Jon On The BBC

A while back someone contacted me from the BBC, they told me they were making a documentary on Gary Mannion and wanted my help.

Why did they ask me I hear you ask? Well not only do I run the UKs most popular sceptical website in BadPsychics, I also happen to have a website dedicated to Gary Mannion, that site being www.badpsychicsgarymannion.co.uk, we started that site in the latter half of 2007 as we realised that this young man was about to start a journey that would propel him into infamy, and we wanted to make sure we exposed him every step of the way.

Now over a year later, and Mannion finds himself the subject of a documentary about him and his claims, I admit I wish that this documentary was not being made, but I also admit I am not surprised.

Over the past year Mannion has conned many many people, and I can only hope that this latest project will blow up in his face.

We have to trust the program makers to do the right thing, ok so history tells us they will fuck it up as usual, and we will end up with Mannion sticking an "as seen on BBC" logo on his website, but you never know.

Anyway last night at the monthly Skeptics in the Pub meeting in Leicester, I met with the program maker and was filmed giving my opinions on Mannion as well as psychics in general.

I was filmed for over 20 minutes, however I expect my on screen time in the final documentary will be very brief, either way I hope they show the best of me, especially when you think of how much material and help I have given them with the documentary.

The show is due to air on BBC 3, 26th February 2009.
Here is the official BBC synopsis for the show.

"In Young, Psychic And Possessed, film-maker Emeka Onono follows Gary as he tries to prove that he really does have the power to heal.

It's a journey that is likely to confound sceptics and true believers.

Emeka hears stories of miracle cures, takes part in seances and even speaks to "Abraham", before turning to science and psychiatry to try to separate fact from fiction. "

Alex Pidoux To Investigate Our Gary Mannion Exposé Site

Alex Pidoux, a random person from Bristol has decided to start an investigation into one of my sites www.badpsychicsgarymannion.co.uk to be precise.

This site was created in the latter part of 2007 after I read about a so called psychic surgeon who had just come onto the scene.

No more than a teenager, we could see that from an early age Gary Mannion was positioning himself as the next big thing. Learning from the mistakes of people like Stephen Turoff and the Filipino psychic surgeons, Gary Mannions gimmick was that he performed psychic surgery but did not physically enter the body, instead it was done spiritually through his guide Abraham (the one from the Bible no less!)

By performing this type of psychic surgery it made it harder for people to debunk as he wasn't using the old chicken guts and fake blood sleight of hand tricks.

Anyway over one year later and unfortunately Gary Mannion is still going strong, although we do have a comprehensive analysis of almost everything he has done, and are ranked very high up in google, so high up that anyone searching for Gary Mannion will see our site second in the results, just below Mannions own site.

Latest news is that the BBC and Emeka Onono are filming a documentary on Mannion, how this documentary will turn out I have no idea, due for broadcast at the end of February 09, it could go one of two ways, it could be a piece of serious journalism showing Mannion for the fraud he is, or it could be a piece of viewer pleasing nonsense full of anecdotes, either way I have done everything I can to help and show Emeka the truth about Mannion, so anything less than a serious piece of journalism and we will all know who to blame, and who to report to the BBC Trust.

Anyway back to Alex Pidoux, here is what he had to say on our Gary Mannion website.

"I am starting an investigation into this website and I intend to expose the real reason you are trying to stop Gary Mannion with such determination. When people like Gary or any of the others you don't know about prove what they do once and for all you will look very silly! I wonder what impact it will have on the drugs industry, science, religion and politics as we know it? Could this be be the real reason for your witch hunt against Gary mannion?"

His "investigation" and I use that word very lightly started back in November, as of yet we have heard nothing, I am looking forward with great excitement as to what his investigation will uncover.

More likely he will never post again, disappear into obscurity and we will continue doing what we do best, that being exposing the frauds and finding out the truth.

Welcome to the BadPsychics Blog

Hi guys

If you have found this place then you are probably of the sceptical persuasion.

If you are not then this is a good place to start.

