Wednesday, July 17, 2013

More On The Pam Ragland Case

A reader posted a comment on my post yesterday about Pam Ragland having allegedly found the body of a missing child using visions she received. I greatly appreciate that because I had missed it while doing a search, and I agree with my reader that it is "a better skeptic look" at the matter than the one I had read and linked to yesterday. Much better.
 
As I pointed out yesterday, I have some reservations about this matter. I enjoyed reading and urge my readers to check out The New 'Best Case' For Psychics: Did 'Intuitive Vision' Locate Missing Boy? by Ben Radford at the Center For Inquiry website. 
 
Mr. Radford, astutely, I believe, points out that Ragland should have been at least somewhat familiar with the Smith family's property where the child's body was discovered after watching news coverage.
 
Next Radford informs his readers that
 
There are exceptions, of course, but the odds are that a missing or murdered child will be found in or near the family home.
 
I'm not sure how to evaluate that claim because no statistics or studies are provided. Also, that word near is vague and subject to interpretation.
 
I would also point out that the search was for a missing child. The young boy had not been long missing - and while one would always fear the worst, surely after only a short time most folks would be hoping for the best outcome. (In fact, this was suspicious enough that the police investigated the possibility that Ragland was involved in the murder.)
 
So Mr. Radford sums up his case thus:
 
It is far more probable that Ragland is neither psychic nor involved in any crime, but simply someone who unknowingly mistook a television news scene for an intuitive vision and whose instincts correctly told her where the missing boy was statistically most likely to be found-and eventually was.
 
I'm suggesting that Mr. Radford's "far more probable" is an overstatement - unless one starts with the conclusion one is trying to reach, namely that psychic episodes like this one are impossible.
 
I'm skeptical enough to seriously entertain that Radford is correct about the news coverage providing the "vision" Ragland had. I can entertain she followed up on this as a lucky guess and literally stumbled upon a corpse. But I'm also open-minded enough to entertain that she actually received an impression to go investigate the Smith property.
 
I also think that Radford is again being presumptuous by suggesting the skeptical explanation is the simpler explanation or else "Pam Ragland is the first person in history to find a missing person through psychic visions." Some would contest that Ragland is the first.

   

10 comments:

  1. I am looking also into this and here are my thoughts about this whole case:

    First Pam had some information for quite a time her facebook page:

    https://www.facebook.com/PamRagland/...51531142013297
    Quote:Pam Ragland · 1,510 followers
    July 9 at 4:57pm via mobile ·

    ♥ PLEASE SHARE - MISSING 11 YO AUTISTIC BOY "Terry" in So Cal Menifee CA, missing since Sat night when his step brother sent him to walk home alone. He was wearing only light blue basketball shorts, no shirt, shoes, food, water, and not very communicative. It has been 100 degrees he cannot last much longer. Please send prayers, love, well wishes, positive vibes... Your choice. This boy & his family needs your support. Thank you.

    This was posted before her visions..

    Its from this site:

    http://forum.mind-energy.net/skeptiko-podcast/5384-woman-visions-leads-police-boys-body.html

    I can post more but this will do for now.

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  2. Second Pam Raglands vision was not so precise because Pam Ragland thought like everyone else they will find a living child and therefore even took his two children along (who found the body in the first place because they smelled something also like Pam):

    “I got this flash and I saw the boy laying under a tree. I thought he was sleeping,”

    “I felt devastated because I thought we were going to help this family find a live child,” Ragland said.

    Its from this page where they even linked the news article where Pam said that: http://forum.mind-energy.net/skeptiko-podcast/5384-woman-visions-leads-police-boys-body.html

    As for Radford I think he is right that it is more statistically likely to find the child when you have some information before like Pam had and she could even sense it with smell on the property therefore someone else would find it the next day if not her. Also Pam knew that the last person who was the boy with was his half-brother(facebook post), the suspected killer.

