# Henry Belk Henry Belk was a department store tycoon and a wealthy benefactor of [[Andrija Puharich]]'s research into [[Extrasensory Perception|ESP]] and other anomalous mental phenomena. He was part of the elite circle of individuals who supported the [[Round Table Foundation]] in Maine[^1]. Belk was one of the wealthy individuals who joined the [[Round Table Foundation]], flying to Maine in his private jet for foundation meetings. His financial contributions helped keep the foundation afloat, particularly after it gained prestige from its affiliation with [[Samuel Rosen]]'s groundbreaking surgical procedure[^1]. In the spring of 1956, Belk happened upon a *Paris Match* magazine article profiling [[Peter Hurkos]], a Dutch psychic who was gaining fame in Europe. Belk's idea was to bring Hurkos to the [[Round Table Foundation]] to be tested in the lab, which he did in the fall of 1956[^1]. In early 1963, Belk arrived at Puharich's Ossining estate with an enticing research proposition centered on [[Arigo]], a psychic healer in the jungles of Brazil who reportedly performed major surgeries with a pocketknife without anesthesia or pain. Puharich, eager to pursue this, left for Brazil with Belk, a decision that led to [[Bep Hermans]] and their children leaving him[^1]. ### Footnotes [^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.