UPI GELLER: My Story

When he was about four, Uri Geller sneaked into a beautiful Arabic garden near his home in Tel Aviv, and a glowing silver light slowly descended on him, then knocked him out. Soon thereafter he found himself reading his mother's mind. When he began school his wristwatch acted so oddly, the hands racing ahead several hours, that he left it home in embarrassment. Later the hands of a new watch bent upward curiously. He also discovered that he could start watches that hadn't worked for years. In paratrooper training, he once hid the barrel of a Browning automatic rifle in his barrack; unexpectedly ordered to fire his rifle, he found it shooting perfectly without a barrel. When he got back to his barrack, the hidden bore was as dirty as if he'd used it. And so it goes--so many paranormal experiences that Uri now attributes to ""intelligent energies""--not God--trying to tell him something or use him as a mouthpiece. He is most famous for bending keys and rings with a rub of his finger--which he considers trivial. He's also strong on telepathy, taking photos of UFO's, teleportation, mysterious tape-recordings from his ""energies,"" and once -- while jogging home to the Biltmore on Manhattan's East Side--he found himself flying through a screen door 30 miles away in Ossining. He claims that many of his abilities have been verified by the Stanford Research Institute, and here he defends himself from attacks in the press (though he avoids mentioning a particularly devastating one in the second installment of a two-part Psychology Today series). He's likable, admits his egoism and desire for money--but believes in his experiences. Anyone willing to suspend judgment may enjoy him as a remarkable trickster.