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Please see the discussion on the talk page. | - This article is about psychics. For the 1994 video game, see Psychic Detective (video game).
A psychic detective (PD) is a person who investigates crimes using supernatural powers or magic. Image File history File links Stop_hand. ...
Psychic Detective is the title of a 1994 video game that utilized extensive amounts of live-action footage. ...
The supernatural (Latin: super- exceeding + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are beyond ordinary scientific understanding. ...
Magic or sorcery are terms referring to the alleged influencing of events and physical phenomena by supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. ...
This is a popular feature in some types of fiction, but whether or not such people actually exist is disputed.
In Fiction
There is a long histoy of psychic detectives in horror and crime fiction, and in other genres as well. Examples include Jules de Grandin (created by Seabury Quinn), and Dr. Occult (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster). Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ...
Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ...
Jules de Grandin is a fictional supernatural detective created by Seabury Quinn for Weird Tales magazine. ...
Seabury Grandin Quinn (aka Jerome Burke) (1889 - 1969) was a pulp magazine author most famous for his stories of the supernatural detective Jules de Grandin, published in Weird Tales to great success. ...
Doctor Occult is a fictional magic user in the DC Comics universe. ...
Jerome (Jerry) Siegel (October 17, 1914 - January 28, 1996) was the co-creator of Superman, the first of the great comic book heroes and one of the most recognizable fictional characters from the 20th century. ...
Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-born artist best known for co-creating Superman with Jerry Siegel. ...
In Reality A number of people claim that they have these psychic abilities and that they have assisted police in solving kidnapping and murder cases, or usually locating a corpse. No psychic detective has ever been praised or given official recognition by the F.B.I. or US national news for solving a crime, preventing a crime, or finding a kidnap victim or corpse. (Lyons and Truzzi, 1992 & Nickell, 1994) For other uses of the initials FBI, see FBI (disambiguation). ...
Typically, little evidence is provided to back up these psychics claims, and many law enforcement agencies say that they regard psychics as a waste of time and a hinderance to police work (see below). Movies, television dramas and "entertainment news shows" showcasing psychic detectives are for audience entertainment. For the band, see The Police. ...
In a study of psychic detectives, Piet Hein Hoebens and Marcello Truzzi found ample reason to doubt the claims of psychic abilites solving crime: " ... some PDs' 'visions' are bound to be 'correct' often enough for the credulous to be duped. What seems like an accurate perception is due to its vagueness, commonness, and the latitude available as to what will count as a psychic hit. E.g., 'I see water near the body;' 'I see trees.' Some PDs are very skilful in their use of vagueness and ambiguity, and provide 'the verbal equivalent of a Rorschach test'". [1] Marcello Truzzi (September 6, 1935-February 2, 2003) was a professor of sociology at Eastern Michigan University and director for the Center for Scientific Anomalies Research. ...
The Rorschach (pronounced roar-shock) inkblot test is a method of psychological evaluation. ...
Abilities of psychic detectives are frequently alleged include postcognition (the supernatural perception of the past), psychometry (the paranormal divination of information based on reading the 'aura' of a place or object), and telepathy. Psychic detectives also use tarot reading, voodoo, numerology and dowsing. In murder cases they will often claim to communicate with the spirits of the murder victims. Retrocognition is the supposed ability to know something about a situation after its occurrence through psychic means. ...
In parapsychology, psychometry is a psi (or psychic) ability in which the user is able to relate details about the past condition of an object or area, usually by being in close contact with it. ...
An aura is: Aura (paranormal), a paranormal effect. ...
The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ...
The Tarot is a set of 78 cards with allegorical representations today used for divination, that first appeared in Medieval times. ...
A large sequined Voodoo drapo or flag by the artist George Valris The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based spiritist-animist religious tradition. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Dowsing is a controversial practice which proponents claim empowers them to find water, metals, gem stones, and hidden objects by carrying or waving a stick or other apparatus over a piece of land and watching for any movement. ...
Skeptics point out that if psychics ever did provide useful information leading to solving a crime, the police might consider them to have privileged knowledge, that would thereby make the psychic a suspect. Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical...
Specific psychic detectives Sylvia Browne has claimed to help solve crimes. Her claims so far have been vague enough that their truthfulness could not be confirmed or denied. [2] Sylvia Browne Sylvia Browne (born Sylvia Celeste Shoemaker on October 19, 1936 in Kansas City, Missouri) is a self-proclaimed psychic medium, and author of numerous books on spirituality. ...
In 1979, Brazillian medium Chico Xavier, a renowned spiritual leader in his country, is alleged to have transcribed a statement from a murder victim declaring the innocence of the man convicted of the crime. The letter was accepted as evidence and soon the victim allegedly "testified" through Chico who the actual murderer was - resulting in a man being set free. Francisco Cândido Xavier (April 2, 1910 - June 30, 2002), born in the city of Pedro Leopoldo, State of Minas Gerais, popularly known as Chico Xavier (Chico is the nickname to Francisco, just as Frank is to Francis), was the most popular and prolific medium in 20th century Brazils...
Psychic Scott Russell-Hill appeared on Australian TV show "Sensing Murder", using numerology calculations to try to solve a mysterious murder. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Irish psychic Zak Martin claims to have helped solve hundreds of murder and missing persons cases, and his involvement in several high profile cases has been publicly acknowledged by both the Irish police force and Scotland Yard.
Official police responses
Australia Australian police have said that they do not accept assistance from psychics. This was in response to an Australian TV show "Sensing Murder" in which self-professed psychics attempt to crack unsolved murders. [3]
Los Angeles - The LAPD has not, does not and will not use psychics in the investigation of crimes, period. If a psychic offers free information to us over the phone, we will listen to them politely, but we do not take them seriously. It is a waste of time. (Dan Cooke, PR)
- It is important to note that no information that would have been investigatively useful, such as first and last names, licence plate numbers, apartment house locations etc. was accurately produced by any of the subjects. (LAPD study)
The Los Angeles Police Department (usually known as the LAPD) is the police department of the City of Los Angeles, California. ...
United Kingdom There are no official police psychics in England; however, Scotland Yard maintains a database of psychics who have proved helpful in police cases in the National Crime Faculty. The Yard has no official policy on the use of psychics.
External links and references - The Blue Sense: Psychic Detectives and Crime by Arthur Lyons and Marcello Truzzi, Ph. D., Mysterious Press, 1991.
- Psychic Sleuths: ESP and Sensational Cases by Joe Nickell, Prometheus Press, 1994
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