Did you watch the TV program about Uri Geller?

In the UK yesterday, the BBC screened a program about Uri Geller.

Uri Geller (Wikipedia picture)

For people in the UK who remember the early 1970's, Uri Geller was a sensation. He bent spoons using telekinesis, he restarted broken watches (from a distance) and used remote viewing skills to 'see' the picture drawn by another person in a sealed envelope. At least he did if you took these things at face value. There are plenty of skeptics out there say he is nothing more than a savvy showman. Those skeptics include James Randi (http://www.randi.org/site/) who specialises in debunking paranormal events.

So I watched the program as an interested skeptic. I could recall his appearances on TV in my childhood and the number of people in the UK who tried to bend spoons with the power of the mind. It was quite an event whenever Geller was on TV.

I settled down to watch the program (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037k0c5) and discovered lots that I had not known about the man; for example about his being a paratrooper in the Israeli 6Day War in 1967, nor that he now lived in the UK.

Nor was I aware of his work with US Government agencies in the realm of remote viewing. He certainly seems to have convinced some scientists and researchers that he had some unusual abilities. (see more detail here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller)  Geller himself chose on several occasions during the program to self censor saying he could not talk about that event or situation.

So is he a fraudster or a man gifted with telekinesis? A trickster or a man with most unusual powers? I'm not sure, it was certainly intriguing and worth a hour of your time to watch the program. (The BBC link may not work if you are outside the UK)