All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S07E13.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

HOST: For Jeanine Price
extraordinary events

are almost commonplace.

Objects hurl themselves
across the room,

and appliances explode.

Now researchers are
attempting to unravel

the mystery of Jeanine
psychokinetic powers.

In 1980 a woman named Etta
Smith says she'd experienced

a haunting psychic vision.

A vision so powerful
and so persistent

that it led her directly to
the body of a murder victim.

Incredibly Etta's detailed
description of the crime

was so accurate that she
became a suspect herself.

Tonight, a special
Unsolved Mysteries report.

Mysteries of a Psychic Mind.

[theme music]

HOST: Perhaps the most dramatic
mystery of the human mind

is a phenomenon known as
psychokinesis, the ability

to affect objects without
so much as a touch.

In Pennsylvania a
troubled young man

named Don Decker seemed
to cause what could

only be labeled as rainstorm.

Bizarre showers had
followed wherever he went.

Nine credible witnesses,
including police and clergymen,

verified Deckers
extraordinary experiences.

POLICEMAN: I've been
cop forty years,

and I never heard
anything like this here.

Never.

There is always an explanation
when something happens.

If you got to investigate,
you come up with some--

this is why it happened.

This case here-- there
is no explanation.

HOST: And then
there's Jeanine Price

of Long Beach, California.

Mom, can I have
a dollar for lunch?

I'll give it to
you in the car.

[sparkling]

[exploding]

[exploding]

[baby crying]

HOST: By her own
account, Jeanine Price

has endured a series of baffling
psychic episodes that stretches

back to her childhood.

But even before objects began
to spark and explode around her,

Jeanine claimed
she'd discovered she

had the unsettling
ability to read

minds and predict the future.

[vacuum cleaner on]

HOST: It all began
around the age of 10.

Jeanine says she was consumed
by an inexplicable, yet

unshakable, feeling
that she had a sister,

a sister she had never met.

Jeanine's mother refused
to answer her questions.

JEANINE: She just ignored me.

So then I became
even more obsessed

with finding out who this
person was that I was seeing,

that I went prying
into my parents

personal effects one time.

There were a lot of pictures
of children and other people,

but this one picture
I came across--

when I touched it, I knew
it had to be the person.

Mom, mom, momma.

What, what?

Who, who is this?

Listen, where
did you get this?

I was just looking through
some of dad's things and--

I told you never to
go through our things.

Momma, who is it?

It's nobody.

It's just a picture.

I know who this is.

It's my sister, isn't it?

I know it.

It's my sister.

Come over here honey.

HOST: Jeanine's
mother was finally

forced to admit that
Jeanine did indeed

have a half- sister, Judy, from
her father's previous marriage.

But there was more to
Jeanine's premonition,

a terrifying revelation she
hardly dared put into words.

JEANINE: I then told my
mother in a brief simple form

that, mom I know I'm
going to meet her one day,

and right after I meet
her she's going to die.

MOTHER: She says, momma, you
know, I hate to tell you this.

And she says, something is
going to happen to Judy.

She says, I know
she's going to die,

and it's something
with her head.

Something's-- something
with blood in her head.

It's like, something
is going to burst.

HOST: Years later Jeanine
did meet the sister

she says she envisioned
while still a child.

In April of 1980
Jeanine's brother, Andrew,

showed up accompanied by none
other than the long lost Judy.

- Hi.
- Come on.

Jeanine.

Judy.

How're you?

JEANINE: We bonded
very, very quickly--

very closely matter of fact.

Come on in.

You must be tired.

JEANINE: I never told
her that I had a feeling

that she was going
to have a short life

after she had known me.

I just knew it wasn't
my place to do so.

All the time-- there
were times when

I wanted to say, Judy,
no, don't go out the door,

because you're
not going to live.

And I want to spend
all our time with you.

HOST: Within a year,
Judy was admitted

to the hospital complaining
of severe headaches.

Her doctor assured the
family that it was nothing

more serious than migraines.

But Jeanine recalls
it on her first visit.

She says her
childhood premonition

would soon be fulfilled.

JEANINE: As soon
as I touched Judy,

the sense of death and
illness was so strong,

I think I became
too overpowerful--

too overbearing with the doctor.

I started suggesting that
he take x-rays of her skull

and her brain, and CAT scans.

