NASA to investigate man who gets energy from sun w/o food

[EpsilonIndi]

This rather bizarre story appears in the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. It claims that there is a man who can obtain energy from looking at the sun for an hour each day and drinking water. No food. It also purports that NASA is going to be 'studying' him.


http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/29/1056825280652.html


"Mr Manek said he "eats through his eyes" in the evening, when the sun's ultraviolet rays are least harmful. He and his wife claim the technique is totally scientific. However, doctors warn that staring at the sun can make you blind."

I thought you acquired eye damage when looking at the sun because of intense visible light, not ultraviolet rays. Unless his eyes are 'modified' somehow I don't see how this could work. If it is true.

Any ideas?

[DStahl]

"In an exclusive interview with India Post Shri Hira Ratan Manek said that he has not eaten food since 1995. World famous doctors, engineers, scientists etc. are engaged in studying this phenomena to find out how Manek has sustained himself only on water, and on a little tea and coffee for short duration's."

"Shri Hira Ratan Manek, a mechanical engineer from Calicut, Kerala, says "this is not something new or that I have discovered it." This is a scientific ritual - the Surya Namaskar, originating from Lord Mahavir's Atapna principle, Gayathri mantra, Bala - Atibala, Ramayan mantra which is gaining popularity and world acceptance."

"The scientific technique practiced by Manekji is simple - deriving his energy from the cosmic source or the solar energy of the sun. The sun being the most powerful source, has been used for energy by sages and rishis since ancient times including Lord Mahavir, Tibetan Lamas and rishis. Mankind is also using solar energy for running solar cookers, solar heaters, solar cars etc. he says. Similarly Manekji has converted himself into a solar cooker."

"...converted himself into a solar cooker"???!!! Reference here (http://www.jsocf.org/hrm1.htm)

----

"Shri Manek has researched ancient Jain and Hindu Scriptures and experimented on himself under strict medical Scrutiny to Develop a simple and scientific technique of harnessing energy from the Sun and the Earth. He lived without food, on water alone, for a prolonged period of 411 days since several years. He dedicated his life to teaching how our body can gain energy from sources other than food."

"People who practiced this method have observed negative emotions to drop, chronic illnesses to disappear and all obsession with food become a thing of the past."

"Shri Manek’s methode: Is to be practiced standing BAREFOOT on BARE EARTH. No wearing shoes, and no standing on concrete, stone or even on grass in a meadow or lawn (The grass absorbs the solar energy). One has to stand either on sand or on gravel/mud/ earth etc. Bare feet have to be in contact with the bare earth. Practice this in the open, in the first one hour after sunrise or the last one hour just before sunset."

http://www.jainsamaj.org/magazines/images/september-4.jpg

Reference here (http://www.falconblanco.com/health/alimentation/sun/manekji.htm)

What fools these mortals be.

[SkyEyeGuy]

NASA is free is contact me, too. I've been drinking nothing but Slim-Fast since last Halloween.

Persons who claimed to have seen me, in dark sunglasses and a wig, chowing down at Mrs. Chang's All You Can Eat Mandarin Wonderland Buffet are simply mistaken. That wasn't me, and anyway I was both on jury duty AND in a hot-air balloon at the times of the sightings, whatever they were, amen.

[Beaver]

I am highly skeptical of this one, was searching nasa sights and found nothing of this amazing dicovery. The real question is what happens when light is absorbed through the eyes, I far as I can see(pun intended) its transfered into heat, so what then. There is the prosses of vitamin D is converted through ultraviolet irradiation, but is thats the case "Take a pill dude"

[calliarcale]

I thought you acquired eye damage when looking at the sun because of intense visible light, not ultraviolet rays. Unless his eyes are 'modified' somehow I don't see how this could work. If it is true.

It wouldn't work. Your body uses ultraviolet rays in the production of Vitamin D, and if you're feeling cold, you can help your body cope by getting into the sun and absorbing some infrared radiation (though any heat source will do just as well). But that's basically it. Anything else you've got to bring in either through your lungs (oxygen) or your digestive tract, or, in really extreme cases, intravenously. This is just as stupid as "Breatharianism", a healthy-living scam where people pay to be told not to eat or drink anything. (A few people have actually managed to starve themselves to death on this supposedly perfect diet. The founder was facing criminal charges in England, last I heard, for encouraging people to do something so obviously detrimental to their health, which may have some interesting legal ramifications.)

Ultraviolet rays can damage your eyes, and they can also give you cancer. But it takes time for the damage to build up to a point where your body can no longer cope with it. (You are designed to be able to handle being naked outside, after all. Our ancestors had to have gotten by somehow.) The biggest problem when staring at the sun, I'm told, is the infrared radiation, especially if you are looking through some kind of magnifier or light amplifier (such as a telescope). The heat can literally burn your retinas. But I haven't tried it to find out. ;) It still not instantaneous; most people can't look at the sun long enough to cause any serious damage anyway, because it's rather painful. (Which is probably *why* the pain threshhold for bright light is where it is; to dissuade us from staring too long at the sun.)

