E-mail Exchange With Russell Shipp
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Russell Shipp wrote us:
My name is russell shipp.I have accepted the james randi challenge and i gladly accept yours (North Texas Skeptic)as well.My paranormal ability ive chosen to demonstrait is low level telekinesis.
An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless outside forces influnece said object.I shall use my will to spin an object 5 grams(negotionable) in weight.
From a dead stop i shall put an object into motion with my mind
I require line of sight to move(spin) an object and glass isnt an issue.
The object(s) should be suspended by string about 6 to 12 inchs in length.The room should have zero air current , at least one video camera focused on the object(s) at all time during the demonstration.
Normaly i practice on various small toys of mine while lying down.ive been doing this since i was 15. I'm egar to prove myself and ill drive to carlton the moment you give me your ok.
Objects at rest stay in rest unless outside forces influence them.My mind seems to be a strong force.When ever your ready i can be thier in hours.
Gratefully yours,
russell shipp
We responded
Subject: Re: Andrew Harter of the jref sent me.
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 19:02:50 -0600
From: John Blanton <[email protected]>
To: russell shipp <[email protected]>Russell,
Wonderful. We are very interested in testing you. When can you come down?
Best regards,
John Blanton
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The North Texas Skeptics
http://www.ntskeptics.orgRussel Shipp phoned us on the NTS hotline, and we responded.
Subject: North Texas Challenge
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 14:02:05 -0600
From: John Blanton <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]Russell,
I received your phone message today, and I thank you for following up on my e-mail from this morning.
Although the phone is a perfectly acceptable way to contact us, I will use e-mail and postal mail for correspondence concerning the NTS Challenge. My intent is to maintain a written record of communications, and, besides, we post the correspondence on our Web site.
Please feel free to drop by to visit with us at any of our public meetings. I will try to have as many of the Challenge underwriters (there are five) present as possible if you give me enough notice in advance. Our next meeting is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Following that there is a meeting on 8 March at 2 p.m. Both meetings are in Dallas, Texas. I will provide details if you are interested in meeting with us.
To save time (and possibly any extra trips to Dallas) please give me details of how you plan to demonstrate your paranormal abilities. If your test plan is not acceptable to us we will propose a plan of our own. In any event, we will set up the test so you will win the prize if you can demonstrate your claimed paranormal powers, and you will not win if you cannot. You can't get much more fair than that.
As always, the prize will be paid only on successful completion of the Challenge protocol as described on our Web site. We will ask for a preliminary demonstration for which you will not be paid a prize, no matter what the outcome of the demonstration. We will view the demonstration to determine if, in fact, some paranormal ability is being demonstrated and also to determine whether you can perform successfully. This tends to save everybody time and trouble in case you can't perform successfully.
The e-mail address in the header of this message is a work address. Please continue to respond to me at [email protected]. You may copy to the work address if you want to, just give me a chance to read and respond in the middle of the day.
Best regards,
John Blanton
The North Texas Skeptics
http://www.ntskeptics.orgRussell Shipp wrote:
Subject: Re: Andrew Harter of the jref sent me.
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 07:41:44 -0800 (PST)
From: russell shipp <[email protected]>
To: John Blanton <[email protected]>I would like to come down tommoro feb 19. If you could give me a street address and some direrctions to thier from farm road 219 (i think).i could be thier around 1:00pm? Is this good or should i reschedule?
Russell Shipp wrote:
Subject: protocol one
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 15:05:44 -0800 (PST)
From: russell shipp <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]1. I shall take a micro machine klingon bird of prey(object one) from rest and put it into motion by spinning it then, I shall move on to my next micro mahine toy enterprise(object two) and spin it then, i shall move a cd(object three) by spinning it, and finnaly I'll "atempt" to move a small light weight object(number 4) of the challengers choice.
2. All objects will be suspended by knot or tack from a roof or suffecently tall structure by sewing string.The challengers may choose what ever string they like to hold thier object.
3.All objects will be at a full stop before I begin.
4.Time frame 20 minutes or less.Idealy it should only be moments before i begin spinning the objects.
5. When I am attempting to move the objects I shall stand 10 feet away and wear a mask to ensure my breath doesnt affect the objects.
6.All moving of objects will be done with my mind.
My nerves are exicted as I mean to be at your meeting Saturday 7:30.This test seems keen.I would like to know what object yall are going to choose.Also as of now im use to demonstraiteing in front of small crowds.Three to five at a time.Im not sure if thats signifagant or not but if possable I would like to demonstrait for a small as nessesary group.One more thing,I warn you now it takes AWHILE for these objects to come to a compleat stop some times 45 minutes sometimes longer.Other then that,i hope to see you saterday.I remembered one more thing I should ask. If you would could supply me with an imediate copy of the recorded demonstration.Ill supply what ever type you need.Thanks for your time.
Sincerly,Rusty(Russell Shipp)
The above mentioned is the claiment.
We responded
Subject: NTS Challenge
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 22:45:05 -0600
From: John Blanton <[email protected]>
To: russell shipp <[email protected]%gt;Russell,
The first time around you are only going to talk to us and let us know what you can do. If you would rather do this by e-mail that will save you a trip to Dallas.
We would likely do a test at the Center for Community Cooperation at 2900 Live Oak Street in Dallas. That would be on one of our regular meeting dates. Check the Web site for a schedule. We are talking April or later.
Else, we can arrange a separate get-together. We are still talking a weekend.
Let me know your preference.
Best regards,
John Blanton
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The North Texas Skeptics
http://www.ntskeptics.orgGreat news! Russell Shipp has given us a demo of his telekinetic powers.
Stand by for more details.We have observed a demonstration by Russell Shipp. Here is the story.
Additional correspondence with Russell Shipp