I noticed that you haven't
done any tests on her--

Oh, we've done
a couple of tests.

I'm glad to report
she is going to be--

Well, well, the test
that she really needs is--

she needs a brain scan.
- Brain scan?

Yes.

Is there some medical
information that could--

Do you know the name
of her former Doctor?

No, but, um, it's
very important.

You see, I didn't want to
tell you this, but she--

she has some brain aneurysm.

Uh-huh.

Well, I don't think this
would be a good time to talk

to her about that right now.

JEANINE: I remember the
doctor telling me, he goes,

who'd know better?

You don't even know
what you're talking,

but you're not the doctor.

And I said, no, I'm not.

But I know my sister has
an aneurysm on her brain.

And he just kind of
like shrugged me off.

You need to do this right now.

This is my sister's life over
there you're talking about.

I understand, could
you help her please?

Ma'am--

JEANINE: And as I got more
persistent with the doctor,

he finally had me escorted with
security from the facility.

Day

BROTHER: I remember
distinctly of Jeanine

wanting everyone
that it was-- what

they did for her wasn't enough.

That she needed, you
know, something to detect.

We might had an
internal problem,

maybe there were-- or was
because shortly afterwards

she died.

HOST: Judith Kelly Price
died on August 8th 1980

at the age of 35.

Cause of death, an
aneurysm of the brain.

For Jeanine the devastating loss
was the most painful episode

in a lifetime of frustration.

JEANINE: You're very alone.

It's like a captain
without a port.

You know you belong
somewhere, but where do

you find that place to belong?

You're not considered
to be normal,

but you're not abnormal.

HOST: In September of 1994
Jeanine sought out Dr. Michael

Persinger, one of the
world's foremost experts

in psychic phenomena.

His laboratory at Laurentian
University in Canada

is at the forefront of efforts
to find areas of the brain that

produce psychic experiences.

DR. PERSINGER: When
individuals feel

that they can see
into the future,

and they have verified
experiences of cognition.

And you look at those portions
of the brain that are most

active, what you find is that
these individuals' brains are

organized in such
a way as that they

can make connections between
events that most people cannot.

HOST: Dr. Persinger
and his staff

have tested thousands
of individuals,

including Jeanine Price.

He has come to believe that
psychic episodes result

from brief bursts of unusually
high levels of electricity

within the brain, similar
to epileptic seizures.

DR. PERSINGER: In
terms of the activity

of Jeanine's brain, what happens
during brief periods of time

is that normal functions are
enhanced way, way above normal.

What precognition
is, is that you're

seeing things in time outside
the normal temporal frame.

Well, suppose
portions of the brain

that mediate space
and time are suddenly

enhanced in terms of activity.

HOST: Simply put, Dr. Persinger
says the brain is something

like a television receiver.

The components
within a standard TV

could be rewired
to receive channels

that aren't on the dial.

During seizure
conditions the brain

can be similarly
reorganized, result

may be enhanced, possibly
psychic capabilities,

a brain less constrained
by time or space.

Now, what's in front
of you is a board--

DR. PERSINGER: Of the 30 or
40 individuals with Jeanine's

profile, many of
them also report

having the ability to influence
objects at a distance.

The experiences
such as light bulbs

exploding around them, radios
failing, glass breaking.

JEANINE: I didn't
do this as a child.

It developed as I
became an adult.

There were several
incidents where things

actually exploded in my hands.

The school called again.

Can you believe it?

What's wrong?

JEANINE: I remember one time
I was pouring a coffee pot.

Do you want some more coffee?

Yeah, sure thanks.

[exploding]

JEANINE: And then I went
through many more situations

to where we finally had
to remove all our glass

glasses out of the house.

Because if I touched
them, and if I got upset,

they would break my
hand, they would shatter.

DR. ROLL: In general it
appears that these occurrences

are associated with
stress and tension.

And the theory is that they
are the means of the mind

of the brain to
release the stress

or tension in the individual.

HOST: Jeanine says a rush
of psychokinetic activities

erupted during a particularly
stressful time of her life.

She was divorced,
raising two children,

and living at her
mother's house.

MOTHER: I've seen
her get real upset,

and she has some pictures
on the wall one time.

And she was terribly upset.

She heard her ex-husband
had had words and so forth.

And it was really
a trying situation.

I can't talk to you
like this, all right?

Just forget it.

