# Enough with the fucking supernatural scammers!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 6, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014 "2005-10-06T05:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/1 "2005-10-06T05:41:06Z")
First off, a little info: John Edward is the guy who does Crossing Over, where he pretends to talk to deceased dead ones. He also goes on national tour, and has private sessions. Prophet Yahweh (aka Ramon Watkins) is “an American man who resides in Las Vegas, Nevada (who) claims to have the ability to summon UFOs using passages from the Bible. He says that he developed this ability after studying the Old Testament in its original Hebrew form and gaining knowledge related to UFOs from his studies.” (Wikipedia) See [this video](http://www.compfused.com/directlink/801/) of how he seemingly summoned a spaceship for the Las Vegas news reporter. He prophesied that he was going to cause spaceships to come down and hover over Las Vegas over a period of 45 days last summer : “A few days after the period when his prophecy was supposed to happen, the prophet announced that he was going to begin a 50 State UFO Summoning Tour 2005, during which he would travel to every state in the United States and summon UFOs for media outlets to film and photograph. He claimed to have been abandoned by all of the media in Las Vegas, resulting in the UFOs not coming during the 45 days he had prophesied.” (wikipedia) “It is claimed by some that Prophet Yahweh was involved in a program to help underprivileged African-American children in 1997 during which he developed an interest in weather balloons. 1997 was also the year Yahweh went public with his ability to summon UFOs, leading some to tie the two facts together.”(Wikipedia) Bingo- a digitally-controlled weather balloon certainly explains the movements and appearance of that colorful flying object that day in the park. Let’s examine what this guy has claimed: he delayed what would have been the most important event in human history BECAUSE THE LAS VEGAS CAMERAMEN WOULDN’T FILM IT. He claims: “The spaceship would never have appeared if I was not filmed calling it down. This is what the space beings wanted. They wanted me captured on film with their spaceship so everyone would know that these beings have chosen me to speak for them and no other person.The space beings kept their end of the bargain by sending a real UFO, on my signal, that was documented. But, Las Vegas media refused to film me calling down the spaceship. That’s why it never happened.” If those ships had come down, the ENTIRE WORLD WOULD HAVE FILMED IT, AND EVERYONE WOULD KNOW THAT IT WAS YOU! The only thing those ‘aliens’ wanted was for you to go on tour so that you could soak up money like that fucking scammer John Edward; the only thing you’re out for, ‘prophet’, is profit, and so far you’ve made about 100 grand a year. John Edward is way worse than that guy. He uses the ignorance and emotions of Americans to sap them of millions of dollars a year, claiming to speak to their deceased loved ones. You fucking sick liar- both of you fucking despicable piece of shit scamming human beings… If I was part of the CIA, I like to think I’d pull a True Lies and kidnap you two; inject truth serum; lie detector test (are you what you claim to be?, etc.); then I’d beat the crap out of John Edward (“where are your ghost friends now, bitch? BAM!”), and drop you both off that same night. Then I’d release the tapes of you confessing exactly how you devised your schemes anonymously to the press. Fuck you fucking fuckers, and I can’t wait until the day we expose the truth about Prophet Yahweh- he’s going up for the James Randi million dollar challenge at the end of January, read [here](http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=40507). He’s gonna make up an excuse for why it can’t happen this time either (“my tour of scamming people is keeping me much too busy!”; “Yahweh contacted me- it’s off”; “I just woke up this morning and realized that I’m a piece of lying shit who is living a fucking scam for a life and that I don’t want to lie about a fucking god who doesn’t exist or fucking aliens who don’t either b/c I made that stuff up so I could make easy money instead of having to work for a living”; “The weather balloon broke”). Notice how the Prophet insists on there being good weather the day of the appearance- it’s not so we can see the UFO clearly, it’s so the weather balloon can be controlled accurately. One last thing- there was an ad on a gospel radio station I heard years ago (why was I listening?) for some kind of miracle healing potion? ARRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!! ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/2 "2005-10-06T05:56:34Z")
