In 1997, an episode of the cartoon Pokémon allegedly induced seizures and other ailments in thousands of Japanese children. Though popularly attributed to photosensitive epilepsy, the episode has many of the hallmarks of mass hysteria.

Pokémon is everywhere; more than a game, more than a movie, even more than a merchandising juggernaut, it is a phenomenon. It has spawned countless video games, comic books, Web sites, video tapes, magazines, clubs, music CDs, books, trading cards, three films, and, of course, an animated television series. It became such a cultural phenomenon that Time magazine featured Pokémon on the cover of its November 22, 1999, issue.

For kids it’s an engaging pastime; for Nintendo, it’s a multibillion-dollar moneymaker, possibly the largest marketing effort in the history of toys. (The theme song’s refrain contains a catchy ode to merchandising, “Gotta catch 'em all!”) Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri spent six years developing the game and world of Pokémon. Pokémon (a shortening of “Pocket Monsters,” from the original Japanese name Poketto Monsuta) began as a video game for the handheld Nintendo Game Boy system.

The television series centers on young boys and girls who wander the world of Pokémon looking for small creatures (called Pokémon) to capture, befriend, and train for battle against other trainers (and their Pokémon) in the Pokémon League. The ultimate goal is for the kids to collect one of every species and become Pokémon Masters. There are currently more than 150 different Pokémon (with more on the way), and each creature has special powers and individual personalities. The most popular Pokémon, Pikachu, looks something like a yellow rat with a lightning-bolt tail and has the ability to shock its opponents with electricity.

Although it is largely forgotten and rarely mentioned in current news accounts of “Pokemania,” Pokémon wasn't always the benign cartoon whose worst threat was emptying bank accounts. In December 1997, up to 12,000 Japanese children reported illnesses ranging from nausea to seizures after watching an episode of Pokémon.

The Episode and the Attacks

On Tuesday night, December 16, 1997, Pokémon episode number 38, Dennou Senshi Porigon (Computer Warrior Polygon) aired in Japan at 6:30. The program, broadcast over thirty-seven TV stations, was already very popular in Japan, and held the highest ratings for its time slot.

In the episode, Pikachu and its human friends Satoshi, Kasumi, and Takeshi, have an adventure that leads inside a computer. About twenty minutes into the program, the gang encounters a fighter named Polygon. A battle ensues, during which Pikachu uses his electricity powers to stop a “virus bomb.” The animators depict Pikachu’s electric attack with a quick series of flashing lights.

In all, millions watched the program. In one section of Japan, Aichi Prefecture, an estimated 70 percent of the 24,000 elementary school students and 35 percent of the 13,000 junior high school students watched the program, for a total of more than 21,000 in Aichi alone (Japan Times 1997). In Tokyo, the local board of education investigated all public kindergartens, primary and middle schools in the area and found that 50,714 students, or 55 percent of the whole, watched the episode (Yomiuri Shimbun 1997c).

At about 6:51, the flashing lights filled the screens. By 7:30, according to the Fire-Defense agency, 618 children had been taken to hospitals complaining of various symptoms.

News of the attacks shot through Japan, and it was the subject of media reports later that evening. During the coverage, several stations replayed the flashing sequence, whereupon even more children fell ill and sought medical attention. The number affected by this “second wave” is unknown.

Doctors said that children “went into a trance-like state, similar to hypnosis, complaining of shortness of breath, nausea, and bad vision . . .” (Snyder 1997). According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, “Victim’s families reported that children passed out during the broadcast, went into convulsions, and vomited” (Yomiuri Shimbun 1997b).

Yet another account gives a slightly different set of ailments: “Most children reportedly said they felt sick and had vision problems . . ."(Nextgeneration.com 1997).

The victims themselves described their attacks thusly: Ten-year-old Takuya Sato said “Toward the end of the program there was an explosion, and I had to close my eyes because of an enormous yellow light like a camera flash” (MSNBC 1997); a fifteen-year-old girl from Nagoya reported, “As I was watching blue and red lights flashing on the screen, I felt my body becoming tense. I do not remember what happened afterward” (Asahi Shimbun 1997a).

Information regarding exactly how many children became sick (and when) and how many were taken to hospitals is piecemeal and at times contradictory, but, as with many aspects of this case, specific figures are known for certain areas. One hospital in western Tokyo started to receive children shortly after 7 p.m. A Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper story states that “A total of six children aged between 9 and 15 were taken to the hospital Tuesday night. . . . After treatment there, all six returned home before midnight, a hospital employee said” (Yomiuri Shimbun 1997d).

Although many news accounts simply state that around 12,000 children were sickened and 700 had seizures and/or were hospitalized, the truth is somewhat more complex.

The Aftermath

The story of thousands of children made sick by their favorite cartoon raced through Japan. The following day TV Tokyo issued an apology, suspended the program, and said it would investigate the cause of the seizures. Officers from Atago Police Station, acting on orders from the National Police Agency, questioned the program’s producers about the cartoon’s contents and production process. The Health and Welfare Ministry held an emergency meeting, discussing the case with experts and gathering information from hospitals. Video retailers across the country pulled the series from their rental shelves.

Outraged mothers accused TV Tokyo of ignoring their children’s health in the race for ratings, while other parents called for the implementation of an electronic screening device similar to the American V-chip that would block intense animation. Even Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto weighed in, with a comment of dubious relevance: “Rays and lasers have been considered for use as weapons. Their effects have not been fully determined.” Although a spokesman from Nintendo rushed to explain that the only link between its game and the cartoon was the characters, the company’s shares dropped nearly five percent on the Tokyo stock market.

TV Tokyo put warning labels on all future and past Pokémon episodes. Despite the scare, both kids and adults soon missed Pokémon. It was back on the air by April, along with the new release of spring shows, and promptly climbed up to third in the ratings.

Figure 1. Epilepsy warning on video game booklet

Searching for Answers

Several reasons were put forth to explain why the episode might have caused the problems it did. That bright flashing lights can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) is fairly well established. There seems little doubt that at least some children did in fact experience seizures and other afflictions from watching Pokémon. Researchers believe the technique of flashing lights caused the problem, perhaps made worse by the red/blue color pattern. And Dr. Akinori Hoshika, a neurologist at Tokyo Medical College, confirmed that optical stimulation can produce some of the symptoms found in the Pokémon victims (Sullivan 1997).

In 1994, British commercial television ads and programs were limited to a rate of three flashes per second. The limit followed a 1993 incident in which an ad for noodles featuring fast-moving graphics and bright flashes sparked three seizures.

In 1991, an American woman named Dianne Neale suffered seizures from hearing Entertainment Tonight co-host Mary Hart’s eerily perky voice. Her doctors said Hart’s electronically transmitted voice triggered Neale’s epilepsy by creating abnormal electrical charges in her brain (MSNBC 1997).

After several teens suffered seizures while playing Nintendo video games, the company began including warning labels on much of its software (see figure 1). The notice told users that the games’ graphics and animation could cause a shigeki, a strong stimulation resulting in unconsciousness or seizures.

