Missing kidney to prove psychic power?

Anita Ikonen

Today, a 27-year-old American undergraduate student majoring in Chemistry and Physics at UNC-Charlotte, is hoping to convince sceptics that she can “see” inside people’s bodies.

Anita Ikonen describes her ability – which she believes to be paranormal – as “vision from feeling” and is keen to be tested by sceptics. Her aim is to satisfy the James Randi Educational Forum (JREF) that her powers are real, which would win her their long-standing $1 million prize.

As an initial step, she is being tested today by the Independent Investigations Group (IIG) – a sceptical organisation that acts as a filter for some of the JREF paranormal claimants –  whom she approached two years ago. Since then, they have been discussing how best to examine her claims.

The suggestion was put forward that, if she really could “see” inside a person’s body, she ought to be able to detect if a particular organ was missing. Having correctly detected a missing kidney in the past, Anita has agreed that she will be presented by a number of individuals and attempt to identify which one has lost a kidney.

The test is taking place today (21 November) at 11:00 Pacific Standard Time and will be streamed live on the internet. It can be viewed here.

Though a number of psychics have claimed “X-ray” vision in the past, the particular ability claimed by Anita is unusual, to say the least, as is her scientific background and willingness to be tested.

But sceptics are already dismissing not only the value of the preliminary test but also Anita’s mental state. Whether they are right, or not, is beside the point: why don’t they wait until the result of the test is known and give their opinions then?

One critic has even gone so far as to set up a website called Stop Vision From Feeling: a sceptical inquiry. Like most sceptics, he is happy to dismiss the claims of a paranormal claimant, in advance of a test. Yet they claim to be scientific.

I, on the other hand, am happy to await the test result before making a judgment and, in a spirit of genuine enquiry, I contacted Anita by e-mail and she readily agreed to answer my questions.

So here, a few hours in advance of her test, is our exchange, together with Anita’s introduction. Later, I’ll bring you the test result (in case you cannot view it) and comment on it.

Anita Ikonen, paranormal claimant

Interview

My name is Anita Ikonen and I am a paranormal claimant. When I look at people, I experience feeling a landscape of vibration across them. This vibration translates in my mind into images that depict internal organs and health information.

I have experienced interesting cases of having accurately perceived things that one should not be able to detect by ordinary senses of perception. That is why I have this paranormal investigation, and am having a preliminary demonstration with the IIG.

When did you first realise you had an ability to “see” into people?

I had my first experience of what I call “vibrational information” when I was 14, when I saw a blue field of vibration around a houseplant. It was of a kind called prayer plant. Soon after, I noticed vibrations across food items. The first food item I experienced this with was oranges.

Later, I was feeling vibrational information across people as well. The vibration began being converted into images, and I started to see images in my mind that depict people’s insides and health.

At first I was appalled by what I saw. I was one of those kind of persons who was too uncomfortable to watch surgery on television. But over time I got used to      seeing detailed images of tissues and internal organs and have come to appreciate the beauty of human tissues to where I will dedicate my career to the study of tissue structure. The images continue to become more intricate over time.

How much of the “image” is like seeing with normal eyesight, and how much is a mental impression that your mind translates into an image?

I see these images entirely in my mind and they are not superimposed with the world I see around me. The images start when I look at things with eyesight and feel a landscape of vibration. The felt vibration then translates on its own into images in my mind. It is not at all like ordinary eyesight, because these images form based on a feeling, and that is why I call it “vision from feeling”. The images are felt as much as they are visual.

The test involves identifying which individuals have had an organ removed but do you envisage future tests where you identify diseases?

The experience I had of detecting that a kidney is missing represents the very best of what my paranormal claim can do, and so if tests show that I can’t do this with missing kidneys, I can’t do it with anything else either. If, however, tests do confirm an ability of detecting missing kidneys, I would then be interested in finding out what more I can do.

What has been your most convincing case so far?

That would be when I detected that a left kidney was missing. As part of my paranormal investigation, I joined a local sceptics group and was trying a reading with one of the members.

When I felt into his back, I noticed a great difference between the right and left side. On the right was a feeling of heavy, dark, firm and dense, and on the left side was none of that and instead a feeling of light emptiness.

I figured that I was detecting the right kidney, but not the left. At the time I did not know much about kidney removal, and my assumption then was that only someone who is elderly and obviously ill would have had a kidney removed.

Looking at him, I could not logically believe that he would be missing a kidney. Healthy young kidney donors did not cross my mind, nor did I know at that time that some people are actually born without a kidney.

I debated for several minutes whether to write it down or not. The perception was one of the clearest, if not the clearest, I have ever had, but logically I could not let myself believe that it could be true. I felt that the accurate perceptions I had had in the past were entitled to a paranormal test, and that if I were incorrect this time with the kidney I would not be given a test.

So I chose to not write it down. After the reading he told us that he was missing a left kidney. I wanted to kick myself, but I said nothing then. If I had written it down during the reading, I would have had evidence for this, but regardless, this perception represents the best my paranormal claim has done, and I look forward to seeing if I can do it again at the IIG Preliminary.

How do you believe your ability might be harnessed for the good of  others?

Although it seems that I have what is either a good skill in reading external clues that translate into corresponding images of health, or a paranormal extrasensory ability, this claim has not been confirmed yet. I am devoted to science and scepticism, and only if I confirm an extrasensory ability will I then think about its possible applications.

Do you believe you are specially gifted or is this something that others could develop?

I believe that most of us could develop the experience I have of perceptions. For me it actually began when I was doing an exercise where you hold the tip of a quartz crystal above the palm of your hand until you can feel a beam coming from it. It took me a few days, but then I could feel a beam that was cool and blue.

I then held crystals of many different kinds in my hands and learned to distinguish a distinct visual feeling from each. I believe that these exercises made me more susceptible to feeling and seeing the same type of vibrational substance around other things as well, whose vibrations are weaker.

It could be that this developed extra connections in my brain so that I would come to associate synthetic feeling and visions to things, especially since I already have some forms of synesthesia, which is when a person experiences one type of information with their ordinary senses and the brain translates that information into something else that is not really there.

Somesynesthetes experience a taste when they hear a sound. I experience colour and shapes from letters and numbers. Or it could be that I enhanced my sensitivity to a vibrational information that actually exists. I am excited to come closer to an explanation of my experience of health perceptions, and I find it interesting, regardless of what the conclusion will be.

How confident are you that you will produce positive results during the IIG test?

I am preparing myself so that if I fail I won’t be surprised or even disappointed. I will certainly do my best and I am curious to find out if I can detect a missing kidney again. I believe in science and the sceptical method.

You can read more about my paranormal claim and its investigation on my website: www.visionfromfeeling.com.

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