The Register from Santa Ana, California • Page 79

Eerie Psychic World By BOB KIRKPATRICK Register Staff Writer Two Orange County youngsters have Joined the spoon bending set. duplicating the psychokinetic power of Israeli psychic Hrl Geller First to enter the Geller arena was a 10 year old boy in La Palma. David Sheoberd Young David began warping silver ware early last summer Witnesses to his unusual psychic power include Dr William Sundgron. a psychologist and junior high school counselor in Anaheim; Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell, founder and president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Palo Alto; Paul Bannister, a reporter for the weekly National Enquirer; John Yench. Anaheim Bulletin staff writer, and Stewart Hohb, Anaheim, a long time parapsychology researcher, lecturer and author who on several occasions has had David demonstrate his psychokinetic power before adult and extension classes in parapsychology Like Colleen Cummins of Beach, David is a completely normal youngster in all respects, with interests and activities one would expect of a 10 year old except for bis difficult to explain ability to contort metal objects at will by what Mitchell describes as physical means Unlike many adults who have achieved the (teller effect, David had never observed in fact, had never heard of psychic Geller before discovering the power of psychokinesis As the blue-eyed metal mangier re calls, it was sometime around April that family went to a hobby show in Long Beach 1 glanced al a booth wbere a lady was holding a spoon I found my parents and told them about the lady and the spoon We went there and saw her stroking spoons gently until they bent by themselves The lady asked them to try it.

They tried it. hut the spoons would not bend when I tried it, I could not make them bend either few days later I tried to do it again This time, the spoon bent a bit My father saw it, and has got me to do it several times since Asked to describe how he achieves the phenomenon. David explains simply, just think about the spoon bending and wish that it would I sort of feel energy going into the spoon, sort of wish that it would go there And it does And like Colleen David doesn't object to a gallery of observers In feet he claims he performs better when people are around as if 1 can draw upon them for the youngster observes David's parents, Harry and Sharon Shepherd, who admit to a long standing interest in psychic phenomena have been careful not to try to influence him tn any way in the exercise of his strange power As Harry Shepherd explains it. don want to push the hoy in any way. At the same time we don want to say, vou cannot do We just want to let him develop on his own and regard this simply as another activity of his Although willing to have David engage in scientific research in the study of his power, the Shepherds wish to dis cuss details for any planned studies Undue publicity, they fear, might jeopardize the research An added facet to young David power is the apparent ability to achieve healing, according to his father who reports that the boy periodically attends a healing clinic in Santa Monica to effect relief of minor aliments such as backaches And parapsychology lecturer Robb vouches for having witnessed David achieve a minor healing in one of his classes The most recent case and by far the most spectacular and provocative of youth going on a mind mashing paranor- mality bender involves a Laguna Beach boy, formerly of Anaheim mp Che Bejjisfer FOCUS Editorial Business Chris Kennedy, a slender blond 12- year oid has ail the appearance of the average next door This soft- spoken, blue-eyed youngster likes to play football, enjoys surfing, is interested in motorcycling and a host of other activities which one for a hoy his age But today he bending knives, forks, spoons, keys, coins even heavy andirons With ease Chris developed this strange power through the guidance of his father.

Lawrence Kennedy, of South laguna. Determined to master the same psychic powers demonstrated by Geller, Kennedy for months concentrated on bend ing," trying to produce the well known effect Despite exhausting efforts of concentration and the phenomenon to occur, nothing happened Kennedv was frustrated and dlscour aged He had hoped to emulate Geller feats in order to present an academic treatise on this phenomenon As the deadline for his paper drew near, panic welled up in him The breakthrough came early in July Quietly, effortlessly. No sparks, no thunder no lightning It Just happened Kennedy was listening to a Fran? List concerto, totally relaxed and absorbing the beauty of the music hut all the while gently stroking the spoon he invariably carried with him And the spoon became limp, began to bend As Kennedv it, simply forgot my ego. my conscious striving and to achieve this and let a higher power take over Son CTirts was stunned Dad, do you think I could do course you can, Son And soon afterwards, Chris bent his first spoon But neither he nor his father were prepared for tlie psychic which occurred later. One morning in August Kennedy was on the phone conducting of his psychic book distribution business, while Chris was in the kitchen trying unsuccess fully to bend a fork When his father got off the phone, Chris confessed dejectedly.

I can do my stuff on this fork what you need is a spoon instead of a fork." Kennedy suggested, pulling open the cutlery drawer He was shocked he told me later to find the drawer a mangled metal Forks, knives, spoons, can openers, basting whisk, and a tea kettle top were all contorted A potato peeler was broken off at the handle Kennedy fished for a spoon in the dishwasher. More mangled silverware He went to the sink. No usable cutlery there either. Bemused. Kennedy scratched his head.