In the Pokémon case, though, there appeared to be few leads to go on. Although the bright flashes seemed to be the likely culprit, the flashes had been used hundreds of times before without incident. The technique, called paka-paka, uses different-colored lights flashing alternately to create tension. It is common in anime, the distinctive Japanese animation technique used in Pokémon (and many other popular cartoons, such as Voltron, Sailor Moon, and Speed Racer).

There was apparently very little difference between episode 38 and the other Pokémon episodes. The best guess was that the sheer number of flashes or length of the segment (reported as five to eight seconds, depending on the source) made the difference. Producer Takemoto Mori had used virtually identical paka-paka in most of the previous episodes, with slight variations in color and background combinations. “During editing, that particular portion didn't call my attention or bother me,” he said. All Pokémon episodes were pre-screened before airing, and no problems were reported.

Despite all the furor and theories, a clear genesis of the Pokémon panic was elusive. After four months Nintendo announced that it could find no clear cause for the outbreak, and Pokémon returned to the airwaves. Further research was left to doctors later that year. To date there have been only a handful of accounts and analyses of the Pokémon episode in scientific journals, three of them published in the Annals of Neurology (one by Takashi Hayashi et al., another by Yushiro Yamashita et al., and a much more in-depth piece by Shozo Tobimatsu et al.).

Hayashi et al. (1998) surveyed patients in the Yamaguchi prefecture (population 1,550,000) and found twelve affected children with no history of epilepsy. During the program, two had fainted and ten had tonic-clonic convulsions (in which the victims lose consciousness, usually with a stiffening of the body and forceful expiration of air, along with muscle contractions and other symptoms). Eleven of the twelve had “epileptic EEG abnormalities or photosensitivity.” The researchers concluded that the children had latent photosensitive conditions that became seizures when induced by the flashing lights. They further estimated the incidence of seizures triggered by Pokémon was greater than 1.5 per 10,000, ten times the incidence found by British researchers (Quirk et al. 1995).

Yamashita et al. (1998) investigated all the children in eighty elementary schools in an area with a population of 470,807. Out of the 32,083 students, only one child had a convulsion, but 1,002 reported minor symptoms. As half of all boys and girls saw the program, Yamashita et al. suggest that 6.25 percent of the children were affected. This is similar to the percentage of children in the general population who show photosensitivity (8.9 percent).

Tobimatsu et al. (1999) studied four children who had been affected by Pokémon. The authors write that “The probable cause [of the attacks] was PSE [photosensitive epilepsy] because a tremendous number of children developed similar symptoms at exactly the same time in a similar situation. . . . However it is not clear as to why so many children without any previous seizures [75%] were also affected or exactly which components of the cartoon [caused the attack].”

None of the children had a previous history of convulsions before the Pokémon episode, and all were found to be more sensitive to rapid color changes than monochromatic ones. All were considered to have PSE. The researchers suggest that “the rapid color changes in the cartoon thus provoked the seizures.” The researchers believe that the children’s sensitivity to color-in particular rapid changes between red and blue-played an important role in triggering the seizures (Tobimatsu et al. 1999). Four children, however, represent a very small sample, and the results found may not be applicable to the general population.

The childrens’ viewing habits and the physical setup of Japanese homes exacerbated the effect. In a country with more than 126 million people in an area the size of Montana and a population density of 865 per square mile, Japanese homes are typically quite small. Big-screen televisions are the norm, and most living rooms could aptly be described as small theaters. Many children sit very close to the television as well; one 14-year-old boy sitting three feet from his big-screen television was struck unconscious.

Doubting Doctors and the Hysteria Hypothesis

Yet several doctors expressed skepticism at the reported breadth of the outbreak. Dr. Yashudi Maeda, of a Fukuoka children’s hospital, suspected that “the cases [regarding video game seizures] were most likely epileptic fits due to hypersensitivity to light, but I am not sure about the cases in which children just felt sick.”

ABC News reporter Mark Bloch (1997) also found some scientists skeptical:

In fact, epilepsy experts interviewed by ABCNews.com were skeptical the seizures experienced by hundreds of viewers were triggered by an epilepsy-like syndrome. “I've never heard anything like it,” said Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, director of the Epilepsy Program at the Clinical Neuro-Physiology Laboratory at New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center. He said it’s possible that a few of the children watching may have experienced photosensitive-induced seizures. “But it’s hard to conceive that 700 did.” The director of New York University’s Epilepsy Center agrees. “I think there were maybe two or three or ten that went to emergency rooms, then the media picked up the story and that in turn produced a wave of anxiety-based reactions,” Dr. Orrin Devinsky said. The reaction could just as likely have been produced by anxiety and hyperventilation, he said.

Rika Kayama, psychologist and author of a book on video games and health, told Kyodo news that the illnesses might have been caused by photosensitive epilepsy or “group hysterics” (Snyder 1997).

To understand why the Pokémon episode may qualify as a case of mass hysteria, a little background is necessary. Mass hysteria (or mass sociogenic illness, as it is also called) begins when individuals under stress unwittingly convert that stress into physical ills. Peers, family members, or friends may also begin exhibiting the symptoms through contagion, in which the suggestion of a threat can be enough to create symptoms. Outbreaks are most common in closed social units (such as schools, hospitals, or workplaces) and where afflicted individuals are under social pressure and stress (Bartholomew and Sirois 1996).

The victims are firmly convinced their illness is “real,” although extensive tests and investigations fail to identify a cause for the symptoms. Victims are usually very reluctant to accept the diagnosis, however, and remain convinced of the legitimacy of their illness (Stewart 1991).

It should be understood that the illness complaints are real and verifiable; the victims are not imagining their problems. Episodes of mass hysteria can last anywhere from a couple of hours to a few weeks, with many averaging about a week. The cases usually arise quickly, peak, and then subside just as quickly. Media reports and publicity help fuel the hysteria as news of the affliction spreads, planting the idea or concern in the community while reinforcing and validating the veracity of the illness for the initial victims.

Many aspects of the Pokémon panic lend itself to a diagnosis of mass hysteria:

• Many of the Pokémon-induced symptoms reported (e.g., headaches, dizziness, vomiting) are less typical of seizures than of mass hysteria. Conversely, symptoms that are associated with seizures (e.g., drooling, stiffness, tongue biting) were not found in Pokémon victims. Three other symptoms (convulsions, fainting, and nausea) that were common to Pokémon victims are associated with both seizures and mass hysteria (see table 1).

  (It is important to distinguish seizures from epilepsy. A seizure is a symptom of epilepsy, which in turn is a general term for an underlying tendency of the brain to produce a variety of electrical energy that disrupts brain function. Seizures can be brought about through various ways [e.g., a lack of oxygen, brain injury, high fever], and one seizure does not in itself establish epilepsy. There are several types of seizures; research by Tobimatsu et al. found that the Pokémon victims they studied all had generalized tonic-clonic seizures, so that is the type I have used for comparison.)