Forget it.

Good bye.

I can't believe that
he's accusing of--

- What did he say?
- That I'm--

[objects crashing]

What was that?

[scared]

MOTHER: She didn't
will it to happen.

It just happened.

It was just like a
magnetic force just

went and just pulled
us about, slung it

to the other side of the room.

JEANINE: I think some of
my son's little friends

are kind of afraid
of me, because we

were going out to the car
one day in broad daylight.

And I was just--

I wasn't even angry.

I was just charged up.

Mom, can I have
a dollar for lunch?

I'll give it to
you in the car.

[sparkling]

What was that?

JEANINE: The force was so strong
that the energy that was coming

off of my hand
actually caused sparks,

and the keys flew
up out of my hand.

SON: It's not like any
other mom getting mad,

because my mom is
just like, gets mad

and she does all
kinds of weird stuff.

You don't want to mess with her.

So she's not like any other mom.

JEANINE: It can be scary
at times because you

know it's going to occur, but
you don't always know exactly .

when.

And there's always
that fear that you

might have someone with you
that you don't want to hurt.

Fareed, come here.

HOST: According
to family members,

one of the most
dramatic incidents

took place when Jeanine
asked her son to warm up

a baby bottle in the microwave.

SON: I was so tired, I
put it on for one second,

and my mom got mad.

She went over there, and
touched it, and reset it.

[explosion]

[baby crying]

HOST: Jeanine would later
call a factory repairman.

He could think of
nothing to explain

the microwave
sudden destruction.

JEANINE: He had told
me out of all the years

he had been servicing,
he said, he had

never seen anything like that.

MOTHER: My daughter
was in a hurry one day.

She had an
appointment somewhere.

I don't remember
exactly what it was.

And she had this outfit
that she wanted to iron.

And then she always kept
buzzing around her feet

and pulling out her skirt.

Just really upsetting and
irritating and aggravating,

especially when you're
pressed for time

and you've got to
get some place.

What, what?

Your brother will help
you find the shoe.

Help him find his shoe.

It's probably over
there in the corner.

Hey, ma, did you give
them breakfast yet?

I'm doing it now honey.

JEANINE (VOICEOVER):
Don't forget

the apples that are in the
back of the refrigerator

for the lunch.

MOTHER: And she is just going
like this, ironing away,

you know.

And I'm looking at the iron.

The iron wasn't plugged in.

What, what, what?

MOTHER: I looked at the
plug, and I looked at her,

and I said, Honey, would you
like me plug the iron now?

DR. ROLL: We do not
know what type of energy

it is so we invent a term
for it, PK, psychokinesis.

And that is just as
for our ignorance.

We don't know how it operates.

By looking at the brains
of people such as Jeanine,

we might get an understanding
of the form of energy

that causes these
types of incidents.

Scientists Scientists
are far from explaining

the mysterious forces
of psychokinesis.

Even high tech tools like
magnetic resonance imaging

have failed to reveal all the
secrets of the human brain.

Still the exploration
has helped Jeanine Price

cope with the
powerful forces she

says once dominated her life.

JEANINE: If I can bring at will
the energy that I have when

I'm frustrated or
tired, I've been

told that people like myself--

that energy has been
used and channeled

in to people with illnesses--

If I could do that I
would like to do that.

HOST: In a moment, a
stunning, clairvoyant vision

leads a woman to the
body of a murder victim

as Mysteries of a
Psychic Mind continues.

As a young girl,
Etta Smith says she

had the occasional odd feeling
about events yet to happen.

But nothing that led
her to believe she

possessed special abilities.

Then at the age of
32 Etta had a single

extraordinary psychic experience
that changed her life forever.

In 1980 Etta Smith was working
in an aerospace facility

in Burbank, California.

On December 17th a
news bulletin triggered

an overwhelming sense of dread.

RADIO: Police in
Los Angeles report

they have located the truck
belonging to Melanie Uribe.

The young nurse
is missing since--

HOST: 31-year-old Melanie Uribe
had not been seen for days,

and investigators
feared the worst.

Despite a massive search no one
knew what had happened to her.

A house-to-house search
is currently underway.

We will keep you posted--

She's not in a house.

It was as if someone
was talking to me.

It was a mental
thought, but it was as

if someone was speaking to me.

She is not in a house.

After that thought registered,
it was as if I saw a picture.

