# "Psychics" and terrorists. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 12, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182 "2001-09-12T22:36:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/41 "2001-10-13T00:45:57Z")
Another [“psychic”](http://ucando.com/p/predictions.html) who claims to have predicted the attacks. > [@](#): > > 2000 PREDICTION: SUMMER PORTENDS TERRORIST ACTS IN EUROPE AND POSSIBLY THE UNITED STATES Note the use of the weasel word “possibly”. Note that there have not been any terrorist acts in Europe this year that have been traced back to Osama bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/42 "2001-10-13T01:30:24Z")
And note, also, that if “Europe” includes the British Isles, there was almost **certainly** guaranteed to be some sort of terrorist activity centering on the Irish Republican Army. And does “2000 PREDICTION” mean it was a prediction **made** in the year 2000 for events of the **coming** year, or was the psychic predicting that the terrorist acts would happen **in** the year 2000? [In which case, (s)he’s a year off if (s)he wants us to believe (s)he was prophecying the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.] ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/43 "2001-10-13T01:35:38Z")
Oh, wait, never mind. I just noticed the following, ahem, “disclaimer” on the psychic’s homepage that **jab1** just linked to: “PSYCHIC PREDICTIONS FOR SPECIFIC MONTHS, OR EVEN SOMETIMES YEARS, DO NOT ALWAYS MANIFEST DURING THE TIMES DESIGNATED AND COULD VERY WELL HAPPEN AT OTHER TIMES DURING THE PRESENT OR ANOTHER YEAR.” Convenient, no? ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/44 "2001-10-13T13:40:16Z")
Jeez-us, what a horribly unreadable page! (I’m printing it out for my likely coming talk on psychic parasites.) I found another site that claimed to predict the attack: [Psychic Twins](http://www.psychictwins.com/about.html). They didn’t provide details though (as you’ll see). Surprise, surprise. In case any of you don’t read [SkepticNews](http://www.skepticnews.com) (and shame on you if you don’t), I’m still looking for such sites that claim to have predicted the attack. I am putting together a talk and/or article about it. (I already wrote an article for the REALL newsletter, which isn’t online yet, but might write this one for something that gets more readers.) ---
**Author:** ![Fosfero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@Fosfero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fosfero)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/45 "2001-10-13T19:16:47Z")
Toaster: I also had a weird dream on the night of 9/10. I don’t claim to be psychic, but it was a very bizzare coincidence that on that night before the attack, I dreamt New York was nuked and the Government sent ground troops to Afghanistan. I wasn’t too freaked out in the dream because I frequently have “disaster” type dreams, but damn did I feel wierd at 9:00 AM the next day. “A great distubance in the force” perhaps? All those poor people… -Fosfero ---
**Author:** ![Fosfero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@Fosfero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fosfero)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/46 "2001-10-13T19:31:08Z")
Toaster: I also had a weird dream on the night of 9/10. I don’t claim to be psychic, but it was a very bizzare coincidence that on that night before the attack, I dreamt New York was nuked and the Government sent ground troops to Afghanistan. I wasn’t too freaked out in the dream because I frequently have “disaster” type dreams, but damn did I feel wierd at 9:00 AM the next day. “A great distubance in the force” perhaps? All those poor people… -Fosfero ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/47 "2001-10-13T21:24:29Z")
Fosfero: The night before I learned that Anwar Sadat had been assassinated, I had a dream that Anwar Sadat had been assassinated. What time zone do you live in? Was it possible that you had the radio on, or overheard one of your neighbors say something about New York being attacked, _while you were still asleep?_ ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/48 "2001-10-13T22:31:10Z")
Here is a news article that discusses an incident involving a school boy > [@](#): > > who bragged around school before the attacks that the World Trade Center was going to be destroyed…On September 6 — five days before the attack — Antoinette DiLorenzo, who teaches English as a second language to a class of Pakistani immigrants, led a class discussion about world events. She asked a freshman (his name has been withheld): “What are you looking at?” The youth was peering out the third floor window toward lower Manhattan. After he made the remark about the World Trade center not being there next week, the teacher didn’t immediately think much of it, though it stuck in her mind… Clairvoyance? Coincidence? Inside info.? Urban myth has been ruled out. > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. ---
