Editing James Randi (section)

===''Exploring Psychic Powers ... Live'' television show===
''Exploring Psychic Powers ... Live'' was a two-hour television special aired live on June 7, 1989, wherein Randi examined several people claiming psychic powers. Hosted by actor [[Bill Bixby]], the program offered $100,000 (Randi's $10,000 prize plus $90,000 put up by the show's [[Broadcast syndication|syndicator]], [[Lexington Broadcast Services Company|LBS Communications, Inc.]]<ref name="6jiX6">{{cite podcast |url=http://clear-light.msspro.com/files/Randi_2003-Jul-31.wav |title=Randi_2003-Jul-31.wav |website=JREF Internet Broadcast Archive|host=Randi, James |format=[[WAV]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030907063148/http://clear-light.msspro.com/files/Randi_2003-Jul-31.wav |archive-date=September 7, 2003 |date=July 31, 2003 |time=0:33:19 |access-date=November 28, 2006}}</ref>) to anyone who could demonstrate genuine psychic powers.
* An [[astrologer]], Joseph Meriwether, claimed that he was able to ascertain a person's [[astrological sign]] after talking with them for a few minutes. He was presented with twelve people, one at a time, each with a different astrological sign. They could not tell Meriwether their astrological sign or birth date, nor could they wear anything that would indicate it. After Meriwether talked to them, he had them go and sit in front of the astrological sign that he thought was theirs. By agreement, Meriwether needed to get ten of the 12 correct, to win. He got none correct.<ref name="Bauer">{{Cite book |last=Bauer |first=Craig P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1156319304 |title=Discrete encounters |year=2020 |isbn=978-0429400506 |location=[Place of publication not identified] |pages=322 |oclc=1156319304}}</ref>
* The next psychic, Barbara Martin, claimed to be able to read [[aura (paranormal)|auras]] around people, claiming that auras were visible at least five inches above each person. She selected ten people from a group of volunteers who she said had clearly visible auras. On stage were erected ten screens, numbered ''1'' through ''10'', just tall enough to hide the volunteer while not hiding their aura. Unseen by Martin, some of the volunteers positioned themselves behind different screens, then she was invited to predict which screens hid volunteers by seeing their aura above. She stated that she saw an aura over all ten screens, but people were behind only four of the screens.<ref name="Bau2020">{{cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=Craig |title=Discrete Encounters |date=2020 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0429682896 |page=332 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUjpDwAAQBAJ&dq=Barbara+Martin+aura+James+Randi&pg=PA322 |access-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429183326/https://books.google.com/books?id=WUjpDwAAQBAJ&dq=Barbara+Martin+aura+James+Randi&pg=PA322 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* A [[Dowsing|dowser]], Forrest Bayes, claimed that he could detect water in a bottle inside a sealed cardboard box. He was shown twenty boxes and asked to indicate which boxes contained a water bottle. He selected eight of the boxes, which he said contained water, but it turned out that only five of the twenty contained water. Of the eight selected boxes, only one was revealed to contain water and one contained sand. It was not revealed whether any of the remaining six boxes contained water.<ref name="Bauer" />
* A [[Psychometry (paranormal)|psychometric psychic]], Sharon McLaren-Straz, claimed to be able to receive personal information about the owner of an object by handling the object itself. In order to avoid ambiguous statements, the psychic agreed to be presented with both a watch and a key from each of twelve different people. She was to match keys and watches to their owners. According to the prior agreement, she had to match at least nine out of the twelve sets, but she succeeded in only two.<ref name="Bau2020" />
* Professional crystal healer Valerie Swan attempted to use [[Extrasensory perception|ESP]] to identify 250 [[Zener cards]], guessing which of the five symbols was on each one. Random guessing should have resulted in about fifty correct guesses, so it was agreed in advance that Swan had to be right on at least eighty-two cards in order to demonstrate an ability greater than chance. However, she was able to get only fifty predictions correct, which is no better than random guessing.<ref name="eQBdU">[[#Polidoro|Polidoro 2003]], pp. 19–24</ref>