The township of Mitta Mitta, in North-Eastern Victoria holds an annual event over the Victorian Labour Day long week-end. This part of Victoria is also home to a small enthusiastic group promoting rational thinking, the Borderline Skeptics.
The Australian Skeptics offer a standing prize of $110,000 to anyone who can demonstrate psychic phenomena or supernatural ability that can be established within normal rules of Scientific evidence.
There are many individuals in Australia who believe that they have a special gift for finding water in apparently barren landscapes using techniques beyond established geological and hydrological methods. Such people are known as “Water Diviners“,”Dowsers” or “Geomancers“.
Many of these people have been prepared to accept the Skeptics’ challenge Borderline Skeptics, with the assistance of visiting colleagues, have taken to staging a special event within the Muster. Dowsers are given the opportunity in a test set up by a third party to differentiate between covered containers of water and of sand. The only stipulation is that before the test commences, all parties must agree on a standard of proof which would indeed indicate a performance which is statistically better than average.
To date, no-one has taken away the $110,000 cheque.
Unfortunately, the Town of Mitta Mitta was ravaged by bushfires early in 2003 (see Hellfire), and as a result The Water Divining Challenge did NOT take place.
For more information
- A report on Mitta Mitta 2002
- Mitta Mitta Regional Map
- Link to a water-diviner’s journal
THE GREAT WATER-DIVINING DVD is available fom Australian Skeptics on-line shop