Million Dollar Madness

Ever since the JREF began offering the million-dollar prize to any and all of the wonder-workers out there who think they have special powers, or would like us to think they do, there appears to have been a concerted effort to avoid that reward by any means possible. The only ones who have actually expressed interest are those who really believe in their abilities, and that conviction arises with them for many different reasons. Others have set about to bring the challenge into doubt, in a move that I believe is intended to serve as an excuse not to simply take the money and make us skeptics look foolish.

The first bleat of complaint was that there was no money behind the offer and that the million dollars was fictitious. Well, it’s never been imaginary, and the offer has always been sincere. At first, the million bucks was only in the form of pledges, made by some 300+ individuals in 13 countries around the world. Had anyone won the prize, we would have had to turn our assets into cash in order to pay the winner, and then set out around the globe to knock on doors and collect from the pledgers. And, admittedly, it was a bit much to ask those who might compete to trust that we would have sufficient assets when the time came to pay up. 

Then, due to the generosity and wisdom of a sponsor, we received a million dollars in the form of a negotiable bond account held by a major U.S. investment house. This made the prize much more attractive and secure. But even then, the major figures in the psychic world were staying away from us. A number of fuzzy claims were put forth by folks. All have been offered the preliminary tests, some have done them, but none have succeeded. 

But those who never had any intention of applying took action once the prize was firmly established as being in place and available. They made considerable noisy objections to every aspect of the prize’s conditions with the goal, in my opinion, to create an atmosphere of confusion and mistrust. They had no legitimate reasons not to try for the money, so they were reduced to complaining about imaginary and invented problems. They claimed that I would rig any test so that it could not be run successfully. They said that several people had already won the prize, but had been refused payment. It was said that I had offered bribes to certain applicants so that they would not proceed with the tests. It went on and on in this vein. 

Please consider the very real possibility that the reason the prize is still unclaimed is simply that no one can take it, and probably never will be able to take it.

Of course, the usual “evil vibrations” claims were put forth (this even has a name—the “Randi effect”), and some simply stated that their particular talents could not be tested by any means we might devise. The “I don’t want the money” and “I don’t need the money” statements were heard, and when we announced that no one, ever, had actually been tested for the million dollars simply because no one had ever passed the preliminary tests, a great cry of “Foul!” went up. Please consider the very real possibility that the reason the prize is still unclaimed is simply that no one can take it, and probably never will be able to take it. That is what we at present believe, based on our experience. 

We at JREF try to go into each confrontation without prejudice. But let’s be up front with this: anyone who sits by the fireplace every night on December 24th for 70 years waiting to see if a fat guy in a red suit will drop down the chimney gets rather prejudiced by experience, not preference against Santa showing up next Christmas Eve. At the moment, that’s where we stand. We’re more than willing to be shown otherwise, but we don’t expect the fat guy to show. Also, when we find the same tired old claims being made time after time, it becomes increasingly evident that there’s not much new in this situation. 

(But there are, it seems, a few new wrinkles to be found. Just recently, in China, our colleague Sima Nan told me of a rather new claim which resulted in his being sued for failing to pay off a claimed winner of his own challenge, for one million Chinese yuan—about US$125,000—made under similar conditions to the JREF prize. A chap claimed he was able to change the size of the sun’s disk, making it larger in the morning and evening, and smaller during the day. I’m sure readers are familiar with this illusion, and cannot find any more merit in the claim that it was the result of the man’s talents, than the Chinese courts could.) 

The latest ploy in use by these people who rant about the JREF challenge is to demand the names and addresses of all those who have applied, those who have been tested, and those who have been rejected because they could not or would not, make application legitimately and in accordance with the rules. Well, that’s not going to happen. We will not put these people in line for the vicious harassment, accusations, and pursuit that are the weapons of those who would bring the JREF and the million-dollar offer into question. As we’ve stated before, those records are available to responsible persons to view at the JREF headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We’re under no obligation whatsoever to reveal these details to the world at large. We have been trusted by the applicants to follow the clearly-stated rules and to do the tests fairly and correctly. We’ve done so, and we respect their acceptance of our efforts. We will not betray them. 

Bottom line: If anyone has chosen to believe that we at JREF are in any way intimidated, or worried, by the possibility that some psychic wunderkind is going to scoop up the million, please be immediately disabused of that notion. We have put our money up front, we’ve stated our case, and we are doing all we can to accommodate properly presented claims on the prize. We’re the real thing. I ask the would-be winners, the complainers who don’t apply, the critics who rant about how dreadful we are to actually put our corporate money where our corporate mouth is, to read the web-page rules (www.randi.org), and get familiar with what’s being offered, and the conditions of that offer before issuing unfounded and misinformed statements that we have to correct. 

Finally, where are the pros? Are they all fearful that maybe they can’t do what they advertise? Why are all the applicants the “weak” cases, ones that seem like the shooting-fish-in-a-barrel variety? Why do we handle only those? Because the big guys won’t stand still for examination, and that fact, to us, is significant. Stop bleating and dodging. Step up to the line and do your thing!