In 1958 I had my first opportunity to meet someone who claimed to have remote viewing psychic powers and was willing to demonstrate them. While reading the Daily News one day, I noticed a small ad placed by Kuda Bux, an Indian mystic, who promoted himself as "The Man With X Ray Eyes." The ad promised a free demonstration of his X Ray vision, a form of remote viewing, the following Wednesday at 7 p.m.

When Wednesday arrived I anxiously took a bus and two subway trains from my Bayside home to the scheduled meeting place in midtown Manhattan. I walked up the steps into a brownstone building where a pretty Indian lady guided me to a small room with about a dozen rows of steel folding chairs. There was a long flat table with some small cardboard boxes on it and in front of it was a large cardboard box filled with balloons. And a large portable blackboard appeared to be another prop. I took a seat near the middle of the room and waited for the show to start. Shortly after 7 p.m. the room filled with only about two-dozen people, mostly a younger crowd in their 20's and 30's. As I waited I wondered why so few people would respond to an ad placed in a major newspaper offering a free demonstration of X Ray vision.

The Indian lady who greeted me at the door began the meeting by introducing herself as Kuda Bux's wife. She made a few opening remarks as her husband sat nearby. She explained that her husband personally paid for ads in local newspapers to announce his demonstrations in extrasensory perception. He was financially self-sufficient and provided his demonstrations free to the general public in lecture halls which he rented. The purpose of these meetings was to inform people that they had a far greater potential and range of faculties than they realized. She said that her husband's primary emphasis that evening would be X Ray vision, a form of remote viewing. Following this brief introduction Kuda Bux stood up and addressed us while Mrs. Bux took a seat off to the side. Kuda Bux was dressed in a modest black suit and an opened-collar white shirt. He appeared to be in his 50's.

He was an unassuming, pleasant, soft-spoken gentleman of mild demeanor. He began his demonstration shuffling a deck of playing cards. "Before I give you the demonstration in X Ray vision which you came for," explained Kuda Bux, "I want to show you some cards tricks so that you will see the difference between tricks and reality."

The card tricks were the typical ones. People from the audience would select cards and then place the cards back into the deck. Kuda Bux would then shuffle the deck and bring the cards to the surface of the deck to the amazement of his audience. After a few of these types of entertaining maneuvers, which incorporated some skilled sleight of hand, Kuda Bux stated, "These were all tricks. Now I will show you non-tricks."

The small size of Kuda Bux’s audience created a relaxed and intimate atmosphere. There were no security guards. We had close access to Kuda Bux, and he was friendly and open with all of us.

Kuda Bux continued, "I would like two volunteers." Two young fellows, apparently college students, stood up to volunteer. I thought of volunteering, but did not. I decided that it would be more advantageous not to be involved in a specific task so I would be able to observe all aspects of the demonstration from a broader perspective.

Kuda Bux took two baseball sized quantities of freshly kneaded white flour dough from a box on a table. He kneaded each ball of dough for a brief time and then flattened it into a round inch-thick patty about six inches in diameter. As he handed each volunteer one of the patties, he said, "Hold these." He closed both eyes, leaning his head back. He instructed, "Take the dough and seal my eyes shut." The volunteers were slow to respond. "Just lay it flat over my eyes," Kuda Bux urged. The two men obliged. "Press it down all around so it is completely sealed."

I moved up taking a front row seat to within a few feet of Kuda Bux to watch this process very closely. The dough filled his entire eye sockets and extended out from his eyes which completely sealed both eyes shut. There was no doubt that his eyes were pasted shut.

Kuda Bux continued directing the volunteers, "There are two cotton wads on the table. Take those and place them over the dough." The men obliged. They were pieces of cotton about an inch thick, and about 4 inches wide by 6 inches long. They were placed vertically over the dough.

"Take the tape. There is a roll of tape on the table. Take the tape and tape the cotton in place," Kuda Bux continued. As one fellow pulled a strip of tape from the dispenser, Kuda Bux explained, "Make it about ten inches long. Just tape over the cotton onto my face."

The volunteers got the idea and while one cut ten-inch long strips of this inch-wide medicinal tape, the other fellow took the tape and criss-cross it over the cotton and onto Kuda Bux's face. It was clearly evident that the cotton wads were firmly in place over the eyes, extending from the middle of the forehead down to the lower part of his cheeks. Even if Kuda Bux could somehow peak under the dough, he would not be able to peak under the cotton and the tape as well.

As if this was not enough Kuda Bux instructed, "There are black cloth strips in the box. Take those and place them over the cotton, and tie them behind my head." As the two fellows pulled out the five cloth strips, I could see they were opaque, about three inches wide, and each about three feet long.

"Look them over," urged Kuda Bux. "Can you see through them?" The two fellows tested the cotton strips and began putting them in place. Kuda Bux guided their placement so that two cotton strips were criss-crossed to form an X over each eye. As each was held in place Kuda Bux said, "Tie it in the back. Make sure it is tight."

The criss-crossing of the cotton strips over his eyes left only the nostrils exposed and almost fully sealed off his mouth. Kuda Bux then guided the last cotton strip horizontally over both eyes while the volunteers tied that last one in place at the back of his head as well.

At this point the entire array took on the appearance of a mummified head. Two small openings remained for breathing through the nostrils and only a little space was evident over the center of the mouth. My meticulous scrutiny confirmed that Kuda Bux's eyes were out of commission. Finally, to convince the die-hard skeptic he asked the volunteers to get the small black sack from the table. This sack was made of an opaque thick cloth. "Now put this over my head," Kuda Bux instructed. "Try to see through it," he said. The two fellows put it up to the light and tried to see through it. They were satisfied that it was not a trick bag, and placed it over Kuda Bux’s head.

"Tighten the bag under my chin," instructed Kuda Bux. One of the fellows pulled the draw strings tightly to seal off Kuda Bux's entire head. Breathing was obviously difficult, and seeing with his physical eyes was impossible.

Kuda Bux astonished the audience by proving that he could still see. Mrs. Bux reached into the large cardboard box full of multicolored balloons handing one after another to her husband who correctly stated the color of each balloon. He knew this was not convincing enough. He asked, "Does anyone want to come up and select some balloons?" A girl wearing a yellow dress raised her hand in response and Bux pointed to her and said, "Yes, come right up." As she came forward he said playfully, "That is a nice yellow dress you have on." The girl selected balloon after balloon and Kuda Bux named the colors correctly each time.

Kuda Bux then took out a small sewing needle and a string of thread and proceeded to thread the needle. He then held up the thread showing the needle dangling in the middle. He reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out his glasses. "Using my physical eyes I need to wear glasses. But, I see fine otherwise," he explained and then he slipped the glasses back into his pocket.

So far, this demonstration could have been done by trickery. A shill in the audience could have acted as Bux's eyes and communicated instructions via coded radio signals to a vibrating receiver taped to Bux's arm. The threaded needle could have been substituted by sleight of hand and the unthreaded needle and thread discarded to the inside pocket as Kuda Bux reached for the glasses. Although what Kuda Bux did could be replicated by trickery, sleight of hand and misdirection, it did not mean that Kuda Bux was using such means. I maintained skepticism and continued my evaluation.

Kuda Bux asked, "Does anyone have a book here?" A girl in the audience responded, "Yes," while holding up a textbook.

I thought to myself, could this be another possible shill? How many shills could there be in this small group?