A top Irish medium may be giving George Clooney a run for his money, claiming that he can stop a goat's heart by staring at it, just like the heartthrob's character does in his latest film.

The actor's new movie, The Men Who Stare At Goats, focuses on an elite group of soldiers who can stop an animal's heart with one look.

Now psychic Tom Colton is suggesting that the average person could do the same if they really focused.

Mr Colton decided to conduct the experiment after learning of the new film, although he said he could not go through with stopping an animal's heart entirely for fear of killing it.

"It was described as a film based on a true story, where the military used paranormal skills to do this, but the goat we used was too friendly, we didn't want to hurt it.

"Humans only use a tiny fraction of their brains, and who knows what we could be capable of if we used our entire brain.

"The power of the mind is very strong and there is no reason to say we couldn't do this," he told the Herald.

Mr Colton explained that we could all train our minds to do exactly what we want, if we concentrated hard enough.

"Humans can train their minds to do different things the same way we can train animals to do different things.

"The magician David Blaine stopped his own heart last year, so it can be done.

"I never put my mind to sitting down and doing this, but I certainly could. I'm not encouraging anyone to try this, but anything is possible," he said.

Mr Colton has been working as a medium for the past number of years and he said that we could all harness our psychic energy to stop any object from moving.

He said that during his readings, he encourages people to meditate and it is through this level of intense relaxation that our minds are more open to the unusual.

"If you focus your mind at one thing, and are quiet and completely relaxed, you will be more open to it.

"When I do a reading for someone, they feel the energy of their loved one passing through them. The person even moves their fingers and hands for them.

"For 85pc of the people, it works the first time. The other 15pc are usually just very stressed and distracted," he said.

According to Mr Colton, this large percentage of people are obviously more relaxed and therefore more capable of harnessing their psychic potential -- and giving goats the lethal stare.

He is currently in the middle of his national 'Feel the Spirit' tour, playing in Blanchardstown tonight.

hnews@herald.ie

- Caitlin McBride