• The incidence of photosensitive epilepsy is estimated at 1 in 5,000 (Cohen 1999). Such an incidence (0.02 percent of the population) comes nowhere near explaining the sheer number of children affected (in some cases nearly 7 percent of the viewers). This is not to say that some children did not endure seizures, but clearly the vast majority of children did not.
• Stress frequently plays an important role in cases of mass hysteria, and Japanese youth are under tremendous academic and social pressures to achieve. Japanese schools in particular are known as high stress-generating institutions, and students with low (or even mediocre) grades have been known to kill themselves. The week the episode aired, many Japanese youths were preparing for high school entrance exams and therefore already under added pressure (Asahi Shimbun 1997a). Extraordinary stress by itself cannot and does not trigger epidemic hysteria. Another aspect of Japanese culture, however, may contribute to mass hysteria-the compulsion to conform.

Bob Riel (1996), manager at a Boston-based cross-cultural training firm, puts it this way: “One of the most important traits of the Japanese mindset is its collective nature. In Japan, we comes before I- a concept that’s taught early on. Unlike Western children, who are taught to be independent self-thinkers, Japanese children are educated in a way that stresses interdependence, and reliance on others. Many Japanese habits and customs stem from this desire to maintain the group.” This type of collective social order makes a fertile ground for contagion.

In addition, some facets of Japanese culture may lend itself toward acting out. When Japanese rock star “Hide” Matsumoto hanged himself in May 1998, three people tried to follow him in suicide; one fourteen-year-old girl hanged herself using a towel, the same method Matsumoto used. A rash of Japanese youth suicides also followed the death of singer Yutaka Ozaki in 1992 (Watanabe 1998).

Table 1: A comparison of symptoms typical of gran mal (tonic-clonic) seizures, the Pokémon attacks, and mass hysterias. Aside from the first three symptoms shared by all three afflictions, the symptoms reported by the Pokémon victims more closely match those of mass hysteria than seizures.

The Missing Link

While several facets of the incident suggested mass hysteria, there was one large problem with that hypothesis: Most of the children were separated in their own homes. There was little opportunity for contagion, no way for a few real “index” cases to influence other children. With no plausible vehicle for independent children to see or hear others having seizures or symptoms, there could be no mass hysteria. So how did it happen?

The answer is that the Pokémon seizures didn't occur just at one time. The phenomenon unfolded in stages, and the chronology of events is crucial. The jump in reported cases (see the timeline) is strong evidence for the role the media played in the panic. According to news accounts of the time, the number of children said to be affected stays around 700 the evening of the Pokémon episode (Tuesday night) and the next day. The next morning “Television and newspaper headlines were dominated by the reports. 'Pokémon panic,' screamed national newspaper Mainichi” (MSNBC 1997). Japanese children who hadn't heard about their peers from the news or their parents learned of it that morning, when the seizures “were the talk of the schoolyards” (Yomiuri Shimbun 1997b).

Once the children had a chance to hear panicky accounts of what had happened through the media, their friends, and their schools, the number of kids reported the next day to have been affected-two days before, Tuesday night-shot up a staggering 12,000 cases. The first accounts of thousands of students being affected appear only after extensive media coverage and the opportunity for contagion in the schools. And schools are among the most common places for outbreaks of mass hysteria to begin (Stewart 1991; Bartholomew and Sirois 1996).

Interesting and possibly similar incidents occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in parts of the southern United States during certain religious revival meetings. Fervent participants at the nighttime rallies would “. . . with a piercing scream, fall like a log on the floor, earth, or mud, and appear as dead.” The limbs and head of those afflicted would jerk and twitch. The episodes often ended with the person collapsing, though sustaining little actual harm from the episode. Neurologist E. Wayne Massey and his colleagues at the National Naval Medical Center examined first-hand accounts of this phenomenon (called “the jerks”) and suggested that the wild and apparently involuntary actions may have been triggered by epilepsy which was then imitated by other highly suggestible group members. Massey et al. (1981) write that among the participants “there were perhaps some who had epilepsy. Some meetings were held during the evening with only light from torches flickering in the night. Did this trigger any seizures? Did those few with epilepsy set the stage by example to trigger mass hysterial response from others?”

Conclusion

Although widely regarded either as a mystery or as a simple case of mass epileptic seizures, the 1997 Pokémon panic is much more complex than that. With very few exceptions, much of the media overlooked the possibility of, and contributing factors to, mass hysteria.

Several researchers have noted that mass hysterias are probably more common than currently recognized (see, for example, Jones 2000). Victims are frequently reluctant to accept a verdict of mass hysteria, and Japanese victims are likely to be even more so because of the importance of “saving face” in Japanese culture. But there is no shame in being a victim of mass hysteria, if that is in fact what occurred in December 1997 in Japan.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Shozo Tobimatsu of the Neurological Institute at Kyushu University in Japan for his help in obtaining materials, and Robert Bartholomew for his suggestions and input.

Note

A lengthier and somewhat more technical version of this article was published in the February 2001 Southern Medical Journal, co-written with Robert Bartholomew.

References

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The former president was to appoint nineteen commissioners. It is the view of the editors of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (the only peer-reviewed skeptical journal in the field) that virtually all of the members of the Commission selected thus far are in favor of alternative medicine, and that the Commission is not fairly represented by skeptical medical scientists. Incidentally, it is unclear at this time as to what the new Bush administration will do with the Commission.

The Commission has been holding open public forums throughout the country. I was invited by the Commission to present testimony before it, and I did so on behalf of CSICOP on December 4, 2000, in Washington, D.C. The following are my written responses to questions provided to me beforehand.

1. Should Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) be integrated with conventional medicine and why or why not?

   I do not think that it should be integrated. I deplore the efforts to do so. The term “conventional medicine” is a misnomer. What is labeled as “conventional” is modern scientific or evidence-based medicine. Many or most CAM therapies on the other hand are conventional and ancient, such as traditional Chinese medicine, qigong, or spiritual importations from India.

   Scientific medicine is a relatively recent development in human history, especially since the nineteenth century, when increased knowledge of physiology and human anatomy was refined. There have been a number of brilliant researchers who have contributed to our understanding, such as Claude Bernard, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch and Joseph Lister. Theories about the nature and transmission of infectious diseases-such as diphtheria, tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid, tetanus, polio-and the development of vaccines had important roles in immunization. Likewise important were the advances in epidemiology, public health, and sanitation. In the twentieth century endocrinology advanced-with the discovery of insulin, cortisone, and sex hormones. In the field of nutrition, researchers discovered the role of vitamins. There have been significant new diagnostic tools, such as X-ray imagery, CAT scans, mammography, and sonograms, to mention only a few. The great strides in surgery have been impressive, including cardiology, neurosurgery, and organ transplantation. The discovery of antibiotics has made enormous contributions to the cure of infectious disease. We should add to this the discoveries of DNA, biogenetic research, gene therapy, and other innovations on the frontiers of research. All of these achievements have led to the reduction of infant mortality and the extension of life spans. Part of this process was the development, beginning in 1904, of rigorous standards of education in medical schools. Thus we see the remarkable effectiveness of modern scientific medicine-all for the benefit of mankind.

