Brief History
 
 

Numerous mediums and psychics claim extraordinary powers and sometimes pretend they have been tested in "laboratories" or other "institutes" by scientists, conjurers and to have succeeded in rigorous tests...

Up to now, and contrary to what these mediums and journalists from various media as wel as convinced partisans claim loudly, the results of tests conducted in normal scientific conditions are all negative.

All available files evidences, even for the so-called "positive" or "optimal" cases, the very poor methodological quality of these experiments and the incompetence or dishonesty of the experimenters.
 
 

In 1986, the physicist Henri BROCH created the Minitel 36.15 ZET (from ZETetics), University of Nice telematic service (closed in 1998).

Entitled "The Scientific Files of the occult and of the paranormal", this service wished to clarify the situation. As the necessary debate on the paranormal has to be conducted according to precise and irrefutable documents, the service had launched what could be considered a real challenge, a request for psychics to evidence their claims. In short:
" You claim to have psi-powers:... prove it !"

The burden of proof belongs to he who declares something "extra - ordinary".
 
 

This challenge, launched by Henri BROCH, Doctor in Sciences, and the conjurer Gérard MAJAX, via the Minitel ZET service has merged with a prize (10.000 USD) offered in 1982 by the belgian scientist Jacques THEODOR, Doctor of the University of Paris (Science) to any person who could demonstrate possessing a paranormal power.

- In 1987, the "Minitel 36.15 ZET Challenge" increased the amount to

- In 1992, celebrating the 100th candidacy, the cheque of the "Prize-Challenge" had been doubled to...

- In 1999, more than 200 candidacies having been recorded, and with the opportunity of the switching to the European currency, the amount has been, under the title" Prize-Challenge Broch-Majax-Theodor", carried to more than 1.3 million french Francs as it has reached ...

After 15 years trying to observe a live demonstration of a single "paranormal" power, nothing has been obtained that justify the continuation of the 200.000 Euros "Broch-Majax-Theodor Challenge". The Committee was also receiving too much excessively capricious proposals, the management of which was very time and energy consuming !

Of course, out of the Prize and Challenge, the Zetetics laboratory is yet open to proposals for testing "paranormal" powers, but only to serious - i.e. coming under physics approaches - proposals.

Zetetics laboratory, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis