Psychic future: what next for the ‘precog economy’?

Precognition is the claimed paranormal ability to predict the future - and is widely considered to be pseudoscience. Why, then, is the US psychic industry worth $2bn a year?

Deep in the night of 29 January 2012, Fatih Ozcan had an unusual dream. Then 27, and a waiter in a Turkish restaurant in York, Ozcan dreamed he was holding "loads of cash" while standing in front of his boss. When he arrived at the restaurant for his 5pm shift the next day, he was impatient to speak with his employer. "I was saying: 'Where is he? I need him.' I was telling everyone I had to play the lottery with the boss," Ozcan says. After two hours of pestering, Ozcan's boss agreed to play. Two days later, the winning EuroMillions numbers were drawn - the pair won 1m.

"I've had loads of dreams that have become true, but they were little things, like travelling somewhere or having a nice day," he says. Ozcan was certain this dream was prophetic and that he and his boss would win money together, because a month earlier he prayed for wealth for the first time. "My boss and my colleagues didn't believe it, but I believed it and that's why I pressured him for hours."

It's a bit like seeing a memory of a place you have never been before

Those who buy into the precog economy don't like to publicise the fact - police forces prefer to keep quiet about it