   The key factor in evidence-based medicine is that any new diagnostic techniques and therapies be submitted to rigorous, double-blind clinical tests. Unfortunately, CAM therapies, in our view, have not been adequately tested. Too often the claims of their validity have been anecdotal or highly subjective, uncorroborated reports by practitioners and/or their patients, some of these based upon the placebo effect.

   Surely, we cannot lump all CAM therapies together and make a blanket indictment. Each has to be examined objectively and impartially. Scientific medicine admits that fallibility and skepticism are parts of its process of inquiry. On the other hand, we should insist that the public be safeguarded against unproven cures, untested therapies, and quackery by practitioners and manufacturers out to make a profit.

2. Should there be access to and delivery of CAM products and practices? If so, why? If not, why not?

   I do not think that there should be universal access and delivery of CAM products and nostrums. This will tend to weaken what is one of the finest health care systems in the world. CAM could undermine the line between genuine science and pseudoscience. Each claim to validity must be tested by impartial, neutral observers-not simply their advocates. If a therapy proves to be effective, then it becomes part of scientific medicine. It is vital, in our view, that this Commission represent not only proponents of CAM, but scientists and physicians who are skeptical of its claims.

3. If current CAM utilization trends continue, what consumer protection should be implemented?

   CAM seems to be growing. I think the public should be protected. The government has an obligation to act against spurious or fraudulent claims. The free market-in selling adulterated goods and questionable services-needs to be monitored. The misuse of taxpayers funds needs to be safeguarded. The great issue is the health and welfare of the American public. Government sponsorship of questionable CAM therapies would be a disservice to the public interest.

4. What policy recommendations do you have for the Commission?

   I would strongly urge as a first step the repeal of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which freed herbal medicines and dietary supplements from regulation by the FDA. Prescription drugs are required to be tested. There are no such safeguards for dietary supplements. There are now some 20,000 such supplements-including herbal and homeopathic remedies-on the market. Many of the manufacturers make false and misleading claims. Many have dangerous side effects. Some may have positive results. In any case, the packages should be properly labeled-there should be “truth in labeling.” Those medications deemed to have possible noxious side effects by misuse should require a prescription.

   Second, similar regulations should be enacted against other false claims-such as quack cancer cures, crash diets, Chelation therapy, iridology, therapeutic touch, and magnetic therapy. This is particularly important when patients avoid scientific medicine and substitute alternative therapies, believing that since they are offered by the health delivery system, they must be effective. There needs to be peer review, as in scientific medicine, not simply by the practitioners in a field, but by other objective and neutral scientific reviewers.

One writer has commented, “It is a mystery why some ghost stories catch the public’s imagination and survive while others, often more shocking and more credible, are forgotten” (Davis 1998). He cites the story about Frederick Fisher, which has been related in countless newspaper articles, as well as poems, songs, books, plays, an opera, and other venues (Davis 1998) and provided the inspiration for a movie (Fowler 1991). It once attracted the attention of notables like Charles Dickens, who published a version in his magazine Household Words, and entertainer John Pepper, who used it as the subject of one of his “Pepper’s ghost” stage illusions in Sydney ca. 1879 ("Illusionist” 1984). Today, Fisher’s ghost remains the subject of an annual festival. All this-even though the ghost reportedly appeared “to just one man on one occasion” long ago (Davis 1998).

The story began June 17, 1826, with the disappearance of Frederick Fisher. Fisher was a “ticket-of-leave man” -- a paroled convict -- who had acquired land at Campbelltown where he built a shack. Unfortunately he also caroused there with itinerants and other ticket-of-leave men including his neighbor and best friend George Worrell (or Worrall). When Fisher found himself in debt and facing possible arrest, he trustingly signed his property over to Worrell-either to conceal or to protect his assets. But when Fisher was released from prison after six months and returned to his farm, he found Worrell had been claiming it as his own.

After Fisher disappeared, Worrell resumed possession of the property, telling anyone who inquired that his friend had returned to England in search of his estranged family. The fact that Worrell wore Fisher’s clothes and-to prove his ownership of one of Fisher’s horses-offered a crudely forged receipt soon raised suspicions.

On September 23 the Colonial Secretary’s Office offered a reward for “the discovery of the body” of Frederick Fisher, or a lesser reward for proof that he had “quitted the Colony” ("Supposed Murder” 1826). Subsequently, a local man named James Farley reportedly had an encounter with the ghost of Fisher. Farley was walking near Fisher’s property one night and saw an apparition of the missing man sitting on a fence, glowing eerily and dripping blood from a gashed head. Moaning, the phantasm “pointed a bony finger in the direction of the creek that flowed behind Fisher’s farm” (Davis 1998). Thus prompted to search the area, police soon dug up Fisher’s corpse. Worrell was convicted of the murder and reportedly confessed just before his hanging (Fowler 1991, 13).

Such are the main outlines of the story. Queensland writer Richard Davis observes in his book The Ghost Guide to Australia (1998), “From the beginning distortions occurred-almost every aspect of the story was changed and romanticised so that truth became indistinguishable from fiction.” Indeed, the version published by Charles Dickens ("Fisher’s Ghost” 1853) contains numerous altered details-"Penrith” for Campbelltown, “Smith” for Worrell, etc.-that link it to a fictionalized account written by Australian writer John Lang (n.d.).

Those promoting the tale cite an alleged deathbed statement by the percipient James Farley (or “John Hurley” in the earliest versions [Cranfield 1963]). Queried about the matter on his deathbed, Farley supposedly raised himself on an elbow and told his friend: “I'm a dying man, Mr. Chisholm. I'll speak only the truth. I saw that ghost as plainly as I see you now” (Davis 1998; Cusack 1967, 3). Alas, the story is not only unverified but has a suspiciously literary quality about it.

In fairness it should be acknowledged that debunkers have offered their share of doubtful claims as well. One purported explanation for the ghost was given by a seventy-three-year-old barber. He said he heard it from his grandfather who in turn allegedly learned it from an ex-convict who had secretly witnessed the murder and burial. Wanting to expose the truth but afraid of being implicated, he hit on a plan. He fashioned a pair of cloaks-one white, another black-wearing the first at night to simulate the ghost. When some traveler happened by, he moaned and pointed to the burial site in the swamp. Then readying the black cloak as he walked toward that spot, he would suddenly pull it over him so that “to the terrified onlooker it seemed that the ghost had suddenly disappeared.” Supposedly this repeated ruse brought the desired result and the corpse was searched for and discovered-believe it or not! ("Ghost” 1955)

Another hand-me-down tale was related by a seventy-four-year-old resident. He said that Farley simply “saw a man whom he took to be Fisher (but it was not Fisher) sitting on the rail of the bridge.” When the man “dropped from the rail of the bridge apparently into the weeds” and so seemed to vanish, “Farley thought it must have been a ghost on account of the sudden disappearance” (Lee 1963). While such an incident could happen, there is no good evidence that it did.

