Author: Kenny Biddle
Kenny Biddle is a science enthusiast who investigates claims of paranormal experiences, equipment, photos, and video. He promotes science, critical thinking, and skepticism through his blog I Am Kenny Biddle. He frequently hosts workshops on how to deconstruct and explain paranormal photography. Email â kbiddle@centerforinquiry.org
A Skeptic Gets a Pendulum Reading
In this episode, I visit a metaphysical craft show in Buffalo, NY and sit down for a reading by Kayla, a self-proclaimed psychic and animal medium, offering pendulum board & tarot readings. After introducing myself and inviting her to apply for the CFIIG $500k Paranormal Challenge, she proposed I get a reading to see how …
Demonic Dilletantes, the Dangers of Detectives-Turned-Demonologists
The demand for exorcisms is on the rise. According to sources such as Father Vincent Lampert, Catholic priest and designated exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, back in 2005 there were roughly twelve priests in the United States specially trained as exorcists. Nearly two decades later, that number is estimated to be between 125 to …
A Visit To The Grafton Monster Festival
In this episode, Kenny heads down to West Virgina to join Daniel Reed (Skeptical Inquirer writer and founder of the West Virginia Skeptics Society) to attend the Grafton Monster festival. Join us for a slightly different episode style â where we visit the spot where the alleged monster sighting took place, then interview several people …
Investigation of the Bellaire House
Several years ago, a ghost hunter told me of a haunted location that would absolutely change my skeptical mindâif I only had the courage to spend the night. That place was known as the Bellaire House. I recall finding the house on Google and reading about paranormal portals, malevolent spirits possessing enthusiastic ghost hunters, and …
A Skeptic Visits the Conjuring House
An unassuming farmhouse located in the town of Burrillville, Rhode Island, was made famous by the 2013 horror film The Conjuring. Written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes and directed by James Wan, it starred Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren. The story is based on the alleged paranormal experiences …
Dowsing for Hidden Objects | A Paranormal Challenge
In this episode, the Center for Inquiry staff gathered at the Buffalo, NY headquarters for a staff retreat. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Jim Underdown, our CFIIG Director, scheduled a dowser for our $500K Paranormal Challenge. Norbert, who drove two hours to take the test, claimed that he could find any object just …
Dark Turn in a Thrift Store Urn: A Serial Killerâs Ashes?
In my years of investigating extraordinary claims of alleged paranormal activity, Iâve come across my share of hoaxes. From the Dibbuk Box (Biddle 2019) to spirits moving a table (Biddle 2022) to a dancing Cabbage Patch doll (Biddle 2021), Iâve seen people try to pass off all manner of deception to gain fame, fortune, or …
Investigating Ghosts at the Knickerbocker Hotel
On a beautiful Saturday morning, I hopped into my SUV, started a playlist of my favorite podcasts, and headed south toward the small town of Linesville, located in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. I had received an invitation from Peg Knickerbocker to stay overnight in her allegedly haunted building, the Knickerbocker Hotel. Never one to decline a chance to witness the other side of the supernatural veil (even though I never have), I accepted.
A UFO Over New York City?
While flying home to New York, Michelle Reyes was taking video from her window of the New York scenery. A black cylinder-shaped object suddenly rushed past just outside the plane. Was it a UFO? Well, it was certainly âunidentified!â Letâs take a closer look at this mystery, along with a guest appearance by Mick West, …
True Haunting, or Not?