One year as a “reward”, a club I was in throughout highschool went to a taping of some crappity TV show in Hollywood. It was some day time talk show, maybe hosted by Cybil Shepard, but I don’t want to say for sure. John Edwards was the guest and lemme tell ya: you would be amazed how much he was edited for the aired version. Here is how it _actually \* went_: > [@](#): > > Edwards: I’m seeing a male. Is your father dead? > Chick: Um, no. He’s right there :: points to a man in the front row :: > Edwards: Oh, I meant your brother. Is your brother dead? > Chick: I am an only child. > Edwards: Oh, is your grandfather dead? > Chick: Nope. > Edwards: What about your great grand father? > Chick: :dubious: Uh, yeah. > Edwards: Excellent. Now he is showing me pink roses. That means :: crappy schpeel ::. He’s showing me his name. Did his name start with P? > Chick: No. > Edwards: R? > Chick: No. > Edwards: D? > Chick: No. > Edwards: E? > Chick: No. > > . . . ( five minutes later ) > > Edwards: A? > Chick: :o Yeah, uh, his name was Allen. I can’t believe you got it :rolleyes: The audience was DEAD silent. No noise at all. Here is what aired: > [@](#): > > Edwards: I’m seeing a male. Your great grandfather. He’s sending pink roses (( lame schpeel )). Allen says not to be afraid. > > :: whoops and cheers from the audience :: \*Apparently the girl was having issues with weird things happening in her house. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/3 "2005-10-06T06:05:19Z")
Thanks for the story; however, there’s no s at the end of his name like there is w/ the former vice presidential candidate John Edwards. It was pointed out in another thread that you can remember that ‘s’ stands for ‘senator’; however, it was pointed out, ‘s’ also stands for ‘scammer’, ‘scumbag’, 'sh\*t… ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/4 "2005-10-06T08:26:24Z")
\ I went to see Penn & Teller for my birthday. Great show. \ One bit they did was wonderful. They had audeince members come up on stage before the show and sign an envelope. Towrds the end of the show Penn started talking about supernatrual stuff and how it was all BullShit! and how some people use simple tricks to scam people. I think, but don’t remember for sure, that they meantioned Edward by name. They then gave an audience member a book and told him to pick out a joke at random and said the audience could read his mind. They had the guy read the joke up to the punch line and then Penn pulled out a banner that had the punch line on it from the envelope. The audience then finished the (rather lame) joke. Great bit. Penn also did a bit of cold reading on an audience member. He pointed out before and after that it was just a trick. It was really nice to see someone using their talents to educate people about these kinds of tricks instead of scam them silly. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/5 "2005-10-06T13:07:29Z")
Say what you will about South Park, but their show lambasting John Edward (The Biggest Douche In The Universe) was absolutely wonderful. I cannot say enough about that episode. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/6 "2005-10-06T14:11:09Z")
See, here I was wondering if ghosts and vampires were sending you mass emails about your penis and mortgage… Supernatural spammers? Anyone, anyone? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/7 "2005-10-06T14:43:50Z")
You think that fucker Edward, and no not me this time, could contact my mother and find out what she did with the heirlooms because I still can’t find them and it’s pissing me off. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/8 "2005-10-06T16:02:33Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Say what you will about South Park, but their show lambasting John Edward (The Biggest Douche In The Universe) was absolutely wonderful. I cannot say enough about that episode. John Edward: “What if I think I really hear voices in my head?” Stan:“THen you’re a stupid douche” What’s realy going to be fun is when Lekatt eventually spots this thread and tells us to spot picking on poor John Edward, because he’s just trying to help these people. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/9 "2005-10-06T16:47:03Z")
I got your “message” from someone who’s “crossed over” right here. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/10 "2005-10-06T19:34:56Z")
Is there consciousness after death? One of the great mysteries (which is why it’s been debated on this message board so many times). I hope John Edward learns the answer. Real soon. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/11 "2005-10-06T19:48:05Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Is there consciousness after death? One of the great mysteries (which is why it’s been debated on this message board so many times). > > I hope John Edward learns the answer. Real soon. As long as he doesn’t report back, I’m good with it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/12 "2005-10-06T19:49:42Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Penn also did a bit of cold reading on an audience member. He pointed out before and after that it was just a trick. Don’t tell me–a few people came away from that thinking that Penn really did have psychic powers. When I went to see P&T, Teller was selling t-shirts during the break. (Yes, he does speak. He asked me for fifteen bucks.) The shirt had a strange glyph on it that when you covered just the right part, it spelled out “Penn & Teller.” On the back of the shirt it explained that it was an ancient Egyptian glyph, and that the P&T bit was a very strange mystical coincidence. The name of the glyph was the Hayroob. My girlfriend at the time, who was with me, was amazed and astounded at this. Truly. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/13 "2005-10-06T21:38:45Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > He says that he developed this ability after studying the Old Testament in its original Hebrew form and gaining knowledge related to UFOs from his studies." Huh, then how come the millions of Jews (including myself) who’ve studied the Bible in the original Hebrew haven’t figured out how to summon UFOs? The guy clearly thinks that reading the Bible in the original is really, really unusual, but really, really, it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/14 "2005-10-07T03:11:42Z")
