Sylvia Browne: How many times has she been wrong?

[skepticalfred]

Hello, I am currently underway working on an article on everyone's favorite physic Sylvia Browne I am trying to compile a definitive list of the times she has been wrong on major verifiable things, currently I have 9 cases I feel fit that criteria, if anyone else has some cases they can bring to my attention it would be much appreciated. Thank you.

My Current List:

West Virginia mine tragedy:
Sylvia: "I knew they were going to be found." (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180681,00.html)
Result: All but one died. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5082049)

Shawn Hornbeck:
Sylvia: When asked "Is he still with us?" she responded "No." (http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_shawnhornbeck2.shtml) (Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWlscV3mvL4))
Result: He was found alive. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/48hours/main4474670.shtml)

Martha Stewart:
Sylvia: "Martha Stewart's show will be canceled. (http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpJkNljY7nSM)"
Result: The next new episode airs tomorrow 11/13/2008, she said it would be over by the end of 2007
(http://www.marthastewart.com/affiliateinfo)
Iraq War:
Sylvia: "Bush will bring the troops home." (http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpJkNljY7nSM)
Result: President Bush put more troops into iraq. (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/IraqCoverage/story?id=2785532)

The Economy:
Sylvia: "Economy will bounce back, although stock market is a real rollercoaster. (http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpJkNljY7nSM)"
Result: Economy is in terrible shape.
(http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/19/tent.cities.ap/index.html)
Molly Krewson:
Sylvia: When asked "is she alive?" she responded "Yes" (http://stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_hollykrewson.shtml)
Result: She had been dead for 10 years and was idenifyed using dental records.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/oct/27/usa.jonronson)
Ryan Katcher:
Sylvia: When asked about the location of the body, "Your son... aspirated. He was so... um... you know... in so much alcohol, he aspirated. Two boys got terribly frightened, dropped him in a shaft of some kind. I don't know, it looks a metal... a metal shaft of some kind." (http://stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_ryankatcher.shtml)
Result: He was found dead in a pond, it seems he crashed his truck in it and drowned.

(http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2006/07/26/ui_students_body_found)Opal Jo Jennings:
Sylvia: "She’s… not… dead. But what bothers me – now I’ve never heard of this before, but for some reason, she was taken and put into some kind of a slavery thing and taken into Japan." (http://stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_opal.shtml)
Result: She was killed a few hours after her abduction and was found near her home. (http://www.tarrantcounty.com/emedicalexaminer/cwp/view.asp?A=732&Q=446624)

Lynda McClelland:
Sylvia: "Okay. Um... See, she's not dead." (http://stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_lyndamcclelland.shtml)
Result: She was found dead later. (http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_east/20030318arrest0318p1.asp)

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

Many, many times.

I'd suggest that you search for threads on this forum with the keywords "Sylvia Browne" and "Browne wrong again" as well as "Sylvia Browne predictions". You'll find plenty.

Here are a few examples:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=77490

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=77532

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=83720

[rjh01]

Just added a tag to this thread. Click on that and you will find heaps.

Also checkout www.stopsylviabrowne.com

Also check out the tag http://forums.randi.org/tags.php?tag=stop+sylvia+browne

[CFLarsen]

Sylvia Browne: Failed Prophet in 1998 (http://skepticreport.com/predictions/sylviapredictions98.htm)
Comments on any and all prophesies made by Sylvia Browne concerning the year 1998.

Sylvia Browne: Predictions For 2000-2100 (http://skepticreport.com/predictions/sylvia2100.htm)
A good, hard look at Sylvia Browne's predictions for the next 100 years. It's rather depressing how little imagination she has, given the fact that she is in the lucrative business of presenting fantasies as facts.

It is easier to list the times she has been right.

[Zep]

Make it a lot easier for yourself. Try and find any instance of Saliva Sylvia being right. ;)

[Steelmage]

But on Bizzaro world she is right. ;)
It seems all one has to do is look at what she says and go the opposite direction with the prediction, then the accuracy goes up.

[Questioninggeller]

Hello, I am currently underway working on an article on everyone's favorite physic Sylvia Browne I am trying to compile a definitive list of the times she has been wrong on major verifiable things, currently I have 9 cases I feel fit that criteria, if anyone else has some cases they can bring to my attention it would be much appreciated. Thank you.

I echo the others who said use the search function of the forum.

Out of 103 murdered and missing persons cases (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=128402) she was correct and/or helpful with ZERO.

[Sparhawk]

These 2 would be hard to use to prove the point:
The Economy one is hard to prove, as there is no time scale.
And Opal Jo, aspirating in a metal shaft and drowning in a metal car a similar enough.
Remeber, the prediections will always be twisted and turned to get a "best fit" after the fact.

[Ysidro]

How many times has she been wrong?

All of them.

[Segnosaur]

Iraq War:
Sylvia: "Bush will bring the troops home." (http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpJkNljY7nSM)
Result: President Bush put more troops into iraq. (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/IraqCoverage/story?id=2785532)

The Economy:
Sylvia: "Economy will bounce back, although stock market is a real rollercoaster. (http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpJkNljY7nSM)"
Result: [URL="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/19/tent.cities.ap/index.html"]Economy is in terrible shape.


The computer I'm on won't let me watch the video these claims are based on, so I'm missing a bit of context.

Did she give a time frame for the economy to improve? If not, then you can't really say its wrong, since the economy will come back. That doesn't mean she's psychic though; its one of these statements that's pretty much always true.

As for Bush and Iraq, in theory she could point to the agreement to withdraw troops by (I think 2011). So while Bush won't be in office when the U.S. leaves Iraq, Bush did take steps to actually accomplish that goal. (Unless she actually made specific comments about a time frame.)

Again, I think she's a fraud and a con artist; I'm just trying to play devil's advocate.

[TheSkepticCanuck]

How many times has she been wrong?

All of them.

I actually find that hard to believe. Given all the predictions she has made over the years, and there have been a lot of years of them, she must have at least got a few right. Statistically speaking, the odds of her having a perfect score of zero is as remote as her having a perfect 100% score. Robert's site shows that some of her predictions were correct. Not a lot of them, but a few here and there, which is what one would expect to see. I imagine one would have to put some actual effort into making a large number of "reasonable" predictions, and have them all be completely wrong.

[NobbyNobbs]

The answer, my friend. (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/blowin+in+the+wind_20021159.html)

[Harpyja]

Enough.