    Also Radford has promised to make a more in-depth report on this on Livescience on his web-page.

    Also according to other sites like doubtful news she was searching for some hikers and didn't find them and also according to above top secret forum she sells strange "healing" stuff like Quantum Thought Shifting which is very strange.

    Conclusion: This case for me does not prove psychic powers or anything unusual. She combined all the information she had and was lucky nothing more or less. Sometimes it happens - even children or normal people have found dead bodies and don't claim they are psychics now. If Pam would not claim she had visions this would be a normal story without any paranormal stuff in my opinion because these things happen all the time when someone finds a body.

    PS: Sorry for the double post.

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  3. @ Shen-Du,

    The double post is fine and I thank you for the time and effort you took presenting this information here. I think for now I've said about all I care to, although I will be happy to read Radford's more in-depth piece about it later. Again, I thank you for your time.

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  4. Have heard nothing of this missing person case, but my views on "psychics" are in previous comment. I'd trust my missing kid to a detective, not a professed psychic.

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  5. Hi all,
    Thanks for being skeptical, that I don't mind and pretty much expect.

    1) Having an Autistic child and working with Autistic children, the Facebook post was ORIGNALLY to a closed FB group for Autism on Tuesday. Members could not share so I posted it on my page as a public comment to be shared. This was in the afternoon or evening of the day we went out there, after I had already been overcome with grief about this boy (which I never published.)

    2) If you are inclined to not be open, you are not. I am not here to change your mind and I am not interested in doing so. In fact, my only interest was in finding a missing child.

    3) I did publish a post on it to counteract untruths (vs. sheer speculation, as these comments are.) Feel free to read it.

    http://pamraglandsblog.com/setting-some-facts-straight-about-finding-the-missing-autistic-boy-terry-smith-part-1/

    All the best.

    Pam

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  6. @ Diane,

    I have to say that my trust in the police is the not the greatest, but I hear what you are saying. But, please, follow the links in my previous post and see what you think.

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  7. Pam,

    I'm elated you stopped by to sound off. I hope my skepticism is appropriately tempered with openness.

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  8. @ Pam,

    Oh, and I would genuinely love to "talk" to you about this if you will give me contact information.

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  9. @ Pam:

    This was in the afternoon or evening of the day we went out there, after I had already been overcome with grief about this boy (which I never published.) - this does not change the fact that you were watching the news and had information before if not you would not post it.

    Pam wrote: If you are inclined to not be open, you are not. I am not here to change your mind and I am not interested in doing so. In fact, my only interest was in finding a missing child. - which was found dead:

    Your vision was not precise because you awaited a living child.

    I did publish a post on it to counteract untruths (vs. sheer speculation, as these comments are.) Feel free to read it.

    http://pamraglandsblog.com/setting-some-facts-straight-about-finding-the-missing-autistic-boy-terry-smith-part-1/

    Read it and replied:

    If you have such powers why can you use them for your own life Pam? Why have you trusted the clerk and not used your intuition powers in your own life and has normal problems like every other normal human being? If I would have such powers like you claim then I would live a very good life because my intuition would save me from these problems.

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  10. @Pam:

    Really I could not believe what the skeptics wrote that you said but after checking the link its true and I doubt more the whole case:

    Pam Ragland and with her followers can stop a hurricane:

    Eliminate Hurricane John
    September 4, 2006 by Pam
    Filed under Shift-Planet
    Leave a Comment

    As I have already written about, our collective thoughts can stall a Hurricane! Ernesto quickly stalled after our focus. Remember, everything on our planet is the result of our collective thought.

    Its from: pamraglandsblog.com/eliminate-hurricane-john/

    Ok my last comment on this.. No more have I to say...Just wanted to add this that my assumption why psychics have normal lives and they should not have(they should be ruling gods of this planet or at least rich as hell) is normal.

    Thank you all for the discussion..Have a nice day..Bye and best wishes with the blog Doug.

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