In Search of Nikola Tesla Page 37

IN SEARCH OF NIKOLA TESLA call to a friend of mine who had worked at the big IBM installation in that city. Half an hour later he phoned back; yes, he knew a little about Marcel Vogel, who appeared to be a mixture of research chemist and free-wheeling inventor. He had published a number of scientific papers in the field of liquid crystals, and had been responsible for the coating used on the memory discs of modern computers. The latter invention had been worth a great deal to IBM so Vogel could now do more or less as he wished. As I put down the phone I realized that Vogel sounded a little like Tesla himself – an inspired inventor with far-from-orthodox interests. In the case of Andrija Puharich, I did not need to make any phone calls; his name was well known to me. Puharich was an old hand when it came to fringes of science. After obtaining his MD, from Northwestern University in 1947, he had begun a lifetime research into the paranormal with side excursions into the field of medical electronics. During my visit to Birkbeck College, there had been considerable interest in the Israeli psychic, Uri Geller, who had given a number of demonstrations displaying his ability to bend keys, read minds and even move metal objects by a form of thought control. Laboratory results on Geller's power were ambiguous and difficult to interpret. They had not been made any easier by the publicity given to him by Puharich. This American researcher into parapsychology must be given the credit for first 'discovering' Geller and urging scientists in the United States and Britain to subject the Israeli's abilities to scientific scrutiny. But things didn't stop there, for Puharich hypnotized Geller and then questioned him about the origin of his powers. The results of these sessions were published in a book written by Puharich, which told of flying saucers and beings from other planets who controlled Geller's psychic energy. A scientist interested in the paranormal was one thing but the paranormal and flying saucers seemed the limit. I had once asked Uri Geller about the claims made in Puharich's book. He laughed and said that such things shouldn't be taken too seriously. I wondered if perhaps Geller had invented the stories, even on an unconscious level, in order to please Puharich. If Geller's alleged abilities were astounding then even more so were those of Puharich's first prodigy, José Pedro de Freitas, nicknamed 'Arigo' or the 'Surgeon with the Rusty Knife'. Arigo was born in Congonhas do 37