Kulagina, Ninel Sergeevna

Born July 30, 1926 in Leningrad . The maiden name is Mikhailova, the child's name is Nelya ^{[2] [5] [6] [7]} . At the age of 15, she joined the Red Army and the Great Patriotic War from April 1942 to June 1946, serving as a radio operator in tank troops ^{[8] [9]} . She was wounded several times and received a disability of group II ^[9] . She was a member of the Veterans Council of the 268th Division ^[9] . In 1966, Kulagina was convicted of fraud by the Kirov District People's Court of Leningrad. ^{[5] [10]} Prosecutor of Leningrad, State Counselor of Justice, 3rd rankSolovyov S.E. and journalist Medvedev M.N. on this occasion, it is noted that the reason was that "she presented herself as a person who could help in purchasing furniture from the back door, and gained over seven thousand rubles in a short period of time" ^{[5] [11]} (according to other sources - five thousand ^{[ 12]} ). In 1988, she filed a lawsuit against defending honor and dignity against V. Strelkov, correspondent of the journal Man and Law (the “Telekinesis Case” was completed in favor of Ninel) ^[10] .

• Order of the Patriotic War II degree ^[13]
• Medal "For Military Merit" ^[14]
• Medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" ^[14]

Kulagina gained international fame in the 1960s, when her abilities began to be studied. ^{[15] [16]} In January 1964, in Leningrad, at the scientific conference of neuropathologists, psychiatrists and psychologists, Ninel Kulagina first publicly demonstrated her abilities. In the newspaper " Komsomolskaya Pravda " dated August 16, 1981 in the article "Weeding in the Biofield" there is the following information ^[9] :

At one time, journalists talked about Rosa Kuleshova , who had skin vision. After reading about her, another woman, Ninel Kulagina, decided to appear to people. Together with E. Naumov, a well-known collector of such information on such phenomena, a group of physicists of the Lebedev Physical Institute organized Kulagina’s visit to Moscow for 4 days, studied at the department led by Khokhlov at Moscow State University .

Kulagina claimed that she was the first to discover the abilities that she believed she had inherited from her mother when she realized that objects arbitrarily move around her when she is angry ^[17] . She said that in order for the abilities to manifest themselves, it took some time for meditation to clear your mind of all thoughts. Kulagina said that while she was concentrating, she had pain in her spine , and her vision was blurring. It was noted that thunderstorms prevented her from conducting telekinetic actions ^[18] . Perhaps the most famous experiment involving Kulagina was conducted on March 10, 1970 in the Leningrad laboratory with the participation of the head of the section of technical parapsychology at the scientific and technical society of instrument-making of the psychophysiologist and mathematician Gennady Sergeyev ^[5] . According to eyewitnesses, during the experiments captured on the film, Kulagina psychokinetically acted on the frog’s heart, which was separated from the body: first, changed the pulse in both directions, then stopped the heart ^[19] .

In 1968, black-and-white films made in the USSR documenting experiments with her participation were presented to Western experts and caused a sensation, at least among parapsychologists , some of whom were quick to announce that decisive evidence was obtained of the reality of psychokinesis. According to reports from the Soviet Union, 40 scientists took part in the Kulagina study, of which two were Nobel laureates ^[20] . Larry Kettlekamp claims that Kulagina was videotaped during the separation of broken eggs , which were previously immersed in water, into squirrels and yolks . During the experiment with her, all physical changes were recorded, including the acceleration and change in the heartbeat , brain waves and electromagnetic field ^{[21] [22]} . In order to prevent external electromagnetic pulses from interfering, it was placed inside a metal cage, where it allegedly showed the ability to take out a marked match from a pile of others lying under a glass cover ^[18] .

According to Yu.B. Kobzarev , experiments conducted initially by academicians Isaac Kikoin , Yuri Gulyaev , Yuri Kobzarev ^[14] , prompted the creation of a laboratory of radio-electronic methods for the study of biological objects, which was headed by Dr. Sc. One year old . According to Godik, the laboratory’s work plan included the task of “sorting out” the psychics that had become active in the USSR at that time, including N.S. Kulagina ^[23] . According to Yu.B. Kobzareva, studies carried out at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics (IRE) of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1981-1982, established that there was a strong electric field around her hands, and a sensitive microphone installed near her hands detected short ultrasonic pulses ^[14] . According to Yu.B. Kobzarev, among the recorded phenomena associated with Kulagina, were the following ^[14] :

• moving small items, such as a piece of sugar or a matchbox;
• compass needle rotation;
• touching your hand to another person’s hand can cause severe burns ;
• scattering by hands of a laser beam;
• change in acidity ( pH ) of water ;
• impact on a film placed in a closed bag (flare).

