Pigasus Award

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History

"The trophy consists of a stainless-steel spoon bent in a pleasing curve (paranormally, of course) and supported by a base of plastic. Please note that the base is flimsy and quite transparent. I am personally responsible for the nomination of the candidates. The sealed envelopes are read by me, while blindfolded, at the official announcement ceremony on April 1. Any baseless claims are rationalized in approved parapsychological fashion, and the results will be published immediately without being checked in any way. Winners are notified telepathically and are allowed to predict their victory in advance."

Categories

1. To the Scientist who said or did the silliest thing relating to parapsychology in the preceding twelve months.
2. To the Funding Organization that supports the most useless parapsychological study during the year.
3. To the Media outlet that reported as fact the most outrageous paranormal claim.
4. To the "Psychic" performer who fools the greatest number of people with the least effort in that twelve-month period.

Recipients

Category 1 - Scientist

• 1979 — Professor William A. Tiller
  William A. Tiller
  
  William A. Tiller, Ph.D. is professor emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. Tiller appears in the film What the Bleep Do We Know!?. His seminal book is the 1997 Science and Human Transformation, which postulates the existence of Energy , beyond the four fundamental forces, which act in concert with h...
  , who said that although the evidence for psychic events was very shaky and originates with persons of doubtful credibility, it should be taken seriously because there is so much of it.
• 1980 — Isaac Bashevis Singer
  Isaac Bashevis Singer
  
  Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Nobel Prize in literature-winning Poland-born United States author and one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literature movement....
  , for declaring a belief in demon
  Demon
  
  In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit. In Christian terms demons are generally understood as fallen angels, formerly of God....
  s.
• 1981 — Charles Tart
  Charles Tart
  
  Dr. Charles T. Tart is a United States psychologist and parapsychologist known for his psychological work on the nature of consciousness , as one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology, and for his research in scientific parapsychology....
  , for discovering that the further in the future events are, the more difficult it is to predict them.
• 1996 — Scientist/physicist Ed May, who headed the CIA "remote viewing
  Remote viewing
  
  Remote Viewing , refers to the attempt to gather information about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means or extra-sensory perception....
  " project.
• 1999 — The Kansas State Board of Education
  Education in Kansas
  
  Education in Kansas is governed primarily by the Kansas State Board of Education....
   for removing the teaching of evolution
  Evolution
  
  In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
   from the state's educational agenda.
• 2001 — University of Arizona Psychology professor Gary Schwartz
  Gary Schwartz
  
  Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D., is a professor of Psychology who teaches courses in psychology in the departments of Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Surgery at the University of Arizona....
   for studies in parapsychology.
• 2003 — South African Minister of Health Dr. Manto Tshabala-Msimang for endorsing alternative medicine
  Alternative medicine
  
  The term alternative medicine, as used in the modern western world, encompasses any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine"....
   for treating AIDS
  AIDS
  
  Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
  .
• 2004 — Dr. Rogerio Lobo, professor/chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University who co-signed a paper titled Does Prayer Influence the Success of in Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer?
• 2005 — Brenda Dunne, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab
  Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab
  
  The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research program was established at Princeton University in 1979 by Robert G. Jahn, then Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, to pursue rigorous scientific study of the interaction of human consciousness with physical devices, systems, and processes common to contemporary engineering prac...
   manager, for the doublespeak
  Doublespeak
  
  Doublespeak is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual Meaning , often resulting in a bypassing. Doublespeak may take the form of bald euphemisms or deliberate ambiguity....
   of promoting studies whose "experimental results display increases in information content that can only be attributed to the influence of the consciousness of the human operator", while simultaneously insisting that PEAR is "not in the business of demonstrating 'paranormal
  Paranormal
  
  Paranormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation, or phenomena alleged to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure....
  ' abilities".
• 2006 — Biologist Rupert Sheldrake
  Rupert Sheldrake
  
  Rupert Sheldrake is a United Kingdom former biochemistry and plant physiologist who now researches and writes on parapsychology and other controversial subjects....
   for research funded by Trinity College, Cambridge
  Trinity College, Cambridge
  
