Challenge Sally
Halloween Challenge for ‘Psychic’ Sally
One of the most prominent stage mediums in the UK has been challenged to demonstrate her skills this Halloween, in a bid to help settle the age-old debate over communication with the dead.
Sally Morgan, Image licensed courtesy of Worthing Theatres via Flickr
‘Psychic’ Sally Morgan – star of her own TV show – has been challenged by the Merseyside Skeptics Society1 to take an hour out of her lucrative theatre tour to conclusively demonstrate that the abilities she claims to possess are in fact real.
Michael Marshall, vice president of the group, explains: “At the moment, there’s no real proof that anybody is able to communicate with the dead – in fact, no medium has ever, in the history of the human species, been able to reliably demonstrate such an ability. While we’re somewhat skeptical of the claims Sally makes, we’d love nothing more than the opportunity to get to the bottom of things, once and for all.
“If Sally really is able to demonstrate in a very simple test that her skills are in fact psychically-derived, as opposed to produced via the various magic tricks and techniques we know fraudulent mediums could use to appear to have psychic powers, then we’ll be first in the queue to celebrate her talents. But until she can show her readings are genuine, we don’t think it’s right that vulnerable people are led to believe she’s really talking to the dead.”
The challenge has been issued following Sally’s controversial appearance in a Dublin theatre last month, after which several audience members reported hearing someone feeding her information for her apparent readings via an earpiece2. Although Sally has denied being fed information via an earpiece, audience members continue to stand by their report, so a mystery remains as to what happened that night and whether Sally has genuine psychic abilities.
Science writer Simon Singh, heading up the challenge alongside the Merseyside Skeptics Society, believes the test will offer Sally the opportunity to reassure her supporters that her readings come from beyond the grave, and not from any technical trickery:
“Following the events of the last month, there are still question marks hanging over Sally with regards to how she derives her insights during her readings – by agreeing to our test, Sally has an opportunity to reassure any fans who might doubt that she is genuine in her communication with their deceased loved ones. This is not a trivial issue, as many vulnerable, grieving and desperate people turn to Sally for support and advice, and it is crucial that these people can be confident that they are not being deceived.”
“The challenge to Sally couldn’t come at a more convenient time – not only are the spirits presumably particularly active, but she’s preforming at a theatre in Liverpool the previous night, so the test will be taking place right on her doorstep. We are keen to make the test as reasonable and convenient as possible, so that there is no reason for Sally to refuse.”
Putting paranormal claims to a fair test has often proved tricky in the past, which is why the group have recruited expert psychologist Professor Chris French from the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, University of London3, to design the experiment.
“It’s important for any test to be as fair as possible, and an accurate reflection of what Sally claims to do”, Chris said, “and fortunately the types of readings Sally gives in her live shows lend themselves very well to a very simple test design.
“With the right controls in place, we can perform an experiment where anyone who is deluded or who wanted to cheat would find it very hard to be successful, but someone with genuine psychic ability – as Sally claims to have every night in her sold-out theatre shows – should find the whole thing a breeze.”
The test will involve photographs, which are an integral part of Sally’s usual show. Sally will be presented with 10 photos of deceased women and 10 first names. Then she will be asked to connect with the spirit of the person in the photo in order to match the name with the image.4 Those who have provided the photos will be in the room, but they are not known to Sally and will not be able to provide any clues or information, thus removing the possibility of so-called hot or cold reading.
Should Sally accept and successfully complete the challenge, there’s more than simple bragging rights at stake – she will also be one step closer to winning $1 million. The money is being offered by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), who have a long-standing challenge to paranormal claimants: demonstrate your claims are genuine, and you’ll win $1m5. If Sally is able to pass the Halloween challenge, then she will be invited to enter into discussions with JREF with a view to arranging a final challenge for the $1m prize.
The call for Sally to take up the challenge has already attracted a number of high profile supporters, including Derren Brown, Tim Minchin, Sean Lock, Dr Ben Goldacre, Paul Zenon and Professor Richard Wiseman, who have all provided statements6 encouraging Sally to participate in the Halloween Challenge.
“If Sally Morgan feels that the test protocol is in any way unfair or unreasonable,” Marshall explained, “then we urge her to attend the test venue to discuss a revised protocol which will suit her requirements and still be scientifically rigorous. Above all, the Merseyside Skeptics Society are anxious to be as open-minded and as flexible as possible to accommodate Sally’s needs, and to establish evidence for or against her psychic abilities.”
The challenge will take place at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool City Centre, Monday October 31st, at 11am.
Update – 29th October
Sally Morgan’s lawyer has notified us that his client is not currently planning to attend the Psychic Sally Halloween Challenge. However, there is plenty of time for her to change her mind and we will be going ahead with challenge. We will reserve an empty chair for her and hope that she plucks up the confidence turn up and demonstrate her abilities. Also, as we have always stressed, if Sally feels that the test is unreasonable then we encourage her to attend and discuss a revised test that better suits her abilities.
Update – 31st October
As expected, Sally did not attend our Challenge event in Liverpool today. However, our offer to help Sally silence her critics remains open. Sally is more than welcome to contact us at any time to arrange an alternative time and date, or to work with us in devising an alternative protocol.
For more information and an invitation to attend the test please contact Michael Marshall on press@merseysideskeptics.org.uk
Notes to editors:
- The Merseyside Skeptics Society are a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of science and skepticism in Merseyside and internationally. In 2010 they spearheaded ‘The 10:23 Campaign’ to raise awareness of the dangers of using homeopathy, which made front-page news in the UK; in 2011 they took the campaign to more than 30 countries, making headlines across the world.
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/20/psychic-sally-morgan-hears-voices
- http://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/french/
- http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/challengesally/protocol/
- http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html
- http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/challengesally/quotes/
Important Notice
We have recently been made aware of some people publishing contact information for Sally Morgan and/or her representatives via twitter. Merseyside Skeptics Society would like to make it clear that it does not support this action in any way.