**Author:** ![Toaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@Toaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toaster)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/49 "2001-10-13T23:01:28Z")
**Fosfero** , your dream is creepy. I wish mine was more direct, but I rarely have disaster dreams. Dreams where I get shot or taken hostage and tortured, or I’m the embodiment of a plague that kills off my family and others like a Typhoid Mary, yes, I have those, but nothing disastery before. Eh…creepy altogether these “commoners”'s dreams are. Nu. I wish too I could explain these things without having to rely on some “psychic” explanation. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/50 "2001-10-14T01:26:39Z")
Violet: One likely possibility is that DiLorenzo mis-remembered what his student had said after-the-fact. Especially since, as DiLorenzo himself admits, he “didn’t immediately think much of it.” If the student had said, “The World Trade Center won’t be there _much longer_”, and DiLorenzo didn’t take much note of the comment at the time, and then a week later the WTC attacks happened, DiLorenzo might have had a vague memory of his student saying something about the WTC not being there, and conflated his own memory into thinking that his student had said “The World Trade Center won’t be there _next week_.” ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/51 "2001-10-15T18:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fosfero \* > **I dreamt New York was nuked** But NYC was **not** nuked, so your dream was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/52 "2001-10-15T21:54:20Z")
test ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/53 "2001-10-16T00:19:40Z")
bibliophage wrote: > [@](#): > > test My God, Bibliophage! You must be psychic! Why, just now, I suddenly discovered that I had to **TEST** the consequences of a new “centered display” feature I’m putting into our software here at work! However did you know? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![rushtopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@rushtopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rushtopher)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/54 "2001-10-16T14:29:47Z")
**Fosfero** you’ve said you frequently had disaster dreams, yet none of them came true. Because of your frequent dreams it was likely you’d have something come close to reality sooner or later. Sad I suppose, but ture. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/55 "2001-10-16T16:40:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dale The Bold \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _JRDelirious_ > > \*\*Hoo… boy… ol’ JVI… ya don’t know what yer missing. \*\* > > I watched Jack Van Impe for laughs this week (was his wife “Rexella” deprived of oxygen for an extended period of time?). They had a message pop up on screen that the show was recorded the Saturday before the attack to show that his discussion about terrorism was somehow prophetic. However, he was talking about the upcoming potential of BIOLOGICAL terrorism. > > “Rexella” LOL. That never gets old. \*\* Hmmm… after this week, that either does make him look prophetic, or draws the curiosity of the security agencies to the Ministry’s mailroom 😃 … Then again he has been forecasting such really convoluted apocalyptic scenaria (the European Union taking over control of all banking and imposing the Mark of the Beast, with the aid of the next Pope [there being only 2 more forecast] who will adopt humanism as the new Church doctrine and broker a Mid-East Peace settlement, etc.) that bioterrorism is almost too easy. Haven’t watched him in months, must be a trip watching him these days. Surely he has already put together a tape with his “full” explanation (Hinting at that in the tape he gives out some arcane secret that he did not touch upon in the TV show – yours for just $29.95) And that sidekick that does the voice-overs… HE must have been exposed to some sort of foreign substance. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/56 "2001-10-17T00:33:30Z")
Jack Van Impe is a blast. During the Gulf War, he cited chapter and verse to imply that armageddon was starting. Immediately after watching that, I watched the first episode of a cheesy PBS documentary series called “Understanding the Sixties.” It began with some background on the fifties mentality – including an old b+w clip of Jack Van Impe using _the same chapter and verse_ to impy that something else that was current signified the beginning of armageddon. Ha! He’s smarter now. I see he’s got us on a seven-year plan till the end of the world – Seven profitable years for his book club, no doubt. As for prophetic dreams, I had a dream Sunday night in which Philip K. Dick (but also Richard Wagner, somehow) was explaining to me that “something big” was going to happen soon in Utah. Dreams are funny. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/57 "2001-10-17T01:10:59Z")
Larry Mudd wrote: > [@](#): > > [Jack Van Impe is] smarter now. I see he’s got us on a seven-year plan till the end of the world – Seven profitable years for his book club, no doubt. I seem to recall that Hal Linden’s #1 bestseller _The Late Great Planet Earth_ also predicted a seven-year countdown to Armageddon. The only difference was, in Hal Linden’s version, it was the signing of the Middle East Peace Treaty between Sadat and Begin that would start the 7-year countdown. I guess everybody died in the mid-1980s, then. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182/58 "2001-10-17T03:27:35Z")
Uh, Hal Linden was the star of _Barney Miller._ That other guy was Hal _Lindsay_. I think I’d actually rather have Barney Miller’s take on the apocalypse. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychics-and-terrorists/81182.md?page=2)