The ancient art of divining has been misunderstood and condemned throughout history, mainly because it could not be explained how by divining one could find out in great detail about people and places and very often distances make no difference. Many in the medical profession and all major religions have now accepted divining as long as it is for the good of mankind, and so it can be in many ways.

In 1959 Verne Cameron, a Californian dowser demonstrated to the amazement of Vice Admiral Maurice E Curtis and his fellow officers in the US Navy that he could accurately locate the position and depth of the submarines in the Pacific and distinguish between US and Russian submarines. Years later Cameron applied for a passport and was refused as the Navy contacted the CIA who considered him a security risk.

The British Army has used dowsing to find land mines in the Falklands and the Gulf. The US marines in Vietnam were trained to dowse for booby traps and sunken mortar shells.

Rooche the international pharmaceutical company has used diviners to search sites for the vast quantities of water needed in chemical production when questioned on the unscientific value of dowsing they said "we are not concerned with scientific status only with results and the dowsing for water in 100% reliable".