I saw a canyon area.

I saw a road.

I saw it curving.

I saw a dirt path.

I saw shrubbery and a soft
white through the shrubbery.

I could not clearly
see what the white was,

but it was something
distinctively white.

And when I thought about
that, I thought, well,

if what I'm experiencing
is the possibility of where

this person could be, maybe
the white I see is her uniform,

knowing that she was a nurse.

Detective Ryan?

HOST: For Etta, the vision was
so powerful and so profound she

felt compelled to
tell the police,

even at the risk
of being ridiculed.

Excuse me, Detective Ryan?

Etta Smith?

Yes.

Desk Sergeant said
you had some information

on Melanie Uribe.

ETTA: I couldn't just let it
go because I kept wondering

if this person needed help.

And if their life
depended on that help,

it would be very wrong of
me not to do something.

It's kind of hard to explain,
but I think I've seen her.

You've seen her?

I gave her a lot of
credibility based on the fact

that she came in on her own.

You'd found her truck.

She indicated her conscience
was bothering her, which

triggered a response in me
that possibly her conscience

is bothering because
maybe she knows

more than she's telling us.

But then again, maybe she
is in fact sincere and real.

So let's treat her in that light
until we find out otherwise.

HOST: Based on her
psychic vision,

Etta pinpointed the
area in Los Angeles

County where she thought the
missing nurse might be found.

ETTA: Lopez Canyon, that's it.

HOST: Despite Detective
Ryan's willingness to listen,

Etta worried that
the police would not

do anything immediately,
so she decided

to investigate on her own.

Accompanied by
her daughter Tina,

Etta drove to Lopez Canyon.

I just don't understand this.

I am so certain.

HOST: When Etta
stepped out of her car

at the top of the canyon, the
feeling of dread returned.

ETTA: Maybe I was wrong.

HOST: Etta was certain
that Melanie had not

only been there,
but that something

horrible had happened to her.

Oh, no, she's here.

No, she is definitely here.

I felt trauma and I felt scared.

And I felt, it was
like an energy that

was like tingling inside of me.

It was sort of like
how you feel when

you get an adrenaline rush.

Let's look for something white.

HOST: On the way
back down the canyon,

Etta and Tina noticed a
set of fresh tire tracks.

ETTA: Wait a minute,
wait a minute.

TINA: What is it?

I stopped, and for
reasons unknown to me,

I wanted to look
at these tire marks

and I wanted to put
my hands in them.

I'm starting to
feel more trauma.

And it's starting to build.

And I'm getting more nervous.

Oh, my God.

TINA: What's going on?

She was here.

She was right here and--

When it got to that point, it
was like I was on overload.

She was so frightened and--

When we got back in the van, the
only thing that I could think

about is I want to leave here.

I don't want to be here anymore.

HOST: Further down
the canyon, Etta

stopped again when Tina noticed
something unusual in the brush.

I don't see anything.

It's right up there, Mom.

ETTA: I walk within six
feet of this object.

I could not tell what
I was looking at.

Wait a minute.

The only thing
that I could truly

distinguish and know
what this was, was she

had on white nurse's shoes.

Go, go, go!

HOST: Etta immediately
contacted the police.

An autopsy later
determined that the body

was indeed Melanie Uribe.

She had been robbed,
raped, and beaten to death.

Etta Smith's clairvoyant
vision had been confirmed.

Would you have
a seat right here?

We just want to ask
you a few questions.

HOST: That evening, Etta was
summoned to the police station.

At 7:00 PM, she was
questioned by two detectives

she had never seen before.

You don't mind if I
call you Etta, do you?

No, that's fine.

Did you know the
victim Melanie Uribe?

No.

No, I never met her.

I just-- I heard
about her on the news.

Hmm.

You've been up to Lopez Canyon?

ETTA: They wanted me
to explain to them how

the whole thing had unfolded.

Mrs. Smith, whose--

ETTA: And that seemed
very normal to me.

But after I felt I had finished
telling them everything

and filled in the
blanks, it's like, OK,

let's start at the beginning.

Tell us this again.

Let's just move through
the psychic thing one more

time, OK?

ETTA: So we go through
the story again.

And again.

And again.

I saw it in my head.

And you really expect
us to believe this?

ETTA: This went on for hours.

