Joe Nickell
Joe Nickell, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and "Investigative Files" Columnist for Skeptical Inquirer. A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1998), Pen, Ink and Evidence (2003), Unsolved History (2005) and Adventures in Paranormal Investigation (2007). He has appeared in many television documentaries and has been profiled in The New Yorker and on NBC's Today Show. His personal website is at joenickell.com.
The Skepcook: Reviewing “Herbal Recipes”
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
February 10, 2012
As an herb gardener (see that persona on my website, www.joenickell.com), or at least as my wife Diana’s understudy, I appreciate the satisfaction of growing, harvesting, and processing herbs—dried sage and oregano, for savory cooking; fresh basil, to snip onto sliced tomatoes (accompanying scrambled eggs for breakfast); and spearmint, for my Kentucky mint juleps! We also cultivate rosemary, chives, parsley, thyme, and more.
Four to Watch (Nickell-odeon Mini-Reviews)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
January 31, 2012
To catch up on our movie watching, my wife Diana dared us to go on a movie marathon. So (after a morning trip to a psychic fair) we embarked on a whirlwind tour, getting home just before the witching hour. With her handling logistics (directions, times, and eating on the run) and me driving the getaway car, we crisscrossed town and watched four new feature films. All were in the good-to-excellent range, and I recommend them to fellow skeptics and humanists. (As I say, a humanist is an atheist with a heart.) Here are capsule reviews (presented in ascending order of excellence).
WWJD?
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
January 18, 2012
Among evangelicals it is common to ask, in a situation, What Would Jesus Do? (sometimes shortened to WWJD?). However, evangelicals being a politically conservative lot, it is well to ask, just how much in agreement would Jesus be, regarding their stance on some of today’s controversial issues? In other words, we know they are right (even far right), but are they right with Jesus? Here are some answers.
Asteroid’s Namesake
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
January 6, 2012
Thanks to my friend, colleague, and fellow UFO researcher James McGaha, I now have the distinct honor of having an asteroid named for me! This fact was revealed at the 2011 CSIcon in New Orleans, held on Halloween weekend.
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
January 3, 2012
“Ah, Watson, do come in. I see you have just been to that latest, ah, ‘movie,’ supposedly based on what you so faithfully romanticize as my ‘adventures.’ And I perceive you were extremely dissatisfied with it.
Investigating Life as a Poet
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
December 29, 2011
Given that my main persona is investigator—of historical and literary mysteries (see my “Did Shakespeare Write ‘Shakespeare’?” in the Nov./Dec. 2011 Skeptical Inquirer), as well as homicides, and, most extensively, of paranormal enigmas—relatively few know of me as a poet—in which role I investigate life and attempt to shape the results into art.
Turin “Shroud” Called “Supernatural”
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
December 22, 2011
As reported in the UK Independent of December 21, 2011, scientists working for the Italian government have claimed to find evidence that the image of Jesus crucified appearing on the notorious Shroud of Turin was not produced by a medieval artist but instead was likely caused by a supernatural event.
The Skepcook: Regarding “No Substitutions”
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
December 19, 2011
The “no-substitution” policy of some restaurants is not a customer-friendly way to help one address his or her dietary concerns. Of course, sometimes substitutions cannot reasonably be made, but where they can be, restaurateurs should be encouraged to adopt a more flexible policy.
In Search of the Emerald Grail
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.5, September/October 2011
Investigative Files
Il Sacro Catino, “The Holy Basin,” is one of the most famous embodiments of the legendary “Holy Grail,” and I was able to study both it and its legend there in the fall of 2009, attempting to resolve some of the mysteries and controversies concerning it.
“J. Edgar” (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
December 5, 2011
Let me confess at the outset that my response to Clint Eastwood's new biopic about Federal Bureau of Investigation founder J. Edgar Hoover is necessarily colored by my own personal encounters with the man. Actually, there were two J. Edgars.
“Chupacabra” Attack
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
November 29, 2011
The Chupacabra is a fabled vampiric creature that has supposedly preyed on farm animals in many countries since it first appeared in Puerto Rico in 1995. Is it on the loose now in the American midwest? In November I was able to examine the carcass of one such reputed creature on a Missouri farm.
Shootout with Martians: In the Wake of the 1938 Broadcast Panic
Skeptical Briefs Volume 20.4, December 2010
Investigative Files
A visit to an art exhibit—based on Orson Welles’s famous 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast—at Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center in Buffalo introduced me to a remarkable incident that reportedly occurred during the “panic” caused by Welles’s dramatized Martian invasion.
“Who Believes in Roswell?”
