In February, a book written by Alejandro Borgo, CFI/Argentina’s Director, called “¿Te atrevés a ser libre?” (Do You Dare To Be Free?) was published, which deals mainly with individual freedom and its restrictions regarding Church and State issues. Ronald Lindsay and Ron Dultz’s articles published in Free Inquiry magazine, “Freedom of Thought” and “The Individual and Individual Rights” respectively, and Stephen Law’s book Believing Bullshit, are quoted in Borgo’s book. There is also a chapter that deals with gurus and pseudoscience and how these issues restrict our freedom.

As CFI/Argentina does every year, we started 2012 with our course “Beliefs, Pseudoscience and Critical Thinking” which was given during May and June. It was held at the Scientific Society of Argentina, Buenos Aires, and its main content is the role that beliefs, pseudoscience, and critical thinking play in our daily life.

Alejandro Borgo took part in a series of more than thirty television shows that dealt with a New Age guru’s promoter and host of New Age focused TV and radio programs named Claudio María Domínguez. Claudio was the center of a scandal after being interrupted at one of his lectures by a young man who asked him about a guru he has been promoting, called “Maestro Amor” (Master Love), and who had been charged of sexual abuse by the Argentine Justice.

Here are some of the shows mentioned, for Spanish-speaking people:

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: ¿Espiritualidad o negocio?
Las dos caras de Claudio María Domínguez
Claudio María Domínguez y sectas
Claudio María Domínguez y sectas al descubierto
San La Muerte
El “profeta” Kropp, entrevista a Alejandro Borgo

There was also another series of TV shows that dealt with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, an Indian guru, who came to Argentina with the support of the city government of Buenos Aires. His foundation, called “The Art of Living,” is giving courses in “breathing” and meditation. Alejandro Borgo took part in several debates where he exposed the dubious methods that the guru uses and the lack of evidence about the benefits he claims for his breathing techniques and meditation.

In August, Alejandro Borgo represented CFI/Argentina at a lecture organized by the magazine “Psicología Positiva,” about self-esteem and how to deal with our fears, where he exposed how critical thinking can help us to deal with these subjects.

Borgo at the lecture organized by Psicología Positiva magazine.

Attendants at the lecture on self-esteem and how to deal with our fears.

We are continuing with our page in Facebook, called “Pasan Cosas Raras” (Weird Things Happen) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pasan-Cosas-Raras/215145385185602, where people are being informed about pseudoscience, charlatans, and the activities of CFI/Argentina.

On September 28, Alejandro Borgo represented CFI/Argentina at the exhibition “San Luis Digital,” carried on in the province of San Luis, Argentina. He held a lecture for teachers and professors about critical thinking and education. Video of the lecture is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rInQyPmLKTk.

Alejandro Borgo and Angélica Requelme (moderator) at San Luis Digital lecture on education and critical thinking.

Borgo at his lecture “Education and Critical Thinking” in San Luis Digital exhibition.

Finally we have started with a blog in our website, www.cfiargentina.org, titled “Cosas raras” which is now being constructed.

In May and September, I took part in a series of television shows that dealt with several pseudoscientific and supernatural subjects: miracles, predictions, faith healing, sects, haunted houses, apocalypses, UFOs, and subliminal perception. Here are some links to watch these shows:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUb6xK57VAM
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JueXlcmrIjA
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6LbTrpOlX0
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaz3N-GaJKY
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns9X6lHCtJA
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIyDyAp-gtg

These shows had a huge impact on the audience and garnered other media for us. After these episodes aired, the number of fans of our newly launched Facebook page, “Pasan Cosas Raras” (“Weird Things Happen”), increased from 300 to more than 1300. Available at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pasan-Cosas-Raras/215145385185602, the page keeps our fans informed about pseudoscience, charlatans, and the activities of CFI–Argentina.

On July 20, we organized Thinking Friends Day, where attendants enjoyed talking about skepticism and pseudoscience, taking part in “Ouija board sessions,” and watching demonstrations of “spoon bending” that caught the attention of the many skeptics in attendance. It was a very amusing meeting.

CFI–Argentina members and friends during Thinking Friends Day, July 20, 2011.

September 9–11, the Third National Congress on Atheism in Argentina was held in Mar del Plata. I had the honor of representing CFI–Argentina during this event and I also had the chance to say some words about our main goal of combating pseudoscience: the battle is going to be carried on in the media. So we must train people, especially young people, about how to best meet that goal.

