I Don't Believe In Astrology

On April 16, 1968, an ad appeared in a Paris newspaper offering a free 10-page personalized horoscope and personality profile to the paper's readers. All they had to do was send in their name, address, date and place of birth, and then provide feedback on the accuracy of their individual charts.

150 people of various astrological signs responded to the ad.

How accurate did the respondents believe their reading was after viewing it?

A whopping 94% reported that their horoscope was either “very accurate” or “extremely accurate”.

What they didn't know is that everyone who replied to the ad received the exact same chart.

Another thing they didn't know is that the horoscope was that of lifelong criminal and serial killer Marcel Petiot, who was convicted of murdering 26 people and suspected of murdering a total of 60 or more individuals.

The person who had the ad placed in the newspaper was French psychologist and statistician Michel Gauquelin. It was one of several tests concerning astrology that he and his wife Francoise conducted.

In an earlier experiment, Gauquelin asked a "professional" astrologer to cast a horoscope for him, but provided another individual's birthdate instead of his own.

The reading was very positive:

"[His] instinctive warmth is allied with intellect and wit ... He is endowed with a moral sense which is comforting - that of a worthy, right-thinking citizen ... [whose] life finds expression in total devotion to others ..."

The birthdate and other info provided by Gauquelin was that of the aforementioned serial killer, Marcel Petiot.