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And the skeptics never sat down with Amyr Amiden. In 1994, Krippner, student Michael Winkler, and a team of Brazilian researchers spent a bizarre interlude with the self-professed psychic. Over the course of three days in Brasilia, Amiden allegedly "apported" — that is, spontaneously produced — so many stones and jewels and coins and other trinkets that a rule was devised: Whoever was closest to the object when it hit the ground got to keep it. "There was a crackling sound — and it made the room smell like a lighter," recalls Winkler. "I was right next to [Amiden]. It's not like he had anything up his sleeves — his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. To this day, I just can't explain it."
Neither can Krippner, but Amiden had an idea. Inserted into the marginalia of the paper Krippner and half a dozen researchers produced, in Krippner's own hand, is the following passage: "[Amiden] claimed that 'green people' visited him when he was a child and that he was 'transported' to their planet." Another member of Krippner's party later wrote that Amiden claimed to "bilocate" to multiple places simultaneously, and occasionally ran into himself. He also supposedly tied himself to his bed while sleeping, lest he float out the window.
Amiden spurned Krippner's plea to undergo further examination in a controlled environment, while under the eye of a trained magician, and on camera (he claimed he was medically unfit to do so). The mystic was extraordinarily displeased with Krippner's reportage of their time together. The professor's responsible use of words like "possible," "alleged," and "ostensible" was not well-received. "Amyr is very upset. He has forbidden me from writing about him," says Krippner, shaking his head. "But I don't think you'll be taking any chances if you write about him yourself."
These warnings may not be so idle. Not long after Amiden grew furious with Krippner and severed their ties, a burglar broke into the professor's Bay Area apartment. Krippner was cleaned out — and all of the Amiden "apports" in his home were stolen. "I would link Amyr's warning with the theft," says Krippner. Then he smiles. "If I were a superstitious person."