Alejandro J. Borgo and Fernando Lozada, chairman of Atheists of Mar del Plata Association, at the CFI–Argentina stand at the Third National Congress on Atheism in Argentina.

After the Third National Congress on Atheism, CFI–Argentina organized a lecture by philosopher and CSI Fellow Mario Bunge, titled “Pseudoscience and Pseudophilosophy.” On September 15, more than 100 attendants had the chance to ask Bunge questions after the lecture. Many audience members asked questions that Mario Bunge answered with his usual spontaneous style. For example, to the question “What is your main challenge in life?” he answered, “To live!” Bunge answered questions on democracy, politics, religion, psychology, philosophy, and other issues.

Alejandro J. Borgo, Mario Bunge, and journalist Alejandro Agostinelli at the Scientific Society of Argentina, Buenos Aires, September 15, 2011.

Alejandro Agostinelli, Mario Bunge, and Alejandro J. Borgo during the lecture “Pseudoscience and Pseudophilosophy.”

During November 2011, another event organized by CFI–Argentina with two more lectures was held at the Scientific Society of Argentina. Círculo Escéptico Argentino (Argentinian Skeptical Circle) and ArgAtea (an atheist national organization in Argentina) cosponsored the event, “Charlatanism and Science.” I had the honor of giving the first talk titled “Astrology, Parapsychology and Alternative Medicine: Plain Charlatanism.” The second lecture was given by Mariana Bentosela, who discussed myths about the communication between dogs and humans.

Alejandro J. Borgo during his lecture “Astrology, Parasychology and Alternative Medicine: Plain Charlatanism.”

“Charlatanism and Science,” a series of lectures organized by CFI–Argentina, El Círculo Escéptico Argentino, and ArgAtea, sponsored by the Scientific Society of Argentina.

Finally, on December 4 and 5, I had the honor of attending the First International Symposium on Critical Thinking, organized by the Rationalist Association of Paraguay (APRA). I represented CFI–Argentina with the presentation “Magical Thinking, Common Sense, and Critical Thinking: From Superstition to Reason.” There were so many interesting presentations, among them the lecture held by Alberto de la Torre, physicist and researcher at the University of Mar del Plata, who talked about how physics is evolving to explain that the universe can exist without a “creator.” Alejandro Agostinelli carried on another presentation about Argentina’s skeptical movement. Agostinelli is a cofounding member of the first skeptical group in Argentina, Argentine Center for Investigation and Refutation of Pseudoscience (CAIRP). On behalf of CFI–Argentina, I want to express my gratitude to Jorge Alfonso Ramírez, cofounder of APRA, and the rest of the staff.

Alejandro J. Borgo, Alberto de la Torre, and Alejandro Agostinelli in front of the Universidad Autónoma of Asunción, where the First International Symposium on Critical Thinking, Asunción, Paraguay, was held.

Our next step is to publish an online magazine about pseudoscience and the supernatural titled Pasan Cosas Raras (Weird Things Happen). We hope it will be online in April 2012.

We will continue with our associated members campaign as well.

The Universidad de La Punta, in San Luis Province, Argentina, recently held a seminar titled “Science vs. Pseudoscience.” The seminar, which took place at the Government building of San Luis on November 4 and 5, 2010, addressed several pseudoscientific topics, including pseudoscience in astronomy, pseudoscience in natural and social sciences, and pseudoscience in the mass media.

Representing CFI/Argentina, I addressed the topic of pseudoscience in the mass media on a panel I shared with journalist Alejandro Agostinelli. My presentation, “The Wonderful Paranormal World: From Mere Entertainment to Social Risk,” addressed the overwhelming promotion of pseudoscience in the mass media, especially on the Internet. Agostinelli’s presentation was about UFO history and its relationship to comics and television series, as well as how the media influences the public’s perception of UFOs as extraterrestrial visitors.

Mario Bunge carried on with three presentations in which he presented his critical points of view regarding pseudoscience in natural science (biology), pseudoscience in the social sciences (sociology and economics), and pseudophilosophy (the obscure and often confusing postmodern philosophical movement).