In 1971, years before both the bestselling novel and film The Amityville Horror thrilled the public with one of the most well-known âtrue storiesâ of a haunted house, NBC News aired a short, six-minute clip documenting the exorcism of the allegedly haunted Chicago couple Edwin and Marsha Becker. Decades later, Edwin Becker self-published an account …
A Closer Look at the Paranormal Activity Video | The Snedeker Case 1988
In this episode, we take a trip back to 1988 to take a closer look at alleged âdemonic activityâ courtesy of Ed Warren, the self-styled demonologist whoâs never been to a house where he couldnât find a demon. Before we get into the footage, I take you on a timeline of events surrounding the Snedeker case …
What I Learned: Disgust, Misinformation, and the Lemon Test
CSICon 2023 has come and gone, and Iâm still buzzing from all the excitement. This was my sixth conference attendance, and once again it delivered an amazing speaker lineup, presentations full of exciting information and funny jokes (yes, skeptics can be funny), and a reunion of our extended family. Iâve had the opportunity to write …
Can Clouds Be Moved? CFIIG Finds Out in Vegas
In this episode, I take you along on an official CFIIG $500k Challenge. An applicant claimed that she could move clouds (in the sky) at will. She could also make them disappear. Jim and Stan of the CFIIG settled on a proper and mutually agreed upon test protocols with the applicant. I was invited to …
Miami Mall Aliens
In this episode, we head down to Miami (virtually) to investigate the January 1st video allegedly showing â10-foot-tall shadow aliens.â We take a look at the video, some reactions, and breakdown the video details to see whatâs really going on. Spoiler â itâs not aliens â but check out the video anyway!!â
Elite Spirit Stick
In this installment, Kenny takes a shot at building a replica ghost hunting gadget called the Elite Spirit Stick. After seeing it at several paranormal conferences, he realized this $120 motion sensor glow stick was built with easily obtainable and cheap parts, many ordered from Amazon. Instead of buying one of these gadgets to take …
WNYT Channel 13 Promotes Psychic in Kidnapping Case
On Saturday, September 30, 2023, nine-year-old Charlotte Sena was on a camping trip with her family, staying at the Moreau Lake State Park, about forty-five miles north of Albany, New York. The family was settled on campsite 18, located on Loop A, near the park entrance from Old Saratoga Road. Charlotte had been hanging out …
Investigating a Ghost Boy in Canada
In June 2023, I got a call from Jim Underdown, the executive director of the Center for Inquiry West (in Los Angeles) asking if I would be interested in taking a âhaunted houseâ case in Ontario, Canada. The homeowner had contacted Underdown after searching the internet for someone who might help her understand strange occurrences …
A Conversation with Leo Igwe
In this episode, Kenny takes a break from dismantling ghost gadgets and solving mysteries and takes advantage of a rare opportunity to sit down with Dr. Leo Igwe. In this conversation, we discussed growing up and living in Nigeria, surrounded by superstition, how and why people are still accused of witchcraft, the consequences of being …
Aliens in a Las Vegas Backyard
At around 11:49 p.m. on April 30, 2023, a bright light soared across the Las Vegas night sky. The event was captured on a few security cameras and a police officerâs body camera as he spoke with several individuals standing on a sidewalk. Forty minutes later, a call came into the Las Vegas Metro Police …
Whatâs In Your Internet-Based Toolbox?
I recently attended a lecture by Timothy J. Redmond, an award-winning educator at Williamsville East High School, an adjunct professor at Daemen University, and author of over 100 articles on critical thinking and politics, as well as the book Political Tribalism in America: How Hyper Partisanship Dumbs Down Democracy and How To Fix It. I …
Bridging the Gap Between (Some) Paranormal Believers and Skeptics with Kenny Biddle
When it comes to fringe topics such as ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, and the like, there’s usually two sides: believers and skeptics. Both sides usually clash when mixed together, while also finding comfort in “preaching” to their like-minded circles. Rather than avoiding confrontation, I not only attend paranormal-themed events, I participate whenever possible. I’ll talk about …
The Holy Grail of EVP – Panasonic DR60
The Panasonic RR-DR60 IC audio recorder was released in 1998 as one of the first digital Dictaphones. The ghost hunting community quickly adopted the device as a new, compact tool for their attempts of hearing voices from spirits â a replacement for the standard analog cassette recorders. The sound quality was poor, but ghost hunters …
Looking for Ghosts at a âMost Haunted Hotel on the East Coastâ
I was recently invited by an independent ghost group to stay overnight at The Haunted Shanley Hotel, promoted as âone of the most haunted locations on the East Coast.â With such a bold claim, how could I not accept? I had also recently been sent several articles claiming the Shanley was so haunted that anyone …
A Missing Oklahoma Teen Foundâbut Not by a Psychic
My social media feed is a mixed bag; I follow many pages devoted to science and skepticism, as well as many that delve into the world of ghosts, psychics, UFOs (a lot of that lately), Bigfoot, and other extraordinary claims. I do this because, well, I have always found it interesting. Weird stuff is just …
Trucker Speeds by a âGhostâ
A recent article from Fox News reports that âtruck driver William Church reportedly saw a figure on the side of an Arizona highway, and he thinks it could be a ghost.â On March 11, truck drivers William Church and Erika Lake were traveling along Arizona State Route 87 when he noticed a figure along the …
Mexican President Shares Recycled Photo Claimed as âAluxeâ
On February 25, 2023, Mexican President AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador posted two photos to his Twitter page with the caption, âI share two photos of our supervision of the Mayan Train works: one, taken by an engineer three days ago, apparently from an aluxe; another, by Diego Prieto of a splendid pre-Hispanic sculpture in Ek …
Peeking Shadow Figures | TikTok Ghosts
With millions of views, a TikTok video of alleged shadow figures peeking out from a stairwell doorway has been showing up in my feed over and over again. In this episode of Ghosts in the Machine, Kenny explores how this video was likely created, exploring the ‘mask’ feature in video editing. Although thousands of videos like …
From Ghost Hunter to CSIâs Chief Investigator
In October 2022, just before the start of CSICon, I achieved a goal I didnât think was possible: I accepted the position of chief investigator for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. I had taken my passion of investigating mysteries for the past twenty-plus years and turned it into one of the very few full-time skeptical …
Grandmotherâs Haunted Statue
In late November 2015, I received an email from a person named Hanuni, asking for help with several strange events occurring in her home. I replied and asked for a brief description of the events she referred to. Her response: âI think a wooden statue is haunting my home. I donât believe in ghosts, but …
Another âHauntedâ RagdollâOr Another Attention Grab?