Lets start off by talking about scepticism

"Scepticism (from the Greek, skeptesthai, 'to examine') is the philosophical view that it is impossible to know anything with absolute certainty, or to know the world as it 'really' is. The word can also mean a general reluctance to accept anything on face value without sufficient proof (as in "He heard that Jim had run the 100m in under ten seconds but he remained sceptical")."
http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/tok/scepticism8.htm

It modern terms however to be sceptical is simply to doubt until you receive real proof.

A true sceptic will always remain open minded, all it takes to convince a sceptic is real proof.

Notice how I use the term "real proof" this is to differentiate it from personal proof, which is something completely different. Personal proof is often the claim used by people who believe in something that the rest of us our sceptical about.

For example

"I received personal proof that the medium does talk to the dead."

Usually this personal proof would involve the person being convinced, as opposed to them witnessing actual proof.

Ask yourself do you believe that David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear? Of course you don't, you know it is a magic trick, but how do you know? Simple because he calls himself a magician.

With psychics, healers, mediums etc they are claiming what they do is real, and unfortunately when people like this perform a trick, because they claim it is real some people take this claim at face value and thus they believe.

The best magicians are the ones that make you think what they do is real.

Remember always be sceptical, especially when it involves claims that break the laws of physics.

And personal proof is never enough.

A Follow up on Andrew McKellar

Originally Published in August 2008

Do you ever get that ‘dirty’ feeling when you see something? I don’t mean dirty as in naughty, I’m talking about dirty as in ‘unclean’ and ‘violated

Anyway, on another note, I thought I would check in on Andrew McKellar…. the ‘healer’. "andrewmckellar.com"

If you remember I had had a look at McKellar some time ago following his complete disregard of The Cancer Act 1939 by claiming he can cure cancer.. Not only did he claim to cure cancer but he also had a ‘Testimonial’ from one of his ‘patients’ on his site whom he claimed to have cured. I found, with a little research, that this particular patient had actually died shortly after, of cancer. Yet McKellar still used this gentlemans ‘testimonial’ to peddle his services.

A complaint was made to Trading Standards about his website and his claims to cure cancer.

The testimonial from the dead man has since been removed, but the smell of disgust, and death, lingers on. 

There is a testimonial, or ’tribute’ as McKellar likes to call them, from a rather uniquely named ‘Gale Angel’ who was diagnosed with a tumour on her lung ‘the size of a walnut’. She tells us:

“Four weeks after seeing Andrew, I had another scan and the tumour had gone. The Specialists were astounded”

The name ‘Gale Angel’ is not a common one, I did a search for her. What I found was a heartbreaking site dedicated to a Gale Angel, who sadly died of cancer. Coincidence? Too much of one for my liking.

McKellar’s website Homepage is now taken up with a large sign saying:

“IMPORTANT NOTICE, CLICK FOR DETAILS”

Perhaps it’s an apology to the family of Mr Phil Hurst, the man who died of cancer and whose testimonial McKellar was using to sell his ‘cancer cures’? You think? No, me neither. 

The ‘important notice' is a pathetic attempt to justify his ‘work’. It reads as follows:

“Statement:

There have always been Sceptics who have tried to expose and ridicule the power of healing” 

There’s no ‘trying’ involved McKellar, we DO expose it. Ridiculing it is the easy part.

“Andrew has recently been the victim of a tirade of unfounded accusations”

Firstly, why are you talking about yourself in the third person? Secondly I’m not sure which definition of ‘unfounded’ you’re using. I’ve always understood ‘unfounded’ to mean without evidence and groundless. I previously accused you in my other article of contravening The Cancer Act 1939:

(1) No person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement—
(a) containing an offer to treat any person for cancer, or to prescribe any remedy therefor, or to give any advice in connection with the treatment thereof;

You and your website did EXACTLY that. Groundless? Without evidence? I think not.

I also accused you of using a ‘Tribute’ from a Mr Phil Hurst praising you for curing his cancer. A man who later died from cancer. Tributes and Testimonials are used as a method of advertising your ‘services’ and ‘abilities’. I said you made ‘disgusting claims’. I stand by that remark, using the comments from a man who died of cancer to sell your cure for cancer is nothing less than disgusting. I could think of much, much stronger words to convey my feelings about it.

‘Unfounded accusations’? Really McKellar? Really?

“Recently his work has been attacked on the Internet and for no good reason”.

