Psychometry

Psychometry is the ability to sense the impression of past events, thoughts or emotions: the stronger the emotion, the clearer the psychic impression. Traditionally, people using psychometry touch an object and have an image of the past of that object come into their mind. It has something of the quality of time travel.

Professor Clegg demonstrated his psychic powers for the Doctor by using psychometry on the sonic screwdriver and a crystal taken from Metebelis III. In the first instance he saw Drashigs. On the second instance, the images of the Eight Legs frightened Clegg so much that he died of heart failure. (DW: Planet of the Spiders)


 * Natural psychometry may have a relationship to clairvoyance and time sensitivity.

Though inanimate, the Ghost Machine functioned in a similar way. The past-reading half of the machine (the other part relayed images from the future) amplified the quantum "record" of past events to such a degree that the user could hear and see them as if experiencing them directly. (TW: Ghost Machine)