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
November 14, 2011
What has come to be known as "the Roswell Incident"—the alleged mid-1947 retrieval of a crashed flying saucer and its humanoid crew from the desert near Roswell, New Mexico—continues to be controversial. It is the Holy Grail of UFOlogy, and many believe the truth is being covered up by a government conspiracy. However, skeptics cite evidence that what really crashed on Max Brazel's ranch was a secret U.S. spy-balloon array from Project Mogul (an attempt to monitor Soviet nuclear tests). Only later were alien bodies added to the story, through repeated hoaxes, proliferating urban legends, and the confabulated memories of aging witnesses.
“Anonymous” (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
November 9, 2011
Fresh from counting the take of his other box office bonanzas—Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012—Roland Emmerich has gone from creating disaster movies to launching a movie disaster. Called Anonymous, this is a conspiracy fantasy based on the idiotic notion that Shakespeare was not the author of his literary masterpieces, which were instead penned by the Earl of Oxford.
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‘Messages’ from the 9/11 Dead
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.4, July/August 2011
Feature
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The Séances of ‘Hellish Nell’: Solving the Unexplained
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.4, July/August 2011
Investigative Files
The Skepcook: Gourmet Anti-Vampire Soup
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
October 20, 2011
A guest who turns away from this delicious first-course offering, is probably a—well, you know what! Check the person's image in a mirror!
Theatrically Yours: “The Ghost of Fort Niagara”
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
October 11, 2011
"The Ghost of Fort Niagara" is an engaging little musical by the multitalented Neal Radice, founder and director of Buffalo's Alleyway Theatre, as well as author, composer, lyricist, and set and lighting designer—just to mention his personas that are directly involved in this Alleyway production!
The Case of the Miracle Oil
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.3, May/June 2011
Investigative Files
I was invited to a home in Northern California where myriad icons, statues, and other religious effigies were “miraculously streaming oil”.
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GHO$TLY ENDEAVOR: Ethical Issues Haunt Kentucky Press
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.3, May/June 2011
Special Report
Scientific Investigation vs. Ghost Hunters
Skeptical Briefs Volume 20.3, September 2010
Investigative Files
I have often crossed paths with The Atlantic Paranormal Society, headed by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, stars of the popular Ghost Hunters series.
Irish “Spontaneous Human Combustion”? Blarney!
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
September 27, 2011
In a classic instance of faulty logic—what is known as "an argument from ignorance"—an Irish coroner has proclaimed "spontaneous combustion" as the cause of death of a 76-year-old man, Michael Faherty, whose body was found extremely burned at his home in Ballybane, Galway. Although his remains were found lying "with his head closest to an open fireplace," fire officers nevertheless concluded that that blaze was not involved! They did not explain how they had ruled out the obvious source of the ignition (BBC News Online, September 23, 2011).
“The Debt” (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
September 21, 2011
The Debt is a riveting thriller about Mossad secret agents David, Stefan, and Rachel, who are played—in scenes of 1966 and 1997—by two sets of actors.
Outlaw-Imposture Syndrome
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
September 7, 2011
The targets of impostors are not only the noted but the notorious also. Numerous persons have claimed that they were an erstwhile presumed-dead outlaw, like Jesse James or—the latest target—Butch Cassidy. So similar are the features of such cases that they define what I now call the Outlaw-Imposture Syndrome.
“Cowboys and Aliens” (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
August 25, 2011
It's a cross between True Grit and War of the Worlds—with sequences of fine acting and great special effects worthy of either movie.
Why, then, is Cowboys and Aliens such a failure?
Midnight in Paris (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
August 15, 2011
Ah, midnight in Paris!
Or anytime in Paris if you ask me—a place where I once had a magical time, until the Orient Express whisked me away, like a magic carpet, to Istanbul.
The Ghost Haunters
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
July 27, 2011
(What the spirited duo might say, if they weren't speaking through a ghost writer.)
“Psychics” in the Casey Anthony Murder Case
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
July 11, 2011
In the travesty of justice that was the Casey Anthony Murder trial in Orlando, two things may have escaped the reader's notice. The first is that the O.J. Simpson jury must have moved with O.J. to Florida and made themselves available to serve at the Anthony trial. The second concerns the involvement of "psychics." Did, in fact, a "psychic" divine the location of the remains of little Caylee Anthony, who was long sought after she went missing from her Orlando, Florida, home in the summer of 2008?
The First Grader (A Nickell-odeon Review)
Free Thinking (centerforinquiry.net)
July 8, 2011
An inspiring narrative of humanity—of strength, values, and triumph—The First Grader should attract humanists in droves, perhaps especially secular humanists (i.e., atheists with hearts), since its messages are entirely secular. The story is all the more relevant for being "Based on a true story."