Several presentations on other topics attracted the interest of the 200 seminar attendees: Fortunato Mallimaci discussed religious beliefs in Argentina; Dr. Alejandro Caride gave a talk on the most recent discoveries in neurobiological research; and Dr. Hugo Levato’s presentation was on pseudoscience in astronomy. Carlos Quintana, from the Universidad de Mar del Plata, also addressed several pseudoscientific subjects. In his closing remarks of the seminar, the governor of San Luis talked about the importance of science in social inclusion.

The so-called “academic world” in Argentina is often reluctant to address pseudoscience subjects, so it is not common practice for universities to hold such seminars. The fact that the Universidad de La Punta organized the “Science vs. Pseudoscience” seminar is a breakthrough for the skeptical movement in Argentina.

Spanish-language video from the conference is available on the Universidad de La Punta’s website at www.ulp.edu.ar/ulp/paginas/Conferencias.asp?TemaId=1&vIDTema=1&vTemaNombre=Conferencias.

At the Second National Congress on Atheism in Argentina, I had the opportunity to discuss my hypothesis that atheists practice so-called “secular religions,” particularly when it comes to belief systems that have to do with economics and politics, in my presentation “Do We Want to Be Free? The Hidden Religion.” My presentation, which generated many comments and questions by the attendees, will be online soon.

Alejandro J. Borgo during his presentation at the Second National Congress on Atheism in Argentina.

During June and July, the Scientific Society of Argentina held a course on the paranormal and critical thinking, catering to Argentinians’ continued interest in critical thinking and belief systems.

On September 3, 10, and 17, I was a speaker at a series of lectures for a readers’ group for the book Invasores: Historias reales de extraterrestres en Argentina (Invaders: Real Stories of Extraterrestrials in Argentina) edited by Sudamericana editorial in 2009. I addressed the scientific probability of the existence of extraterrestrial life, but I also addressed the improbability of contacting intelligent extraterrestrial life. I mentioned how extremely unlikely it is that intelligent extraterrestrial beings are actually visiting our planet using vehicles similar to those depicted in science-fiction films and books.

Alejandro J. Borgo and Alejandro Agostinelli at the readers’ group lecture series about extraterrestrial life.

During the final lecture of the series, I had the chance to explain the activities of CFI/Argentina in Buenos Aires, and I gave a brief overview of the course on critical thinking that will be held at the Centro Cultural Rojas by the end of 2010.

I am also working on a book titled Myths and Controversies, which will contain many articles that were published in Pensar magazine. We hope it will be published in early 2011.

CFI/Argentina also held a couple of lectures on topics related to the paranormal and to misinformation in the mass media.

In January 2009 was released the last issue of Pensar, Ibero American Magazine for Science and Reason. We hope that in the next future we would be publishing it again.

CFI/Argentina’s Website: spreading critical thinking in YouTube

CFI/Argentina’s Website, www.cfiargentina.org was updated and has a new section, “Videos” where people could be linked to a variety of videos regarding pseudoscience, and showing the appearance of its Executive Director on many TV shows, as a journalist and another as a host of brief documentaries.

Alejandro J. Borgo appearing on several TV shows, debunking pseudoscience.

We invite Spanish-speaking people to see these videos and visit CFI/Argentina’s Website!

CFI/Argentina course on Critical Thinking at the University of Buenos Aires

Pensar last issue, Vol. 6, No. 1, January/March 2009

During September-October 2009, Alejandro J. Borgo, Director of CFI/Argentina held a course titled “Beliefs, Pseudoscience and Critical Thinking” at the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas, cultural center which belongs to the prestigious University of Buenos Aires.

This was the first time that a course of this kind was being carried out at a building belonging to the University of Buenos Aires.

We hope this course to be carried out on 2010. This is part of the efforts of CFI/Argentina to spread critical thinking among university students and general public.

Cultural Center Ricardo Rojas, belonging to the University of Buenos Aires

The wonderful paranormal world: from mere entertainment to social danger. CFI/Argentina

Alejandro J. Borgo at the lecture in Tandil, Argentina

Lectures

CFI/Argentina was invited to give two lectures in different cities of Argentina. One was held in Tandil and the other in Mar del Plata, both dealing with critical thinking and pseudoscience (see photos below). And another related to freethinking and religion was held at the Cultural Center Ricardo Rojas, during the course mentioned above.

Book on critical thinking

Finally, CFI/Argentina Executive Director signed a contract in order to write a book on critical thinking that will be published on 2010 by one of the most important editorials of Argentina. Its tentative title is: Why all this is happening to me? The most common errors we made in thinking. If not the first, it will be one of the few books on critical thinking published in Argentina to date.

