Project Alpha was a famous hoax orchestrated by famous magician and skeptic James Randi. It involved the “planting” of two fake psychics, Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards, into a paranormal research project who became convinced the pair’s psychic powers were real. The hoax was later revealed publically, leading to a backlash against the entire paranormal field. This is an interview with the men involved.
Wikipedia has a great entry on Project Alpha:
Project Alpha was a hoax orchestrated by magician and skeptic James Randi. It involved planting two fake psychics, Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards, into a paranormal research project. The researchers became convinced that the pair’s psychic powers were real. The hoax was later revealed publicly, leading to a backlash against the entire paranormal field.
Including my favorite part:
Part of Randi’s instructions to these men was to tell the truth if they were ever asked if they were faking the results. They were never asked.