[TriangleMan]

A brief Google found some news articles in India and a lot of links to vegan & yoga websites, but no independent analysis of his claims. One site did list doctors that monitored him during one of his big fasts but I believe most of them belonged to the same religious sect - Jain - as he did.

Why doctors from NASA would be examining him is anyone's guess. Why NASA doctors?? :-? I'll believe it when I see it, a lot of these gurus like to drum up media promotion by agreeing to submit to tests and then never doing it (psychic Sylvia Browne promised, on Larry King Live IIRC, to undergo JREF testing over 2 years ago and still hasn't shown up).

[Beaver]

calliarcale
The biggest problem when staring at the sun, I'm told, is the infrared radiation, especially if you are looking through some kind of magnifier or light amplifier (such as a telescope).

Infrared is between visible and microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, I do not think that possess a risk considering all matter gives off infrared.(including your eyes)

The heat can literally burn your retinas

Infrared is not "heat" it is just lower on the spectrum, radiation is converted into heat when absorbed by matter.

[wedgebert]

calliarcale
The biggest problem when staring at the sun, I'm told, is the infrared radiation, especially if you are looking through some kind of magnifier or light amplifier (such as a telescope).

Infrared is between visible and microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, I do not think that possess a risk considering all matter gives off infrared.(including your eyes)

The heat can literally burn your retinas

Infrared is not "heat" it is just lower on the spectrum, radiation is converted into heat when absorbed by matter.

Darn, you beat me to it. I wanted to point out the common misconception :)

I think the concept of IR radiation being considered "heat" was caused by the concept of Blackbody radiation. All objects above absolute zero emit infrared radiation, and the more energetic (hotter) the object, the more IR radiation it emits. This is why hotter objects appear brighter when using IR goggles. However, you can create IR radiation without the corresponding levels of heat.

[Humphrey]

So where is this guy getting his calcium, vitamins, protein, etc? There is no way this guy would be alive. Even plants need morfre than just water and sun to live. They get nitrates and other nutriends from the soil. So unless this guy had photosyntysis going on inside of his head he is faking it.

I agree with above: Why nasa doctors? Thier are many just as qualified doctors out there that would give the exact same results. I think nasa was chosen because of the popularity of the name.

[Byrd]

It's a hoax.

The guy is actually eating and drinking. He might not be eating and drinking MUCH, but he is eating and drinking. As was mentioned, investigators have caught these frauds Not Practicing What They Preach.

There's no mechanism for turning light into any usable food in the body, no matter how much we might wish it were so. Adherents of these loons have died following their bad advice.

[Donnie B.]

...Even plants need morfre than just water and sun to live. They get nitrates and other nutriends from the soil.
What a lot of people don't realize is that plants get most of their substance not from the soil, but from the carbon in gaseous CO2 - that is, right out of thin air!

[Humphrey]

...Even plants need morfre than just water and sun to live. They get nitrates and other nutriends from the soil.
What a lot of people don't realize is that plants get most of their substance not from the soil, but from the carbon in gaseous CO2 - that is, right out of thin air!

I thought that all they get from CO2 is atp and sugar. is there more?

[Peter B]

Ah yeah. Just when we thought all the silliness quoted on the BABB was coming from America or Europe, we of the Land Down Under had to ruin it all. :roll:

[irony]

Y'know, I have to say the same thing about this guy as I said about the guy in Superman IV: 'Photosynthesis Man' does not a terrifying villian make.

[pmcolt]

Darn, I even had a theme song worked out. Na-na na-na na-na na-na Plantman!

From the looks of that guy, he really isn't eating all that much. I guess sunlight + meager meals out of sight of clueless followers don't meet the recommended daily allowance of nutrients.

[kilopi]

Clearly, he is absorbing stuff through his soles, like a plant, just like pmcold says.

Still, it reminds me of Wiley Brooks (http://mentock.home.mindspring.com/airdiet.htm), the famous Breatharian, who supposedly subsisted entirely on air.

[Iain Lambert]

Right, sure.

Anyone care to explain what interest the American National Air and Space Administration would have in an Indian national who claims to have bizarre biological properties?

[Iain Lambert]

His wife said: "He has a special taste for sun energy. He believes only 5 per cent of human brain cells are used by most people. The other 95 per cent can be activated through solar energy."

No, the other 95% is for storing penguins. Don't they know anything?

[calliarcale]

Thank you, Beaver and wedgebert, for setting me straight. ;)

[eburacum45]

I believe the whole item may be a hoax-
there is no statement from a NASA spokesperson for example;
this fakir could easily have been making it all up.