Yes, it has been attacked, by myself. As for ‘no good reason’, the sheer fact that you contravened The Cancer Act is enough for me, not to mention your dead clients testimonies.

“These critics have no experience, knowledge or understanding of Spiritual Healing and therefore it becomes an easy target for these headline-seekers”

You have absolutely NO idea how much knowledge, experience or understanding I have of it. But what if ‘Joe Public’ understands The Cancer Act and sees that you have broken it? Are you saying that you haven’t broken it if that person has no ‘knowledge of Spiritual Healing’? 

If you break a law, you break a law, regardless of anyone’s understanding of ‘Healing’.
Should I send my friends on a Spiritual Healers Course so they can understand your use of a dead clients testimonial for your own financial gain, or do you think they could just possibly scrape by using common sense? 

“Puerile comments made by these faceless attention seeking people is just vacuous nonsense”

Faceless attention seeking people? That’s a bit of an oxymoron isn’t it? If I was seeking attention, surely I would not be ‘faceless’? You don’t really think I’m a Meercat do you? No, surely not...
Vacuous nonsense? As I have already stated, my accusations were factual.

“They appear very interested in making a name for themselves and to wallow in sensationalism,”

I have no interest in making a name for myself, hence writing under the name ‘Meercat’. What I DO have an interest in is people making a financial gain by claiming to cure cancer.

“perhaps they would benefit from a little more time spent researching Spiritual Healing as they show total ignorance and very little understanding of the subject”

Which is it? Total ignorance or very little understanding? I can’t speak for anyone else but my research into Spiritual Healing has been pretty in-depth, and after that research I STILL think that claiming to cure cancer by ‘laying on of hands’ is bulls*it.

Perhaps if I spent more time researching the Tooth Fairy I may start to believe in that again? I’m now concerned that I may have shrugged off Father Christmas a little too casually. Perhaps if I just researched the whole ‘elves and toys’ thing a little deeper…..
Studying fiction does not turn it into fact.

“A percentage of the medical profession do recognise the benefits that are gained through a gifted healer,”

Well, I suppose even 000.1 is a percentage if you want to look at it that way…

“indeed over the past few years, Doctors, Specialists and Scientists alike have announced publicly and on Television, their findings and personal experiences of Spiritual Healing and being amazed by its results”

A classic ‘Woo’ appeal to authority argument. Aside from failing to mention who these ‘Doctors, Specialists and Scientists are, it makes little difference as to what trade they belong to. Is there a difference between a brick layer and a Doctor believing in something? What if you have a practising Muslim Doctor and a practising Christian Doctor? Whose choice of Fairy Tale is the right one, after all, they’re both Doctors….
ANYONE can be gullible or credulous.

“Andrew McKellar’s Healing speaks for itself with countless members of the public coming from all corners of the Globe, to attend his Sanctuary and personally experience his amazing ability to heal.”

There you go again talking about yourself in the third person. You realise that talking like that is number one in the WTN News ‘ten signs you’re taking yourself too seriously’ list don’t you?

“Unfortunately , a few small minded people will always be swayed by these plausible arguments, however , open-minded people will see right through these self appointed pundits”

You were caught red-handed McKellar, you claim, against the law, to cure cancer, you used a dead mans testimony to make yourself money. This has nothing to do with being open or closed minded, just facts, but being a ‘healer’ I’m sure ‘facts’ don’t matter too much to you. 
It’s a poor state of affairs if your only argument against people who don’t believe the woo that you’re peddling to the gullible, credulous and desperate, is that they are ’closed minded’.

“We all have one thing in common, one day we will die. No-one knows where, when or how?”

Genius, absolute Genius. Obviously University educated…. 

“If you are cured of a terminal illness through Spiritual Healing, this cure maybe permanent, however, it does not make you immune to death just as a medical cure does not carry a guarantee, you may get knocked down by a bus or have a heart attack some time later. You can be cured of on e thing only to die of something completely unrelated in the future. When it is your time there is no changing the inevitable.”

