One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
E40182
The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge was a long-running offer of a cash prize to anyone who could demonstrate genuine paranormal abilities under controlled scientific testing conditions.
All labels observed (3)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge canonical | 4 |
| JREF Million Dollar Challenge | 1 |
| James Randi Educational Foundation Million Dollar Challenge | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T308204 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge Context triple: [James Randi, created, One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge]
-
A.
The $100,000 Pyramid
The $100,000 Pyramid is a modern revival of the classic American television game show where contestants and celebrities compete in fast-paced word-association challenges for cash prizes.
-
B.
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions is a skeptical book by magician and debunker James Randi that critically examines and exposes claims of the paranormal, pseudoscience, and superstition.
-
C.
Million Dollar Staircase
The Million Dollar Staircase is an ornate, late-19th-century grand staircase renowned for its elaborate stone carvings and opulent design inside the New York State Capitol in Albany.
-
D.
The Truth About Uri Geller
The Truth About Uri Geller is a book by skeptic and magician James Randi that critically examines and debunks the purported paranormal abilities of Israeli illusionist Uri Geller.
-
E.
The Conjuring
The Conjuring is a 2013 supernatural horror film directed by James Wan that follows real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they confront a malevolent presence haunting a family’s farmhouse.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge Target entity description: The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge was a long-running offer of a cash prize to anyone who could demonstrate genuine paranormal abilities under controlled scientific testing conditions.
-
A.
The $100,000 Pyramid
The $100,000 Pyramid is a modern revival of the classic American television game show where contestants and celebrities compete in fast-paced word-association challenges for cash prizes.
-
B.
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions is a skeptical book by magician and debunker James Randi that critically examines and exposes claims of the paranormal, pseudoscience, and superstition.
-
C.
Million Dollar Staircase
The Million Dollar Staircase is an ornate, late-19th-century grand staircase renowned for its elaborate stone carvings and opulent design inside the New York State Capitol in Albany.
-
D.
The Truth About Uri Geller
The Truth About Uri Geller is a book by skeptic and magician James Randi that critically examines and debunks the purported paranormal abilities of Israeli illusionist Uri Geller.
-
E.
The Conjuring
The Conjuring is a 2013 supernatural horror film directed by James Wan that follows real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they confront a malevolent presence haunting a family’s farmhouse.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
paranormal challenge
ⓘ
prize offer ⓘ scientific test of paranormal claims ⓘ |
| administeredBy | James Randi Educational Foundation ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
ⓘ
surface form:
JREF Million Dollar Challenge
One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge ⓘ
surface form:
James Randi Educational Foundation Million Dollar Challenge
|
| associatedWith |
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
ⓘ
surface form:
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
scientific skepticism movement ⓘ |
| condition |
claimant must demonstrate ability significantly above chance
ⓘ
tests must be conducted under controlled scientific conditions ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| creator | James Randi ⓘ |
| currency | US dollar ⓘ |
| eligibility | individuals claiming paranormal, supernatural, or occult abilities ⓘ |
| endDate | 2015 ⓘ |
| fundingSource | donations to James Randi Educational Foundation ⓘ |
| governance | overseen by JREF board and advisors ⓘ |
| impact | raised public awareness of the need for controlled testing of paranormal claims ⓘ |
| inspired | similar paranormal challenge prizes by other skeptic organizations ⓘ |
| legalForm | formal challenge with written rules and application process ⓘ |
| location |
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
ⓘ
surface form:
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
|
| mediaCoverage |
featured in television programs about psychics and paranormal claims
ⓘ
frequently discussed in skeptical literature and conferences ⓘ |
| methodology |
double-blind testing where applicable
ⓘ
mutually agreed test protocols between claimant and JREF ⓘ |
| notableFeature |
no applicant ever passed the preliminary or final tests to win the prize
ⓘ
required written application and agreement on test protocol ⓘ tests were often conducted in public or with media coverage ⓘ widely cited by skeptics as evidence against paranormal claims ⓘ |
| note | James Randi began offering cash prizes for paranormal demonstrations in 1964, which later evolved into the formal Million Dollar Challenge in the 1990s ⓘ |
| philosophicalPosition | extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence ⓘ |
| prizeAmount | 1000000 ⓘ |
| prizeAmountCurrency | USD ⓘ |
| purpose |
to promote scientific skepticism
ⓘ
to test claims of paranormal, supernatural, or occult powers under controlled conditions ⓘ |
| sponsor | James Randi Educational Foundation ⓘ |
| startDate |
1964
ⓘ
1996 ⓘ |
| terminationReason | JREF shift in mission and restructuring around 2015 ⓘ |
| typicalClaimsTested |
astrology
ⓘ
clairvoyance ⓘ dowsing ⓘ faith healing ⓘ mediumship ⓘ psychic abilities ⓘ telepathy ⓘ |
| verification | tests observed and documented by independent witnesses where possible ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge Description of subject: The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge was a long-running offer of a cash prize to anyone who could demonstrate genuine paranormal abilities under controlled scientific testing conditions.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
James Randi Educational Foundation Million Dollar Challenge
this entity surface form:
JREF Million Dollar Challenge