Chip Coffey (born August 21, 1954) is an American self-proclaimed

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

from

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, currently living in

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. He appeared as a medium on various

paranormal television Paranormal television is a genre of reality television that purports to document factual investigations of the paranormal rather than fictional representations seen in traditional narrative films and tv. Over the years, the genre has grown to b ...

programs, primarily '' Paranormal State'' and '' Psychic Kids''. On ''Psychic Kids'' he acts as a mentor towards children who claim to have psychic abilities, primarily seeing

ghost A ghost is the soul (spirit), soul or spirit of a dead Human, person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visibl ...

s. Coffey's claims of being able to communicate with the dead have been subject to criticism by

skeptics Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

. In 2019 it was announced that Coffey will be joining

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's '' Kindred Spirits'' as the third official cast member alongside Adam Berry and Amy Bruni for the fourth season in 2020.

History

According to Coffey, when he was a child, he would tell his parents when the phone was about to ring and who was calling; referring to his ability to read the past, present and future as a "God given talent" Coffey said that when he reached adulthood, he began to see full-body apparitions. He also defines what he feels to be the difference between a ghost and a spirit, "the latter has completed the journey between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Ghosts, on the other hand, are souls that, for whatever reason, have chosen to stick around. They may not know they're dead, or they may fear judgment on the other side." In 2019, it was announced that Coffey would be joining the main cast of '' Kindred Spirits'' for the fourth season. This comes after Coffey appeared in the ''Haunted Salem'' 2019 live special with both Berry and Bruni from ''Kindred Spirits''.

Criticism

Mediumship is considered to be

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

, and Coffey specifically has been roundly criticized by scientific skeptics. In 2009, the

James Randi Education Foundation James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of a ...

awarded Coffey a

Pigasus Award The Pigasus Award is the name of an annual tongue-in-cheek award that was presented by noted skeptic James Randi. The award seeks to expose parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds that Randi had noted over the previous year. Randi usual ...

"For the psychic who tricked the most people with the least effort". According to skeptical investigator

Joe Nickell Joe Nickell (born December 1, 1944) is an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal. Nickell is senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and writes regularly for their journal, ''Skeptical Inquirer''. He is al ...

, Coffey has been accused of hoaxing and "outright deception" involving the television series '' Paranormal State''. In September 2014, members of the

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Skeptics attended one of Coffey's seance sessions as part of what they termed a "sting operation" intended to reveal the falsity of his psychic claims. According to

Ohlone College Ohlone College (Ohlone or OC) is a public community college with its main campus in Fremont, California and a second campus in Newark. It is part of the California Community College System. The Ohlone Community College District serves the ci ...

professor Sheldon Helms, skeptics posing as fans planted stories of fictitious dead family members with Coffey's staff. According to organizer Susan Gerbic, "Coffey claimed to be clearly communicating with our nonexistent family members". In October 2013, while appearing on the KFXN-FM morning show ''The Power Trip'', Coffey was confronted by host Cory Cove, who voiced skepticism over Coffey's alleged psychic powers. Coffey reportedly "stormed out of the studio" following Cove's confrontation.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Chip 1954 births Living people American psychics