I am the owner of www.vood00.wordpress.com, where I’ve spent some time and effort in debunking all Krugel’s claims. I now have a bit of a challenge for South African skeptics on Facebook: The family of Kerry Winter has been duped into believing that Krugel can help them, and are continuing their efforts to get him and his woo-box into Dubai (at their expense).
I have taken the step (not lightly) to share my views on Krugel on the Facebook Group “Help us find Kerry” at http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25303393482, because even though I feel sorry for them and fully understand their grief and need for closure, I also think that they have the opportunity to unmask Krugel for the fraud he surely is. I don’t want to be an insensitive cynic who expects an already grief-stricken family to play to my whims of giving Krugel a fake hair sample or two to test his claims while they just want to find thir loved one, but I have now suggested exactly that, in the hope that some good can come of this tragedy. Problem is that people who have just lost a loved one have a very different idea of what “good” means, and unmasking a fraud to save future families in the same situation from false hope and heartachhe is understandably low on their list. This said, I still feel that they need to know the facts, and if they still choose to continue on the Krugel route, to have at least a little doubt and perhaps a willingness to test him by providing a fake sample or two.
So, what I am trying to get to is to ask any of you who feel that you are willing to put your name to this, to comment on the wall of the Facebook group, and reinforce my arguments against and suggestions for unmansking Krugel. Winters’ direct family members manage, read and respond to posts made there, and I’ve already had at least one response that lists daniekrugelfacts.com as their source of confidence in his claims. I don’t think the family will appreciate it now, but if it works, it will be a great day for logic, reason, science and future victims.
Oi, this is a tough one. As bad as I want DK to be exposed for the fraud that he is, I don’t think this is the way to do it. I would imagine that taking part in an experiment or test would be furthest from their mind atm. Unless they approach someone, I think it should be left there. The most we can do is try to make sure that they are aware that daniekrugelfacts is his own propaganda site and that he and his fake DNA detector is not in the least as successful in finding people as he tries to make us believe.
As you said, they want to hear positive things and to believe that DK can find Kerry. A few people telling them otherwise is not what they want to hear right now. I believe pushing it too much could hurt our position more than it can help it. Maybe the best thing to do is to put them in contact with some of the previous families that were conned by DK. Maybe their experiences will be more persuasive.
That said, I am glad you brought it up. They might not really care about what some skeptics think, but maybe they do care about any future families that might get hurt and taken advantage of by DK.
I haven’t read all the posts in the FB group, but I will go through it later…
I have to agree - much as I want to help expose the schmuck (and am all for what you have done on your blog) this is the wrong way to go about it. They have much bigger issues to worry about, and they are right when they say they have nothing to lose (tho you could argue they may get false hope, but that’s their decision). He will likely add this to his list of failures without your help, and we’ll have another fail to add to the list.
I don’t quite agree that they have nothing to lose. Apart from the emotional anguish it can cause, they will spend time and resources on chasing after DK, instead of using it on something useful.
What follows may be redundant for having already occurred – the Facebook link is blocked to me.
I must echo and reinforce the generally evident sentiment here that Danie Krügel needs to be exposed for the fraud, variously delusional fool, he no doubt is. Rather than effectively issuing an overt challenge in the present circumstance, I think it might be better to point up Krügel’s failures one at a time and repeatedly. The general feeling will, I expect, be against a rational approach because woo-woos proverbially think with their hearts rather than their heads, and there’s a really good chance that the message of rationality will be ignored and dismissed as “destroying hope.” Such emotion is both inimical and impervious to reason.
Thanks for the responses, and yes, after sleeping on it I do feel that I crossed a line in directly proposing a test for Krugel. I have, however planted that seed and cannot ‘unplant’ it, but will not push the issue any further.
What I still feel strongly about is that they should be made aware of the facts, and I have contacted one person who was willing to talk about DK in the past and asked if they would be willing to speak to Winter’s family. I’m not going to push from my side, as this will no doubt be perceived very negatively if I continue.
