Levy, Walter J., Jr. (ca. 1948-)

Former director of the Institute for Parapsychology in Durham, North Carolina, who was accused of fraudulently manipulating data in one of his experiments. In the summer 1974 J. B. Rhine disclosed that Levy had been discovered deliberately falsifying experimental results. This exposure threw doubt on Levy's other studies, and research was undertaken by other parapsychologists attempting independent replication of the Levy researches. The results, on the whole, were ambiguous, but as far back as 1972, parapsychologist Helmut Schmidt had done an independent replication of the Levy research with a lack of positive results.

While the prompt exposure of the alleged manipulation reflects credit on Levy's fellow parapsychologists who were anxious to maintain the integrity of their scientific researches, the scandal has had long-term consequences harmful to the field as a whole.

Sources:

Davis, James. "Comments on the Levy Affair." In Research in Parapsychology 1974. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1975.

Levy, Walter J., Jr. "Possible PK by Rats to Receive Pleasurable Brain Stimulation." In Research in Parapsychology 1973. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974.

——, Brian Artley, Al Mayor, and Carol Williams. "The Use of an Activity Wheel Based Testing Cage in Small Rodent Precognition Work." In Research in Parapsychology 1973. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974.

——, and James Davis. "A Potential Animal Model for Parapsychological Interaction between Organisms." Research in Parapsychology 1973. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974.