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Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, to be presented by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry at the CFI Summit in October. </p> </dd> </dl> </div> <div id="content"> <div class="showall"><form action=""><input type="checkbox" id="showallarticles" checked="checked"/><span>Show Print-Only Articles</span></form></div> <h2>Joe Nickell</h2> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/member_photos/photo_6049.jpg" width="75" height="100" class="right bordered" alt="Joe Nickell's photo"/> <p>Joe Nickell, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and "Investigative Files" Columnist for <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">Skeptical Inquirer</span>. A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including <cite>Inquest on the Shroud of Turin</cite> (1998), <cite>Pen, Ink and Evidence</cite> (2003), <cite>Unsolved History</cite> (2005) and <cite>Adventures in Paranormal Investigation</cite> (2007). He has appeared in many television documentaries and has been profiled in <cite>The New Yorker</cite> and on NBC's <cite>Today Show</cite>. His personal website is at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.joenickell.com/">joenickell.com</a>.</p> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/bigfoot_as_big_myth_seven_phases_of_mythmaking">Bigfoot as Big Myth: Seven Phases of Mythmaking</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.5">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.5, September/October 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/feature">Feature</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/bigfoot_as_big_myth_seven_phases_of_mythmaking"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/uploads/images/si/bigfoot-sighting_thumb.jpg" alt="Bigfoot as Big Myth: Seven Phases of Mythmaking"/></a> </div> <p><p> The hairy man-beast known as the “Sasquatch” or “Bigfoot” is now ever present in North American culture. Supposedly a throwback to our evolutionary past, it is an “ape-man” version of us just as the little-bodied, big-headed, humanoid extraterrestrial is a futuristic one. </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/st._padre_pios_relics_tour_u._s">St. Padre Pio’s Relics Tour U. S.</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">October 23, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> Relics of Padre Pio—the late, alleged stigmatic—attracted the credulous faithful during two tours of the United States in 2017. The show was apparently good for business everywhere. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/marshall_a_nickell-odeon_review">“Marshall”: A Nickell-odeon Review</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">October 17, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> If one views <em>Marshall</em> (2017) with the expectation that it will depict the lifetime of its subject—Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), the civil rights stalwart—one may be surprised (as I was) but not disappointed. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/riddleculous_xv">RIDDLEculous XV</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">October 10, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p>More funny riddles from a skeptical view.</p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/bigfoot_eyeshine_a_contradiction">Bigfoot Eyeshine: A Contradiction</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">September 28, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> The fabled North American man-beast, Bigfoot, continues to draw interest after two centuries of searching—despite the lack of a specimen and an utter absence of fossil evidence. Proponents continue to rely on such questioned evidence as photos and films, footprints, hair specimens, and the like. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/sarsaparilla_for_syphilis">Sarsaparilla for Syphilis?</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">September 22, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/sarsparilla_thumb.jpg" alt="Sarsaparilla for Syphilis?"/> </div> <p> I recently acquired an old sarsaparilla bottle, its label stating that it was intended for medical treatment of such diseases as “chronic rheumatism,” “obstinate cutaneous eruptions,” and “syphilitic conditions.” It was to be used orally, not topically. Yes, this is the same sarsaparilla long used as an herbal tea and tonic that evolved into a health drink before finally becoming a soda pop similar to root beer (Nickell 2011). </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/vexed_by_vaxxed">Vexed by “Vaxxed”</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">September 13, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/vexedbyvaxxed_thumb.jpg" alt="Vexed by “Vaxxed”"/> </div> <p> I am long familiar with the anti-vaccination “movement” (a conspiracy-theory cult based on a hoax), but it nevertheless came home to me recently. Literally. A black bus with the word <em>Vaxxed</em> in 4-foot-high letters parked a stone’s throw from CFI headquarters in Amherst, NY. (No, I didn’t throw a stone.) </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/response_to_fake_news_on_climate_change_in_the_federalist">Response to Fake News on Climate Change in “The Federalist”</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">September 6, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> “Prominent Debunker Shows Himself Gullible to Al Gore’s Unsupported Climate Shilling,” read the headline in <em>The Federalist</em>, August 29, 2017 (Gleason 2017a). Why, they were talking about <em>moi</em>! </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/h._david_sox_19362016">H. David Sox (1936–2016)</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">August 25, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> H. David Sox—a onetime advocate for the Shroud of Turin who was later persuaded it was a fake and went on to delve into other art forgeries—has died. He and I knew each other only slightly but respected each other’s work, and I am deeply saddened by his loss. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single unavailable"> <div class="printonly"><p>Available in the Print Edition. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://csi-store.myshopify.com/">Subscribe Here.</a></p></div><h4 class="authorpage">Australia’s Storied Ghosts</h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.5">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.5, September/October 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/investigative_files">Investigative Files</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p><p> </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/an_inconvenient_sequel_a_nickell-odeon_review">“An Inconvenient Sequel”:  A Nickell-odeon Review</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">August 17, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> Al Gore’s<em> An Inconvenient Truth</em> (2006)—his powerful documentary on global warming—justly helped earn him the Nobel Peace Prize of 2007. Now comes his <em>An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power</em>, an engrossing presentation of power-point slides and video footage that updates the dynamics of planetary weather change. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/jonbenet_murder_mystery_solved_not_by_psychics">JonBenet Murder Mystery Solved? (Not by Psychics)</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.4">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.4, July/August 2017</a></h5><br/> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/jonbenet_murder_mystery_solved_not_by_psychics"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/uploads/images/si/ramsey-parents_thumb.jpg" alt="JonBenet Murder Mystery Solved? (Not by Psychics)"/></a> </div> <p><p> The death of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey went unsolved for two decades.  Psychics were worse than useless, but the author’s proposed solution resulted from evaluating the best evidence.  </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/haunted_buffalo_asylum">Haunted Buffalo Asylum</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">August 10, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/buffaloasylum_thumb.jpg" alt="Haunted Buffalo Asylum"/> </div> <p> Among Western New York’s allegedly most haunted sites stands the architecturally acclaimed H.H. Richardson complex, begun in 1871 and opened in 1880 as the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane. Its two 185-foot towers rose from a four-story structure originally flanked on either side by five stepped wards, with its female wing being completed in 1895. Based on the humanitarian philosophy of Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, the asylum was intended to provide curative hospitalization for the mentally ill. Crowded by a surge in patients, its occupancy was eventually exceeded by the thousands. In 1927 half the grounds were lost to a college, and more were claimed by modern buildings in the late 1960s. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/murder_by_darkness_does_mammoth_caves_specter_harbor_a_secret">Murder by Darkness: Does Mammoth Cave’s Specter Harbor a Secret?</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.4">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.4, July/August 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/investigative_files">Investigative Files</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/murder_by_darkness_does_mammoth_caves_specter_harbor_a_secret"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/uploads/images/si/mammoth-caves-nickell_thumb.jpg" alt="Murder by Darkness: Does Mammoth Cave’s Specter Harbor a Secret?"/></a> </div> <p><p> Joe Nickell solves the case of an unlikely ghost, hidden in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/turin_shroud_blood_still_fake">Turin Shroud: “Blood” Still Fake</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">July 28, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> “New research,” reports the Catholic News Agency (July 14, 2017), indicates that the “Shroud of Turin Bears Blood of a Torture Victim.” Actually, it was the research that was tortuous: questionable science in the service of confirmation bias. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/cartoon_obamacare_repeal">Cartoon: Obamacare Repeal</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">July 21, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/ObamacareRepeal_thumb.jpg" alt="Cartoon: Obamacare Repeal"/> </div> <p>Artwork by Joe Nickell.</p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/eclectic_medicine">Eclectic Medicine</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">July 7, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> In nineteenth century America, a number of what today are called “alternative” medical practices—“magnetic healing” (hypnosis), homeopathy, and eclecticism, among others—vied with each other and with regular or “old school” medicine—i.e., allopathy, today’s science-based medicine. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single unavailable"> <div class="printonly"><p>Available in the Print Edition. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://csi-store.myshopify.com/">Subscribe Here.