  Trinity College is one of the 31 Colleges of the University of Cambridge of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or University of Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduate students, and over 160 Fellows; however, counting only the student body it has somewhat fewer than Homert...
   on his theory of “telephone telepathy," supposed precognition experienced by the recipients of telephone calls and e-mails, (i.e. knowing who is calling before picking up the phone or viewing the caller ID.)
• 2007 — Intelligent Design promoter and professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University Michael Behe
  Michael Behe
  
  Michael J. Behe is an United States biochemist and intelligent design advocate. He currently serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture....
   for his book The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism
  The Edge of Evolution
  
  The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism is a book promoting intelligent design by Discovery Institute fellow Michael Behe, published by the Free Press in 2007....
  .

Category 2 - Funding

• 1979 — The McDonnell Foundation, who gave $500,000 to Washington University in St. Louis
  Washington University in St. Louis
  
  Washington University in St. Louis is a nonsectarian, private University located in Greater St. Louis. Founded in 1853 and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S....
   to study spoon-bending
  Spoon bending
  
  Spoon bending is the apparent deformation of objects, especially metal cutlery, either without physical force, or with less force than normally necessary....
   children. (See Project Alpha
  Project Alpha
  
  Project Alpha was an elaborate hoax orchestrated by the stage magician and skeptic James Randi. It involved planting two fake psychics, Banachek and Michael Edwards, into a paranormal research project....
  )
• 1980 — The Millennium Foundation for giving $1 million to parapsychological research. (The award was withdrawn in 1982 when the foundation decided, instead, to invest the million dollars in a "psychically discovered" oil site, which turned out to be dry.)
• 1981 — The Pentagon
  United States Department of Defense
  
  The United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Military of the United States....
   for spending $6 million to determine whether or not burning the photo of a Soviet missile would destroy the missile.
• 1996 — Robert Bigelow
  Robert Bigelow
  
  Robert T. Bigelow is a hotel and aerospace entrepreneur. He made his fortune through the hotel chain Budget Suites of America and is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace....
   for funding John Edward Mack
  John Edward Mack
  
  John Edward Mack, M.D. was an United States psychiatrist, and Professor at the Harvard Medical School.He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, and a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien abduction experiences, sometimes called the Abduction Phenomenon....
   and Budd Hopkins
  Budd Hopkins
  
  Budd Hopkins is a central figure in abduction phenomenon and related unidentified flying object research. He is also a Painting and sculpture of note....
  , and for purchasing the so-called Skinwalker Ranch
  Skinwalker Ranch
  
  Skinwalker Ranch is a ranch reputedly located in the Uintah County, Utah Basin of Utah; it is allegedly the site of a series of paranormal phenomena....
   in Utah
  Utah
  
  The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
   known for alleged UFO
  Unidentified flying object
  
  An unidentified flying object is any aerial phenomenon whose cause can not be easily or immediately determined. Both military and civilian research show that a significant majority of UFO sightings are identified after further investigation, either explicitly or indirectly The USAF, who coined the term in 1952, initially defined UFOs as thos...
   attacks, "interdimensional portals", and "cattle mutilation
  Cattle mutilation
  
  Cattle mutilation is the apparent killing and then mutilation of cattle under unusual or anomalous circumstances. Sheep and horses have been allegedly mutilated under similar circumstances....
  s."
• 1999 — The Human Resources Administration of the City of New York
  New York City
  
  The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
  , for training welfare recipients to work as telephone psychics.
• 2001 — The University of Paris
  University of Paris
  
  The historic University of Paris first appeared in the 12th century. In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous university . The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution founded about 1257 by Robert de Sorbon....
   for awarding a doctorate in Sociology to Élizabeth Teissier for a 900-page thesis on the validity of astrology
  Astrology
  
  Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of astronomical object and related details can provide useful information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters....
  .
• 2004 — Awarded to the United States Air Force
  United States Air Force
  
