A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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AC360: Sylvia Browne's Best Evidence?Anderson Cooper 360 examines evidence provided by Sylvia Browne of her psychic abilities. 
Anderson Cooper introducing the segment. BackgroundOn January 19 2007, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 show devoted a segment to examining Sylvia Browne's claims and abilities. Titled "Dead Wrong," the segment centered around Browne's failure in her 2003 reading for Shawn Hornbeck's parents, in which she told them that Shawn was dead. He of course had turned up alive years later. Browne did not appear on the show, but a message from her business manager was read, which in part said:
Browne often makes claims like this on shows such as CNN's Larry King Live, and the host will let the claim pass without asking Browne to back it up. To Anderson Cooper's credit, he did what journalists are supposed to do, but seldom do with Sylvia Browne: he asked to see the evidence. Sylvia Browne's people supplied that evidence, and on January 30 2007, Anderson Cooper 360 broadcast a follow-up segment in which that evidence was examined. This article recaps that January 30 episode's look at the evidence. The EvidenceThe segment started with Anderson Cooper examining the evidence which Browne and her staff had provided, with the latter part of the segment devoted to an interview with Linda Rossi (Browne's business manager) and James Randi (investigator and debunker of psychic and other paranormal claims). This was evidence Browne provided to a nationally broadcast show, right after she had received a lot of bad press over the Shawn Hornbeck case. I would think that Browne would have picked out the best, strongest evidence of her abilities she could find - with, according to her, more than fifty years' experience as a psychic from which to pick and choose. Let's see how that evidence stacked up. Note: All the quotes from the show used in this article were taken from the official CNN transcript of the show. 1. The Ski-mask RapistIn the opening video segment, Anderson Cooper says the following:
Not only is her claim unverifiable, she has supplied no evidence that she made these "predictions" before Anthony Sanchez was arrested or convicted. As far as I know, the only examples of this prediction are from Browne's books, written after Sanchez's conviction. Note also that the police statement that Browne was "involved with the case" does not even mean that she was involved in the solving of the case. It could mean as little as that she was someone who phoned in a tip which did not pan out. So, Browne's first piece of evidence: could not be checked. 2. Chandra LevyFrom the opening video segment:
Note that Browne made the prediction in a television interview ("The Edge with Paula Zahn"), after police were already known to be searching the park. Not only was it known that police were interested in the park where Levy's body was subsequently found, but it was also known why they were interested: police knew that, on the night she vanished, someone had used Chandra Levy's computer to find directions on how to get to Rock Creek Park, making it potentially Levy's last known destination. Later on Anderson Cooper 360, when interviewing Linda Rossi and James Randi:
So here Rossi claims that Browne had told the family where Chandra would be found, and that she did so before police were searching the park. But there is no evidence that this is the case, beyond Rossi's word. Also, here was Browne's precise prediction on the Levy case, from an interview she did with Paula Zahn:
I have not been able to determine whether or not Browne's description ("sort of square... facing west") is correct, but Levy's remains were found strewn across a steep incline. And, as Benjamin Radford of the Skeptical Inquirer said of this prediction, "a marsh located on an incline is geographically impossible." Browne's second piece of evidence: a public prediction made after it was known the police were interested in the location, and which unsuccessfully described where in the park Chandra's body would be found. 3. World Trade Center Bombing
Later in the show, Cooper says to Linda Rossi (Sylvia Browne's business manager):
Browne's third piece of evidence: a prediction in which she got the name wrong, and made after the perpetrator had been arrested. 4. Letter From Unidentified Writer
Browne's fourth piece of evidence: an unverifiable letter. 5. Letter From Sharon James
Browne's fifth piece of evidence: A letter from a woman who now says she would not use Browne again. Browne was incorrect on the son's location, and incorrect on when he would be found. She was right that he would be found, but that's a 50/50 call. Also, note that Cooper says that Sharon James paid $700 for her phone reading (emphasis mine). This would seem to disprove Browne and Rossi's claim that Browne never charges for helping with a missing person case. 6. Ted Gunderson
This sounds pretty impressive, that a retired FBI "special agent in charge" would endorse Browne. But if you look into Ted Gunderson a bit further, you'll find out that he believes in lots of odd things: From the biography page of Ted Gunderson's web site:
He also, in this interview, claims various bizarre things, including:
Browne's sixth piece of evidence: an endorsement by a man who believes in Browne's abilities, as well as the things he mentions above. AnalysisLet's look at a rundown of the evidence:
This is Browne's best evidence? Perhaps much more evidence was given, but Anderson Cooper did not show it for some reason? Or perhaps Anderson Cooper did not give Browne's staff enough time to compile their best evidence? If either of these is the case, Linda Rossi never mentioned it in her interview. So, if this is the best evidence Browne has of her alleged "psychic abilities", if this is the absolute cream of the crop after fifty years in the business, it does not speak very well of those abilities.
ConclusionNothing in any of the evidence presented to Anderson Cooper would seem to prove any of Browne's claims to "psychic abilities." As Cooper said in a lead-in to this segment of the show:
No, I don't imagine she liked it one bit. My thanks to Anderson Cooper, and to the staff at Anderson Cooper 360 for doing what journalists are supposed to do: examine the evidence. Related LinksClicking on any of these links will load a separate browser window for viewing the linked page. StopSylviaBrowne.com is not responsible for the content of any of these linked pages.
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