PYRO-ELASTO MAN
Watch him stretch his body to incredible lengths and handle red-hot flaming embers in his bare hands.
Daniel Dunglas Home was either one of the most incredible psychic mediums of the mid-1800s or one of the era's cleverest magicians. The feats this Scotsman performed at close range astounded the elite and royalty of his day. In one demonstration, he entered his usual trance state and announced he was in touch with a guardian spirit that was "very tall and strong." While being watched by two witnesses who flanked him, Home shot up an additional six inches in height, and it could be clearly seen that his slippered feet were planted flatly on the floor.
Home could also hold burning embers in his bare hands completely without harm, a feat he performed on a number of occasions. Sir William Crookes of the British Society for Psychical Research, once saw Home pick up a hot coal as big as an orange and hold it nonchalantly in both hands. Home even blew on the coal until it became white hot and flames flickered around his bare fingers. Crookes then inspected Home's hands and affirmed that they did not appear to be specially treated in any way - and showed absolutely no sign of blistering, scarring or burning. Crookes remarked, in fact, that Home's hands were as soft and delicate as "a woman's." In yet another performance, Homes floated out of a second-story window, paused, then floated back inside to the utter astonishment of three witnesses on the ground.
THE INCREDIBLE X-RAY
There's no hiding evil deeds from the Incredible X-Ray whose penetrating X-ray vision sees all.
Koda Box, a stage performer who billed himself as "The Man with the X-Ray Eyes," astonished audiences in the early 1900s. Box first allowed audience members to completely blind him by putting coins over his eyes and fastening them in place with adhesive tape. His entire head was then bandaged in cloth, assuring everyone that he could see nothing. He then proceeded to read messages that audience participants had written on paper. He could also read books and accurately describe objects held up by members of the audience. With is elaborate blindfold in place, Box once even safely rode a bicycle through the busy traffic of New York's Times Square.
MICROSCOPO AND TELESCOPIQUE
Like super-powerd human scientific instruments, this heroic duo uses their fantastic vision to see microscopic details or great distances.
Two gentlemen might share the title of Microsopo, both having the ability to distinguish vinyl phonograph records merely by looking at the grooves with their unaided eyes! Alvah Mason first demonstrated this talent in the 1930s, and more recently, Arthur Lintgen, a resident of Philadelphia proved to none other than The Amazing Randi that he could do the same thing.
Veronica Seider, a German dentist, apparently had telescopic vision. In several demonstrations she showed that she could identify people from more than a mile distance. Seider also claimed that she could see the individual red, green and blue dots that make up the picture on a color television set.
MEDICTRON, THE HEALER
With the unknown force emanating from his miraculous hands, Medictron has the power to heal all forms of injuries and maladies.
John D. Reese of Youngstown, Ohio never studied medicine. In fact, it wasn't until he was about 30 years old that Reese discovered his remarkable if latent power to heal. One day in 1887, an acquaintance of Mr. Reese had fallen from a ladder and seriously injured his spine - a "severe spinal strain" his physician called it. Reese, for some reason, ran his fingers up and down the man's back, immediately after which the man announced that his pain had ceased entirely. He got up and went back to work.
Reese likewise healed Hans Wagner, a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had been carried from the field with a back injury; he also instantly cured a politician whose hand and wrist became useless to him from so much handshaking. Doctors had told him he needed weeks and weeks of rest. After his encounter with Reese, he has perfectly fine.
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How do we explain the abilities of these astounding individuals? Are they conduits for some unimaginable inter-dimensional power? Are they mere tricksters and hoaxers? Or are they genetic mutants who, like the X-Men, might be forerunners of the future of the human race?
