So begins Jeffrey Mishlove's The PK Man, the true and strange story of Ted Owens, whose claims of powerful psychokinetic abilities given to him by "Space Intelligences" were too bizarre and extreme for many to believe. When these claims were ignored or challenged, he purportedly used his powers to produce earthquakes, civil unrest, UFO sightings, strange weather events, and other powerful phenomena. Owens even threatened to down aircraft to garner attention.

Was there any truth to Owens' abilities, or was he a fraud with a knack for picking the times and places of catastrophes? Jeffrey...