I don't-- I don't know
what you're going to--

Until about 10
o'clock that evening

when it becomes very obvious
to me that now I'm a suspect.

You're a liar.

Do you think I had something
to do with this murder?

Mrs. Smith, you know too much.

There's too much
of a coincidence.

I don't have any idea
what happened to that woman.

The investigating officers,
having no other leads or clues,

didn't have any other
choice at that time

but presume she was
in fact an accessory,

either before or after the
commission of the crime.

MAN: Is today Monday?

ETTA: Yes.

HOST: Etta volunteered
to take a polygraph exam.

At midnight, five hours
after she was first

brought in for
questioning, Etta underwent

the first of two tests.

Etta passed both exams.

However, the detectives
withheld that information.

They were still convinced
that only someone

involved in the crime could know
the details Etta had revealed.

You failed the polygraph test.

No.

I wasn't sure if it
was a bluff or what.

I was so tired, I don't
think I really cared anymore.

I wanted to get away from them.

It was like I was
either going to go home,

or I was going to jail.

I'm not sure I cared.

But I did get angry.

You can't leave me here.

HOST: At 5:00 AM, Etta
Smith was formally

booked on a charge of murder.

Contact one of the jailers.

They'll know how to reach me.

But I'm telling the truth!

HOST: For four days,
Etta languished in jail,

unaware of certain
dramatic events

taking place on the outside.

Etta?

Seems like we made a mistake.

We've just arrested two
young men who confessed

to the murder of Melanie Uribe.

HOST: In the end , Etta Smith
was completely absolved.

15 years later, the
two confessed killers

are still in prison.

DETECTIVE RYAN: In Etta's
case, I was quite amazed.

And I think a lot of
other people were, too,

but I think a lot of them were
reluctant to want to admit it.

Had it not been
for Etta Smith, I

don't think this case would have
been solved as rapidly as it

was, or possibly not at all.

I sometimes wonder what
it was that transpired

from this innocent
person who was murdered,

how her death somehow
reached out and touched me.

I think it's one of
the mysteries in life

that many things happen to
us throughout our life that

are an explainable.

Since the remarkable
psychic experience in 1980,

Etta Smith has honed
her apparent powers.

She has assisted police and
crime victims in several cases,

always providing her
services free of charge.

In a moment, you will meet
a different kind of psychic,

a man who claims his
paranormal abilities enable him

to communicate with the dead.

Even for a professional
psychic, an unusual occupation

in itself, the man you're
about to meet is unusual.

James Van Praag claims that
he can contact the spirits

of the dead and convey
the detailed messages

to those they left behind.

It may sound outlandish, but who
among us, if given the chance,

wouldn't want to
communicate with a loved

one who has passed away?

April 24, 1994,
Burbank, California.

A moving collection
of photographs

celebrates the brief life of
a young man named Doug Raskin.

RABBI: Jewish tradition teaches
us that when a person dies,

it is only the body that dies.

I believe that those of you
who feel Doug's presence--

HOST: One week earlier, just
shy of his 33rd birthday,

the brilliant attorney and
accomplished outdoorsman

had fallen to his death while
climbing Mount Fuji in Japan.

Doug's parents,
Sue and Don Raskin,

did not know how or if they
could overcome their grief.

Just seemed like
nobody could comfort us.

And one of my relatives
had mentioned James

Van Praagh, who was a medium.

And I kind of picked
up on it real fast,

because I was looking for
anything or anybody who could

help Don and I at this time.

I couldn't imagine
anybody have the ability

to be able to see
somebody in another place,

and I was very, very skeptical.

I really didn't feel that that
was where I was at the time.

I wasn't feeling well, and
yet, I was still hurting

and needed to find something.

The way it works--

HOST: Before their meeting
with James Van Praagh,

the Raskins gave the
psychic no details

whatsoever about themselves.

This recreation is strictly
based on transcripts

from the actual session.

Did you have a son?

Did you have a son that
passed over to the other side?

He's here.

Yes, oh, God.

Was this some
kind of accident?

SUE: Uh-huh.

Because he gives me accident.

Was it car or something?

No, mountain.

And was there head injuries?

HOST: The Raskins
were duly impressed

from Van Praagh accurately
stated that their son had died.

Their excitement
grew as Van Praagh

began to talk about other family
members who had passed away.

Is there a Nicky or a Mickey?