Our wacky world has quite a few âhauntedâ dolls. There are the famous ones, such as Annabelle and Robert the Doll, both of which do nothing more menacing than stay seated on chairs behind glass. Then there are the hundreds of other dolls that are also alleged to be haunted, spread out across various museums …
Revisiting The Columbus Poltergeist
In this episode of Ghosts in the Machine, we revisit the Columbus Poltergeist. This case briefly caught the world’s attention when (then) 14-year-old Tina Resch was believed to be at the center of poltergeist activity. Glassware, eggs, and candlesticks were thrown about by an alleged unseen ‘Force’. A famous photograph alleges to have captured a …
The New York Times Advising Readers on How to Live With a Ghost
A sure sign of the approaching Halloween season is when newspapers all over the world begin adding ghosts and alleged haunted houses to their articles. By tapping into that once-a-year surge in supernatural interest, writers can pull in additional clicks and new subscribers. Occasionally, we get educational articles that cover the origin of Halloween or …
Is My Mother Seeing Ghosts? A Friend Asks for Advice
Investigating various supernatural claims is not my normal day job; rather itâs something I do in my spare time. Although I usually donât bring it up, several of my coworkers are aware of my work with Skeptical Inquirer and enjoy discussing various topics while we build some of the worldâs best helicopters (thatâs my normal …
The EM Pump – “Energy for Ghosts”
In this episode, we take a closer at another “ghost hunting” gadget marketed directly to paranormal enthusiasts – the Power Plant. This is advertised as a “spirit energy device that provides ENERGY 4 GHOSTS, which they require to manifest, interact, & communicate with you. Energized spirits are known to cause more paranormal activity, allowing you …
Octavia Buggsâs Amazing Non-Apparition
In November 2020, I was having a conversation with Benjamin Radford, deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer. After discussing various projects each of us were involved in, I mentioned that I was scheduled for (work) training in North Carolina in December. Radford then asked if Iâd be interested in meeting someone with an allegedly âamazingâ photograph …
Anticipating CSICon 2022 – A Video Interview with Kenny Biddle
This interview is part of the series I am doing with the featured speakers appearing at CSICon 2022, the conference that will take place in Las Vegas in October. This time, I had the opportunity to talk with ghost hunter turned skeptical paranormal investigator Kenny Biddle.
The Amarillo Creature
In the early morning hours of May 21 (2022), a camera captured a strange-looking creature, seemingly walking on two legs, outside the Amarillo Zoo (Texas). Although Michael Kashuba, the Parks and Recreation Department Director for the city of Amarillo is having genuine fun with the photo, there are (of course) many who are claiming this …
Revisiting the Kinect | Kinect “Ghost” Challenge
In this episode, I take on a (friendly) challenge from a viewer. A well-known YouTuber claims his house is extremely haunted and has been using the Xbox Kinect to capture “stick figure ghosts” that walk around like normal people – which is in direct opposition to what I’ve demonstrated in the past. So, I dive …
Hinsdale House: Skeptic Goes on a Ghost Hunt
In this episode of Ghosts in the Machine, we go looking for ghosts! I was invited to join a ghost hunt at the Hinsdale House, an allegedly very haunted house in New York. I figured it might be fun to take you along with me, and provide some skeptical commentary along during the event. The …
Homeopathic Hogwash
In this episode, Kenny finds inspiration from a recent interview with Nick Little, the in-house lawyer for CFI. During our conversation, the topic turned to CFI’s lawsuit against CVS, what homeopathy is, and a short experiment (by yours truly) to show viewers the absurdity of the process. This episode of Ghosts in the Machine follows …