Not surprisingly, those inclined to dismiss ghost stories have suggested the tale was simply a journalistic invention. One writer has stated that “there can be little doubt that it was a hoax first published by a Sydney magazine” (Cranfield 1963). In fact, however, that account-in the March 1, 1836, Teggs Monthly-was preceded by an anonymous poem published years earlier (September 1832) in Hill’s Life in New South Wales. Titled “The Spirit of the Creek,” it bore a prefatory note that it was based on the murder of “poor F*****” at Campbelltown. It is important to note that this was a creative production. Not only was Hills’ Life a literary paper and the narrative written in verse (thus inviting “poetic license”), but the story was actually fictionalized. For example, Fred Fisher became a rich ex-convict named “Fredro” and the murderer Worrell was represented as “Wurlow” (Fowler 1991, 15).

To assess the credibility of the Fisher’s ghost story, it is necessary to go back in time, as it were, to the February 2, 1827, proceedings of the Supreme Criminal Court ("Supreme” 1827). As others have previously noted (e.g., Cranfield 1963), the trial records make absolutely no mention of a ghost. In addition to this negative evidence, I was struck by the positive evidence in the proceedings that Fisher’s missing body had actually been located in a rational rather than supernatural manner. Constable George Looland testified that, on the previous October 20, blood found on several fence rails at the corner of Fisher’s paddock led him to search the area. He was assisted by two aboriginal trackers who soon reported traces they thought was “the fat of a white man” (presumably human tissue) floating on the creek. Proceeding on, they came to a spot (apparently identified by a disturbance of the marshy area) which they probed with an iron rod. One of the trackers “called out that there was something there,” and a spade was procured to excavate the site. Soon the search party had uncovered the “left hand of a man lying on his side.” The coroner was summoned, and (the next morning) the body of Fisher was exhumed and examined, whereupon “several fractures were found in the head” ("Supreme” 1827).

However the story of Fisher’s ghost was actually launched-and it may have originated with the previously mentioned anonymous poem in 1832-the legend has persisted. In the narrative the phantom behaves as one of those purposeful spirits of yore who sometimes “advised where their bodies might be discovered” (Finucane 1984, 194). Folklorists recognize such tales as types of supernatural legends-that is, “supposedly factual accounts of occurrences and experiences which seem to validate superstitions” (Brunvand 1978).

Evidence of folklore in progress is quite evident. Numerous variations in the tale (apart from the fictionalizing process) are suggestive of oral transmission. Consider a specific example. Since at least the 1950s lighthearted vigils for the ghost have been held, with crowds typically gathering at midnight on June 17. The chosen site is the bridge across Fisher’s Ghost Creek because, according to one account, “it was on the rail of the bridge . . . that Fisher’s Ghost was always seen” ("Fisher’s Ghost” 1957). But when Peter Rodgers and I made our pilgrimage to the spot, locals told us (and other sources confirmed) that the original bridge was not in precisely the same place. More significantly, the earliest accounts of the story have the ghost sitting on the rail of a fence. With that simple transformation of a motif (as folklorists term a narrative element)-from fence rail to bridge rail-the site of the purported apparition also became translocated. Nevertheless, “ghost” sightings have been reported there, one of the most noteworthy of which occurred in 1955 when “a white cow in the distance in the pitch darkness gave some onlookers a scare” ("Fisher’s Ghost” 1957).

Clearly the story of Fisher’s ghost has many of the elements that make a tale worth telling-and retelling: an historical basis, intrigue and murder, a quest for justice, and a spine-tingling resolution. Not surprisingly, the “ghost” seems to have taken on a life of its own.

Acknowledgments

In addition to Peter Rodgers, I want to express my gratitude to Barry Williams, executive officer of Australian Skeptics; Georgina Keep, Local Studies Librarian, Campbelltown City Library; and many others who assisted, including staff of the Campbelltown Town Center (city hall).

References

• Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1978. The Study of American Folklore: An Introduction. Second ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 108-109.
• Campbelltown City Library. 2000. Vertical file (including all the newspaper clippings used in this article).
• Cranfield, Louis. 1963. Was Australia’s greatest ghost story a hoax? Adelaide, S.A., Chronicle, October 24.
• Cusack, Frank, ed. 1967. Australian Ghosts. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1-24.
• Davis, Richard. 1998. The Ghost Guide to Australia. Sydney: Bantam, 16-18.
• Finucane, R.C. 1984. Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural History of Ghosts. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.
• Fisher’s ghost. 1853. Household Words, 7: 6-9.
• Fisher’s Ghost appears but crowd disappoints. 1957. Campbelltown-Ingleburn News (Campbelltown, N.S.W.), June 18.
• Fowler, Verlie. 1991. Colonial Days in Campbelltown: The Legend of Fisher’s Ghost, revised ed. Campbelltown, N.S.W., Australia: Campbelltown & Airds Historical Society.
• Ghost that trapped a murderer? 1955. Sydney, N.S.W., The Sun-Herald, July 3.
• Illusionist brought Fisher’s ghost to Pitt St. playhouse. 1984. Daily Mirror (clipping in Campbelltown 2000), March 22.
• Lang, John. n.d. Botany Bay or True Stories of the Early Days of Australia; excerpt from 1859 ed. reprinted in Cusack 1967.
• Lee, C. N. 1963. Another ghost version, Campbelltown-Ingleburn News (Campbelltown, N.S.W.), February 12.
• Nickell, Joe. 2001. Mysterious Australia. Skeptical Inquirer 25(2), March/April: 15-18.
• Supposed murder. 1826. Notice in The Australian, September 23, cited in Davis 1998.
• Supreme Criminal Court. 1827. Proceedings published in Sydney Gazette, February 5.

1976

April 30-May 1

CSICOP founded at conference on “The New Irrationalisms: Antiscience and Pseudoscience,” SUNY-Buffalo.

Fall

Vol. 1 No. 1 of The Zetetic (the Skeptical Inquirer) published.

1978

February

CSICOP calls NBC response to CSICOP complaints about “Exploring the Unknown” “unacceptable,” requests presentation of contrasting viewpoint.

April

The Zetetic renamed the Skeptical Inquirer starting with Vol. 2 No. 2, Spring/Summer 1978.

April

Chairman Paul Kurtz announces that CSICOP has generated “tremendous enthusiasm” among scientists, scholars, media, and the public. CBS and ABC have produced programs presenting committee’s viewpoints.

July 13

CSICOP establishes a Canadian section.

Fall

Skeptical Inquirer increases publication frequency from semi-annual to quarterly.

Fall

FCC reports preliminary decision rejecting CSICOP complaint against NBC’s “Exploring the Unknown"; CSICOP appeals.

Dec. 5-6

CSICOP meets in Washington, D.C., meets with staff of House Science and Technology Committee, praises ABC-TV for network special “The Supernatural: Fact, Fiction, or Fantasy?” in which CSICOP members participated.

1980

January

Skeptical Inquirer (Winter 1979-80) publishes four-part special report on claimed “Mars Effect,” addressing a controversy that began before CSICOP was founded and will continue for several years more.

1982

February

Scientific American publishes Metamagical Themas article by Douglas Hofstadter about Skeptical Inquirer, contrasting its type of inquiry with that of National Enquirer; SI circulation subsequently leaps.

June

First approved local chapter of CSICOP established, Bay Area Skeptics.