Laboratory employee A. Taratorin in his memoirs writes:

I managed to find out that histamine is injected from her palm in small droplets, possibly through the sweat glands. When injected, it forms a charged aerosol, which explains all the observed effects. Ejected droplets caused clicks in the microphone, they changed the dielectric constant of the medium, scattering the laser beam, corroding the skin (the famous "burn"), finally, they "sat down" on the object, charging it. ... We never managed to understand the physiological mechanism of such an injection; it really was a physiological phenomenon ^[24] .

October 27, 2010 at the Physics Institute. The presentation of the book by E. E. Godik (since 1993 in the USA) - “The riddle of psychics: what physicists saw” ^[23] about the experiments that have been conducted at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the Academy of Sciences of the Academy of Sciences THE USSR.

Many people and organizations like the James Randy Foundation and the (CICAP) are skeptical of telekinesis. So the Italian psychologist, journalist and writer, co-founder and executive director of CICAP wrote that lengthy preparation and uncontrolled indoor conditions (like in a hotel room), where experiments were conducted with Kulagina, leave a wide field for obvious swindle ^{[25 ]} .

Magicians and skeptics argued that everything Kulagina did could be repeated with simple sleight of hand , using well-hidden and masked threads, small pieces of magnetized metal, or mirrors; In addition, opinions were expressed that in the conditions of the Cold War the Soviet Union had an obvious interest in falsifying and exaggerating the results of research for propaganda purposes in order to win a “psychological race” like the space race and the arms race ^{[25] [26] [27] [28 ] ]} .

The writer and popularizer of science V.E. Lvov in his article in the newspaper Pravda accused Kulagin of fraud. He wrote that she performed one of her tricks with a magnet hidden on her body. The article also reported that Kulagina was arrested for deceiving the public with five thousand rubles ^[12] . And also cites an examination by Kulagina at the V.M. Leningrad Psychoneurological Institute as evidence. Ankylosing spondylitis , which “ ended with a protocol on sixteen pages and a press release signed by six leading psychiatrists and physiologists of higher nervous activity ” and “ scientists of the institute without any particular difficulty revealed the tricks and frauds used by Kulagina in her demonstrations of“ telepathy ”and“ clairvoyance ” " ^[5] . From the text of the message of the Leningrad truth it followed that “ There was a usual deception. An experienced swindler managed to commit another scam ... ” ^{[5] [29]} . In addition, Lviv cites data from the commission of the D. I. Mendeleev All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Metrology (VNIIM named after D. I. Mendeleev), which, under the chairmanship of Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor S.V. Gorbatsevich in May 1965, established that: "From the proposal to repeat the experiments on the movement of objects in a sealed glass vessel NS Kulagin refused ..." "it was proposed to repeat the experiments in a closed vessel, manufactured in VNIIM ... that would make it possible to exclude the possibility of moving the invisible objects bubbled threads, etc. ... Kulagina Repeated attempts have not yielded positive results "..." Experiments with a clock and weights have not yielded positive results ... " ^[5] . He also refers to the report on the exit to Kulagina’s apartment of the head of the laboratory of magnetic measurements of VNIIM Studentsov and senior engineer Skrynnikov, entitled “Report on N. Kulagina’s visit to identify physical reasons that allow Kulagina to turn and rotate the magnetic arrow,” which indicates that visitors “I was surprised that the apartment was equipped with magnetic devices: a topographic compass , a marine (floating) compass, a horseshoe-shaped magnet, and another more powerful magnet ... ” ^[5] . They “ began to study the state of the magnetic field ... At the same time, we positioned the pointer device so that Kulagina could not see it. They put the probe on the edge of the table ... They suggested Kulagina to stand up and turn around while standing around the horizontal axis ” ^[5] . After that, a “ clearly defined dipole (that is, a piece of magnet or coil with current) ” was discovered hidden under the clothes, and then they began to “ look for where she hid the magnet ” ^[5] . As a result, they found that " below the waist or at the hips is a permanent magnetic dipole, the magnetic moment of which is completely independent of the mental state of the subject ... ". Lvov notes that when Kulagin was asked not to make “waist and hips” movements, “there were no deviations of the arrow (in the magnetometer) ” ^[5] . In addition, the authors of the protocol noted that “ Kulagina ’s husband and she always offered to show us the movement of various bodies ” and to show “the movement of the case from the cigar ”, and during the observation it was noticed that “ Kulagina pulls the tablecloth exactly in the place where the object is located ”, and after physicists established control over the test subject’s left hand, psychokinesis ceased to appear ^[5] .