</a></p></div><h4 class="authorpage">The Bigfoot Obsession</h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.4">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.4, July/August 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/book_review">Review</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p><p> </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/barkers_nerve_and_bone_liniment">Barker’s Nerve and Bone Liniment</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">June 19, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/Barkersnerveliniment_thumb.jpg" alt="Barker’s Nerve and Bone Liniment"/> </div> <p> Barker’s Nerve and Bone Liniment was a proprietary medicine introduced by Thomas Barker in Philadelphia in 1859. It was intended for both man and beast. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/multipurpose_florida_water">Multipurpose “Florida Water”</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">June 1, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/florida_water_thumb.jpg" alt="Multipurpose “Florida Water”"/> </div> <p> “Florida Water”—popular through most of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth—was neither water nor a product of Florida. It had a surprising number of uses, medicinal and otherwise. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/the_new_zealand_moa_from_extinct_bird_to_cryptid">The New Zealand Moa: From Extinct Bird to Cryptid</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/archive/category/sb_27.1">Skeptical Briefs Volume 27.1, Spring 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/archive/category/sb_investigative_files">Investigative Files</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/the_new_zealand_moa_from_extinct_bird_to_cryptid"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/uploads/images/si/SB-Sp2017-Nickell1_thumb.png" alt="The New Zealand Moa: From Extinct Bird to Cryptid"/></a> </div> <p><p>Cryptids are of two types: either (1) unknown species, such as Bigfoot or at one time the Mountain Gorilla; or (2) known species that supposedly become extinct but may have survived and could be rediscovered. </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/globster_mysteries">“Globster” Mysteries</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">May 22, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> Cryptozoologists call them “globsters”—great decaying masses usually seen when they wash ashore somewhere. The unidentified carcasses are typically called “sea monsters”—until science determines their true identity. Such a creature—a 50-foot leviathan—appeared on an Indonesian island beach in early May 2017. The rotting corpse was first thought to be that of a giant squid (the “Kraken” of sea lore). </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/mouth_elixir_bell-shaped_dr._bell_bottle">“Mouth Elixir”: Bell-shaped Dr. Bell Bottle</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">May 11, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/mouthelixir_thumb.jpg" alt="“Mouth Elixir”: Bell-shaped Dr. Bell Bottle"/> </div> <p> This distinctive bell-shaped bottle (see photo) is embossed on its bottom, “DR. V. C. BELL’S MOUTH ELIXIR.” What on earth was that? </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/some_queensland_mysteries">Some Queensland Mysteries</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.3">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.3, May/June 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/investigative_files">Investigative Files</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/some_queensland_mysteries"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/uploads/images/si/SI-41.3-Nickell1_thumb.png" alt="Some Queensland Mysteries"/></a> </div> <p><p>Strange mysteries may be found almost anywhere, but they seem especially plentiful and interesting in Australia. </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/televangelist_hinn_investigatedagain">Televangelist Hinn Investigated—Again</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">May 5, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> Benny Hinn—the televangelist who talks with God and knocks people down by merely pointing at them—is being investigated for fraud and tax evasion, following a raid executed by a search warrant on April 26, 2017. I am not surprised. He is full of tricks. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/the_lost_city_of_z_a_nickell-odeon_review">“The Lost City of Z”: A Nickell-odeon Review</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">April 28, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> <em>The Lost City of Z</em> is the story of an alleged indigenous city in Brazil’s Amazon, its name given by British soldier, surveyor, and explorer Col. Percy Fawcett who sought to prove its reality. To understand Fawcett’s quest, we must see it in the context of such myths generally, which—pursued from the fifteenth century—helped lead to the development of archaeology. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/stellers_sea_ape_identifying_an_eighteenth-century_cryptid">Steller’s Sea Ape:  Identifying an Eighteenth-Century Cryptid</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/archive/category/sb_26.4">Skeptical Briefs Volume 26.4, Winter 2016/2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/sb/archive/category/sb_investigative_files">Investigative Files</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p><p>Since its appearance in 1741, a mysterious creature has remained controversial—a so-called “sea monkey” that puzzled naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller. </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/ghost_orbs_at_the_witchs_barn">Ghost “Orbs” at the Witch’s Barn</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">April 24, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/images/blog_images/ghostorbs_thumb.jpg" alt="Ghost “Orbs” at the Witch’s Barn"/> </div> <p> Many ghost hunters insist that “orbs”—strange balls of light that mysteriously appear in their photos—are a form of “spirit energy.” If so, they seem nowhere more evident than at a Rhode Island barn where, according to some sources, two persons were hanged, including a witch named Bathsheba. She was central to the horror film, <em>The Conjuring</em>, reportedly based on the case files of the infamous Ed and Lorraine Warren, self-styled “demonologist” and “clairvoyant” who made a career of scaring people with made-up demons. