Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[SkeptInq@aol.com]

 CSICOP in the News

 June 19, 2000

 IN THIS ISSUE

 April 30, 2000  The Newsletter on Newsletters  "Skeptical Briefs"
 May 13, 2000  National Post, Toronto, Canada  "The sun-dance secret"
 May 24, 2000  TRN Online  "A little skepticism can go a long way."
 May 25, 2000  USA Today  "Amazing longevity for a fly-by-night-claim"
 May 29, 2000  Amarillo Globe-News  "Ask Adam"
 June 2000 www.scifidimensions.com "The Joe Nickell Files: UFOs and Alien
Abductions
 June 16, 2000 Courier Times "Feeling Those Good Vibrations, Not"

 Skeptical Briefs

 April 30, 2000 ---- The Newsletter on Newsletters

 CSICOP's newsletter, Skeptical Briefs, was featured in the information-based
newsletter.  Skeptical Briefs were described as "debunk[ing] such beliefs as
clairvoyance, ESP, alien abductions, UFOs and astrology through by-lined
articles by Committee members and university professors."

 The sun-dance secret

 May 13, 2000 ---- National Post: Toronto, Canada

 The National Post's Patchen Barss reports on the continuing debate between
believers and skeptics of the "miracle" at Fatima, Portugal, where it is
believed that the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in May and October
of 1917.

 According to Fatima witnesses, on October 13, 1917 the "sun danced and
bobbed in the sky" and the Virgin Mary imparted "a three-part revelation to
Lucia [de Jesus dos Santos] about upcoming religious and political matters of
the 20th century."  Lucia, who is now a 92-year-old cloistered nun, revealed
two of the three secrets in her memoirs, but, only revealed the last secret
to high-ranking Catholic officials.

 In the article Joe Nickell throws commonsense cold water on the Fatima
claims. "We know for a fact that the sun did not dance or pulsate at Fatima.
How do we know this? Fatima does not have a different sun that the sun that's
in Chicago , or the sun over Paris. It's the same sun. And astronomers know
that the sun on that date did not do anything out of the ordinary."
 Nickell explains that the witnesses "did do out-of-the ordinary things, like
staring at the sun", which would explain the visions and colors.  As far as
Lucia's claims go, Nickell believes that she "suffers from what psychologists
call "fantasy proneness"."  Nickell notes that, long before the Virgin Mary
spoke to her, Lucia had imaginary playmate angels."

 A little skepticism can go a long way

 May 24, 2000 ----TRN Online:  Opinions

 The "Our opinion" section of the Internet newspaper TRN Online's reports on
the May 5, 2000 planetary alignment, which failed to bring about doomsday as
predicted by "some doomsayers whose wild imaginings had all of us spinning
off into the vapor based on some baseless belief…"

 Responding to the continued circulation of the doomsday predictions, various
journalists and science spokespeople are pointing fingers at educators and
the media for the public's continued gullibility.

 The article presents five sets of questions, published by award-winning
author and former Washington Post editor Victor Cohn, which people should ask
when presented with far-out claims, whether doomsday predictions, miraculous
cures, or knowledge of extraterrestrial visitations.

 Among the questions featured were "What are your credentials," "Who paid for
or is backing your research," "Have you done any studies or experiments,"
"What are your data, your numbers," and "How can you be sure they are not
simply the result of chance?"

 The article also quotes a bit of advice, courtesy of CSICOP.  In cases where
someone's claims are beyond experience, we should always keep in mind that
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof."

 Amazing longevity for a fly-by-night claim

 May 25, 2000 ---- USA Today

 In USA Today's "E-world" section, CSICOP's Web site is mentioned in
reference to the May 5, 2000 doomsday prediction.  The blurb states "Well,
another "doomsday" came and went - the recent planetary-alignment non-event -
and we all still seem to be here.  The Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal has an explanation."

 As late as June 1, 2000 --- Detroit News, "New on the Net" section ---
CSICOP's online response to 5/5/2000 was being mentioned in the press --- a
lot of mileage for a claim that went nowhere.

 Ask Adam

 May 29, 2000 ----Amarillo Globe-News

 In the online edition of the Amarillo Globe-News, CSICOP is mentioned as a
reference for people to turn to in the column "Ask Adam."

 The site states that "ADAM often gets questions from readers regarding this
or that claim or scare that turns up on the Internet of through e-mail.  More
often than not, these turn out to be apocryphal - hoaxes or urban legends."

 CSICOP's Web site is listed as a reference for people who would like to
"stay on top of the facts" when thinking about such things.  Skeptical
Inquirer magazine is also listed as a source of information  for "such topics
as astrology, UFO sightings, plus analyses of fringe medicine, reports on
mass delusions, and other topics of continuing or recurring interest.


 The Joe Nickell Files: UFOs and Alien Abductions

 June 2000 edition of www.scifidimensions.com

 John Snider's second extensive interview with Joe Nickell is now online.
Nickell and Snider discuss Roswell, Whitley Strieber, the evolution of aliens
in the public imagination, waking dreams as an explanation of abduction
experiences, and a host of other extraterrestrial topics. Rather than
overedited snippets of the skeptical point of view, Snider allows his
interviewee to fully make his case and develop his points-a refreshing
departure from TV and radio. These online interviews are part of continuing
series on SFD that is well worth checking out.

 Feeling those Good Vibrations? Not

 The Courier Times' Carol Robidoux lets the skeptics have their full say on
the mysterious device know as the "Super Puck"-a strange New Age healing
device that fits in the palm of the hand--promoted and sold by the Gentle
Wind Project. The company claims that thousands of practitioners and patients
are using the puck in hopes of curing everything from depression to symptoms
of cancer.

 Says Joe Nickell, "What Gentle Wind is offering is at best pseudoscience. If
you read their literature you see they start making claims about 'etheric
damage.' They're talking new age nonsense."
 And James Randi  reminds them that his unclaimed offer still stands.
"Please," says Randi, "let the Gentle Wind people know I have a million
dollars here I just can't seem to give away. All they have to do is pass a
simple two-part test…. Since 1968, no one's gotten past the preliminaries.
They always say their power is blocked by evil vibrations ore a bad pork
chop, or the fact that Jupiter was in Sagittarius."

 -30-