Dr Sherin V George offered one lakh rupees to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal ability under proper observing conditions.
(In the above picture, he is holding the cheque of One million dollars offered by James Randi Educational Foundation and an envelope which has 10 digits (number/alphabet) for testing clairvoyance.)
History of Challenges in Paranormal Events
James Randi is a Canadian-American retired stage magician and a scientific skeptic who has extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Randi is the co-founder of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).
In 1964, Randi began offering a prize of US$1000 to anyone who could demonstrate a paranormal ability under agreed-upon testing conditions. This prize has since been increased to US$1 million in bonds and is now administered by the JREF. Since its inception, more than 1000 people have applied to be tested. To date, no one has been able to demonstrate their claimed abilities under the testing conditions, all applicants either failing to demonstrate the claimed ability during the test or deviating from the foundation conditions for taking the test such that any apparent success was held invalid; the prize money remains unclaimed. However, in 2015 the James Randi Educational Foundation said they will no longer accept applications directly from people claiming to have a paranormal power, but will offer the challenge to anyone who has passed a preliminary test that meets with their approval.
A.T. Kovoor (April 10, 1898 – September 18, 1978) was an Indian professor and rationalist who gained prominence after retirement for his campaign to expose as frauds various Indian and Sri Lankan “god-men” and so-called paranormal phenomena. In 1963, Kovoor announced an award of Rs. 100,000 for anyone who could demonstrate supernatural or miraculous powers under foolproof and fraud-proof conditions. Some sought publicity by taking on his challenge, but they forfeited the initial deposit amount.
After Kovoor’s death in 1978, B. Premanand continued his challenge by offering INR 100,000 to any person who could demonstrate psychic, supernatural of paranormal ability of any kind under satisfactorily observed conditions. This challenge has not been contested and won.
The Sri Lankan Rationalist Association, led by Professor Carlo Fonseka, renewed the challenge in 2012 and increased the reward to one million dollars.
In 2007, Dr Sherin V George offered an award of INR 100,000 to anyone who could demonstrate supernatural or miraculous powers under foolproof and fraud-proof conditions. He challenged Ouija board experts, Pendulum experts, Astrologers, Spiritual healers and even mind readers with scientific tests. No one accepted this challenge till now.
Challenging an Ouija board ‘expert’.
Challenging a fortune teller who use pendulum for divination