In January of this year psychic Sylvia Browne was busted in another blunder. Now I have no idea whether Sylvia Browne has a psychic gift, used to have one, or only has one on occasion, but I do know that two of her predictions over the last 13 months are deplorable and inexcusable. Not only was she 100% wrong, but she was commenting on life and death issues in real-time.
I know for a fact Sylvia Browne has gotten other predictions wrong in addition to the two I’m going to discuss here, but I don’t take issue with a psychic saying something like, “You’ll meet a tall, dark stranger and fall in love,” and the person being read for meets a short, fat friend and falls in love with that person instead. No one really gets hurt in a prediction like this (except the tall, dark stranger, of course).
Let’s stick to the facts. On January 2, 2006, Sylvia Browne was on the Coast to Coast overnight radio program with George Noory–I show I’ve also had the pleasure of being an overnight guest on. January 2nd was the day that the 13 coal miners in West Virginia were still stuck underground. During the early parts of the four-hour program, George Noory interrupted the show to announce the great news that 12 of the 13 miners had been found alive. Sylvia Browne said she knew they would be okay. She said she thought one might not make it, but she knew. She also acknowledged that it’s easy for a psychic to say something like that after the fact, but nevertheless, she knew.
A few hours later, during the same show, George Noory read the corrected newswire that 12 of the 13 coal miners had perished and the previous wire story was wrong. Sylvia Browne could only ponder aloud how the newswire could make such a mistake. And she didn’t miss a beat. She changed her story 100% during the same radio program and said she knew that most of them were gone.
It’s crass, rude, and wrong to comment on issues like this in real-time. But what happens next is even worse.
On October 6, 2002, Shawn Hornbeck went out for a bike ride in Richwood, Missouri and didn’t return. His parents were desperate to find their child and eventually they made their way to the Montel Williams show to ask Sylvia Browne for help. The date was February 26, 2003 and Sylvia told the frightened parents that she had the answer. She told the parents that her boy was dead and his body was in the woods 20 miles away near two jagged boulders. His bicycle was dumped in another state. The heartbroken parents left and tried to accept that their child was dead.
In early January of this year, Shawn Hornbeck was found alive and well in St. Louis, Missouri with another boy who had gone missing just a few weeks earlier.
Every psychic I’ve ever interviewed (and there have been quite a few) will say that they can’t be 100% accurate all of the time. I accept that. But if one isn’t 100% sure, one better not comment on life and death to the faces of those who are affected most by the missing person in question.
What Sylvia Browne did was despicable and unacceptable. On her own Web site she offers a vague apology for getting this one wrong, but it’s so vague I actually find it even more insulting than saying nothing.
We talked about this issue quite a bit on a recent X Zone Radio Show, but I wanted to go on written record saying Sylvia Browne’s behavior on these issues is inexcusable. If someone wants to spend $750 for a 20-30 minute phone reading with Sylvia Browne, that’s their business. But please oh please don’t ask about anything related to life and death issues. She clearly has no problem with guessing on those subjects.
Didn’t Sylvia Brown also make an erroneous prediction to Amanda* Berry’s mother*? About one year after Amanda was kidnapped, her distraught mother appeared on a daytime talkshow– (can’t recall whose) along with Sylvia Brown (the mother had requested to consult with Sylvia with the hope of gaining insight about her missing daughter). The mother asked something to the effect if her daughter was still alive. Sylvia Brown said something g to the effect of “No honey. Your daughter has gone home to the lord”. Incidentally, the mother was afflicted with a heart condition The woman died soon there after believing her daughter had died. Opinion has it that the stress and the grief the mother experienced upon the belief her daughter was dead, hastened her own death. Yes, you’re right. One sdcc shouldn’t GUESS when it comes to life and death exp when it involves the loved ones of the person/people in question.
*(Amanda Berry was one o
f the 3 women who were held hostage in a home in Cleveland Ohio FOR 10 YEARS by deranged sexual predator, Arial Castro)