Mickey's my father.

And is there a
Dottie or a Dorothy?

I have an Aunt Dorothy.

JAMES: Did she pass over?

Yeah.

Who's Ben?

Ben's my dad.

When he told us all about these
events and named all the people

that were already gone many,
many years-- some of them were

gone a dozen or so years ago--

and their personalities that
they had that were so right on,

I mean, there's just
no way possible.

HOST: Sue and Don were
astonished as James recounted

specifics of Doug's
funeral that only

those who had been at the
service could have known.

JAMES: Did you have a
whole bunch of pictures

of him doing different things?

He saw that.

On one side of the
room was a whole bunch

of pictures or something.

Yes, a collage.

JAMES: A collage of
different pictures.

Yes, he saw that.

And then there was like one
main picture, was there?

Yes, in a card we made
for him with a saying.

I just couldn't
believe that James

would know all these things.

And he specifically
addressed the fact

that the pictures and the
collage that we had put out

for that event for
the celebration

were absolutely spectacular.

He says I couldn't have
done it better myself.

And I really laughed
at that, because that

would be Doug saying that,
because he loved photography.

Basically, I'm a clairsentient
and I'm clairvoyant.

A clairsentient
means clairsensing.

I'm an individual
who senses feelings

and emotions with
spirit people, people

that passed to the other side.

I'm a sensitive.

I'm able to pick
up their thoughts,

and I feel their emotions
when they come through,

and that's what I
relate to people.

And he shows me
flowers all around.

HOST: For the Raskins,
any residual doubts

he might have had
were erased when James

spoke of another
family tragedy that

had occurred 33 years earlier.

You don't have
another son, do you?

SUE: No.

Did you ever lose a baby?

Yes.

She lived for five days.

I had completely forgot
about that because I

was there only for Doug.

And I said, what?

I made him repeat it.

He says, your daughter's
all grown up today.

I said, oh, my God, he
knows about our daughter.

Then I became such a believer.

He likes the picture
of himself taken

at the base of the mountain.

Was there a picture of him
taken at the base of Mount Fuji,

do you know?

I don't know.

Haven't seen it.

HOST: The seance
brought enormous comfort

to Sue and Don, even though Van
Praagh was not 100% accurate.

In fact, the Raskins
felt that he completely

missed the mark when he
talked about photos of Doug

on Mount Fuji.

They had been told
that Doug's camera

equipment was never recovered.

Two months after
we had been to James,

I went to the mailbox, and I
saw an envelope from Japan,

and I came running in to
the house and yelled, Don,

there's an envelope
here from Japan.

Well, open it.

HOST: As it turned out,
Doug's climbing team

had gone back to the
spot where their friend

perished and
unearthed his camera

from beneath mounds of snow.

Inside the package
was a photograph

James Van Praagh
had talked about.

DON: This is the picture taken
at the base of the mountain.

Oh.

Sweetheart.

Isn't that beautiful?

There was just so many
things that occurred that James

could not have known about.

It would be impossible for
him to have ever looked

up or researched for anything.

And that is really what
made me a believer in him.

Almost everything
he said was correct.

And it really changed my whole
belief, there is another side,

and that James was able
to open it up to us.

Does Van Praagh have
genuine psychic abilities

that enable him to communicate
with those in the afterlife?

Or is he highly perceptive,
uncommonly skilled

at scattershot guesswork?

To find out, we invited
10 people to a seance

this past December.

None of the participants
had ever seen or talked

with Van Praagh before.

They all hoped, however, to
make contact with specific loved

ones who had passed away.

Now keep in mind, the
session lasted several hours.

We have excerpted some of
the more dramatic moments.

The lady that
stands behind you,

and she's a very pretty woman.

I'm going to tell you, she
is a very pretty woman.

Her skin is very soft,
I'll put it that way.

And I feel she's a young lady.

I got to tell you--

HOST: Paula Hartman came to
the seance anxious to find

out about her mother,
who had passed

away in 1986 from emphysema.

Said something
about having some

regrets, she had some regrets.

And when she comes back, she's
very connected to you, OK?

It's your mom, it's your mother.
Your mother passed over.

Mm-hmm, yes.

HOST: For six of
the 10 participants,

Van Praagh was able to
correctly identify the people

he had hoped to contact.

For some, he even revealed
the cause of death.

