Perhaps the failure of such experiments can be solely blamed on incidences of human error or bold-faced prevarication. But surely such concerns shouldn’t be a factor when mechanical equipment is employed for aura reading. Throughout a history various tools have been developed to aid in the objective measurement of auras.

In the early 20^th century, Walter John Kilner, a medical electrician at London’s St. Thomas Hospital invented various devices to facilitate auric observance with the naked eye. The most famous of these inventions was the Kilner Goggle. These devices utilized a glass screen, treated with alcohol-based dye solutions of various colors, including a distinctly violet colored coal-tar dye called “dicyanin“. In addition to their peculiar shading, these screens also made users temporarily short-sighted; which fits in well with Rosicrucian Order AMORC’s insistence that aura reading be done through clouded eyes. According to Kilner these screens allowed humans to perceive radiation which fell outside the normal visible spectrum of light, which is where he suspected that the aura originated.

Interestingly, Kilner made sure to disavow any association with any occult groups when his invention began to gain popularity amongst spiritualist circles. Kilner believed that auras were a wholly natural phenomenon with no supernatural basis whatsoever. For Kilner, these unique dicyanin screens were simply tools for medical prognosis, like X-Rays or cardiograms. However, attempts made by the British Medical Journal to replicate Kilner’s success with the invention provided no evidence in support of his theories. 

Undeterred by clear scientific evidence to the contrary, esoteric publications continued to advertise Kilner’s Goggles well after the inventor’s death in 1920.