From the CFI/Argentina we are encouraging people to apply critical thinking to politics and economics, fields which are in urgent need of critical thinking.

On November 15, 2001, Argentine UFOlogist Francisco Fazio was a guest on the TV show Movete. He presented a World Trade Center video, where a UFO could be seen “filmed” flying near the Twin Towers (supposedly on July 24, 2000)¹.

The video originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel more than a year earlier, as a promotional clip².

The next day, November 16, 2001, Christian Sanz, the president of the Argentine skeptic organization ASALUP³, appeared on the same TV show to show the other side of the coin. UFOlogist Fazio was there and they held a heated debate. Sanz read the following while the audience watched the WTC video:

This video was presented by a girl named Barbara. This video was made by Edefex S.A.⁴ for a television channel called Sci Fi. Not only did they make this video but they came out saying that they have done it because Sci Fi, a television channel, had a smaller audience and wanted to make a joke like Orson Welles did. They not only made it but they also explained how it was made [...]

This (video) was debunked pixel by pixel. This was admitted by a company called Edefex.

This was the first time that Sanz mentioned the company Edefex. The next time was when he published an article titled “El ovni que no fue” ("The UFO that wasn’t there”) on the ASALUP Web site, (www.asalup.org) on November 17, 2001, one day after the television debate with Fazio.

The Private Request

The article drew the attention of journalist Alejandro Agostinelli, who wondered about the source quoted by Sanz. There was no sign of a company called Edefex on the Web. The only thing he could find was a short mention dated 1995, on a Brazilian Web page, as The Edefex Group USA. The journalist, who at that moment was producing a TV special, sent an e-mail to the Sci Fi Channel and he got an automatic reply. A producer in Los Angeles phoned Sci Fi and nobody answered his questions about who the maker of the WTC video was. From then on, Agostinelli inquired after Sanz several times. Sanz answered that he had taken the Edefex information from a Mexican UFO Web site, this being confirmed via “fax by a technical who had worked for Sci Fi.” Sanz said he was sending the “papers.” But nothing came.

So, on January 29, 2002, Agostinelli wrote again to Sanz asking him for a source where he could check the existence of that company. Sanz answered that the document (proving that Edefex was responsible for the making of the special effects shown on the Sci Fi Channel’s video) was mislaid amongst other papers. In a move from his home to another residence, the document had disappeared: “I never searched on the Internet for Edefex and I've only trusted in a piece of paper, sent to me by a Mexican man, that has a logo who could be done by anyone who had a graphic program . . . maybe I have fallen into a stupid trap and the saddest thing is that I didn’t check the info because of the hurry to make the article. Believe me, I have exhaustively searched for the sources supporting my assertions. I think I’m going to put a note on the Web site to make clear what has happened, and from now on I won’t do such imbecility anymore. . . .”

Agostinelli, who knew the reliability and seriousness of the magazines that had published the article, advised Sanz to write a note clarifying the question.

When Agostinelli asked Sanz, a few hours later, who the Mexican was that could set that trap, Sanz answered, “The guy’s name is Hugo Gim nez Moreno and he is Mexican. We have not exchanged many letters, only twice. Regarding the clarification, I was just working on that.”

Note that he said he had exchanged some correspondence with a Mexican man named Hugo Gimenez Moreno. On another e-mail that Sanz sent to the internal mailing list of ASALUP, Sanz says “the whole thing was handled through conventional mail.” What happened was not clear, mainly because Sanz seemed to have a different answer for each person.

Ten months later, by the end of September 2002, there was no note, no disclaimer, and no reply. Agostinelli had asked and waited for the information over ten months. Not only did he not receive an answer, but he made an astonishing discovery: On the Mexican Web site X-Files Mexico (not online anymore) there was an article by Arturo Lugo and Cesar Buenrostro with entire paragraphs identical to those in Sanz’s article⁵. The point was that this Mexican article was written and published before Sanz’s article. And one more thing: Sanz didn’t mention any source and didn’t quote any author. The article published by ASALUP was signed by Sanz as if it was from its own writing. However, it looked like a copy. And that copy quoted a dubious company.

