Since 2010 we have invited Professional Magicians letting them form their opinions in regards to the séances.
Two of them are specialized in Séance room tricks resp. hold professional staged séances.
One world widely known and respected magician and parapsychologist just sat this year with us in R.!
Their commentaries and results were always the same and could not be better shortly expressed as it is done by the Professional Stage Magician T.R. (identity known to the Basle PSI Ass.) in a public statement after having gone into detail in a letter to the Associations President Werthmueller.
Weeks later he demonstrated one of his staged séances to members of the Association as to members of the Braude Investigation when the differences in techniques and approach became obvious.
Here is his public statement:
So, the Stage Magician would like to comment, but this time i keep it short (besides a lengthy letter to the switzerland event host).
The séance by Kai M. was very tantalizing, during the most phenomena happening in a distance between 2 and 3 metres (between 7 and 10 feet) in front of the held medium it was clear that neither the medium nor his partner could have played a part in their production.
Their voices/trance voices could be heard simultaneously to the phenomena in a distance (like the so called ‚spirit’ lights and the handforms building on the plaque).
Comparably good i consider the building of the ectoplasm-fingers and –hands on the plaque looking quite astounding on behalf of its amorphous characteristics. The medium/helper must have crouched and scuttled low to the ground or must have worked with wires and sticks what is difficult to reconstruct and imagine (medium was held at hands and feet).
The last stage with the manifested ectoplasm from the mediums mouth looked good as well and a professional magician is of course usually harder to persuade.
The in the following erecting hand from the mass or the growing column appeared very good, from the illusionary perspective theoretically possible but in fact quite astounding.
The whole séance appeared genuine to me, i never had the feeling there was trickery.
Moreover i believe that after the holotropic breathing routine of the medium necessarily a trance state is achieved, i could not carry out my illusionary show elements after such a massive hyperventilating-like breathing.
So in the end either genuine phenomena or very good trickery i could not detect at all!
Another rational explanation how it could have been tricked would be confederates in the room.
Respectfully, T. R.,
International Magician,
(well known for staged séances)