The Premonition Man

Some readers may recall the book by the authors on the SPR Scole Experiment, and here they collaborate with Chris Robinson to produce a gripping account of his premonitions coming mainly through dreams. He has worked with the police, MI5 and security services, particularly in connection with IRA terrorism, and it was interesting to read that the dream symbol for a terrorist was dog. Chris would inform the relevant authorities in advance of the event he had foreseen, and his first premonition recorded by the UK police concerned the Lockerbie bomb. Fascinatingly, he was in contact with the policeman Yvonne Fletcher after she was shot, and was able to glean some relevant information; the same applied to a man found hanged who explained how he had been framed and had not in fact committed suicide. The cases are chronologically recorded, interspersed with articles giving a summary of his work. Many of the messages are succinct and need some decoding, and there is a great deal of evidential material.

A pivotal point is his near-death experience, which initiates this work and what amounts to a series of precognitive nightmares, sometimes putting his own life in danger. He is academically investigated by Keith Hearne and Gary Schwartz, but at the same time his work has been undermined by sceptics such as Richard Wiseman, which has the unfortunate effect of destroying police confidence due to the stigma surrounding the paranormal (p. 337). These officers fear for the public image – no one likes to be ridiculed. The authors also show (p. 385) how Wiseman violated his own guidelines in the experimental protocol. A letter written by Chris to the SPR's Paranormal Review is tellingly entitled to 'psi experiments and how to make sure they fail.' Robinson also dreamed of 9/11 as early as August 2000 (p. 328). The final chapter provides a good overview of the range of his work. Overall, it is the cumulative detail that builds the case for the validity of Chris's remarkable capacities and admirable self-abnegation in serving the common good. The book is an important addition to the field of precognition and psi abilities more generally.