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Plain English Summary
Ever get a feeling you know who's calling before you pick up? Sheldrake and Smart tested that hunch with 271 videotaped trials. Four participants guessed which of four possible callers was ringing — luck alone would score 25%. The actual hit rate: a jaw-dropping 45%, with odds against chance at one in a trillion. Familiar callers pushed accuracy to 61%, while strangers dropped it right back to chance. Participants who felt confident were right 82% of the time. Controls were progressively tightened across four methods, yet hit rates held steady.
Research Notes
Cornerstone of Sheldrake's telephone telepathy research program and key evidence in Controversy #13 (telephone/email telepathy). The dramatic familiar/unfamiliar split and maintained hit rates under progressive tightening of controls make it the most-cited study in the 2025 telecommunication telepathy meta-analysis.
Four participants were tested on whether they could identify which of four potential callers was telephoning before answering, across 271 videotaped trials using four progressively rigorous methods. The final method involved continuous filming of both participant and all callers at separate locations by independent cameramen. Overall success rate was 45% versus 25% chance (p = 10⁻¹², 95% CI [39%, 51%]). Familiar callers elicited 61% correct identification (p = 10⁻¹³) while unfamiliar callers yielded only 20%, not different from chance. Confidence ratings strongly predicted accuracy, with 82% success when participants felt confident. Increased experimental rigor did not reduce hit rates.
Related Papers
Cites
Cited By
Extended By
- A Filmed Experiment on Telephone Telepathy with the Nolan Sisters — Sheldrake, Rupert (2004)
- Testing for Telepathy in Connection with E-mails — Sheldrake, Rupert (2005)
- Telepathy in Connection with Telephone Calls, Text Messages and Emails — Sheldrake, Rupert (2014)
- Automated Tests for Telephone Telepathy Using Mobile Phones — Sheldrake, Rupert (2015)
- Sensing the Sending of SMS Messages: An Automated Test — Sheldrake, Rupert (2009)
Replicated By
Same Research Program
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Detecting Telepathy: A Meta-Analysis for Extrasensory Perception Experiments in Last 20 Years
Meta-Analysis of Free-Response Studies 2009-2018: Assessing the Noise-Reduction Model Ten Years On
📋 Cite this paper
Sheldrake, Rupert, Smart, Pamela (2003). Videotaped Experiments on Telephone Telepathy. Journal of Parapsychology.
@article{sheldrake_2003_videotaped,
title = {Videotaped Experiments on Telephone Telepathy},
author = {Sheldrake, Rupert and Smart, Pamela},
year = {2003},
journal = {Journal of Parapsychology},
}