A little later, Lic. Carlos Dom’nguez pointed out to Agostinelli and I another copy made by Sanz. This was an earlier article about the Fox sisters, “La Casa de los Espiritus” ("The House of the Spirits”) that was published by January-February 2001 in the CAIRP’s twelfth newsletter⁶, signed by Sanz. The original article belonged to Claudio Trivisonno and its title was “Charlando con Elvis. Una explicacion cientifica del espiritismo” ("Chatting with Elvis. A Scientific Explanation of Spiritualism”). Sanz added only a paragraph at the beginning and end, and put the whole article under his own name.

The Public Request Begins

Agostinelli and I decided that we had arrived to a point where we had to make our findings public. Over ten months had passed without reply or clarification.

So, on October 9, 2002, I sent a message to the mailing list “Incredulos” which belongs to ASALUP and whose administrator is Sebastion Bassi, saying that I’d seen these irregularities and asking for a clarification of the whole thing. They said that there was no evidence regarding the copy that Sanz had made of the Mexican article, and that the Edefex quote could be a mistake.

It is very strange to maintain a “mistake” online for ten months, particularly when the author, president of the association, had been notified of it and said that he was going to correct it.

ASALUP removed the article from the Web site, saying that it was in “review.” So if anyone wanted to check that what we were saying was true, it could not be done. They removed the evidence of the copy and the dubious quote of Edefex. Regarding the paragraphs of Sanz’s article, 40 percent of it was an exact copy of the article of the Mexican Web site “X-Files Mexico.”⁷

However, on October 9, 2002, in a message sent to the mailing list “Incredulos,” Sanz says, “. . . what I told Agostinelli is that I needed time to show him a fax sent to me by the first researchers of this item.”

Until this e-mail, Sanz had never talked about a fax in a public list. He had mentioned a document, a paper, but not a fax. He had also referred to a fax in the ASALUP internal mailing list on October 7, 2002, “I wrote to the (Mexican) guys and they answered quickly. They ask me if I had a fax machine. I told them that I had one [...] and they sent me what they got. This paper was shown the next day on Carmen Barbieri’s TV show.”

But actually, the first time he mentioned a fax was in a private e-mail sent to Agostinelli on January 2, 2002: “I've got the information about Edefex from a Mexican Web page about UFOlogy and that info was confirmed through a fax by a technical who worked for Sci Fi. I’m searching these papers and I’ll send them to you.”

From then on, he began to talk of a “document,” “paper,” but not of a “fax” until October 7, 2002, ten months later. If he had already said to Agostinelli that “that info was confirmed through a fax” . . . why did he, at the same time, allude to a “correspondence” with a Mexican man? Why didn’t he continue to talk of a fax all the time? Sanz also mentioned a “technical” who has worked for the Sci Fi Channel. But in the first e-mail mentioned here, he gave the name of Hugo Gimenez Moreno. And ten months later, he mentioned Arturo Lugo. Until now, ASALUP members kept on saying that Lugo was the man who sent that fax. But Lugo is missing. Sanz was alternating two different names all the time, and the imprecise description technical. This was not clear at all.

On October 8, 2002, one of the members of the Directive Board of ASALUP, Max Seifert, resigned. He is the only one who went away right after he discovered that Sanz’s behavior was highly suspicious. Seifert asked for proof and evidence (Where is the fax? Why had Sanz signed a copied article as if he had written it? Where is the evidence that Edefex exists?), while the rest of ASALUP members inverted the burden of the proof: they asked Seifert to prove that Sanz was wrong. Sanz was the (supposed) author of the article, the one who quoted a (non-existent) company, and the recipient of the fax.

Edefex Could Be Edefx

On October 10, 2002, a member of the list “Incredulos,” Carlos Alvarez, sent a private e-mail to the vice-president of ASALUP, Norberto Maraschi in which he said that the correct name of the company was Edefx (without the “e”). This was the first time that the real name of a company was mentioned, eleven months after the release of the article on the ASALUP Web site. Actually, there was a company named Edefx Group, but we couldn’t be sure if this was a “mistake” or not. Four days later, on October 14, 2002, Carlos Alvarez sent another e-mail, this time to the mailing list “Incredulos” saying that the correct name of the company was Edefx and that it was acquired by the Miami Broadcasting Group (in fact, the correct name is Miami Broadcast Center). And this fact caused Sanz and the rest of ASALUP members to begin talking about Edefx instead of Edefex. So it was easy for Sanz to search for this name on the Internet and get all the company data. The question is: how could he receive a fax with an Edefex logo in November 2001, when he knew about the true company data on October 2002? There seems to be two options: Either he received a falsified fax or he invented one.