The newspaper Pravda, in its June 24, 1968 issue, criticized Kulagina ^{[5] [14]} : “ After escaping from prison, the swindler again settled in Leningrad and ... succeeded in the mysterious field of fooling around of people who are fond of parapsychology ... As some editions could to occupy a fair amount of space in their newspapers with puffy tricks presented as a scientific sensation? ... After all, our press is always and in everything called to cover the achievements and searches of science with perfect knowledge of the matter, with deep, exacting thoughtfulness, objectivity and insight ... "

An American mathematician, writer, popularizer of science, one of the founders of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Paranormal Statements, Martin Gardner called Kulagin “a pretty, plump, dark-eyed little charlatan ” who was caught twice on the use of tricks when moving objects ^[30] .

Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences A. M. Ivanitsky , in his words ^[31] , took part in the study of Kulagina's phenomena in the 1960s. In 2006, the newspaper Novye Izvestia published his memoirs: ^[32] :

One woman with all moved the cap from the handle on the table. No matter how many experiments we set up, she still moved ... However, after looking closely, we determined from the film that the woman quietly threw long torn hair on the table, on which the knots were twisted. One end of the hair was attached to the stomach. Skillfully moving them, she moved the cap a little on the table.

Later, during a conversation published on the website of the Skeptics Club, A.M. Ivanitsky clarified that the newspaper incorrectly wrote about hair, in the version that he corrected, it was about kapron threads. Ivanitsky notes that Kulagina’s hoax was discovered “ during a change of clothes (in the psychiatric clinic where she was lying) on ​​the waist of her dressing gown we found kapron threads with knots twisted on them ”, and also indicates that “ she and without threads I didn’t try to do anything, saying: “you yourself now know everything ”. ” In the experiment with the impact on the compass needle, Kulagina used a magnet hidden under a bandage on her finger. Ivanitsky also denied the statement of the psychotherapist M.I. Buyanova , who in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda on January 18, 2007 ^[33] stated that “about one day I watched the famous unique Ninel Kulagina move the compass needle. But how she did it, so far no one has figured it out. Skeptics say that between her fingers she held small magnets. But her abilities were tested by well-known scientists, and she was never caught in a trickery, ”pointing out that:“ they caught her by now ^[31] . ”

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences E.B. Aleksandrov characterizes Kulagin as a “ famous swindler ” and believes, despite the fact that she was repeatedly convicted of fraud, and those investigating her abilities did not find anything unusual, she still “ subsequently ... fooled the stubborn simpletons in LITMO ” ^[34] . In an interview with the Internet newspaper Gazeta.ru , he noted that “ Kulagina is an ordinary adventurer and swindler ^[35] .”

in Russian

• Aleksandrov Ye. B. Problems of the expansion of pseudoscience // In Defense of Science . - M .: Nauka , 2006. - No. 1 . - S. 8-16 . ( copy )
• Aleksandrov Ye. B. “Natural History in the World of Spirits” // In Defense of Science . - Bulletin No. 16. - M .: Nauka , 2015. - P. 14-29. - 112 p. - (pdf sheets 8-15).
• Anufrieva, Anna; Gavrilov, Vladimir. The Sixth Sense // Novye Izvestia . - July 28, 2006.
• Godik Edward . The mystery of psychics: what physicists saw. A man in his own light. - M .: AST, 2010 .-- 144 p. - (Science and the world). - ISBN 978-5-462-00983-9 .
  Godik Edward . The mystery of psychics: what physicists discovered. - M .: AST-Press, 2013 .-- 128 p. - (Science and the world). - ISBN 978-5-462-01389-8 .
• Dulnev G.N. Energy-energy exchange in nature . / Series “Outstanding ITMO Scientists”. GITMO, Iva publishing house, St. Petersburg, 2000. - 140 p. ISBN 5-7577-0062-9
• Dulnev G.N. In Search of the Subtle World. Description of scientific experiments on the study of psychic abilities. All, St. Petersburg, 2004 .-- 286 p.
• Cousin, Svetlana. Once Juna resurrected Brezhnev // Komsomolskaya Pravda . - 01/18/2007. Archived January 20, 2007.
• Kulagin V.V. Phenomenon K (Phenomenon Ninel Kulagina) // Phenomenon “D” and others ... / Comp. L.E. Kolodny . - M .: Politizdat , 1991 .-- S. 107-221. - 335 p. - ISBN 5-250-01221-3 .
• Kolodny L. E. The Magic of Telekinesis // Moskovsky Komsomolets . - March 16, 2007.
• Kolodny L. E. Unrevealed secret // Moskovsky Komsomolets . - 10.27.2007. - No. 24601 .
• Kolodny L. E. Mysterious telekinesis // Moscow Komsomolets . - 07/11/2013. - No. 26252 .
• Lvov V.E. Manufacturers of miracles . - L .: Lenizdat , 1974. - 300 p.
• Medvedev M.N. , Solovyov S. E. Invisible Traces. - 2nd ed. - L .: Lenizdat , 1971. - 312 p.
• Perevozchikov A.N. The Case of Telekinesis. Transcript of the trial // Technique - Youth . - 1988. - No. 5-7 .
• Carriers A. N. Psychics - Myth or Reality? // Question mark. - 1989. - No. 10 .
• Strelkov V. The Resurrection of Dracula, or Who Sows Mysticism // Man and the Law . - 1986. - No. 9 .
• Strelkov V. From mysticism to crime // Man and the Law . - 1987. - No. 6 .
• Taratin A. The fictional story of psychics in Russia . - Santa Clara, 1997.
• Scan of the testimonial by Ninel Kulagina (1978) , signed by Acad. I.K. Kikoyin , Acad. Yu. B. Kobzarev , prof. V. B. Braginsky , prof. Yu.V. Gulyaev and others.