A fantastic bit of mindless rambling, you’ve really opened my eyes to the whole life/death issue. I seem to be missing the point here, was there one? 
Is this a poor attempt at explaining your use of certain ‘tributes’? Had Mr Hurst, and, if it’s the same person on your site, Gale Angel, died in a car accident or of a heart attack then you might start to make some sense. You see the issue here, and it’s a big one, is that you claim to have CURED them of cancer, and they DIED of cancer. You see where I’m coming from? It’s not exactly the best, and most sensitive way, of peddling your wares is it?

“Andrew was born to heal and help others and will continue to dedicate his life to others for as long as its needed”

Oh for the love of Bejeebus and Jaffa Cakes, you make it sound like you’re a volunteer in a war zone or running an orphanage in Sri Lanka using your own money! I’ve seen the videos of you ‘working’. You touch someone, and then make a profit from it. Not bad work if you can get it, good hours and no heavy lifting. No doubt you’ll tell us that it ‘physically and mentally drains you’ or you ‘get scuff marks on your aura’….

“Andrew says, ‘The mind is like a parachute, it only works when it opens. One of the greatest pleasures in life is doing what others say you cannot do”

Tim Minchin says “If you open your mind too much your brain will fall out”

Let me give you a huge amount of pleasure if it floats your boat to do things that people say you cannot. 

I say you cannot give up claiming to cure cancer……

“It is much easier to be critical than to be correct. To avoid critism, do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”

A curious choice of quotes. The first from Benjamin Disraeli, one of those figures we have come to trust and believe, a British politician, and the second from Elbert Hubbard. Perhaps a more fitting Hubbard quotation would be:

“If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names”
Small minded, puerile, ignorant,… ring any bells Andrew? 

Finally, at the bottom of this ‘Statement’ there is a link to a ‘news’ article. One of McKellar’s clients, 81 year old (or at least he was in 2000) Harry Mowbray. Harry tells us that he has had 55 operations in 26 years to remove kidney stones, apparently he has had 450 stones removed. That’s 2.1 operations a year… call me sceptical but this man appears to be some sort of walking quarry….

McKellar ‘cured’ him! In just a few sessions so it seems. Not only did McKellar stop this man creating a natural rockery, he also cured his prostate cancer. 

Harry tells us that his prostate cancer was detected by x-ray. Curious… Although I’m no Doctor, I’m of that age where prostate cancer is obviously of some concern and I have done a little research into it... so to speak... Better to be safe than sorry I say. What I find curious is that as far as I’m aware, prostate cancer is not diagnosed by x-ray.
An x-ray is only used AFTER the cancer has been diagnosed to see if it has spread to the surrounding bones.

Harry tells us:

“Last November my consultant told me that, once again, there were stones in my Kidneys and x-rays showed that I had prostate cancer”

Again, I’m not a Doctor and claim limited medical knowledge, but I know that an x-ray cannot show if something is cancerous or not. Even if Harry had been given an ultrasound and not an x-ray, it would still not show if cancer was present. Only a biopsy would show this. IF he had been given an ultrasound and it had shown ‘dark patches’ on his prostate, without a biopsy the dark patch could very well be a cyst of the prostate, a region of inflammation, or it could even be a large blood vessel.

It was only AFTER Harry had seen McKellar that his GP gave him a blood test for prostate cancer and was told he didn’t have it. My point being is that Harry is claiming McKellar cured his cancer without actually being diagnosed with it in the first place. You can’t cure something that isn’t there….

Yours, desperately seeking attention and sensationalism,
Meercat.

"Miracle Worker" - Andrew McKellar

Originally Published 10th August 2008.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Decency has left the building"

When not performing his favourite Elvis or Buddy Holly songs or combing his quiff, Andrew McKellar is curing the incurable.

andrewmckellar.com (best to use 'Wayback' to view his 'Tributes', his current site relies heavily on flash graphics and its easier to read the 'text only' sites)

McKellar has quite obviously never heard of the Cancer Act 1939:

By Meercat

Quote:

(1) No person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement—
(a) containing an offer to treat any person for cancer, or to prescribe any remedy therefor, or to give any advice in connection with the treatment thereof;
(2) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of the foregoing subsection, he shall be liable on summary conviction, [to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such a fine and such imprisonment.

You see, McKellars site is almost entirely about his ability to cure cancer. Including one person who was given just an hour to live.....