The “Materialization” of the Fax

On October 15, 2002, Sanz showed the fax to the members of ASALUP. Where and when did he find that fax? He never answered that. That fax was published on the Web site of ASALUP on November 12, 2002 (remember this date) as the “evidence” of the existence of Edefex. Let’s take a look at the “evidence” (see figure 1: An alleged fax from “The EDEFeX Group.” - click image for larger view):

1. The note itself has no date (except for the fax).
2. Just below the logotype, there’s an address: 7355 NW 41 St., Miami, Fort Lauderdale, 33166. TE. 305-593-9785. Is it in Miami or Fort Lauderdale? There are no two cities with the same postal code. The usual abbreviation for “telephone” in the USA is “Tel.,” “Phone” or “Ph.” Have you ever seen “TE."? In fact, TE. is the Argentine abbreviation (it belonged to Telefonos del Estado, the old state telephone company in Argentina). This feature points to an Argentine author.
3. The logotype says “The EDEFeX Group,” but the actual company was Edefx Group. Then, they gave a weird “explanation” stating that this difference was due to a phonetic reason: this modification was done so that Latin American people could understand and pronounce the name correctly(?)
4. The scanned image is a square. It is a strange shape for a sheet of paper. It should be A4, letter, or legal. Most office notes have a line below, showing its data: address, telephone, e-mail, etc. It is not shown here. Why?
5. The fax, supposedly coming from Mexico, was received by Sanz just one or two hours before its supposed presentation on a TV show.
6. There is no way to contact the man who supposedly sent that fax to Sanz (claimed to be either Hugo Gimenez Moreno or Arturo Lugo). Anyway, nobody could contact Arturo Lugo, who supposedly gave Sanz his authorization to reproduce fragments of his article.
7. According to the number typed by the fax machine receiving the fax, it was sent from the telephone number 52 (country code of Mexico) 5 2117533. This number belongs to a company called Televinet, and has nothing to do with any Arturo Lugo. At Televinet they didn’t know anything about Cesar Buenrostro (co-writer of the copied article) or Hugo Gimenez Moreno either.

There is something here I need to clarify. On point number 5) I say that Sanz received that fax just before his supposed presentation on a TV show, because until that moment he had said that he had received the fax the same day he went to the TV debate with Fazio, though in another e-mail (see above) he said that he received the fax and the day after he showed it on TV.

On November 13, 2002, vice-president Maraschi sent an e-mail to “Incredulos” answering Pedro L. Gomez Barrondo, editor of the Spanish electronic newsletter El Esceptico Digital, about the exact date of the TV debate with Fazio. He wrote, “The debate was on November 19, 2001, at 5 p.m., the same day that the fax was received. . . .”

As can be seen, the fax is dated November 19, 2001, so one could expect that the TV debate was held on the same day, as Sanz and Maraschi said. That’s not true. I was really surprised when I got a copy of the TV debate with Fazio. It was not on November 19 but on November 16, three days before the date Sanz and Maraschi claimed to have received the fax! And, of course, he didn’t show anything simply because the fax couldn’t exist at that date.

Sanz Resigns from ASALUP

When the members of ASALUP were aware of all the “mistakes” contained in that fax, they had no choice: Sanz was asked to resign the presidency of ASALUP. But all these “mistakes” were discovered by Seifert, Agostinelli, and myself in a couple of hours. In spite of the fact that they had that “evidence” twenty-eight days in front of their eyes, they didn’t find anything! Remember that Sanz showed the fax to the members of ASALUP on October 15, and they published it on their Web site on November 12.

We immediately discovered that the fax was false. One of the excuses presented was, “we are skeptics, not detectives.”

Furthermore, we contacted Jamee Houk (not James Houk as is shown on the “fax”) who had worked at Edefx Group. She told us that she has nothing to do with that note, and that the signature shown in the fax was not hers. The man who first mentioned Jamee Houk was Arturo Mar’n, easily accessible on the Web. Mar’n sent us the actual Edefx logotype, some company papers, and-most importantly-Jamee Houk’s personal card, former CGI Director of Edefx Group. And he explained us that EDEFX was the acronym for “Edit, Design, Effects” (which made clear that the lowercase “e” inserted in the acronym of the logotype presented by Sanz had no sense). We also contacted the man who had been the president of Edefx Group, Marcos Obadia, and he confirmed that the logotype and the letter of the fax didn’t match with the actual logotype used by Edefx Group. (See the true logotype of Edefx Group in figure 2.)