Jackie McDonald's
daughter had been

murdered in her own
home, a scenario

that Van Praagh
sketched in detail.

Yes, and then she
goes back into bed,

and she thinks, oh it's
just her mind playing games.

And she climbs back to bed.

And I have to say that she
falls asleep, and she shows me--

ah, see, the next thing she
shows me is her being attacked,

and there was someone
on top with a knife.

And I see the man--

oh, boy.

He grabbed something
on the counter.

It looks like the knife
was in-- it was in a--

In a block.

It was, wasn't it?

It was in some kind of a
holder, because he pulls it out.

- Yes, the big block of knives.
- That's it.

Because it's not a drawer.

The daughter showed me a visual.

It's almost as if it's
a very quick movie

in front of my head in my mind.

And I see things very fast.

It's a little shadowy, but
certain details stick out.

And she loves birds, by the way.

HOST: Cathy Hall wanted
to find out about a friend

who had killed himself.

But in this case, as in others,
Van Praagh drew a blank.

Can I ask any questions?

Sure

Is there anybody-- is there
anything there from Freddy?

Anything there from Freddy.

Who's Freddy?
Who's that?

Freddy is a friend of mine.

That passed over.

Joking around.

I'm being told Freddy
is joking around.

I don't know why.

Joking around.

Did he have trouble
breathing at one point?

No.

How did he pass,
of a heart attack?

CATHY: He killed himself.
- Oh.

No, I don't get that.

No, I'm not getting it.
Sorry.

Can't get it if it's not there.

It's hard to tell sometimes.

I admit, it's very hard to
tell all the time exactly.

It's not going to be 100%
what's black is black and white

was white.

Was that his ring?

HOST: During the seance,
James Van Praagh was unaware

that this man, Professor
Michael Shermer,

had been planted in the
group by Unsolved Mysteries.

JAMES: And was he
bleeding at the time?

HOST: Shermer is a
publisher of a magazine that

investigates,
among other things,

claims about psychic phenomena.

MAN: I carried him all
the way to the hospital.

All the way to the hospital.

MICHAEL: Van Prague
is a mentalist.

A mentalist is a
magician doing an act.

He's doing what we
call cold reading.

That is, you meet somebody
you've never seen before,

and you tell him
things about them.

You start general, you
throw things out rapid fire.

You watch their facial
expressions to see if you're

getting hits or misses.

When you get a miss, you go
right on to the next thing.

You don't even blink.

When you get a hit, you
follow that until the end,

until they start
saying no again.

And then you go
to the next thing,

and you just keep doing that.

Did she say different
doctors at one period of time?

WOMAN: Yes.
- Thank you.

She was bedridden
also, wasn't she?

Was she in a bed at the--

Just briefly.

OK, OK.

Was this cancer that your mom--

WOMAN: No.

No, it wasn't.

The reason I ask questions,
yes or no questions,

is, number one, I
am also very human.

I have to validate that what
I'm getting from the spirit

is indeed I'm on the right
level with this individual

that I'm speaking with.

I want to make sure
that the spirit

person is coming through right,
that information is correct.

I've got to give you something
about a marriage here.

Something about a marriage.

Was there a separation
with a marriage, please?

Yes.

JAMES: Did your
husband pass over?

Because your husband's
standing next to me,

and your husband is here, OK?

I get a very strong
impact with him.

An impact.

Was it a car he was
driving, a pickup truck?

He wasn't driving, no.

JAMES: He was walking
and just went down?

Was he crossing somewhere?

LAURA: Yes, well, he was--
- And someone hit him?

He was in the street, yes.

JAMES: And someone hit
him as he was walking.

HOST: Laura Wachler-Lenc's
husband had indeed been

struck by a car and killed.

No.

HOST: For Laura, Van Praagh
went on to make what seemed

an astonishing revelation.

Yes, you're going to get
married again, he says.

You will get married again.

You will.

And he's going to help you.

He's going to help
you get married again.

And he says, honey,
I'm going to--

LAURA: I was shocked
that he would know that,

because only myself, my
fiance, and my sister,

and his mother knew.

They aren't even in the state.

And it wasn't something
I was thinking about.

That kind of solidified
things for me.

Most people who lose a spouse
eventually do get remarried.

And Van Praagh will
always keep it positive.

He wants you to
know he loves you.

Well, of course.
What else is he going to say?