1976 the heck are we going to use for dinner?" he wondered aloud Entering the living room, he discovered more metal mayhem. The coi ner of the birdcage was bent out of line. Tlie metal rahblt-car on the TV were bent. The TV stand magazine rack was contorted, with one metal strand broken. Metal camping cookware, laid out for a forthcoming vacation trip, looked like reiects from a junk swap meet.

Kennedy contacted of the news media in Orange County to apprise them of the incident The National Enquirer got wind of the phenomenon and wanted details. But even before the mass metal bending experience had become publicly known, their psychokinetic powers had come to the attention of parapsychology researcher Stewart Hohb. also of Anaheim Robb lost no time in delving further Into the apparent psychic power. While interviewing the two at lunch in a known the contents of the fortune cookies I saw to that myself To verify Chris's apparent I Interviewed him and his father at their modest apartment. Robb and his family also were present I examined the twisted kitchenware, the misshapen birdcage the bent rabbit- ear antennae, the camping cookware ludicrously malformed At Robb suggestion.

Chris proceeded to demonstrate his ability to bend kitchenware A goiid looking youngster, Chris seemed natural as rain. Dressed in blue jeans, a shirt, with a string of wooden heads about his neck, he appeared relaxed and happy to for us We watched as he gently stroked a spoon, Within minutes it had angled to 90 degrees Minutes later it had almost doubled hack With a trace of a smile. Chris set it on the floor to Join an array of misshapen silverware displayed for our benefit (Today he has a suitcase full of contorted knives, spoons and forks which he accumulated through repeated de monst rat ions And his father continues to foot an ever mounting bill for replacement silverware) Robb suggested another experiment. Producing a wristwatch which no longer worked, he asked Chris to see if he could make the hands move. We hovered over Chris, watching him closely.

The boy held the watch on both sides, not saying a word, just concentrating His fingers remained immobile were positive that he made no effort to rotate the stem. Within the first two minutes there was barely perceptible movement; the minute hand had crept ahead five minutes Suddenly the minute hand began Within a matter of seconds the minute hand made a complete revolution around the face of the watch, with no movement of fingers Later during the same interview, Chris picked up a potato peeler, already bent to a 45 degree angle He stroked it for a few Fullerton restaurant, Robb began his inquiry by having Chrts try hand at psvehometry: the process of holding an article in the hand and in" on specific details of the article a owner, or the article ttself. Chris performed well Robb then handed him Chinese fortune cookie and asked him to the hidden contents. cupped the cookie in his closed his eyes and concentrated Minutes later he hesitantly quoted the message received in his mind; night life is fortune Hohb opened the cookie and read the printed fortune on the tiny slip ot paper. night life is for it read Excited, Robb picked another fortune cookie and handed it to read this one Chris appeared puzzled, disappointed.

Robb said, because he kept getting the same message, Chris commented that the first message must be lingering, that he could not get it out of his mind All he could was the same reading; night life for you." Robb opened the second cookie The fortune reading was identical to the first. On a later occasion, at Robb home the fortune cookie experiment was repeated This tune, according to Robb. Chris scored with 100 per cent accuracy Impressed with Chris abilities, Robb stated, "Chris unquestionably has genuine psychic powers and growing more powerful every day There is simply no way that he could have DAVID SHOWS MANGLED SPOON TO FAMILY Sister April, The Shepherds Encourage Boy LAWRENCE KENNEDY, SON CHRIS CHECK TWISTED METAL OBJECTS Kennedys Now Are Engaged In Experiments With Psychic Healing moments, then held it in hand, watching it fixedly. Moments later it snapped in two. Chris, again with just a trace of a smile, handed the pieces to me for examination.

Still another facet of complex of powers been reported by Robb. On two Robb engaged Chris in experimentation with what Robb labels writing Robb placed a blank piece of paper on the coffee table at his home Over it, face down, he placed a sheet of carbon paper. Above this he placed a page of newspaper Robb instructed Chris: "Now think of something pertaining to the world of The hoy held his hand above the paper for a few moments, concentrating on Robb suggest ion Then they turned their attention to other experiments, the independent writing experiment as Robb recounted five minutes later," Robb con tmued, "I removed the carbon paper, and clearly imprinted in block letters on the ortginally-blank paper were the words Patti Yet another experiment conducted at Robb home, and for which he vouches unreservedly, involved a mechanical poker hand-dealing device Push the button and five wheels spin. One at a time the drums abruptly halt, revealing the image ot a playing card. Three times, according to Robb, young Chris correctly predicted the suit of all five playing cards displayed by the device What distinguishes Chris from the other two youngsters described earlier is the tremendous, ever-widening scope of his psychtc abilities.