Dec. 9-10

CSICOP Executive Council meets in Atlanta. Gives Martin Gardner “In Praise of Reason Award,” holds news conference on psychics and “psychic detectives,” sets initial guidelines on local groups.

1984

Nov. 9

CSICOP, in news conference at California Academy of Sciences, calls on newspapers to carry a disclaimer on their astrology columns. Mails statement, material to 1,200 U.S. newspapers two weeks later.

Nov. 9-10

CSICOP Conference “Paranormal Beliefs: Scientific Facts and Fictions” held at Stanford University. Sessions on “Space-Age Paranormal Claims,” “The Psychic Arms Race,” and “Psychic Claims.” Keynoter: Sidney Hook.

December

Skeptical Inquirer expands pages to include 20 percent more editorial material; circulation about 17,000.

1986

April 25-27

CSICOP 1986 conference held at University of Colorado, Boulder. Theme: “Science and Pseudoscience.” Keynote address: Stephen Jay Gould.

Spring

CSICOP celebrates 10th anniversary. SI marks it with special essays by CSICOP Fellows such as Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan.

Fall

Skeptical Inquirer announces it is expanding scope to include topics not necessarily related directly to the paranormal and pseudoscience.

1987

Feb. 1

Carl Sagan publishes “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” in Parade magazine, with a laudatory sidebar about CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer. SI circulation rises as a result.

April 3-4

CSICOP Annual Conference, Pasadena, California. Symposia on extraterrestrial intelligence, animal language, medical controversies. Simultaneous sessions. Keynote speaker: Carl Sagan, “The Burden of Skepticism.”

Fall

Skeptical Inquirer announces a permanent expansion to 112 digest-size pages per quarterly issue. Ten-year index published.

1988

March 21-April 3

CSICOP delegation visits China, lectures in Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, tests Qigong masters plus children and others alleged to have psychic powers.

Sept. 1

CSICOP wins first (and till-then only) court case brought against it. In U.S. District Court in Hawaii plaintiff Gharith Pendragon loses on all contentions and is ordered to pay the CSICOP defendants fees, costs, and earlier-imposed sanctions.

Nov. 3-4

CSICOP 1988 Conference “The New Age: A Scientific Evaluation,” held at Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Chicago. Keynote speaker: Douglas Hofstadter. Three simultaneous sessions at times.

December

CSICOP publishes statement “CSICOP, Groups, and Spokespersons” about relationships with groups listed in SI and who may or may not speak for CSICOP.

1992

April 17-19

CSICOP holds “Magic for Skeptics” seminar, in Lexington, Kentucky, taught by Joe Nickell and Robert A. Baker.

April

SI reports that forty-two daily newspapers are now running CSICOP-recommended disclaimers with their astrology columns.

April

CSICOP announces establishment of legal defense fund to help battle harassing lawsuits filed against skeptics.

June

In “Freedom of Scientific Inquiry Under Siege” (SI Summer 1992), Paul Kurtz reports on another Geller lawsuit.

June

U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., throws out Uri Geller lawsuit against CSICOP, imposes sanctions against Geller for prosecuting the case.

Aug. 20-24

CSICOP-sponsored “The Skeptics Toolbox” annual workshop series initiated, at University of Oregon, with faculty members Ray Hyman, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Jeff Mayhew, and Jerry Andrus.

Oct. 16-18

1992 CSICOP Conference, “Fairness, Fraud, and Feminism: Culture Confronts Science,” held in Dallas. Sessions on multicultural approaches to science, gender issues in science and pseudoscience, fraud in science, crashed saucers, and the paranormal in China. Keynote speaker: Richard Dawkins.

December

Skeptical Inquirer becomes available at quality newsstands.

1995

January

Skeptical Inquirer publishes first issue in full-size magazine format, increases frequency to bimonthly (Vol. 19, No. 1, January/February 1995).

March 6

Geller case ends: CSICOP announces court settlement and first payment by Geller to CSICOP of $40,000 of up $120,000. Payment is part of settlement agreement to a court-described “frivolous complaint” made by Geller against CSICOP. The settlement ends five-year legal battle.

June 9

New CSICOP headquarters - 15,000-square-foot Center for Inquiry educational and administrative center - is dedicated adjacent to SUNY-Buffalo Amherst, N.Y., campus. Steve Allen, Nobel laureate Herbert Hauptman, Time’s Leon Jaroff, many others participate.

July 7

Center for Inquiry-West, CSICOP’s West Coast branch office, opens in rented quarters in Los Angeles.

1996

June 20-23

First World Skeptics Congress and 20th Anniversary CSICOP meeting, “Science in the Age of (Mis)Information,” held at SUNY-Buffalo. Keynote speaker: Stephen Jay Gould. Conference Address: Leon Lederman. Lunch speaker: John Maddox. Major sessions on mass media, anti-science, The X-Files, and parapsychology, plus triple-concurrent sessions on multiple topics.

June

Asteroids Skepticus 6630 and Kurtz 6629 named for CSICOP and its founder Paul Kurtz in honor of their contributions to science education and skepticism on CSICOP’s 20th anniversary.

July

In “CSICOP at Twenty” (SI July/August 1996) Paul Kurtz reflects on the origins, growth, role, and challenges of CSICOP over its “exhilarating” two decades.

July

Report of second CSICOP delegation to China (June 1995), examining traditional Chinese medicine and pseudoscience in China, published.

1997

January

CSICOP becomes shareholder in TV networks to provide leverage for its criticism of their marketing of fringe science and pseudoscience.

Jan. 9

CSICOP’s Council for Media Integrity holds first meeting, in Los Angeles, with co-chairmen Glenn T. Seaborg and Steve Allen, blasts networks for distorted treatments of science.

Nov. 19

Public television airs Scientific American Frontiers episode “Beyond Science,” hosted by Alan Alda, skeptically examining dowsing, “alien autopsies,” graphology, a supposed new energy force, and therapeutic touch, guided by four CSICOP Fellows.

1998

March

CSICOP’s new Web site, www.csicop.org, is named among the World Wide Web’s top 500 Web sites (and top ten science sites) by computing magazine Home PC.

July 23-26

Second World Skeptics Congress, “Armageddon and the Prophets of Doomsday,” held at University of Heidelberg, Germany. Plenary sessions on millennium prophecies, natural disasters, anti-science and postmodernists, and scientific skepticism worldwide, plus many concurrent sessions. Keynote speaker: Elizabeth Loftus.

Fall

CSICOP and University of Hertfordshire, U.K., announce creation of the CSICOP Research Scholarship to fund a Ph.D. student for three years to carry out research related to psychology and skepticism.

Nov. 14

CSICOP and Council for Media Integrity host conference “That’s Entertainment! Hollywood, the Media, and the Supernatural” in Los Angeles. Steve Allen speaks out against loss of cultural standards in the media. “Candle in the Dark” award given to PBS TV series Scientific American Frontiers.

1999

Feb. 26-28

CSICOP co-hosts national conference “Science Meets 'Alternative Medicine,'” Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia.

