"Gold Detecting and Divining Scams - A Skeptics Look"

(The Whitehorse Inn, Wednesday 6th October 8pm)

After a lifetime in the electronics field including fourteen years at the University of Melbourne as a Senior Technical Officer in neurophysiological research and the last twenty years running a business selling and repairing electronic gold and relic detecting equipment, I feel it is time to inform the general public and the detecting fraternity of the number of fraudulent detecting devices that are sold world-wide.

Selling these devices is a multi-million dollar industry and the devices range from divining rods filled with a magic powder to so-called electronic long-range detectors costing thousands of dollars.

As a long-term member of the Australian Skeptics, I have acquired manyof these devices over the years (after the original owner has realised that his thousands of dollars were spent on a total scam).

I will bring these products to the talk along with full-page adverts and articles extolling their claims. It is remarkable that there are companies that have been marketing these totally fraudulent devices for fifteen years or so who still manage to sell thousands every year. I will cover several other fraudulent electronic devices in the talk.

And to show that proper electronic detectors can find gold, I will have a photo display of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold nuggets detected in the Victorian Golden Triangle.

Hoping to see you at The Whitehorse Inn on the 6th of October,

Barrie Johnson

• When: Wednesday 25th August, 2004, 8 pm
• Where: The Whitehorse Inn (Upstairs)
• Cost: $10 ($6 conc)

JAMES RANDI ON THE ELECTROSCOPE GRAVITATOR: "Here's the latest technological breakthrough in pseudoscience by none other than Thomas Afilani. He's the 'inventor' who sold the 'DKL Locator' nonsense to that company. They're the group that ignores the offer of our million-dollar prize for one successful demonstration of their expensive device " (currently over $US 6000 - ed.) "Well, Tom, this prize is also yours if you can demonstrate your Electroscope Gravitator just once. I'll await your enthusiastic response...."