in other languages

• Bowater, Margaret M .; Stein, Diane. All Woman Are Psychics: Language of the Spirit . - The Crossing Press, 1999 .-- 348 p. - ISBN 0-89594-979-2 .
• Buckland, Raymond. The Fortune-Telling Book: The Encyclopedia of Divination and Soothsaying. - Visible Ink Press, 2003. - ISBN 1-57859-147-3 .
• Chughtai, MHH; Abbas SG Life. - Majlis-e-Milli, 1980.
• Couttie, Bob. Forbidden Knowledge: The Paranormal Paradox. - , 1988. - ISBN 978-0-7188-2686-4 .
• Ebon, Martin. Psychic warfare: Threat Or Illusion ?. - McGraw-Hill Education , 1983. - ISBN 0-07-018860-2 .
• Gardner, Martin . Good, Bad and Bogus. - Oxford: Oxford University Press , 1983. - ISBN 0-19-286037-2 .
• Gardner, Martin . The New Age: Notes of a Fringe-Watcher. - , 1988. - ISBN 0-87975-644-6 .
• Kettlekamp, ​​Larry. Investigating Psychics: Five Life Histories. - New York: William Morrow & Company , 1977 .-- P. 16-17.
• Kettlekamp, ​​Larry. Investigating Psychics: Five Life Histories // Understanding a Midsummer Night's Dream: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents / Faith Nostbakken. - Greenwood Publishing Group , 2003. - P. 179-180. - ISBN 0-313-32213-9 .
• Kurtz, Paul . A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. - , 1985. - ISBN 0-87975-300-5 .
• Mishlove, Jeffrey. The Roots of Consciousness: Psychic Liberation Through History, Science, and Experience. - , 1975. - ISBN 0-394-73115-8 .
• The Body Electric. - JP Tarcher, 1979.
• Parodi, Angelo. Science and Spirit: What Physics Reveals about Mystical Belief . - Pleasant Mount Press, 2005 .-- ISBN 0-9767489-3-2 .
• Planer, Felix. Superstition - , 1980. - ISBN 0-304-30691-6 .
• Secrets of the Psychics: Investigating Paranormal Claims. - , 2003. - ISBN 1-59102-086-7 .
• Secrets of a Russian Psychic // . - 12/12/2000.
• Randall, John L. Parapsychology and the Nature of Life. - , 1975. - ISBN 0-285-62177-7 .
• Randi, James . Kulagina, Nina // An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural . - James Randi Educational Foundation , 2006.
• Soviet stare gets action: Woman's look puts mind over matter // The Hartford Courant . - 1968. - March 18. - P. 36.
• The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. - , 1996. - ISBN 978-1573920216 .
• Science and the Supernatural: An Investigation of Paranormal Phenomena Including Psychic Healing, Clairvoyance, Telepathy, and Precognition by a Distinguished Physicist and Mathematician. - , 1980. - ISBN 0-85117-191-5 .

• Leytus, Michael. Ninel Kulagina: the answer to the phenomenon // Skeptics Club. - 2007. Archived on January 28, 2008.
• "Nine years with psychics", the second film (Kievnauchfilm, 1989) on YouTube , starting at 34:53
• Award sheet in the electronic document bank “ Feat of the people ”.