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/miracle_tableau_knock_ireland_1879">Miracle Tableau: Knock, Ireland, 1879</a></h4> <h5><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.2">Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41.2, March/April 2017</a></h5><br/> <h5 class="type"><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/investigative_files">Investigative Files</a></h5> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="thumbnail thumbleft"> <a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/miracle_tableau_knock_ireland_1879"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/uploads/images/si/SI-41.2-Nickell_thumb.png" alt="Miracle Tableau: Knock, Ireland, 1879"/></a> </div> <p><p>The ability to see pictures in random forms—as in clouds, tea leaves, and inkblots—is known as <em>pareidolia</em>... Some publicized examples I have made pilgrimages to examine include the face of Jesus in the skillet burns of a tortilla… </p></p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="article-single"> <h4 class="authorpage"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog/the_conjuring_double_bombshell">“The Conjuring” Double Bombshell</a></h4> <h5 class="type"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blog">Free Thinking</a> (centerforinquiry.net)</h5> <h5 class="date">April 11, 2017</h5> <div class="clear"></div> <p> The author of the book that launched <em>The Conjuring</em> franchise (two main horror films and spin-offs based on the work of two notorious paranormal investigators) has now launched a double bombshell. He is suing the movies’ producers for allegedly violating his rights, while also stating that central claims in the movies are bogus. </p> <p> </p> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <p>Page 1 of 22 pages  <strong>1</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.csicop.org/http://www.csicop.org/author/joenickell/index.php/P30/">2</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.csicop.org/http://www.csicop.org/author/joenickell/index.php/P60/">3</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.csicop.org/http://www.csicop.org/author/joenickell/index.php/P30/">></a>  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/http://www.csicop.org/http://www.csicop.org/author/joenickell/index.php/P630/">Last »</a></p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div id="footer"> <a name="footer"></a> <img src="/web/20171027203740im_/https://www.csicop.org/img/csi-logo-new.png" alt="CSI logo" style="display:none"/> <div id="about"> <h2><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/https://www.csiciop.org/about/about_csi">About</a></h2> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/contact">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/csicop/">Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/csi_fellows_and_staff/">CSI Fellows and Staff</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/donate_to_csi/">Donate to CSI</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/policy_on_hostile_conduct_harassment_at_conferences/">Policy on Hostile Conduct/Harassment at Conferences</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/privacy_policy/">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/about/the_pantheon_of_skeptics/">The Pantheon of Skeptics</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="resources"> <h2><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/resources">Resources</a></h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/https://csi-store.myshopify.com/">CSI Store</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/resources/us_organizations">Skeptical Organizations in the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/resources/international_organizations">International Network of Skeptical Organizations</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/outreach/branches">Centers for Inquiry</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/https://www.centerforinquiry.net/forums" rel="external">CFI Forums</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="publications"> <h2><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/publications">Publications</a></h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171027203740/https://csi-store.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/si">Subscribe</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si">Skeptical Inquirer</a> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive">Archive</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/si/archive/category/volume_41.5">Latest Issue</a></li> </ul></li>  <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles">Special Articles</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/publications/guide/">Guide for Authors</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="news" style="border:none;"> <h2><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/news">News</a></h2> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20171027203740/https://www.csicop.org/news">Recent Announcements</a></li> </ul> </div> <p class="legal">Content copyright <acronym title="Committee for Skeptical Inquiry">CSI</acronym> or the respective copyright holders. 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