But Silver, a psychic from Saint Augustine, Fla., says when she predicted in the show's 100th episode that one of Richard's science experiments would "blow up" in his face, she never dreamed he would involve Falcon in an elaborate alleged hoax involving the flight of a helium-filled balloon seen by TV viewers around the globe.

While appearing with him on the reality show, Silver says Richard's kids were aware of his propensity for yelling. Once, she recalls, after Richard screamed at her, she says Bradford, the 11-year-old, came up to her and said, "'My Dad can really yell, can't he?'"

And Silver says he had high expectations of Mayumi. "He kept saying, 'Mayumi does it, you should do it,'" recalls Silver, who says she tried making him his "space eggs" – yolks on top of the egg white – just like Mayumi. When Silver cut into the yolk with her knife and fork, Richard yelled, "Oh my God. You just killed the mother ship."

"He wasn't very nice to me," says Silver, noting that he threw milk on her during the show. "But ... I don't think he would be physically abusive."