Report on Carla Baron

I just noticed this press release, www.prweb.com...

Hollywood-Based Skeptics Expose Self-Proclaimed �Nationally Known Psychic Investigator.�

The Independent Investigations Group �gets it right� on Carla Baron � the would-be supernatural sleuth whose fictitious claims of solving crimes were reported as fact by ABC News, the Associated Press, and the Boston Globe.

Hollywood, CA (PRWEB) August 24, 2004 -- The Independent Investigations Group (IIG) has released a complete report on Carla Baron, who claims to have solved crimes with her psychic powers. This group of volunteer skeptics researched media reports on these crimes, contacted police investigators, and even observed Baron�s technique up close. The IIG has determined that 100% of these cases are either currently unsolved or were solved without Baron�s assistance, proving that any claim she makes of being a psychic detective is completely unsubstantiated.

Take the grisly case in Southern California of a murdered mother and daughter, whose bodies were not completely recovered. Baron takes credit for leading police to the location of their remains, and ABC News aired a videotape of undisclosed origin that made it appear that she worked with police investigators. Apparently ABC never bothered to research the case like IIG did, or they would have discovered that Baron was never involved with the case, and in fact, the victim�s remains were found by hikers.

Baron claims to have led investigators to the body of a man missing in Indiana. The Associated Press reported Baron�s claim without checking it out. If they did, they would have discovered what IIG discovered with one phone call � the police didn�t even know about Baron�s information until a week after the body had been found by standard police procedures. In fact, Baron never predicted exactly where the body was. She said it was, �up a slight incline in a cornfield, with a wire fence and a telephone pole nearby� � a �vision� that describes much of the 36,000 square miles that make up Indiana.

The Boston Globe reports that Baron has provided police with a description of a man that she believes abducted a New England college student. It turns out that Baron's description is: "a clean-cut looking man." The IIG doubts that police will try to round up the sixty million men that match this description.

Baron has also generated publicity by attaching her name to such famous crimes as the O.J. Simpson murders, the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, and the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. The IIG has systematically shown, in case after case, that she was not involved with these investigations in any meaningful way.

What�s even more insidious is Baron�s claim that she doesn�t charge for working on missing persons cases. The report from IIG illustrates how Baron makes money by using the publicity that she generates from these �cases� to bring in more customers for her $200 per hour readings.

"Psychic Detectives" do not solve crimes. Read the complete report at www.iigwest.com...

The Independent Investigations Group is the West Coast�s premiere paranormal research organization. We have a standing offer of $10,000 to anyone who can prove paranormal abilities under scientific testing conditions and we work with the James Randi Educational Foundation by screening for their One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. Visit our website at www.iigwest.com, e-mail us at [email protected], or call (323) 960-7896.

The Center for Inquiry-West is the west coast home to the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), publisher of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Visit our website at www.cfiwest.org, or email [email protected], or call (323) 666-9797.

[edit on 26-8-2004 by derekcbart]

[edit on 26-8-2004 by derekcbart]

Made a minor edit to make report web address a clickable link.

Anyone who works with Randi is not to be given any credit either. Randi is a joke. A fraud. If anyone could prove that they had abilities, he would weasle out of paying anyways. He has basicall stated that himself.

YOu must realize, he has a lab set up, and you must prove you abilities within this lab using ONLY what he gives you. He is a liar and a fraud. Plain and simple. And anyone even stating that they work with or for him makes ME give them no credit whatsoever.

Actually, everything you just said is completely untrue.

You can read the basic description of the challenge at www.randi.org...

And you can read the actual application at www.randi.org...

The tests are designed BY the person making the claim. Here is the specific quote:
"The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant."

Since a test can only happen after the applicant has designed AND approved the test, and then if the applicant fails at demonstrating a paranormal ability during the test, what does that tell you? Wait, let me guess. It was all Randi's fault.