Author: Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book is Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits (2018).
What Ghosts Mean
“I have to admit that I’ve come to envy the people who reported having poltergeists in their home; they have a ready explanation for anything amiss in their household”
This article is available for free to all.The True Story of The Bye Bye Man
From a folkloric perspective there are many red flags that the story of The Bye Bye Man (as Schneck described it to me and in his book—he didn’t write the screenplay) is fiction.
Ghost Hunters in the Dark
Why do ghost hunters look for ghosts at night with the lights off?
This article is available for free to all.Alabama School Panic: Is ‘Clown Lockdown’ the New Normal?
Any other time reports of threatening clowns would likely have been ignored or dismissed, but these copycat clown incidents come at a time when very real terroristic threats and school shootings are in the news.
Pseudorelatos sobre el chupacabras
La mayoría de la gente da por sentado que el chupacabras, como sus hermanos Piegrande y Nessie, apareció hace décadas o siglos. Sin embargo, el origen de este misterioso vampiro bestial se remonta a un testigo portorriqueño que vio la película Species en 1995, en la que aparecía un monstruo casi idéntico.
This article is available for free to all.Did Joseph Smith Predict Doomsday?
My inclusion of Joseph Smith as a failed doomsday prophet was not intended to disparage the Mormon faith but instead a historical fact based on Smith’s own writings.
The Great New Mexico Elk Murder Conspiracy
Livestock deaths, by themselves, are not unusual—there are many things that can fell large animals in our desert climes, including predators, poachers, a natural or man-made toxin, disease, drought, heat, starvation, and even lightning.
Critical and Thinking: The Ian Harris Interview
A standup comic doing explicitly skeptical material on a regular basis as part of his act is unusual.
Mistaken Memories of Vampires: Pseudohistories of the Chupacabra
As well-known monsters go, the chupacabra is of very recent vintage, first appearing in 1995. However, some writers have created pseudohistories and claimed a false antiquity for the Hispanic vampire beast. These examples provide a fascinating look at cryptozoological folklore in the making.
This article is available for free to all.Facing Art and Skepticism: Caricaturist Celestia Ward
In 2014, Skeptical Briefs Editor Benjamin Radford attended a caricature conference in Reno, Nevada. Inside a hotel ballroom full of ridiculously talented artists from around the world, he happened to meet Celestia Ward, a caricaturist who’s also a skeptic. Naturally, he had questions for her.
Alex Tsakiris, Psychic Detectives, and Bad Science
Good science requires good data, and to get valid results scientists must consider all of the evidence. If a researcher chooses to exclude some of the information available in an experiment, for example, he or she should offer a rationale for doing so. When researchers present to the public or their peers data that only supports their conclusions, that’s called bad science (at best) or outri
Playing with Past Lives: The Virginia Boy and the Dead Marine
Have you heard about this recent case of a young boy who says he lived a past life as a Marine? What do you make of it?
This article is available for free to all.Fortean Frog Falls: Facts and Fallacies
The most likely explanation for how small frogs get up into the sky in the first place is meteorological: a whirlwind, tornado, or other natural phenomenon.
Playing Witch Doctor: Hidden Ethics in Skeptical Ghost Investigation
The drive from my apartment to the haunted house was about twenty minutes, but I found myself wishing it would take longer. I wanted more time to get a handle on what I was going to say, how I was going to tell the family that their house was not haunted by a demon or angry ghost.
Sweet Science of Seduction or Scam? Evaluating eHarmony
The popular online dating site eHarmony claims that its matching methods are both successful and scientific. But a closer look at the evidence suggests otherwise.
This article is available for free to all.Crop Circles: A Not-So-Convincing Case
Unlike other mysterious phenomena such as psychic powers, ghosts, or Bigfoot, there is no doubt that crop circles are real. The real question is what creates them.
This article is available for free to all.Discovery’s Mountain of Mystery Mongering: The Mass Murdering Yeti
A much-hyped two-hour Discovery Channel “documentary” delved into a decades-old pseudo-mystery known as the Dyatlov Pass incident in which nine Russian skiers died under unclear circumstances in the Ural Mountains.
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