beds. I felt it was also educational to see how very well-schooled people with great credentials, like a John Mack, can fall into a pool of delusion themselves; odd beliefs are not the exclusive province of the "crazy" or eccentric people among us, but are shared even among well-educated, prominent people.

Well put, Nick, and thanks for your report. I've twice heard Mack speak, and both times I've had to wonder whether he really believed what he was saying. The last time was in Seattle, in the company of Carl Sagan. I recall that when Mack responded to a comment from the audience about the adolescents that he was quoting, that "children that age aren't clever enough to lie that well," Carl and I slowly turned to one another, and Carl murmered, "I assume he's childless?"

The second show in the 8-part series I'm working on here in Korea, was an even greater success than the first. We got a share of 28, quite remarkable. Spoonbending was featured on our last taping, and our panel found they were very good at it after basic instruction in the art.

We still have to reveal the claims of a Russian "psychokinetic" artist to examine — today — and a Korean "doctor" who sees into his patients' bodies. Testing the latter, we've assembled some folks who will be "scanned" by the claimant; one out of ten will have only one kidney, the result of a voluntary transplant. And, strangely, the local Transcendental Meditation teachers withdrew their claim that they were going to take the JREF prize by levitating on our stage. I wonder why.

Then it's back to the USA, a visit to Maryland, and all sorts of catching-up. The Hyatt's nice, Korean cuisine continues to be interesting and challenging, and I got to see Colin Powell sweep through the lobby a few days ago, but that wasn't close enough. Touch-down at JFK will be welcome.....