"Elizabeth, Southampton, UK: “I suffered with lung cancer… I was in hospital and given only one hour to live. My family called Andrew McKellar, the healer. He placed his hands on my upper chest and the heat was amazing! The cancer vanished and he then cured my arthritis.”

Yes, not only did he cure the incurable, he then went on to fix her arthritis as a finale.

I suggest a quick conversation with someone like a MacMillan nurse to find out exactly what state the body will be in in the last hour of lung cancer. 'Curing' someone of lung cancer in the last hour of their life is as close as you'll get to actually resurrecting the dead. This was indeed a miracle. You'll remember reading about it in the papers, and seeing it on the news. No? You're right, neither did I.

Lets have a look at some of his other miracle cures:

Quote:

Malcolm, Bournemouth, UK: “After being diagnosed with bowel cancer and given chemotherapy I was then told it had been unsuccessful and that I only had a short time to live. After seeing Andrew my cancer vanished - to the amazement of the medical establishment.”

Quote:

Jane, Southampton, UK: “I was diagnosed with an incurable lung disease and I was told that I was going to die. The doctor made me as comfortable as possible. Andrew McKellar cured me … to the utter amazement of the specialist.”

Quote:

Percy, Bournemouth, UK: “I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. The bleeding stopped one hour after Andrew placed his hands on me. On my next trip to hospital they found no abnormalities.”

Quote:

Peggy, Southampton, UK: “I had bladder cancer. I was told I would have to have an operation and a permanent colostomy bag. After seeing Andrew the cancer vanished.”

Quote:

Gail Angel, UK: “I was diagnosed with a tumour on the lung the size of a walnut. I was told that I would have to have chemotherapy. Knowing the risks of side-effects I refused it. I heard about Andrew McKellar’s success in being able to disperse tumours with his healing ability. May family and I were totally amazed. Four weeks after seeing Andrew, I had another scan – the tumour had gone. My medical experts were astounded.”

Quote:

Tracy Watson, UK: “I had a large mass of cancer on the spine and was told that not only was it chemo-resistant but that nothing at all could be done to treat it. It was suggested that I had little time left. I started to see Andrew and a recent scan showed that the tumour is now practically non-existent. To say that the specialist was amazed is an understatement. The heat from Andrew’s hands is awesome. My husband and I would like to thank Andrew for sharing with us his wonderful gift of healing.”

Quote:

“I suffered with bowel and lung cancer – not long to live. I went to Andrew and the cancer vanished. Lungs clear, bowel clear. Amazing. Thank you Andrew.”

Do you remember seeing all these miracles splashed all over the newspapers? No, neither do I. Wouldn't you think if not McKellar, the people cured would be shouting from the rooftops about these miracles? I know I would. 

So I thought I would search the Internet for these people and their miraculous cures. I found only two. A Tim Bayliss who features on McKellers video interviews on his site, and on a BBC local news program about McKellar:



Although other than that there is no mention of this miracle cure that I can find anywhere. 

Another person to appear in McKellars videos claiming that he had been cured from cancer is a Mr Phil Hurst. He also features on the written 'Tributes', first appearing on the site in January 2005:

Quote:

Phil Hurst, UK: “A few months ago I was told the shattering news that I had lung cancer – two tumours on my right lung. I was offered the option of having chemotherapy but after careful thought I refused it for fear of the side-effects. I’m a keen runner and have regularly taken part in the London marathon. My specialist told me that I would never run again. I went to Andrew for a course of healing and when I returned to my local hospital my specialist was astounded to find no trace of the tumours. What can I say? I can’t thank Andrew enough – the heat from his hands was extraordinary. My marathon running continues!”

Very sadly, when searching for Mr Hurst on the Internet, I found this from November 2006:

"The funeral service of Phil Hurst takes place today at St John's Church, Rownhams, followed by a private cremation."
"Link no longer working or archived"

"Family flowers only please, but donations, if desired to Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie Cancer Care"


"Link no longer working or archived"


Yet McKellar still uses Mr Hurst's 'tribute' and video interview as 'proof' off his miracle cures. 

Is McKellar mentioned in the Acknowledgements for Mr Hurst's funeral? No, Cancer Research and Marie Curie are. 

We have looked at some some disgusting claims on this site in the past, but this has to top them all. 

Meercat