However the body functions of a person who lives on very little might be worth studying- perhaps that is the object of the exercise.
Animals and humans on calorie restricted diets can be healthier and live significantly longer; in zero gee you want to have an optimum intake of food because of lack of exercise and waste disposal problems.

[nebularain]

...Even plants need morfre than just water and sun to live. They get nitrates and other nutriends from the soil.
What a lot of people don't realize is that plants get most of their substance not from the soil, but from the carbon in gaseous CO2 - that is, right out of thin air!

I thought that all they get from CO2 is atp and sugar. is there more?

Remember, carbon is the building block of life! (http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~khalsa/181-GeneralBio/chapter4.html) You, know, carbon-based life forms 'n such. ;)

[Stuart]

This is actually a bit worse than just a hoax. The "Breatharianism" cult is quite real and has been directly responsible for some deaths. One couple are doing time for manslaughter in Australia after allowing one of their cult members to starve to death.

Try this website http://www.rickross.com/groups/breat.html for a review of their actions.

The cult was started by "Jasmuheen", a 42-year-old Australian woman whose real name is Ellen Greve. She claims to have been living on herbal tea, juice and the occasional biscuit since 1993 after being told to change her life by her spiritual mentor, St Germain. Her philosophy promotes living on light and almost entirely without food and liquids. Several followers of her philosophy have died, and Ellen Greve herself has been exposed as a fraud. An Australian programme, 60 Minutes, asked her to demonstrate that she could live healthily without any nutrients other than air for one week. She agreed to be cut off from the outside world for the test. But the programme-makers were forced to call a halt to the trial after four days when she showed signs of becoming seriously ill. Greve had initially been confined to a hotel room in Brisbane with teams of female security guards in constant attendance. Her progress was checked by a female doctor, Dr Berris Wink, president of the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association. The cult leader claimed that her confinement close to a busy main road meant she could not get the nutrients she needed to survive as a Breatharian. 60 Minutes moved Greve to a mountainside retreat about 15 miles away from the city , where she was filmed enjoying the fresh air she said she could now live on happily. However, as the filming progressed, it became obvious that Greve was becoming ill. Her speech was slow, her pupils dilated and she had lost almost a stone. One doctor advising 60 Minutes urged Jasmuheen and the programme to stop the challenge. Dr Wink told her: "You are now quite dehydrated, probably over 10 per cent, getting up to 11 per cent." She also announced: "Her pulse is about double what it was when she started. The risks if she goes any further are kidney failure. 60 Minutes would be culpable if they encouraged her to continue. She should stop now." Greve challenged the decision, saying: "Look, 6,000 people have done this around the world without any problem" She blamed 60 Minutes for putting her beside a busy main road at the start of the experiment. "I asked for fresh air. Seventy per cent of my nutrients come from fresh air. I couldn't even breath," she said.

Presenter Richard Carlton asked Greve: "Could you come to the intelligent view that you can't survive on air?" She said: "No, because I've done it for a long time. "Six thousand people have done this around the world without any problem." But the doctor said: "The vast majority of the people out there don't believe for one second that Jasmuheen practises what she preaches. "It's quite irresponsible for somebody to be trying to encourage others to do something so detrimental to their health."

Carlton told viewers: "You might dismiss Jasmuheen as merely the latest in a colourful line of New Age carpet baggers. Except her message is dangerous. And she is deluded."

I know this is definately way out of topic but would like to ask that this be left open as a public service announcement. Most hoaxes (like crop circles, and the "Apollo Hoax" believers) are harmless even if annoying. This one is really dangerous - it has already killed people.

[Iain Lambert]

I don't know; I use simple words, speak clearly and in short sentances, and they still get it wrong.

Its Guinness. Guinness and Cheese.

Thats what you need to live on, not this sunlight nonsense.

[kilopi]

The cult was started by "Jasmuheen", a 42-year-old Australian woman whose real name is Ellen Greve. She claims to have been living on herbal tea, juice and the occasional biscuit since 1993 after being told to change her life by her spiritual mentor, St Germain
No, I believe the Breatharians were started by Wiley Brooks, who I mentioned in the previous post. He even has the domain name (http://www.breatharian.com/wiley.html).

I heard him on the radio in Colorado years ago, long before 1993. The radio station disc jockey served him a cheeseburger, and you could hear someone eating--the dj was shouting "he's eating the burger!" and Wiley would say "no I'm not."

[Stuart]

An even earlier example is the stigmatic Therese Neumann (1898-1962) of Bavaria, who said “one can live on the Holy Breath alone.” She claims to have done this from 1926-1962, during which time she says she only consumed her daily serving of transubstantiated bread.

I'd only run into this cult from the Australian end but I looked up John Wiley. he does seem to have precedence over Greve. I liked his explanation for the cheeseburger incident - apparently eating cheeseburgers absorbs the toxic chemicals in modern polluted air and allows the breatharian mechanism to go ahead.