Step by step, we were doing the job that should have been done by the members of ASALUP. They were supposed to investigate this case, though the man who was suspected was their own president.

The “Institutional” Reply of ASALUP

The “institutional” reply of ASALUP consisted in an “official statement” (delivered by e-mail on the mailing list “Incredulos”) in which ASALUP members expressed their decision to end the inquiry. Alejandro Agostinelli and I were declared “persona non grata.”

Once they “finished up” with this burning question, they continued to hold lectures with Mr. Sanz as the lecturer. (Remember that he was asked to resign by ASALUP members.)

ASALUP again put the questioned article online, removing the name of Edefex and quoting an “authorization” they obtained from Cesar Buenrostro after this episode. The supposed first and valid authorization by Arturo Lugo was never shown and neither Sanz nor any member of ASALUP presented any proof of its existence.

In the Name of “Skepticism”

In the name of fighting against pseudoscience, the president of ASALUP (now former president) and its members used, and even supported, methods typically used by pseudoscientific individuals. I think this is the worst “favor” that a skeptic organization could do to skepticism. More than that, when critical inquiries were made, instead of analyzing the evidence they hid it. Far from expelling a member that had copied articles and quoted false sources, they tried to cover it up until it was unavoidable.

Three of the people who accused Sanz and ASALUP were censored and “moderated” in the mailing list “Incredulos,” and two of them, Agostinelli and Seifert, were fired by the list administrator Sebastion Bassi.

Some Consulting Members of ASALUP resigned after being notified of this episode. The goals of ASALUP were literally copied from those of CAIRP. The only difference is that they were not carried out. This chaotic situation led to the resignation of vice-president Maraschi, German Buela, and Orlando Liguori.

There are many details that couldn’t be included here due to space. Interested readers can contact me at haleke@hotmail.com.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Alejandro Agostinelli and Max Seifert. I want to express my gratitude to Luis Gomez, Pedro L. Gomez Barrondo, Julio Arrieta, G. Brasas, Carlos Dom’nguez, Mart’n Fragoso, Arturo Mar’n, Jamee Houk, Marcos Obad’a and Enrique Marquez for their support. Thanks to GP Producciones for providing the videotapes of the TV shows.

Notes

1. The video of the supposed UFO is still online at http://www.scifi.com.
2. Sci Fi encourages the discussion in a forum without making a statement on the authenticity of the video. Many visitors refer to the film as a “promotional commercial.” Nobody mentions it as a “documentary.” See, for example: bboard.scifi.com.
3. ASALUP is the acronym for Asociacion Argentina de Lucha contra la Pseudociencia (Argentine Association for the Fight Against Pseudoscience).
4. S.A. is the acronym for Sociedad Anonima (Anonymous Society), used by commercial companies in Argentina. It is similar to the USA’s “Inc.”
5. Sanz ignored that evidence of the copy remained in the Google engine search cache.
6. CAIRP is the acronym for Centro Argentino para la Investigacion y Refutacion de la Pseudociencia (Argentine Center for the Investigation and Refutation of Pseudoscience). It was the first skeptic organization in Argentina, which operated until August 2001.
7. Agostinelli denounced Sanz’s copy on an article called “Engaeados por un... Àesceptico?” (Deceived by a . . . skeptic?) on the Chilean Web site La Nave de los Locos (www.geocities.com/lanavedeloslocos) and in El Esceptico Digital-Edition 2002 No. 08 December, 2002, accessible through www.elistas.net. One resumed version can be found at http://superiores.blogalia.com. It was first published as a “comment” on the ASALUP Web site, but it was eliminated from the site after presenting the false fax.

As a researcher I worked at the Instituto Argentino de Parapsicolog’a (Parapsychology Institute of Argentina) from 1979 to 1987. Argentina had experienced one of the most brutal dictatorial regimes of its history from 1976 to 1983, an era known as Guerra Sucia ("the Dirty War”). Yet it was not a war against foreign enemies, but mostly on anyone known or suspected to be critical of the government. During this time, the military cracked down on innocent men, women, and children. Journalists and subversives were rounded up. Some were tortured, others killed. On many occasions the military would snatch dozens of people off the street or from their homes, bind or drug them, then fly over the Atlantic ocean at night and push the terrified people out of the plane and into the freezing darkness. All died from the impact or drowning. To this day thousands of people remain unaccounted for, or “disappeared.” During this era of terror and violence, I was working at the Institute. I remember two episodes that brought into sharp focus the dangers of the paranormal.