OK, all that being said, does anybody here have any idea on how to expose Krugel, without interfering in some highly emotional case? These are the only ones he ever gets involved in, no doubt for exactly the reasons we have discussed in the previous 5 posts: When dealing with highly emotional people grasping at straws, there’s little chance of them questioning you, and the skeptics will stay away out of respect.A nice little catch-22 for people like us who want to see him exposed. This is part of why I took the step of proposing the test to them, as I really cannot see any other way.
I agree unreservedly. Perhaps the best way would be to collate a short one or two page overview report covering three main issues: (1) the sheer implausibility of the physics of Krügel’s claims; (2) his claimed successes and why they probably are false or exaggerated or have a more prosaic explanation, and (3) his manifest failures. To add to its weight, the report should carry the signature of one or other university’s physics authority, before handing it to Winter’s family for their consideration.
In an earlier post, I made reference to the relative ease, as compared to the rest of the world, with which patents can be filed in SA, and that Krügel had been reported as being in the process of doing so for his KTT device. The gist of it is that in SA patent law, questions of originality, effectiveness and uniqueness are left open for settlement by litigation. This curiosity presents an opening for someone, possibly a group, with the appropriate wherewithal to file a very similar patent and then, once granted, either wait to be sued by Krügel or to sue him first for patent infringement. The ensuing court case will show who’s lying because then Krügel will have no choice but to demonstrate that his machine does as he claims. We, that is Dr 'Luthon64 and I, would be more than willing to contribute to such an initiative.
Amid the confusion and turmoil of Kerry Winters’ disappearance in Dubai, Danie Krügel has retained his newly-awarded status of “academic.” Newly-awarded, that is, through a careless and unverified assumption, possibly a deliberate fabrication, on the part of a reporter, one that has gone unchecked by a subeditor, who collaboratively have ensured that Krügel’s transition from security officer to academic must rank among the very fastest on record.
To the best of my knowledge, this is the second time this untruth has appeared in print. In turn, that means it has now become an ironclad fact and will be repeated in perpetuity as such because, after all, there are now two citable references for it.
After reading the link provided by 'Luthon64, I decided to check for an email address to send a letter correcting the report and found this at the bottom of the page:-
Independent Newspapers subscribes to the South African Press Code that prescribes news that is truthful, accurate, fair and balanced. If we don't live up to the Code please contact the Press Ombudsman at 011 788 4837 or 011 788 4829.
Perhaps we should send letters to the Press Ombudsman about the inaccuracies in the article seeing that emailing the newspaper itself doesn’t seem to produce any results.
The SA press ombudsman’s e-mail address is [email protected]. We have already despatched a complaint with links to both IOL articles in which the error appears.
Danie Krügel’s standing as an “academic” was amended today. The two stories apparently originated with The Mercury and were snapped up by other news agencies and newspapers. The following rider was appended to each article:
- For the Record: In this story Danie Krugel, director of security services at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, is referred to as an academic. It has been pointed out this is not an academic position. The error is regretted.
I am wondering if Danie Krügel’s involvement in the Madeline McCann case will be mentioned in this upcoming documentary. It is based on the book published by ex-detective Goncalo Amaral who has long accused Maddie’s parents of involvement in the disappearance of their daughter. It may be that Krügel’s involvement will be framed within the conspiracy that the McCann’s were pretending to co-operate with the investigation but knew that Danie Krügel would not be able to shed any light on the case.
Meanwhile, Carte Blanche remains unrepentant and continues to avoid acknowledging valid criticism over the ill-conceived Danie Krügel/Gert van Rooyen embarrassment.
The tone of the final paragraph seems to herald a change in the media’s take on Krügel and his marvellous person-locating machine, but maybe it’s just that this particular journalist has done her homework more diligently. Or maybe she’s less tolerant of woo-woo. We’ll see.
Did anyone catch Carte Blanche yesterday? I saw the show advertised with an insert of Krügel, but could not watch it. Looked like much of the same uncritical reporting that we are used to from CB. Although I hope I’m wrong…