  The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Military of the United States and one of the uniformed services of the United States....
   Research Laboratory, who paid $25,000 to Dr. Eric W. Davis (PhD, FBIS) at a Las Vegas company called Warp Drive Metrics to study the "conveyance of persons by psychic means" and "transport through extra space dimensions or parallel universes."
• 2005 — City Council of Auckland
  Auckland
  
  The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban areas of New Zealand with over 1.3 million residents, percent of the country's population....
  , New Zealand
  New Zealand
  
  New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
  , for a NZ$2,500 (US$1,800) grant to the Foundation For Spiritualist Mediums "to teach people to communicate with the dead".
• 2006 — Templeton Foundation for spending US$2.4 million and ten years research on a study researching the effectiveness of prayer.
• 2007 — The White House, described by Randi as “faith-based
  Faith-based
  
  In the United States of America, the term faith-based is used to describe organizations that are religious in nature and distinguish those organizations from government, public or private secular organizations....
  ”.

Category 3 - Media

• 1979 — Prentice Hall
  Prentice Hall
  
  Prentice Hall is a leading educational publisher. It is an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc., based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States....
   and American International Pictures
  American International Pictures
  
  American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z....
  , for The Amityville Horror
  The Amityville Horror (1979 film)
  
  The Amityville Horror is a 1979 United States horror film based on the bestselling The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. The film was directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starred James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger....
  , labeled as "A True story".
• 1980 — The That's Incredible TV show, for declaring a simple magic trick to be genuine. (The performer, James Hydrick
  James Hydrick
  
  James Alan Hydrick was an American performer and self-described parapsychology. Hydrick claimed to be able to perform acts of telekinesis, such as his trademark trick involving the movement of a pencil resting at the edge of a table....
  , later admitted it to be false)
• 1981 — TV station KNBC of Los Angeles, for accepting the Tamara Rand hoax as real without checking into it.
• 1996 — Awarded collectively to a number of media outlets for perpetuating the Roswell UFO incident
  Roswell UFO incident
  
  The Roswell UFO Incident involved the recovery of materials near Roswell, New Mexico, USA, on July 7, 1947, and since the early 1980s has become the subject of intense speculation, rumor and questioning....
  .
• 1999 — To television personality Bill Maher
  Bill Maher
  
  William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an United States stand-up comedian, television host, pundit , and author. Before his present role as host of HBO Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late night television talk show called Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central and later on American Broadcasting Company....
   for endorsing a series of psychics.
• 2004 — The film What t?e #$*! Do ?S (k)pow!?
  What the Bleep Do We Know!?
  
  What the Bleep Do We Know!? is a 2004 film which combines documentary film-style interviews, Computer graphics, and a narrative that posits a spirituality connection between quantum physics and consciousness....
  .
• 2005 — ABC's Primetime Live for its credulous "John of God" special, about Brazilian "psychic surgeon"
  Psychic surgery
  
  Psychic surgery is a procedure typically involving the apparent creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the apparent removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision....
   João Teixeira
  João de Deus (medium)
  
  Jo?o Teixeira de Faria , known also as Jo?o de Deus , is a medium and so-called "psychic surgeon" in Brazil. He is based in Abadi?nia, a small town in the state of Goi?s, southwest of Bras?lia....
  
• 2006 & 2007 — Daytime talk show host Montel Williams
  Montel Williams
  
  Montel Brian Anthony Williams is an United States television personality and television talk show host....
   for promotion of Sylvia Browne
  Sylvia Browne
  
  Sylvia Browne is a best-selling United States author on the subject of spirituality and performs as a psychic and mediumship.She was a weekly guest on The Montel Williams Show and hosts her own hour-long show on Louise Hay, discussing paranormal issues and giving callers advice in her role as a psychic....
  .

