Ripley's "Believe it or Not"

World of the Unexplained Museum
on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf in (1977)

In 1977 Randall Fontes created a functional "Plant Sensitivity to Human Consciousness" display at "Ripley's World of the Unexplained Museum" on San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf.

Thousands of people had the opportunity to test there ability to influence a living plant used as a "Organic Biofield Sensor". The Museum closed in the 1980's.

If you have any photos of this exhibit please scan them and email them to: Thank You!
R.Fontes@comcast.net

Ripley's hosted a "Museum Grand Opening" with great food and fun company. James Doohan, who played Scotty on the original "Star Trek" was the guest celebrity.  Jim told Randall that his exhibit was the best in the entire museum.  Randall's Sonoma State University masters committee chairman, Dr. David Van Nuys drove down to Fisherman's Wharf, from Rhonert Park for the occasion.

Leonard Nimoy who played Star Trek's Spock did the promotional video that played in the museum lobby.

Fun, food and hanging out with Scotty  "Beam me up".

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 1977 
By Ivan Sharpe

“Psychic magazine calls them the world's leading plant sensitivity researchers. They have appeared in an NBC special and on TV talk shows. And they will be featured in a $1 million Hollywood documentary, "The Secret Life of Plants," that will be released in theaters this fall. 
They will be lecturing tomorrow at the World of the Unexplained Museum in San Francisco, where they recently set up a display of a $3 philodendron houseplant. Visitors can try directing nasty thoughts at the plant and observe the results, if any, on a device resembling an EEG brain wave machine. 

What Fontes and Swanson did recently was to try to prove a theory propounded eight years ago by Cleveland Backster, a former CIA lie-detector expert who claimed startling results when he attached a polygraph to a plant and then threatened to burn one of its leaves. 
(full article)

“For a conclusive experiment, Fontes and Swanson need to test a larger number of volunteers, and they're now looking for ways of financing their research. 

In the meantime they've installed an exhibit in the World of the Unexplained Museum in San Francisco. For the price of admission, a plant lover, or a plant hater, can try to provoke a response in a philodendron by directing his emotions at it.” (full article)

A unique "psychic plant" has detected the emotions of tens of thousands of humans and recorded them with spellbinding accuracy, researchers say.

The $3 philodendron is hooked up to sensing devices and a chart recorder which monitor electrical energy within the plant at Ripley's World of the Unexplained in San Francisco.

When a museum visitor expresses a strong emotion such as anger near the plant, a needle on the chart recorder leaps as the visitor calms down, the needle gradually drops.

“A plant has developed a nervous system that acts like an antenna to pick up psychic energy that is directed towards it," explained Randall Fontes, co-developer of the exhibit.

This was dramatically illustrated when William Enos, a milk distributor from Livermore, Calif., was standing in front of the exhibit "and some rowdy people came by and pushed me," Enos said.

"I became very irritated and the plant responded!"

"The needle on the chart jumped way up and showed steep peaks. I was amazed. Then I tried to think calm thoughts. The needle on the chart dropped and showed much smaller waves."

Another visitor, Douglas Franz, a clinical psychology researcher from Dublin, Calif., had just exchanged heated words with someone.

"My anger was still present when I entered the museum and directed my emotions to the plant. Suddenly the plant reacted- the needle on the chart shot way up," he recalled. "Finally, when I calmed myself down, the plant calmed down, too. The needle on the graph settled into an even line."

In fact, museum director Charles Thielen said some 165,000 visitors have gotten a response from the plant.

The plant was installed at the museum after earlier experiments by Fontes and Robert Swanson, both psychology instructors at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif.

In a crucial test, Fontes said, the plant accurately reflected the emotions of 11 people as they were shown slides that triggered strong feelings.

Describing Fontes and Swanson as "very solid researchers," Dr. David Van Nuys, professor of psychology and parapsychology at California State College in Sonoma, declared: "They have shown that plants do seem to be able to respond, to human emotions." 
- DONNA ROSENTHAL

The Play of Light is about the Beauty of Light, of Sound and of Form. As each of these is deeply resonant with the other, the underlying unity that they share is revealed within their dance; and can be realized through direct experience. Within this experience, the mind becomes still and spontaneous Meditation arises. I have developed this technique over a period of 45 years, and this is as effortless and joyful a path into meditation as I am aware of.

Individual and Group sessions are available. Please call or email me, I look forward to sharing this experience with you.

Randall Fontes
R.fontes@comcast.net

Be Still 
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