Ability to discern objects or persons not perceptible to the senses or to be aware of events that occur beyond the range of ordinary perception.
The alleged ability to be aware of events that occur at a distance without receiving any sensory information concerning those events.
A type of paranormal or psychic phenomenon that manifests itself in keenness of mental perception instant insight. It is derived directly from an external object or event rather than from the mind of another who is observing it, as in mind reading. Clairvoyance views the happening at the time of the event and not before the occurrence, as in precognition, or after the event, as in retrocognition.
Clairvoyants believe themselves to have extrasensory perception (ESP), which enables them to obtain, either empirically or by rational inference, information that is not available to the senses or to others. Some psychics claim to be able to see, and even scan over, distant places while sitting quietly and closing their eyes. This ability is called remote viewing and has been subjected to close scrutiny by the military because of its potential use in mapping enemy territory; the idea was dropped when nothing useful was found. Psychic research that used clairvoyants to identify cards in sealed envelopes or that presented them with special ESP cards bearing five different symbols have all failed to establish conclusively the existence of psychics’ special gifts.