March 1

An asteroid is named Klass 7277 after Philip J. Klass, veteran Aviation Week journalist and longtime CSICOP Fellow and UFO subcommittee chairman, for his skeptical evaluations of sensational claims about UFOs. It joins asteroids Kurtz, Gardner, Randi, and Skepticus (named in 1996 after CSICOP).

July/August

Skeptical Inquirer publishes its first-ever single-subject issue, on Science & Religion. Response is overwhelmingly positive.

2001

January

Permanent building for Center for Inquiry-West - West Coast office for CSICOP and Council for Secular Humanism - purchased in Los Angeles.

February

The Klass Files - electronic texts of back issues of Philip J. Klass’s Skeptics UFO Newsletter - placed on CSICOP Web site.

March

Skeptical Inquirer index, for entire magazine from Vol. 1 No. 1 into 2001, completed and placed on CSICOP Web site.

April 30-May 1

25th anniversary of CSICOP.

Timeline compiled by Kendrick Frazier

“Coincident with the Conference,” the letter went on, “will be formal announcement of formation of a new international ‘Committee to Scientifically Investigate Claims of Paranormal and Other Phenomena.’ This committee is an outgrowth of ‘Objections to Astrology,’ which created worldwide attention when released in The Humanist magazine (Sept./Oct. 1975). The primary thrust of the Committee will be to ‘. . . examine openly, completely, objectively, and carefully . . .’ questionable claims concerning the paranormal and related phenomena, and to publish results of such research. We earnestly invite your consideration to covering this important series of dialectic discussions.”

The letter said all the conference’s Saturday sessions will center on “The New Irrationalisms: Antiscience and Pseudoscience.” It listed some of the participants and included a preprint of a formal announcement of the Committee and a copy of the “Objections to Astrology” statement, signed by 186 leading scientists, including eighteen Nobel laureates.

I was very familiar with that statement. The previous fall, we had published it verbatim, in small type, in Science News (108:166, Sept. 13, 1975), together with a short news article, “Science vs. astrology: New battle, old war.” The statement had immediately generated wide discussion and debate. Said our article, “Unlike many public utterances by large groups of distinguished scientists, the attack on astrology pulls no punches. The statement says the belief that the stars can be used to foretell the future has ‘no scientific foundation’ and bluntly labels astrologers ‘charlatans.’” We spoke at the time with Bart J. Bok, a past president of the American Astronomical Society and lead author of the statement. He told Science News he had become disturbed at the increasing interest in astrology among his freshman students at the University of Arizona and confusion between it and astronomy.

The statement had ignited immediate worldwide controversy. Our news article at the time concluded:

Reaction has been mixed. Astrologers understandably were upset, claiming they had been misunderstood. A Washington Star editorial called the statement “the most futile verbal broadside of recent memory,” but concluded, “we hope it made the scientists feel better.” Bok says most of his mail has been favorable. Whether any minds have been changed remains to be seen. If astrology could survive persecution by the Medieval Church, it is likely to outlive another scholarly blast.

My years at Science News had made me interested in the flip side of science: pseudoscience. In more general terms I was interested in the widespread public interest in fringe-science ideas and the difficulties people have distinguishing what really is legitimate science, especially at its most speculative and fantastic, from equally speculative ideas not anchored in any kind of scientific knowledge or reality. All science editors get letters from readers with new theories of the universe, ideas for new inventions that seem to contradict the laws of physics, and full commentaries on any new speculative ideas reported in science. Some of these come from outright cranks and can be saved in the cranks file or tossed. But many others come from very intelligent people who have a lot of good ideas but don’t quite know enough about how science works to connect them to real science, to research and write them up properly, and to get them tested and evaluated. In either case some evaluative function is needed.

The problem is compounded by whatever seems popular and faddish at the time. In response to readers’ requests we had published three articles in Science News in the mid 1970s that tried to examine in a balanced way some popular claims of the time, one on Transcendental Meditation, one on Uri Geller, one on Kirlian photography. But we weren’t able to do a very good job at them, I’m afraid. I got a letter from Martin Gardner, gently complaining and wondering if we had changed our policy of covering only genuine science. I knew who Martin Gardner was. A decade earlier a physicist friend had given me a copy of Gardner’s Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, and I had devoured it, fascinated with his keen and amusing insights into the underworld of pseudoscientists and crank scientists. And of course he was famous as Scientific American’s Mathematical Games columnist. After getting his letter, I wrote back. I said we hadn’t changed our policies, we were only trying to respond to readers’ interests in finding out what science knew about the topics in question. But I told him that was difficult. Editors like me badly needed a central resource to go to — a group of scientists and other experts interested in these issues but who, like him, had a critical bent and could help us evaluate fringe claims.

The invitation from Buffalo seemed to announce that very thing.

I flew up to Buffalo and covered this founding conference of what became the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). It was one of the most exhilarating times of my life. It was held on the then-brand-new Amherst campus of the State University of New York at Buffalo. It was there I first met and talked with Paul Kurtz (then a SUNY-Buffalo philosophy professor, editor of The Humanist, and co-chairman with Marcello Truzzi of the fledgling committee), James Randi, Philip J. Klass, L. Sprague de Camp, Ray Hyman, Truzzi, philosopher Ernest Nagel, Larry Kusche, and several dozen other prominent participants. At Science News I had covered scientific meetings of many scientific organizations — the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, American Meteorological Society, and others. I had traveled all over and even visited Antarctica and the South Pole. But nothing dealt with people’s deepest interests and emotional passions and intellectual misperceptions as the topics — the new irrationalisms — these scholars and experts were examining. I recently wrote about this founding conference in some detail in my 8,000-word entry on “CSICOP” in the Encyclopedia of the Paranormal (Prometheus 1996), edited by the late Gordon Stein, so won’t go into all the substance of it again here.

I went back to Washington and eventually wrote a three-and-a-third-page Science News cover article, “Science and the Parascience Cults,” subtitled, “How can the public separate fact from myth in the flood of occultism and pseudoscientific theories on the scene today? Help is on the way.” We had an artist do a neat cover illustration of a knight on horseback spearing a multiheaded dragon. The dragon’s heads had symbols for psychic-spoonbending, UFOs, astrology, and the Bermuda Triangle. The cover type was “Challenging Pseudoscience.” It was published May 29, 1976.

Some of the conference participants familiar with the passions these topics raise had warned me to expect a strong reaction to whatever I published, but I was not prepared for what happened. We received more letters to the editor than about any previous Science News article in memory. Most of the writers commented thoughtfully about the issues of science and pseudoscience. But some were upset, and some considered the committee’s effort an attempt by science to squelch mystery, imagination, intuition, and beauty (Paul Kurtz had effectively addressed that very issue at the conference). Two demanded their subscriptions be canceled.

Other national publications, including The New York Times, which published an excellent two-column article, also had been there and covered the conference.

So like the Objections to Astrology statement itself, the founding of CSICOP, although most of the scientific community was supportive, aroused controversy and debate, both thoughtful and heated, among the public and in the media. Much the same can be said about CSICOP’s expanding activities ever since.

