Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

 CONTACT: Kevin Christopher
 E-mail: press@csicop.org

 CSICOP Tracks Misinformation and Hoaxes in the Wake of the Terrorist Attacks
 September 20, 2001

 The terrorist attacks in Manhattan, Washington, DC and the Pittsburgh area
 constitute the most tragic and violent events ever perpetrated in the United
 States. As with other tragedies, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and other
 forms of misinformation crop up almost immediately, playing on people's
 hopes, fears, and appetite for amazing tales. E-mail has multiplied the
 speed and extent to which hoaxes, rumors and urban legends spread.

 In the interest of public service, the Committee for the Scientific
 Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal has created the HoaxWatch Web page
 (www.csicop.org/hoaxwatch), a source for factual information that debunks
 much of the claptrap circulating in e-mails, the Internet and elsewhere. We
 will update this site in reaction to new developments and we're extremely
 interested in any e-mails or Web sites circulating suspicious information.
 We ask everyone to please forward any suspicious e-mails or links to our
 hotline e-mail address at info@csicop.org.