Discovery Lab Answers

Malcolm Bessent

Malcolm Bessent was a principal research participant in dream-based psi studies conducted at Maimonides Medical Center in the 1970s. He is best known as the subject of two controlled precognitive dream studies.

The Maimonides dream precognition studies

Bessent participated in two landmark experiments designed to test dream precognition — the ability to dream about events selected after the dream has already occurred and been recorded. The logic of these studies was deliberately structured to prevent normal inference: Bessent would sleep and dream in the laboratory, his dream would be recorded and locked, and only afterward would experimenters randomly select a target experience and enact it ^[1].

The first study was conducted by Stanley Krippner, Montague Ullman, and Charles Honorton in 1971 ^[1][2]. A second precognitive dream study with Bessent followed in 1972, also led by Krippner, Honorton, and Ullman ^[1][2]. These are cited in the literature as among “the most well-studied precognitives in the 20th century” and remain the canonical examples of controlled dream precognition research ^[1].

Other psi research with Bessent

Beyond dream work, Bessent also participated in computer-based psi trials. In an experiment by Honorton (1987), Bessent completed 1,000 trials of a computerized psi task and was asked to categorize each response as based on an impression, a feeling, or a guess — providing insight into the phenomenology of his psi performance ^[5].

Bessent was also known to work as a professional psychic reader and charged for readings, a practice that distinguished him from some other research participants in the field ^[3].

Physical toll of repeated testing

Repeated participation in electroencephalography (EEG) studies left visible marks: during the electrode-gluing and electrode-removal procedures common in the Maimonides laboratory, Bessent developed bald spots on his scalp from the frequency of testing ^[3].

For deeper background on the Maimonides research program and its methodology, see Montague Ullman, MD and Dream Precognition.