Who wants to win half a million dollars?

In my very small way, I tried to issue challenges to those who believe in unbelievable stuff before, e.g.:

• A CHALLENGE FOR ALL HOMEOPATHS OF THE WORLD
• My new challenge to the ‘defenders of the homeopathic realm’: name treatments that are as useless as homeopathy
• My challenge to the homeopaths of this world
• Exercise improves cognitive function + a challenge to fans of alternative medicine
• MORE GOOD THAN HARM? I herewith challenge my critics

But I never had any success; no contenders ever came forward. One reason was, of course, that I did not offer much by way of an award. So, in case you have been waiting for the big one, the one to get rich by, this is your chance:

The Los Angeles-based Center for Inquiry Investigations Group (CFIIG) $250,000 Paranormal Challenge is the largest prize of its kind in the world—or at least it was.

It has been announced that the science-based skeptics’ organization has now raised the stakes for those making wild claims about extraordinary powers, doubling the prize offer to $500,000 for anyone who can demonstrate paranormal abilities under scientific test conditions.

“A quarter-million dollars just doesn’t go as far as it used to, apparently,” said CFIIG founder and chairman James Underdown. “This is our way of creating extra incentive for people who make farfetched claims to put up or shut up.”

CFIIG has been offering money for definitive proof of “superpowers” for more than twenty-three years; the Paranormal Challenge was modeled after the James Randi Educational Organization’s Million Dollar Challenge, which ceased operations in 2016.

Underdown says CFIIG typically receives more than 100 applications and administers roughly half a dozen tests each year. Among those who’ve been tested are self-proclaimed telepaths, dowsers, clairaudients, healers, remote viewers, and telekinetics. To date, no applicant has ever passed even the first portion of a test, and the prize money has never been claimed.

Underdown believes this should come as no surprise. “We don’t anticipate awarding this money, because we watch these folks pretty closely,” Underdown says. “Science recognizes neither the paranormal nor the supernatural. Anyone with the ability to provably demonstrate why it should would have certainly earned the prize by now.”

Anyone interested in applying for CFIIG’s Paranormal Challenge may apply online to begin the process. Applicants must pass a two-part test of their alleged ability. The tests must be performed in a controlled environment to prevent trickery, and any expenses incurred during testing must be borne by the applicant.

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How about it?

Don’t you feel tempted?

Dana?

Heinrich?

Anyone?