He wants you to know
you'll be remarried.

Well, what's he going to say,
you'll never be married again?

You'll be miserable, miserable
spinster the rest of your life?

This isn't going
to happen, right?

So these are just general
principles of cold reading.

JAMES: And he says you have to--

HOST: Stan Wheel attended the
seance with his wife Theresa.

They intentionally sat on
opposite sides of the room.

JAMES: You've had major loss.

A traumatic loss.

Gotcha, thank you very much.

And you're connected,
aren't you?

You two, you two,
is this your wife?

Yes

Because he's pointing to
her, you know, you're his wife.

What's your name?

THERESA: Theresa.

HOST: The Wheels had come to
the session hoping to find out

about their 19-year-old son
Kevin, who had been innocently

gunned down in 1991,
allegedly by gang

members in a drive-by shooting.

Yeah, I want to bring in
your-- is it a boy that passed?

THERESA: Yes.

Because I get a boy, OK?

So this son.

He says, I'm their son.

- Yes.
- OK.

Was he killed?
THERESA: Yes.

Because he says, I was killed.

THERESA: Yes.

JAMES: Was there a gun
involved here, please?

Yes.

Because he shows me a gun,
and he says he was shot.

Yes.

I don't feel he was shot once.

I feel he was shot
more than once, OK?

Yes, yes.

I feel riddled, I
really do, with bullets.

I do.

I feel many bullets in me.

And this is what
he's giving me here.

I'm sorry.

It's a gang, it's a gang.

- Yes.
- Gang of kids.

Gang of kids.

STAN: When Theresa approached
me to come in to see James Van

Praagh, I was very skeptical.

I really didn't want to come.

But then to know that
Kevin was killed with a gun

and it was multiple shots,
it was outside on a street,

he just kept alluding to
more and more of the things

that he had no idea, he
would have had no idea.

I got a big K, and
I don't know why.

But I being given the K. Is
his name with a K, please?

Yes.

JAMES: Like Kevin or Ken?

Kevin.

JAMES: Kevin, thank you.

That's what I said, Kevin.

He said, I see a big K.
And the first name he said

was Kevin.

I mean, how can-- you
can't get that off of,

you know, just being
around this room.

It was just amazing.

I think he's wonderful,
absolutely wonderful.

First of all, she
had her son's ring on.

Big black ring with
a K in diamonds

on this ring around her
necklace and around her neck.

Now maybe he saw that
and maybe he didn't.

I don't know.

I got a big K, and
I don't know why.

But I'm being given the K.

MICHAEL: Well, I was
watching her eyes.

You know, she starts crying,
and her eyes are like saucers.

And he already knows
it's her son that died.

So two most common names
for boys starting with a K,

Ken and Kevin.
He says, Ken are Kevin.

She says, Kevin.

Bingo, Kevin.

Now she'll run home
and tell everybody,

he got my son's
name, Kevin, right

like that, I didn't tell him.

No, he didn't get it.

HOST: However, Theresa claims
that Van Praagh couldn't have

seen the ring because
she had kept it hidden

in the bodice of her dress.

But perhaps disagreements about
the tales are beside the point.

While Van Praagh may
not have satisfied

everyone at the
seance, most felt

a sense of comfort and healing.

JAMES: You used to do--
You did that.

Yes, I used to sit
there all the time.

I do feel a little
more at peace.

I know that there is another
life after this, because what

James had told me through
Kevin, and the fact

that he sees me, that he
hears me talking to him,

that it's not all
in vain, is what

really makes me feel at ease.

Sometimes you don't know
how you're going to make

it from one minute to the next.

It's so horribly painful.

But now I know that
my Debbie can see me

and that she can hear me, and
I can tell her I love her.

There was just
quite a few things

that were close enough
that made you think, well,

he's tapping into something.

I'm just not quite
sure what it is.

And when one realizes that
there is a life after death,

it indeed will change their life
and how they live on the Earth

and how they treat each other.

And that is really my most
important belief, my mission.

HOST: On our next
Unsolved Mysteries.

In 1988, a massive explosion
killed six firefighters

in Kansas City, Missouri.

In the tragic
aftermath, investigators

determined that
arson was the cause,

making the six deaths nothing
less than cold-blooded murders.

Join me next Friday for
another intriguing edition

of Unsolved Mysteries.

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