Maureen, I’m grateful you wrote this piece. There are many people like Psychic X, and most of them work in the dark. Scientists with ties to mainstream institutions have been researching such abilities for years (specifically precognition, remote viewing, telepathy, clairvoyance, pk) — most of them anonymously.

In 2009 as a post-doc at Northwestern, I came out of the closet as a researcher of these controversial phenomena — and was supported by open-minded scientists (as long as I stuck to the data, which is appropriate) and shunned by others who seemed not to want to hear about the data (which is not appropriate in science). I have learned a lot about scientific bias related to this kind of investigation since then.

I still continue my association with Northwestern today, but also have a relationship with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (noetic.org) where a team of scientists trained at Tier 1 research institutions in the U.S. have come together to rigorously examine claims such as Psychic X makes. However, we do it in group (usually not individual) settings, and we do not publicize particular psychics, to ensure they are not engaging in research to gain fame.

I encourage any researcher interested in this work — or doing this work in private — to consider standing up, claiming your interest, and performing rigorous and open research in this field. The field needs us all!