One young man came to see me at the institute, wanting to know about his missing brother (who had been kidnapped by paramilitary forces). Perhaps, he thought, parapsychology could help him find his relative. He was very anxious and sad, desperate for any help or information. I had to tell him the truth: "We cannot do anything regarding your brother, because parapsychologists only investigate the paranormal but don’t have any kind of powers.” The young man went away sadly, surely off to visit another seer or shaman who could give him hope. He wanted to believe both that his brother was alive and that we could help.

The second instance was even more sad and terrifying. A woman who claimed to be a psychic told me that during the Dirty War, paramilitary groups had come to her and showed her many photographs. The armed thugs, believing that her psychic powers could help them, wanted to know which of the photographed people were terrorists or subversives.

She was supposed to pick out one or two of them. She had no choice but to cooperate; her own life was threatened if she didn’t help. Even if she knew she had no powers, she couldn’t admit it. The group then went out to do their "job"-kidnaping, torture, and perhaps murder. Her random choice could have picked anyone. Anyone could die. And it was all based on the madness of a pseudoscientific belief. Like the witch trials, those who abandon rationality for superstitious thinking are a danger to us all. When magical thinking mixes with paranoia and fear, no one is safe.

Fortunately, democracy came to Argentina in 1983 and we are learning and experiencing many things that would appear normal to people familiar with this political system for about 200 years. But democracy needs free thinkers, reason, and open-minded people. Even in the most developed countries in the world pseudoscience is flourishing. If you don’t think that, take a look at the Skeptical Inquirer!

The social impact of the paranormal deserves more attention from scientists, politicians, teachers, professors, and media critics. They don’t recognize that the appeal of magical thinking has a simple but dangerous consequence: more magical thinking, social madness, underappreciation of science and reason, racial discrimination, and many other similar problems.

But we see those academic people turning their heads, as if they were not part of our society. On a television program, I watched as a physician kept his mouth shut when a faith healer spoke of the “miraculous” water of Tlacote (Mexico) that had supposedly cured 5,000 people of AIDS. The medical doctor didn’t say a word. Thousands of people saw the same program, and perhaps many of them were desperate and suffering. Many were probably ready to buy that magic water, hoping they would be healed and their lives saved.

It is not enough to call oneself a skeptic, one has to practice skepticism too. I’m not a professional, but I take part in television and radio shows, debating and exposing fringe science and pseudoscientific beliefs. We have to make telephone calls to television producers. We have to write letters to newspapers. We have to demand that those who promote the paranormal and pseudoscience don’t have the right to spread lies and misinformation to the gullible public. We are citizens, just like academic people, like you, like judges and lawyers and prosecutors are. First of all we are citizens. Don't forget that, and don’t take it for granted.

As I was researching parapsychology I used to read the newspapers where clairvoyants, seers, astrologers, and “mentalists” published ads promising all kind of marvelous things. At the same time, even after eight years of investigation at the Institute (and all the following years), I have found no one who can demonstrate parapsychological abilities. No telepathy, no clairvoyance, no precognition, no psychokinesis. It may seem paradoxical, but I learned the scientific method investigating parapsychology, a pseudoscience.

And I think this was fortunate for me, because I began with a pro-paranormal attitude. When I was a teenager I used to believe all kinds of paranormal things: UFOs, psychic powers, astrology, and so on. The first book I read about the paranormal was Parapsychology, by Robert Amadou. I was fascinated with that book. I felt I had to investigate that tremendous faculties and special gifts that so many people seemed to perform. I genuinely wanted to believe.

But after so many years of research, my mind became “reality-oriented,” I wished to believe, but also I wished to obtain proof. It was an open-mind process, but it begun with belief and ended with skepticism. Abandoning a comfortable belief is not a pleasant process. But if that belief is wrong, and doesn't correspond with the real world, then it won’t be very useful. The worst danger of pseudoscience and magical thinking is its powerful effect on society. Just think that along with us in this society, presidents, politicians, judges, militaries, and health and education authorities, may hold both positions of power and dangerous beliefs. That is why it is up to all of us to keep up the battle for reason, rationality, and peace.