A Letter From Hubert E. Pearce

Here below is an excerpt from a letter to my father JB Rhine from Rev. Hubert Pearce written in 1956 on Pearce's stationery as Minister of First Methodist Church in Wynne, Arkansas. I stumbled across this letter by accident when searching in the Duke Special Collections Library for JB's correspondence with Norman Vincent Peale, a well-known religious figure of bygone days with whom JB corresponded. (In fact Peale prints a fascinating article about JB's work and it's importance for religion in his Guidepost publication in 1958).

Background: Hubert E. Pearce was the one of most outstanding high-scoring subjects of the early 1930's Duke card-calling tests, particularly important for his role as subject in the Pearce-Pratt experimental series that is generally considered the definitive experiment for ESP in those early days in terms of tight conditions conducted with two experimenters at a distance across the Duke University campus. Hubert also correctly guessed 25 cards correct in an informal test that JB conducted with him after a challenge to test his ability.

But in 9/27/56 my father receives this message from Hubert that refers back to the Pearce-Pratt work of 20 years earlier, as follows,

"Just before we moved into our new church in Bentonville, I received a letter from a Martin Gardner in New York who was evidently writing a critique of Parapsychology. My office was moved into the new building while I was out of the city and the letter was lost. When I returned from our trip (in which he visited JB in North Carolina), I had another letter in which he asked if it hadn't been long enough that my conscience was bothering me to where I was ready to confess that the work there was not well controlled etc. etc. I am enclosing my reply to him."----Hubert E. Pearce

Hubert's reply to Martin Gardner reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Gardner:

Upon my return from a trip to Durham and Washington I found your interesting letter. I will have to admit that it is a new approach and I wish that I might have had it to send to Dr. Rhine. Of course, you realize that it isn't deserving of a respectable reply. There are a lot of things that might be said to express my opinion of it--and probably of you.

May I say simply that I am as much interested in the project now as I was when I was in the University and the longer I live the more I become convinced of its reality.

Those of us who have worked with Dr. Rhine have never once doubted his ability as a scientist and research director, his devotion to the Truth, his brilliance, or his integrity.
You are simply beating again the path that was beat by Experts in the 1930's.

The day will come when Dr. Rhine's name will be among the Immortals -- and the name of his critics forgotten.

Sincerely,
Hubert E. Pearce.

-- submitted by Sally Rhine Feather

Remote Viewing Anyone?

Remote viewing is a controlled form of PSI funtioning that can be learned. Similar to much earlier research on "thought transferrence" by the Rhines, Rene Warcollier and the Sinclairs, what we call Remote Viewing was developed by the US military as a response to similar programs in the Soviet Union. A secret program was created to bring together scientists in the field to develop defenses against foreign "psychic spys" and to establish our own data gathering abilities.

Scientists and military personnel who had been screened for "psychic abilities" were established as a team, and over the decades from the 1970s through the mid 1990s, and under various names and funding sources, the group established protocols for gathering information and for training such skills. Since the projects ended in 1995, and due to declassification of much of the information on the program, many of the former government Remote Viewers have written books, started training programs of their own, and have discussed the science of Remote Viewing in the public media.

Remote Viewing is something you can learn to do, and its a lot of fun. Training is of course available, but free information from books and websites is plentiful, and with some practice you can develop your own Remote Viewing skills.

Benton Bogle works regularly with a website dedicated to learning Remote Viewing, and he says he is shocked almost on a daily basis by the incredible Remote Viewing skills shown by the participants there. The science of Remote Viewing is still quite young, and much is yet to be learned about it, but the techique and process of Remote Viewing is something you can learn with practice.

You can visit the site at Remote Viewing and Dowsing Community RV Web Forum (not affiliated with the Rhine Research Center), or if you are interested in a more hands-on experience, Benton Bogle is organizing a small group of remote viewers to meet regularly for practice at the Rhine Center. See the notice below.

Interested in Remote Viewing Practice?
The Rhine Research Center is considering sponsorship of a Remote Viewing Practice Group. This group would meet regularly at the Rhine Center to do outbounder and other types of Remote Viewing that involve interaction. It would not be necessary to be trained as a Remote Viewer or to follow a particular method to participate. If you are interested in practicing Remote Viewing as a part of a small group of viewers and / or have questions, please contact Benton Bogle by email at bbogle@triad.rr.com. Meetings for the group would be free of charge for RRC members, $10 for non-members.

Interview with Dr. Sally Feather-Rhine

As the eldest daughter of JB and Louisa Rhine, Dr. Sally Feather-Rhine grew up in the world of parapsychology in Durham NC. She worked as a research assistant at the Duke Lab before and after a B.A. from the College of Wooster (1951) and as a researcher at FRNM after a doctorate in psychology (Duke University, 1967). Dr. Feather then worked over 30+ years as a clinical psychologist in mental health and psychiatric clinics and in private practice in North Carolina and New Jersey. Since 1995 she has been active at the RRC in various administrative roles, serving on two different occasions as volunteer Executive Director. Currently she is working on a research grant on the phenomenology of spontaneous PK experiencers. In 2005 she co-authored a book The Gift (St. Martins Press) that is an update of Louisa E. Rhine’s books on spontaneous ESP experiences.

Visit Parapsychology Information Portal to read an interview with Sally Rhine.

Stacy Horn Gets Two Thumbs Up from Betty McMahan

Dear Stacy,

I find that your factual history of Parapsychology is just what I'd hoped it would be. Unbelievable gives a comprehensive and very interesting account of the scientific studies in Parapsychology. In your research, you have dug out details of the Duke Lab's history (many of them almost forgotten by me) that I find fascinating. I am convinced that no one could have done a better job of keeping the facts straight while making the story such an interesting one. I'm sorry to be so long in responding to this much-appreciated copy of your book. I am honored to be mentioned in it (along with having your signature).

Congratulations, Stacy!
Sincerely,

Betty
Dr. Elizabeth McMahan
Dr. McMahan was a staff member of the Duke Parapsychology Lab and originator of the 'Pure Telepathy Test", presenting conclusive evidence for telepathy which could not be explained by remote viewing or clairvoyance.

To watch videos about the early days at the Rhine Research Center click on this link

The Unbelievable (Yet Common) Elusive Science

Friday, March 20, 2009
6-7:30pm Informal Reception
7:30-9pm Panel Discussion at the Stedman Auditorium Directions
THE UNBELIEVABLE (YET COMMON) ELUSIVE SCIENCE

NYC author Stacy Horn and Duke Professor Sy Mauskopf

Join us at an Informal Reception followed by a Panel Discussion with the engaging authors of two separate books featuring JB Rhine and the early Duke Parapsychology Lab.

Unbelievable, newly published on 3/10/09, is a commissioned book by Harper Collins written by NYC author Stacy Horn for which movie rights have already been signed! See Stacy’s blog on this book at http://www.stacyhorn.com/unbelievable

The Elusive Science was co-authored by popular Duke professor Sy Mauskopf in 1980, from the perspective of an historian of science. Dr. Mauskopf has been a long-time member of the Rhine Advisory Board, and a popular speaker in the Rhine Center Summer School Programs.

Come hear their stories and ask your questions at the Informal Reception in the Stedman Library before the talk or after the Panel Discussion in the Stedman Auditorium.

Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00 * Students $5:00