Telekinesis

One of Kulagina's abilities involved her sitting at a table and staring at a small object, such as a matchbox or a wineglass, and make it move without touching it. Apparently her powers did not come straight away, hours of preparation may be needed, which, as sceptics have pointed out, does not favour the setting up of strictly supervised demonstrations. In order to move things with mind power alone she found she had to clear all other thoughts from her head, and told investigators that when her concentration was successful, there was a sharp pain in her spine, and her eyesight blurred. Nina practiced hard, focusing her powers, and was soon able to move matchsticks, fountain pens and compass needles. There is nothing here, however, which an accomplished stage magician could not duplicate, though no one at the time in Russia seems to have bothered to try.

One of the first scientists to take an interest in Kulagina was Biologist Edward Naumov. In an early test, the details of which are as usual sketchy, he scattered a box of matches on a bench; Nina held her hands over them, trembling with the strain. Suddenly, all the matches moved together to the edge of the bench, then fell one by one to the floor. 

Psychic Powers on Film

Amazing stories about Nina Kulagina began to reach the West through the international wire services in the spring of 1968. In the same year, films of Kulagina moving objects, ostensibly using only her mind, were shown at the First Moscow International Conference on Parapsychology and were also seen by some Western scientists. For a brief time Western investigators were permitted to meet Russian mediums, witness Nina Kulagina for themselves and verify the reports of her PK abilities made by Soviet scientists. In 1970 William A. McGary, one of a group from the United States investigating psychic phenomena in Russia, described a session in which Kulagina caused several small objects, including a wedding ring and the top of a condiment bottle, to move across a dining-room table. 

Another of the American investigators, Gaither Pratt, of the University of Virginia, stated that the objects which Kulagina could move varied widely in material, shape and weight, and when they moved they generally progressed in a slow, steady fashion. Only occasionally did the objects which Kulagina 'controlled' move in fits and starts. It is reported that a number of precautions were taken to make sure that Kulagina wasn't using a concealed magnet or threads, and films were taken of the experiments which seem to confirm that no known force could explain the movements. Unfortunately, it is not known how thoroughly Kulagina was checked before the experiment.  

Dr. Zdenek Rejdak, a prominent Czech scientist connected with a Prague Military Institute, tested Kulagina personally and reported the results for some reason in Czech Pravda, a far from scientific publication:

'I visited the Kulagina family the evening of 26 February, 1968. Mr. Blazek, an editor friend was with me, also a physician, Dr. J.S. Zverev, and Dr. Sergeyev. Her husband, an engineer, was also present. Dr. Zverev gave Mrs. Kulagina a very thorough physical examination. Tests with special instruments failed to show any indication whatever of magnets or any other concealed object.

'We checked the table thoroughly and also asked Mrs. Kulagina frequently to change position at the table. We passed a compass around her body and the chair and table with negative results. I asked her to wash her hands. After concentrating, she turned the compass needle more than ten times, then the entire compass and its case, a matchbox and some twenty matches at once. I placed a cigarette in front of her. She moved that too, at a glance. I shredded it afterwards and there was nothing inside it. In between each set of tests, she was again physically examined by the doctor.'  

In one filmed Moscow test, set up by a group of 'well known physicists', several non-magnetic objects including matches were placed inside a large Plexiglas cube. The cube was to prevent drafts of air, threads or wires; methods long favoured by sceptics as the means by which Kulagina performed her 'tricks'. Her hands moved a few inches from the Plexiglas cover and the objects danced from side to side in the plastic container. In another filmed experiment, a ping-pong ball is seen levitating and hovering in the air for a few seconds, before falling back onto the table. In yet another she is shown both indoors and outside in a garden, where objects near her spin round or slide in different directions. Unfortunately the films are so grainy and unclear that it is often difficult to see exactly what is happening, and again the background information to the experiment 's location, precautions taken, personnel present etc - is not given. Where are the reports of these amazing tests?

An additional and lesser known psychic ability of Kulagina, though hardly less sensational, was noted by physicist Dr. V.F. Shvetz. He claimed that he observed Kulagina making the letters A or O appear on photo paper and that sometimes she could also transfer an outline of a picture she'd seen onto photo paper, recalling the 'thoughtography' talents of the controversial Ted Serios in America. Occasionally, unexplained burn marks appeared on Kulagina's hands and there were reports that shocked scientists saw her clothes catch fire. Towards the end of her life Kulagina demonstrated this phenomenon on TV, causing a bright red patch to appear on the arm of a European journalist.  

Part 1 | Part 2