Uri Geller And The Story Of A Collective Scam

The name of Uri Geller was very popular in the seventies mainly. At that time, what was called the “New Age” philosophy was beginning to take shape. The public was very receptive to all kinds of supernatural phenomena. In fact, many were hungry for that type of content, so the paranormal was trending.

If anyone took advantage of the effervescence, it was Uri Geller. His was one of those large-scale collective scams. Thousands, and even millions of people around the world believed in his powers and made him a hugely successful millionaire. In fact, even today it maintains followers in different latitudes.

Sometimes it is difficult to explain why a single person manages to fool crowds. Although Uri Geller is one of the most prominent scammers, he is not the only one who has managed to unleash this epidemic of unsupported beliefs. There are many religious leaders, politicians or simple peddlers who have cheated and continue to cheat countless people. And within its followers there are not only people with little education, but from almost all educational levels. What’s going on?

Who is Uri Geller?

Uri Geller was born in Tel Aviv (Israel) in 1946. According to his version, at the age of 4 he saw a powerful ray of light in the sky that threw energy on him and rendered him unconscious. He has suggested that this was an encounter with extraterrestrial beings. After that episode, he entered his house and at lunchtime he broke a spoon that was in his hands.

His family moved to Cyprus when Uri was 11 years old. He lived there until he was 17. Then he enlisted in the Israeli army and became a paratrooper. He participated in the Six Day War and was wounded in combat . Then he became a photographic model, a job he held for a year.

Later he began to act as a magician in small nightclubs in Israel. In a short time his fame began to grow, in parallel with a series of legends around him. Unlike other magicians, Uri Geller claimed to have psychic powers. It became particularly famous for its ability to bend spoons, even at a distance, and to stop or accelerate the hands of clocks.

A celebrity

In no time Uri Geller became a celebrity . Hundreds of television shows around the world wanted him as a guest. In each of them he repeated his function of bending spoons and handling the clocks at will. To this he added “gifts” of telepathy. He would ask the assistants to draw something and then he would reproduce it faithfully, without having seen the initial drawing.

Everywhere they were fascinated with him. The situation got to such a point that according to declassified CIA documents, Uri Geller was invited by the US intelligence agency to test his powers. They locked him in an armored room and asked him to repeat drawings made thousands of miles away by some agents. They concluded that he did have paranormal powers and worked for the CIA.

However, there was someone who did not believe in him. He was also the magician and illusionist James Randi. He was a co-founder and member of the Committee for Skeptical Investigation (CSICOP), an organization whose purpose is to debunk the myths of pseudoscience and expose charlatans.

Randi has always said that the spoon trick is simple and can be done by even a child. What differentiates Geller from that child is the entire marketing apparatus that ends up creating a collective illusion.

The scam is revealed

In 1973, through the good offices of James Randi, Uri Geller was a guest on the Johnny Carson television show. Randi challenged him to perform his routine, in different conditions than he used to. First, Geller was not allowed to use the spoons he was carrying, but was given others. Nor did they allow him to choose who would draw a picture for him to guess later.

In the end, Uri Geller was unable to display his alleged paranormal gifts. He did not bend spoons, nor guess pictures. He claimed that great pressure was being exerted on him and that this had blocked his powers. He then sued Randi, who countersued and after several years won the process.

It was not the only time that Geller’s powers were conspicuous by their absence. He once said he was going to stop Big-Ben and it didn’t happen. He said the same about the Puerta de Sol clock and nothing happened either. Still, many people in the world continue to believe in him and, in fact, he continues to appear on television and reiterate that he has great supernatural powers.