Many spiritualists, shamans, clairvoyants and parapsychologists had astonishing paranormal ability to “scan” information from different items – stones, clothes, photographs and curls – on destiny of their owners. This ability was called Psychometry (psyche – spitit, soul and metron – measure (from Greek)) by its pioneer and first researcher New York anthropologist and physiologist professor J. Buchanan. After multiple experiments with petrifactions, minerals and relics prof. Buchanan discovered that each inanimate item had a property to “memorize its destiny”. Silent items act as a certain gramophone record filled by feelings of their former holders.

As long ago as in ancient Egypt people were convinced that everything called by a person as his own inconceivably was a part of him. Not only cut nails and hair remain connected with him further, but all items which he had ever touched remain “impregnated” with his personality. Geologist professor Denton of Nantes (France), one of disciples of Buchanan, even claimed that it is possible to extract more data on the Age of Pharaohs from “a single pea-size splinter from Egypt” rather than from all researchers of antiquity taken together. After Buchanan other French researchers, first of all, Riche and Austin were engaged in psychometry phenomenon very intensively. Time and again it had being discovered that a simple body contact with any item was enough to call the most tremendous backstage data on events related thereto. And there is no difference, whether events of the present, the past or the future in question. At all times priests and sages, witch doctors and oracles, astrologers and foretellers used plummets and willow rods for obtaining data from the past or the future as well as for search of treasures. In ancient China using of the plummet was a privilege of lords and aristocrats. Emperors always took a silver or golden plummet along and used it upon making important decisions. In India a rod had been used as early as in year 3000 B.C., and the history tells that ancient sages used the rod for searching groundwater. From China and India this craft came to Egypt, then to Greece and later to the Ro me. The oldest tradition of rod detection or radiesthesia (radius – beam (Latin) and aesthesia – sensitivity (Greek)) is an ability of unintentional reception of information from distant (hidden) objects and its transmission by means of plummet oscillation or deviation of a rod in hands. This event presumes influence of some physical field on biological system, which response manifests in the form of alternation of position of an indicator (rod, plummet) being in hands of an inv estigator. Moses is considered as the first rod detector in Europe. He hit the rock with a stick and water appeared out of the rock in response thereto. Plinius Senior (I century A.D.), Paracels (1493-1541), Mesmer (1734-1815) and some other authors had mentioned this effect in their works. In the Middle Ages this effect was successfully used for searching portable water and ore deposits in countries of the Western Europe. In 1556 Georgius Agricola described the fact when medieval German miners searched mineral and ore deposits with the help of a “magic rod”. According to European archives, about 70% of mineral deposits were discovered by the very method. The founder of the British Royal Scientific Society Robert Boyle, English mineralogist William Price, founder of electrochemistry Richter and famous chemist Glauber were engaged in studying this effect and they estimated its abilities v ery highly. In 1911 in Hanover the first congress on rod detection was held. International Union of rod detectors was established at this congress. In 1913 the second international congress of experimental psychology was held in Paris. At this congress a commission consisting of scientists of different specialties examined more than one hundred people claiming their abilities to search ore, water and cavities in the interior of the Earth. Conclusions of the commission emphasized doubtless existence of rod detection phenomenon (in scientific circles called as biophysical or biolocation effect) and necessity of its further development. In 1973 the International Society on Research of Psychotronics (psyche – spirit, soul and tron – measurement device (Greek)) – instrument study of possibility of supersensitive perception – was established. Problems of rod detection are being handled at the congresses of this society. Upon results of complex researches UNESCO and UN expert on geology prof. S. Tromp published his work in which he proved objective character of existence of biolocation effect on the basis of large statistical material. Sensors of a cardiograph and a device for measurement of skin potential were fixed on blindfold students going with a metal frame instead of a rod by long profiles. All students reacted by the frame to the same zones being marked by the cardiograph and the potentiometer. Professors Chadwick and Jensen (USA) performed analogous researches on 150 employees and students of Utah University. Statistical magnitude of results of application of a metal frame was checked with the help of the “Chi-square” test, and the level of fortuitousness was in the rage of 6.0 – 0.05% of cases. Thus water, mineral oil, ore, coal as well as missing people, animals and inanimate items had been being searched for many centuries. And even nowadays one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world Swiss concern “Hoffmann la Roche” gives orders to its permanent rod detectors to search water required for production before construction work at locations of new branches is started. Famous rod detector Gottfried Mayer of Allensbach (Germany) had determined location of a thermal spring in Constantsa that was discovered afterwards during well-boring at a depth of 400 meters. The fact made a profit of DM600 000. The boring company “Vik Drilling” headed by V. Tompson gets very high percentage of productive wells upon using biolocation for searching underground water-bearing zones; this fact allows the company to increase volume of drilling from year to year. The US union of rod detectors includes more than 25 thousand people. In Vietnam specially trained GIs had been successfully searching unexploded bombs, grenades and high-explosive shells with the help of rods. Nowadays there are very successful attempts to use rods and plummets for accomplishing different tasks in geology, archaeology, paleontology, medical diagnostics and other areas of human activity. Thus, “a magic stick in skillful hand” (Goethe) has remained its significance till our days.