Sandbox
Is William Branham's floating table a true story?
In 1965 William Branham makes this statement. "I was at a camp one time, where a minister and I went to see them in there. They had raised the table up from the floor, and had whisky glasses sitting over it; and taken that table, turned it back and forth. And guitar flying through the building; people’s clothes. Had this up, in the room. Said, this medium said, “I challenge anybody to knock it down.” Two man said, “I’ll get it down.” They grabbed it around the legs like that, and tried to hold it. It wouldn’t. Why, that table throwed them plumb across the floor."[1]
The floating or levitation[2] of objects was an extremely popular illusion in the last 19th and early 20th centuries. Harry Kellar[3] (1849-1922) became famous for his act which he called "Levitation of Princess Karnac". The act was an illusion. The assistant who was levitated was actually supported by an "S" shape metal bar which allowed Harry Kellar to move the hoop through the length of her body in either direction.
Is there any known proof that a table can be levitated as William Branham describes?
The most knowledgeable people in Mediumship, Spiritualism, and Magic have all offered rewards for anyone who could levitate an object. No one has ever been proved to be able to do it.
Below are two examples of famous and extremely knowledgeable performers who offered substantial rewards for anyone who could levitate an object.
1) Joseph Dunninger[4] (April 28, 1892 – March 9, 1975), known as "The Amazing Dunninger", was one of the most famous and proficient mentalists of all time. At the age of seventeen, he was invited to perform at the home of Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay and at the home of the inventor Thomas Edison, both of whom were avid admirers of Dunninger. President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Dunninger to the White House on a number of occasions to demonstrate his mentalist skills.[5] Through Scientific American magazine and his own organization the Universal Council for Psychic Research he also made an offer to any medium who could produce by psychic or supernatural means any physical phenomena that he could not duplicate or explain by natural means. No medium ever won the reward.[6][7]
2) James Randi[8] Born August 7, 1928, and is the founder of the Randi Educational Foundation.[9] This organization offered a large reward to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability. This offer started in 1964 when Randi began offering a prize of US$1000 and was later increased to US$1 million. Since its inception, more than 1000 people have applied to be tested. To date, no one has been able to demonstrate their claimed abilities under the testing conditions, all applicants either failing to demonstrate the claimed ability during the test or deviating from the foundation conditions for taking the test such that any apparent success was held invalid; the prize money remains unclaimed.
Footnotes
- ↑ William Branham, April 25, 1965, God's Provided Place Of Worship
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levitation_(illusion)
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Kellar
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dunninger#cite_note-6
- ↑ Samuel, Lawrence R. (2011). Supernatural America: A Cultural History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 48-51. ISBN 978-0-313-39899-5
- ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kkwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=vlQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA106#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi_Educational_Foundation