In August 1977, CSICOP held a news conference in New York City in conjunction with a meeting of its executive council, the first since the organizing conference. Here too a pattern was established. The committee called the NBC television network to task for credulous pseudodocumentaries on the Bermuda Triangle, Noah’s Ark, and UFOs. It criticized the Reader’s Digest for articles on parapsychology that, said the committee, presented as fact a number of assertions and anecdotes for which there was little or no documentation. The New York Times gave the session a full-column article, “Panel Fears Vogue for the Paranormal” (August 8, 1977). It noted that the committee was appealing to the media of mass communications to provide more balanced and objective treatment of such subjects. It quoted an NBC spokesman about the programs criticized: “They are done as entertainment, not as news. We’re not presenting them as fact.” (This was a response that would become familiar over the years.) The Reader’s Digest could not be reached by the Times science reporter for comment, but later when I wrote an invited feature article for Smithsonian magazine on CSICOP and its battle against pseudoscience ("UFOs, horoscopes, Bigfoot, psychics, and other nonsense,” March 1978), the Reader’s Digest quickly reprinted it in condensed form in all worldwide editions (July 1978).

That August 1977 meeting had been pivotal for me as well. At it I was formally asked to become editor of CSICOP’s journal, then called The Zetetic and subsequently renamed the Skeptical Inquirer, succeeding sociology professor Marcello Truzzi. In those first years it was published only twice a year, and I agreed. I have been editor ever since. We went quarterly with the first issue of volume 3, Fall 1978, and bimonthly (and to regular magazine format from the original digest size) with the January/February 1995 issue. Although the amount of material published annually and the workload have increased over the years, it has been a pleasure.

I feel it a great privilege to be editor all these years of what has become the central international journal of scientific skepticism — the worldwide effort to promote scientific inquiry and critical thinking, to evaluate paranormal and fringe-science claims of all sorts from a scientific viewpoint, and to serve as a forum for informed discussion of all relevant issues.

Psychologists, physicists, philosophers (the three leading disciplines represented), academics in all other areas of university life, science teachers, scientific or investigative journalists and communicators, and informed citizens from many walks of life concerned about all these issues together have formed a strong worldwide community. They may have a wide variety of backgrounds and diverse views and approaches, but this is where they find a common bond, and an outlet for publication and discussion. From the small core group of Executive Council members and founding fellows who helped create the original committee, this effort has expanded multifold and worldwide over and over. In fact, the Skeptical Inquirer draws upon those with knowledge, insight, and expertise on these issues whatever their formal backgrounds, affiliations, memberships, and nationalities. It crosses disciplines, brings the physical and human-based sciences together, works both inside and outside of academia, draws upon investigative expertise wherever it may be found, and addresses issues of passionate concern to the public and of significance to science, education, and public policy. It is a truly democratic, merit-based movement. Its core unifying values are a respect for the creative and evaluative methods of science, reason and rationality, critical thinking and judgment, and freedom of thought and inquiry, all applied to important issues that relate to scientific evidence or scientifically testable claims.

When CSICOP and the Skeptical Inquirer were founded 25 years ago here were four of the hot fringe-science topics that captivated public and media attention (in addition to the big-three perennials of psychics, UFOs, and astrology): Velikovsky, and his fantastic planetary-pinballs, worlds-in-collisions theories to try to explain catastrophic events in biblical times; Erich von DŠniken, and his best-selling chariots-of-the-gods theories that ancient astronauts from other worlds had built many of Earth’s ancient monuments; birthdate-based biorhythm theory; and the Bermuda Triangle. All these topics were touted in books that sold millions of copies. Notice something about all these latter issues. You don’t hear much about them anymore. Is this a victory for reason and rationality? Did skepticism prevail? Not really.

Look at some of the hot topics of today: Several scholars in prominent academic positions claim that “intelligent design” instead of the creative processes of evolution is responsible for the intricacies of life. Therapeutic Touch, a hands-waving therapy invoking invisible human energy fields unknown to science, is widely taught in nursing schools. Magnetic forces are assumed to influence health and human performance, so now “magnet therapy” has become a big business. Nineteenth-century spiritualism has been revived in best-selling books and TV programs as modern-day mediums contend they can help you communicate with your long-dead loved ones. Unproven medical remedies, under the attractive-sounding rubric of alternative medicine, have gained a proclaimed public respectability unheard of since the days of snake-oil salesmen. Modern-day numerologists profess to find hidden codes in computer analyses of biblical texts. And we may only now be emerging from a decade-long orgy of accusations and recriminations based on the dubious idea that accurate “repressed memories” of childhood sexual abuse or other horrible past events can be revived through hypnosis and questionable kinds of therapy.

And we still have the big-three: psychics, UFOs, and astrology. With UFOs, for instance, we went through a credulity explosion in the 1980s and early 1990s. Claims of people being abducted by aliens-the hidden memories usually obtained through hypnosis conducted by UFO-abduction proponents-gained widespread popular acceptance. And we simultaneously went through an incredible period in which a series of books by UFO proponents and frequent credulous television programs all proclaimed a government cover-up of a crashed flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947. Some even claimed alien bodies had been found. These reports gained increasing visibility and credence in the media and public-becoming essentially a modern folk myth. That is, until the past few years when clear evidence was produced that the recovered Roswell debris was actually from a lost assemblage of balloons and instruments launched from Alamogordo, New Mexico, June 4, 1947. These New York University atmospheric sciences experiments were to develop constant-level balloons. These unclassified experiments were in turn part of a top secret project to detect round-the-world acoustic effects of future Soviet nuclear tests. Once these facts were disclosed and confirmed, the responsible media began to back off from the crashed-saucer claim. Nevertheless, the folk myth of a crashed saucer at Roswell will survive.

The point is that specific topics of pseudoscience, fringe-science, and the paranormal do come and go. This is especially the case with those having a strong, charismatic figure associated with them. As long as that larger-than-life personage (Velikovsky was one example, with his silver hair and Old Testament demeanor) is still around writing and promoting his cause, the issue stays alive. Once he or she is gone, it may noticeably diminish, leaving only lesser disciples fighting rear-guard actions for years to come to help keep the light alive. Other topics have their run in the press and among the public, until boredom sets in and some other fad belief emerges.

But while the specific topics come and go, the more general manifestations of fringe-science, pseudoscience, and the paranormal persevere. They arise, over and over again, in new guise, with new language, new clothing, and new proponents. And it is only rational for scientists and skeptics to realize that. Any hope scientists and skeptics may have to abolish from public consciousness nonsense and irrationalisms in the name of science is doomed to failure.

The positive appeal of such stories, the understandable human yearning for having the world the way we want it to be rather than the way it is, the lure of easy cure-all remedies, the appeal of comforting ideas, the search for significance and meaning, the desire for some all-powerful presence to guide our lives or reward good and keep the forces of evil at bay, the childlike attraction to New Age magical thinking, the quest for mystery and the “unknowable,” the hope for everlasting life in some form-all these powerful psychological forces and human needs ensure that new manifestations of paranormal and fringe-science ideas will always have a welcome reception in people’s hearts and minds.