In addition to psychokinesis, psychometrics and independent writing, Kennedy and Robb report successful experiments with Chris in archeological psychometry, precognition, telepathy, automatic writing, clair audio, astro travel, astral projection, transfer of psychokinetic power and most recently psychic healing. Possibly the most significant development in Chris's are his reported psychic healings. A number of parapsychology researchers have observed these including Robb and Kenneth McKenzie, director of research at the Psynetics Research and Education Foundation, Anaheim Effected through meditation, with no physical contact, Chris's father claims that more than 50 persons have experienced immediate relief in some instances perhaps a from a variety of physical ailments such as hearing loss. impaired eyesight, rheumatism and crippling arthritis. While McKenzie points out that no conclusions can be drawn without follow- up studies and documentation by medical authorities, he readily vouches for observing the reaction of subjects who have declared immediate improvement in their condition.

The most dramatic instance of healing claimed by Kennedy occurred in mid- November at the Church of Revelation, Anaheim, where he and Chris gave a demonstration pf psychic healing. It involved a 26 year-old man, Kennedy reports, confined to a wheelchair who stated, walked in five years. I'll never walk normally After applying their meditation technique. Kennedy states that man got up from his wheelchair, walked across the stage and back to his wheelchair." The occurrence was witnessed by and is vouched for by the church's Rev. Richard Vallandigham Parapsychologists come up with a variety of definitions of this psychic power as well as explanations or theories regarding its source often with religious overtones Yet the consensus is firm: the power is undeniably real.

In fact, this power has been captured on film in Kiriian photography experiments at UCLA's Neuropsychiatric In stitute. Kiriian photography, in Russia, is the sending of an electrical charge through an object placed on film The result is a picture showing the surface characteristics of the object, along with the image of the emanation of energy field contained in the object Physicists call it the cold emissions coming from the object Other label it the corona discharge, life force, or aura The Russians called the image of this force the body." Call It what you will, but UCLA experimenters photographed a dramatic surge of this power spurting from psychic Urt Geller's fingertip. I have watched Chris perform on several occasions, but unquestionably the experience I have had with him invohed a serious prediction or warning Late in the afternoon of Aug. 27. Ken nedv called me from Anderson.

where he and Chris were vacationing with The urgency in Kennedv voice was unmistakable He told me that Chris had entered a trance-like state on two occasions. both re peatedly with images of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy" at which time Chris received urgent warnings of an impending attempt against the life of President Ford. Kennedy asked me if I would notify the news wire serv ices Instinctively I shrank from the idea No news bureau, 1 felt certain, would touch the incident with a 20-foot pole But Kennedy persisted Before he hung up he urged me; something, please! I just want this hanging over my conscience." Half an hour later I relayed Kennedv account to the night shift chief of Associated Los Angeles bureau His reaction did not surprise me.

Skepticism, fear of a hoax, suspicion of publicity-hunting strictly as newsmen label it. However, after vouching for Chris's observed abilities, I secured the shift chief's promise to contact the San Francisco bureau and suggest that someone contact Kennedy by phone No call was ever made On Friday, Aug 29 we had just locked up the front page at The Register It was 11 a m. No late-breaking stones compelling us to bust into Page 1. five minutes later when the rushed from the teletype room waving an urgent AP dispatch Datelined Washington, the story began: Secret Service is inves tigating threats to kill President Ford and Vice President Rockefeller in Dallas, and New York City, a spokes man said today. re aware of threats in New York and a threat in Dallas and we re said the spokesman, Ken Lynch.

He declined to give further details. I contacted Robb, relaying the details of Chris earlier warning, then the contents of the AP dispatch quoted above. Robb was skeptical. has undeniable psychic pew. era," he commented, I seriously doubt able to communicate with spirits on a higher plane, so to speak And with that, Robb dismissed the episode, suggesting that it might have been in subconscious mind, playing tricks.

But seven days later Associated Press flashed word of an attempt against Ford's life near the state capitol in Sacramento. Secret Service men had wrestled Lynette Fromme, Manson member, to the ground after she had brandished loaded automatic and aimed it at length range at President Ford. Seventeen days later, on Sep. 22. Sara Moore, 45, linked to a number of Bay Area radical groups, was seized in San Francisco after she fired a 38 caliber revolver at Ford.

Even today a disturbing uneasiness gnaws at me A lucky "shot in the Or does young Chris stand at the threshold of a new dimension, a newly discovered source of power which for scientific inquiry? KIRLIAN PHOTO CAPTURES PSYCHIC ENERGY Burst Is From Fingertip Of Psychic Geller Cou ni Boys Explore.