Category 4 - Performer

• 1979 — Philip Jordan, who was hired by Tioga County, New York
  Tioga County, New York
  
  Tioga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 51,784. Its name derives from an Native American word meaning "at the forks," describing a meeting place....
  , Public Defender R. L. Miller to assist in choosing jurors by their "auras
  Aura (paranormal)
  
  In parapsychology and many forms of spirituality, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation supposedly surrounding a person or object like the Halo or aureola of religious art....
  ".
• 1980 — Dorothy Allison, a housewife/psychic who was called upon to solve a series of murders in Atlanta, Georgia
  Atlanta, Georgia
  
  Atlanta is the Capital and most populous city in Georgia , as well as the 33rd largest city in the United States of America with a population of 519,145....
  . She failed to do anything but give the police 42 different names for the murderer.
• 1981 — Tamara Rand who claimed she had predicted an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan
  Ronald Reagan
  
  Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
   months before the incident when she actually did it a day after the event.
• 1996 — Sheldan Nidle who predicted the end of the world on December 17, 1996, then explained that it came, but we were all unaware of it.
• 1999 — Nostradamus
  Nostradamus
  
  Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinized to Nostradamus, was a France apothecary and reputed Prophet who published collections of prophecy that have since become famous worldwide....
  
• 2001 — John Edward
  John Edward
  
  John Edward McGee, Jr. , better known as John Edward, is an American author, television personality, and purported Mediumship. He is best known for his TV shows Crossing Over with John Edward and John Edward Cross Country, which are premised on Edward attempting to communicate with the soul of the audience members' deceased rel...
  
• 2003 & 2004 — Sylvia Browne
  Sylvia Browne
  
  Sylvia Browne is a best-selling United States author on the subject of spirituality and performs as a psychic and mediumship.She was a weekly guest on The Montel Williams Show and hosts her own hour-long show on Louise Hay, discussing paranormal issues and giving callers advice in her role as a psychic....
  
• 2005 — Allison DuBois
  Allison DuBois
  
  Allison DuBois is an American author and professed Mediumship. DuBois has claimed she uses her psychic abilities to help law enforcement agencies across the United States solve crimes, which formed the basis of the TV show Medium ....
  , inspiration of NBC TV show Medium
  Medium (TV series)
  
  Medium is an American supernatural and dramatic television series which premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005. The series is about Allison DuBois who acts as a research medium for the Phoenix, Arizona, district attorney's office....
  .
• 2006 — Uri Geller
  Uri Geller
  
  'Uri Geller Freud', commonly 'Uri Geller' , born on 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-United Kingdom performing arts and self-proclaimed psychic who claims "to be able to spoon bending with the power of his mind" and to have psychic powers, although he currently prefers the designation of "mystifier" rather than "psychic."...
  
• 2007 — Swiss performer Vincent Raven for his tricks on The Next Uri Geller program.

Category 5 - Refusal to face reality

• 2005 — Journal of Reproductive Medicine, for refusal to denounce the now-discredited Cha/Wirth paper, Does Prayer Influence the Success of in Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer, that JRM published. (Paper co-signer Rogerio Lobo won the 2004 Pigasus Scientist award.)

See also

• Bent Spoon Award
  Bent Spoon Award
  
  The Bent Spoon Award is an award given by Australian Skeptics, "presented to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle"....
  
• Darwin Awards
  Darwin Awards
  
  A Darwin Award is a tongue-in-cheek "honor" named after evolutionary theory Charles Darwin. Awards have been given for people who "do a service to Humanity by removing themselves from the Gene pool", i.e., lose the ability to reproduce either by death or sterilization in a stupid fashion....
  
• Golden Raspberry Awards
  Golden Raspberry Awards
  
  The Golden Raspberry Awards, frequently called the Razzies, were created by John Wilson in 1980 , intended to counterpoint the Academy Awards by dishonoring the worst acting, screenwriting, songwriting, directing, and films that the film industry had to offer....
  
• Ig Nobel Prize
  Ig Nobel Prize
  
  The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." Organized by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research , they are presented by a group that includes genuine Nobel Laureates at a ceremony at Harva...
  

External links

• The Pigasus Awards: , , , , , , ,