Skeptical Briefs
The Skeptical Briefs newsletter is only available to Associate Members of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. It is published four times per year (in March, June, September, and December), and includes articles; news from skeptical groups across the country and around the world; and regular columnists Joe Nickell ("Investigative Files"), Lewis Jones ("Inklings"), Victor Stenger ("Reality Check"), Henry Huber ("Group News"); and Benjamin Radford ("Briefs Briefs"). It also includes a Hidden Messages puzzle in each issue by New Mexico physicist and skeptic David E. Thomas.
Headless Ghosts I Have Known
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.4, December 2006
Investigative Files
In the popular imagination, ghosts are a form of “energy” that survives death.
Benny Hinn Healing Crusade Ends in Controversy
by Leo Igwe
Volume 16.3, September 2006
In April 2005, American Evangelist Benny Hinn arrived in Nigeria for his much-advertised Healing Crusade.
Snake Oil: A Guide for Connoisseurs
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.3, September 2006
Investigative Files
In an earlier article, "Peddling Snake Oil" (Nickell 1998), I addressed the question of snake oil’s existence.
Experiments Cast Doubt on Bigfoot ‘Evidence’
by Michael Dennett
Volume 16.3, September 2006
One star of the Bigfoot community over the past decade has been latent-fingerprint examiner Jimmy Chilcutt.
Psychic vs. Skeptical Predictions
by Max Fagin
Volume 16.2, June 2006
What do you do with a high-school student who thinks she has paranormal abilities?
Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
by Victor Stenger
Volume 16.2, June 2006
Reality Check
The last resort of the theist who seeks to argue for the existence of God from science and finds all his other arguments fail.
Postmortem on ‘Alien Autopsy’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.2, June 2006
Investigative Files
Britain's Manchester Evening News termed it a hoax that "fooled the world". Well, not exactly...
The Bigfoot Legend Lives
by Michael Dennett
Volume 16.1, March 2006
Within the span of a few years the Bigfoot community has lost its two primary proponents, René Dahinden and Grover Krantz
Sherlock Holmes, Paranormal Investigator
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.1, March 2006
Investigative Files
Sherlock Holmes was not just the world's "only unofficial consulting detective."