That's a good one; I must remember that if I ever get trapped in a health farm.

[QuagmaPhage]

I heard him on the radio in Colorado years ago, long before 1993. The radio station disc jockey served him a cheeseburger, and you could hear someone eating--the dj was shouting "he's eating the burger!" and Wiley would say "no I'm not."

Sounds like a Monty Python sketch. :lol:
From The man who speaks in anagrams (From the 3rd series of Monty Python)

Palin: And what is your next project?
Idle: "Ring Kichard the Thrid".
Palin: I'm sorry?
Idle: 'A shroe! A shroe! My dingkom for a shroe!'
Palin: Ah, Ring Kichard, yes... but surely that's not an anagram, that's a
spoonerism.
Idle: If you're going to split hairs, I'm going to **** off. (Exit)

[Iain Lambert]

An even earlier example is the stigmatic Therese Neumann (1898-1962) of Bavaria, who said “one can live on the Holy Breath alone.” She claims to have done this from 1926-1962, during which time she says she only consumed her daily serving of transubstantiated bread.

Similiarly, I've managed to live for several years, during which I've only consumed my daily serving of transubstantiated pizza.

Well, ok, so its Domino's that make it transubstantiate to the front door, not the Holy Spirit. People can be really picky sometimes.

[kilopi]

she only consumed her daily serving of transubstantiated bread.
That would have all the nutrients though, so she wouldn't be a Breatherian--I'm pretty sure Wiley started the group called Breatherians, but his name is Wiley Brooks. John Wiley is a book publisher, isn't it?

I'd only run into this cult from the Australian end but I looked up John Wiley. he does seem to have precedence over Greve. I liked his explanation for the cheeseburger incident - apparently eating cheeseburgers absorbs the toxic chemicals in modern polluted air and allows the breatharian mechanism to go ahead.
Where did you find that? Lemme see... :)

[Stuart]

Wiley Brooks. John Wiley is a book publisher, isn't it?

Yup. Me dumb. Fingers not type what brain command

[kilopi]

I found this webpage (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.13.03/diets-0307.html) where it talks about Wiley eating a Big Mac and Coke, was that the page you read?

[Stuart]

I found this webpage (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.13.03/diets-0307.html) where it talks about Wiley eating a Big Mac and Coke, was that the page you read?

No, it actually came from here http://www.breatharian.com/secret.html. Its about half way down.

I preferred the one you found though.

[kilopi]

Thanks. Missed that one somehow! Must have been overwhelmed with the discussion of the spirituality aspects of Breatharianism.

[Peter B]

Here is an interview of Jasmuheen by Australian ABC journalist Paul Willis: http://www.abc.net.au/science/correx/archives/jasmuheen.htm

Willis is now fairly actively associated with (but not a member of) the Australian Skeptics.

[Psi-less]

Have any of the Breatharians of whatever ilk detailed how they synthesize vitamin C? I was always under the impression that it's (at least) one vitamin that you have to intake since the human body can't manufacture it. Although scurvy would go a long way in explaining the appearance of some of these guys! :o Also, wasn't there some hoo-haw a few years ago about the leader of a Breatharian group getting caught with a sizeable box of doughnuts in his possession? "No, Your Honor, that white, powdery substance isn't drugs. It's powdered sugar." :oops: "Bailiff, take this man away."

Psi-less

[David Hall]

Loonies, the whole lot of them. That's my take on the matter.

You know though, self-deception can be a very powerful force. It's entirely possible a lot of these guys actually believe they are subsisting on "almost nothing". They just conveniently block out just how many "holy wafers" they consume each day, or like the burger thing above, manage to convince themselves it "doesn't count".

PS, to go back a bit, I think the misconception about infrared being heat mostly comes from TV depictions of IR night-vision goggles. They are usually described as "seeing the heat" from our bodies, so people quickly connect IR with heat directly, and don't really understand the radiative principle behind it.

[tracer]

she only consumed her daily serving of transubstantiated bread.
That would have all the nutrients though,
Not enough of 'em to sustain her for more than a few months.

Cecil Adams on whether man can live by bread alone (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_209.html)

Long story short: On a pure bread-and-water diet, she'd die of scurvy inside of two years.

[Stonegiant]

Two words: Amino Acids

[TriangleMan]

James Randi just did a brief article (http://www.randi.org/jr/071103.html) on claims that NASA is investigating this man. In summary, there was some confusion with different sources contradicting each other as to whether NASA was involved but in the end Randi confirmed that NASA is not investigating this 'Breatherian' (sp?).

[Musashi]

Another NASA update:

http://web.mid-day.com/news/world/2003/july/57637.htm

a NASA spokesperson has denied it had invited Hira Ratan Manek in any official capacity, or that it has anything to do with him.