Andrija Puharich

Born Henry Karel Puharich in 1918 Chicago, this physician navigated a dual career between conventional internal medicine and the pursuit of anomalous phenomena. While he held an M.D. from Northwestern University and served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps, his name became linked to the study of psychics and unconventional energetic theories throughout the late twentieth century.

Medical Training and Early Career

Puharich spent his formative years in Chicago as one of seven children in a family of Croatian immigrants. He completed his undergraduate studies in philosophy and pre-medicine in 1943, followed by his medical degree from the Northwestern University School of Medicine in 1947. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Permanente Research Foundation in Oakland, California. In the early 1950s, he served as Chief of Outpatient Service at the U.S. Army Dispensary within the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, where he began exploring the potential military applications of paranormal research.

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Parapsychological Investigations

Throughout his career, Puharich sought to scientifically investigate individuals who claimed to possess psychic abilities. In 1952, he hosted sessions with the Hindu mystic Dhundiraj G. Vinod, who claimed to communicate with entities known as The Nine. In 1956, he brought the Dutch psychic Peter Hurkos to his laboratory in Glen Cove, Maine, for controlled observation. By 1960, his interests extended to hallucinogenic rituals involving Chatino tribes in Mexico, which informed his writing of The Sacred Mushroom and Beyond Telepathy. That same year, he conducted an investigation into séances at Camp Chesterfield, where he identified the use of cheesecloth to simulate ectoplasmic manifestations.

Association with Uri Geller

In 1971, Puharich met the Israeli psychic Uri Geller. His subsequent endorsement of Geller as a genuine talent became a major focus of his professional life. In his 1974 work, Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller, he detailed claims that Geller could transmute metal, perform psychokinesis, and teleport objects. Puharich further asserted that Geller had been sent to Earth by extraterrestrials to serve as a savior for humanity. These claims received significant criticism from figures including Martin Gardner, David Marks, and James Randi, who questioned the lack of independent expert observers during his experimental trials.

Technical Patents and Late Research

Puharich held over 50 patents during his life, with a primary focus on electrotherapy and hearing assistance devices. Notably, he held U.S. patent 2,995,633 for hearing aids and U.S. patent 3,563,246 for improving neural performance. In 1983, he was granted U.S. patent 4,394,230 for a method regarding the splitting of water molecules. In the 1970s, his research shifted toward the effects of low-frequency radiation, which he claimed could be utilized to manipulate human behavior or cause climatic and environmental disruption. He lived his later years in New York and Dobson, where he eventually died in 1995.