Editing Project Alpha (hoax) (section)

== McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research ==
In the 1970s, [[James Smith McDonnell]], board chairman of [[McDonnell Douglas]] and believer in the [[paranormal]], approached [[Washington University in St. Louis]] with plans to set up a permanent PSI research facility.<ref>{{Cite news|title=And a little child shall bend them|last=Dafty|first=Sally Bixby|date=March 2, 1980|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=F11}}</ref> Eventually, physicist Peter Phillips, who was also interested in the field, agreed to lead a [[parapsychology]] lab at the school. Phillips had degrees in physics from both [[Cambridge University]] and [[Stanford University]]. In 1979, McDonnell arranged a US$500,000 grant for the establishment and five years operation of the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research, or MacLab for short. Phillips was most interested in [[spoon bending]], also known as "psychokinetic metal bending", or PKMB.