Even before I attended that session in March, 1966, I was skeptical, having been aware of many ways photography had been used for hoaxes and deceptive purposes almost since its invention.

That evening a warning bell in my head went off almost immediately. Dr. Eisenbud was showing us an album of photographs that Serios had produced in the past. They were indeed strange and mysterious.

However, one image displayed dots, the same as those seen in a newspaper reproduction. The dots were magnified, sharp in the center of the image and blurred at the edges.

This indicated to me that this image was a copy of a newspaper halftone engraving made with an uncorrected closeup lens. When I queried Dr. Eisenbud about this image I received an answer in double-talk, alerting alarm bell number two.

Alarm bell number three went off as Serios started drinking beer in the living room where we were all getting acquainted. Serios was using mannerisms that a friend, who was an amateur magician, had shown me many years earlier.

I was suddenly convinced that he had done magic tricks at some time in his life as well as using sleight of hand now in his demonstrations.