Can anyone name any other ‘supernaturally-based scammers’ they want to pit right now? All I can think of OTTOMH is the BE HEALED! evangelist preachers, possibly, and maybe ‘psychics’ like Miss Cleo. Also, I was originally going to minorly-Pit David Blaine- I don’t _hate_ the guy, b/c he only ‘lies’ by editing things to make him seem supernaturally levitating and does tricks that are skillful, and he doesn’t claim to have real magic or do anything important for people, so the 2.5 million he makes a year doing 100,000 shows for rich people and ABC specials is alright with me, I commend it! He’s an entertainer, even if his dramatism pisses me off a teensy bit sometimes (he waited for a dramatic pause to come out of the pile of boxes he leapt into from the tower he was on, and then acted weak as he came out), but it pisses me off how some people (like some people in a psych class I was in years ago) believe he could have real magic- IF THERE WAS SOMEONE ON EARTH WHO COULD CHANNEL THE SUPERNATURAL- WHICH I AM WILLING TO BELIEVE IS, WELL, POSSIBLE- THEY WOULD NOT GO ON A 50 STATE TOUR OR HAVE A TV SHOW OR DO ABC SPECIALS OR MAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!! I NEED TO SAY THIS MORE: FUCK YOU IGNORANT FUCKING SHEEP AMERICA! FUCK YOU FOR GETTING FLEECED!!!FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! I’m okay now 😃 ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/15 "2005-10-07T03:13:30Z")
> [@](#): > > IF THERE WAS SOMEONE ON EARTH WHO COULD CHANNEL THE SUPERNATURAL- WHICH I AM WILLING TO BELIEVE IS, WELL, POSSIBLE- THEY WOULD NOT GO ON A 50 STATE TOUR OR HAVE A TV SHOW OR DO ABC SPECIALS OR MAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OR BE SPONSORED BY PEPSI ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/16 "2005-10-07T04:06:36Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > One last thing- there was an ad on a gospel radio station I heard years ago (why was I listening?) for some kind of miracle healing potion? > > ARRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!! Didn’t work, huh? Must be those 60 pounds of toxic fecal material backed up in your intestines. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/17 "2005-10-07T04:45:36Z")
Silvia Brown. God, do I loathe that woman and her outdated, '60s make up. Even after convincing my mother that Edward was a fraud, I cannot do the same with Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/18 "2005-10-07T04:49:29Z")
I’ve mentioned before on these boards, I think, but just in case: what always bugs the shit out of me about Edward and Van Praagh and Sylvia Browne (the most wretched of them all- why she hasn’t been jailed for practicing medicine without a license is beyond me because I’ve seen her on talk shows [Montel loves her] telling people “your problem is in your kidneys” or “you have a liver disorder” or some other idiocy]) is that the messages they get from the dead are the most mundane touchy-feely stuff you can imagine. All the dead are happy and playing with puppies and butterflies in Disney Immortalia and the messages they send back are invariably “Everything is wonderful” and “He wants you to know he loves you” and blah blah blah. Just once I’d love to see him channel somebody really pissed off. “He says he knows you were making the beast with Carlton and just wait until you die, because you are getting an ectoplasmic ass whipping… oh, and you’re going to die in agonizing pain from an eyelash infection long about next Thursday. Next! You’re looking for your mom, I’m guessing… yeah, did her name start with a vowel? I mean, an N? P? S? Yeah, Shirley… I can talk to her… she said she’s in limbo because she’s been sent to Hell, and by the way your real father was in fact F Troop’s Forrest Tucker and she’s the reason your dog disappeared. Next!” And the number of people who fall for the “Did he have trouble breathing at the end?” trick, which could apply to heart attack, drowning, lung cancer, pneumonia, emphysema, even many types of fatal accidents. Plus, “HE’S STANDING RIGHT THE FUCK THERE, ASK HIM! I KNOW HOW HE DIED! I WANT TO KNOW WHERE HE HID HIS EMERALD CUFFLINKS!” ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/19 "2005-10-07T05:03:31Z")
The late Episcopal Bishop James Pike believed that it _might_ be possible for those who had passed beyond life on earth to contact the living. But the person closest to my heart would never have used a Sylvia Brown or John Edward to do it. No one would ever have to ask me a series of questions to get to the heart of the matter. In my younger days, while dating a journalist, I had dinner with a reasonably well-known psychic at the time. His methods were transparent – even though I was a fairly gullible young woman. ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-fucking-supernatural-scammers/325014/20 "2005-10-07T06:13:48Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Sylvia Browne Ah, yes, she of the waxing and waning lithp.