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56-535: The creature was introduced to a wider audience by Gray Barker in 1970, and was later popularized by John Keel in his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies , claiming that there were paranormal events related to the sightings, and a connection to the collapse of the Silver Bridge . The book was later adapted into a 2002 film starring Richard Gere . An annual festival in Point Pleasant is devoted to

112-691: A candle, see in the resultant glimmering in the tiny eyes, aided by vertical cracks and other streaks, the effect of tears. Relics of the Christ (2007, British edition published as The Jesus Relics: From the Holy Grail to the Turin Shroud ), focuses on the Christian tradition of relics. Speaking with D.J. Grothe on the Point of Inquiry podcast, Nickell proposed that veneration of relics had become

168-454: A daughter by her, named Cherette, and two grandsons, Tyner and Chase. Harris had married before but divorced. She and Nickell married April 1, 2006. Harris has since assisted Nickell in his investigative work. Diane Harris had told Cherette that her biological father was her first husband, but the daughter questioned her lack of resemblance to him. On Cherette's wedding day, one of the guests mentioned that her parents weren't married when she

224-461: A frog or snake away" and wrote that "there is zero reason to suspect it is the Mothman as described in legend. There are too many far more reasonable explanations." Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand notes that Mothman has been widely covered in popular press, with some claiming sightings connected with UFOs, and others suggesting that a military storage site was Mothman's "home". Brunvand notes that

280-588: A grilled cheese sandwich, to the Cross 's regeneration after pieces were removed, to the structural deficiencies of the Loretto Chapel staircase, Nickell's described fact and myth are presented with clarity and respect. The book was criticized in the New York Journal of Books for research limited to non-Biblical sources. Less satisfying to the reader is the approach taken to miracles described in

336-446: A hoax. In 2002, Nickell was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. to evaluate the authenticity of the manuscript of Hannah Crafts ' The Bondwoman's Narrative (1853–1860), possibly the first novel by an African-American woman. At the request of document dealer and historian Seth Keller, Nickell analyzed documentation in the dispute over the authorship of " The Night Before Christmas ", ultimately supporting

392-428: A new appreciation of intuition, without which I would not have known of my wonderful daughter – and two grandsons! It's enough to warm an old skeptic's heart." Nickell has worked professionally as a stage magician, carnival pitchman, private detective, blackjack dealer, riverboat manager, university instructor, author, and paranormal investigator, and he lists more than 1,000 personae on his website. Since

448-437: A new idolatry; that is, worship of an actual deity within the relics in form of an entity that moves its eyes, weeps, bleeds, and walks. He said that although no icon in history has ever been proven authentic in the sense of displaying such attributes, he approaches each case with a suspension of disbelief: "I'm interested in the evidence because I want us to know what the truth is... I urge skeptics... not to be as closed-minded as

504-574: A regional alcoholic drink), and several additional small press and "contributed to" books. Nickell has investigated religious artifacts and claimed phenomena. Beginning in 1982 with his book Inquest on the Shroud of Turin : Latest Scientific Findings , Nickell demonstrates his research model of collecting evidence and following that evidence to a sustainable conclusion. He updated the book in 1998 with more recent historical, iconographic, forensic, physical and chemical evidence, with special explanations of

560-409: Is a more detailed work than many of Nickell's. He ranges from dowsing to Frankenstein to healing spas. He includes an essay about learning that he had an adult daughter and accepting that she attributed her search for him to "intuition" . The first half of CSI Paranormal is a handbook on how to investigate paranormal claims. Nickell discusses his investigative strategy to: In the second half of

616-652: Is an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal . Nickell is senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and writes regularly for their journal, Skeptical Inquirer . He is also an associate dean of the Center for Inquiry Institute. He is the author or editor of over 30 books. Among his career highlights, Nickell helped expose the James Maybrick "Jack the Ripper Diary" as

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672-620: Is held on the third weekend of every September, hosting guest speakers, vendor exhibits, pancake-eating contests, and hayride tours of locally notable areas. Gray Barker Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 924224506 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:44:07 GMT Joe Nickell Joe Nickell (born December 1, 1944)

728-421: Is more apposite... Both Nickell's interest in the subject and his treatment of it are devout... Although the book contains a useful index for the fact-checker who has no time to saunter, the true and earnest pen collector, paper-freak pilgrim, or office-supply junkie will find that every polished page contains its blessing and bliss. In Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation , Nickell begins with

784-562: Is true can lead to imposing a hypothesis on the data instead of using data to test a hypothesis (the scientific method ). Nickell's 2005 update of Ambrose Bierce , Unsolved History: Investigating Mysteries of the Past , is the same text with the addition of two books to its "Recommended Works". Real-Life X-Files and its sequel, The Mystery Chronicle are a series of short essays on the histories, expanding mythologies, and likely causes of several dozen mysteries. In some cases, Nickell re-creates

840-703: The Chupacabra , West Virginia for aliens , and Louisiana for the swamp creatures . Nickell traces the monsters' iconography from first reports to latest sightings, concluding that the tales reflect the evolution of their cultural environment, not any basis in fact. A quote from his guide in the Louisiana swamps provides insight into the genesis of the tales, "... frightening tales could sometimes have been concocted to keep outsiders away—to safeguard prime hunting territory or even possibly to help protect moonshine stills. Charbonnet also suggested that such stories served in

896-671: The Clement Clarke Moore claim. Joe Nickell is the son of J. Wendell and Ella (Turner) Nickell and was born and raised in West Liberty, Kentucky . His parents indulged his interest in magic and investigation, allowing him to use a room in their house as a crime lab. He earned a B.A. degree in 1967 from the University of Kentucky . To avoid the wide draft for the Vietnam War , the following year in 1968, at

952-755: The Kennedy assassination , Kentucky's Gray Lady ghost, and UFO cover-up conspiracy theories . Nickell asked several researchers to investigate claims of psychic detectives . He collected their reports in Psychic Sleuths: ESP and Sensational Cases . None of the reports credits the psychics with factually supported insights. Nickell concludes that these individuals were either self-deluded or frauds. They used other psychological techniques to gain information, such as cold reading in discussions with police detectives, or retrofitting. In Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons, and Other Alien Beings , Nickell shows

1008-481: The St. Augustine Lighthouse with his own. Ambrose Bierce Is Missing And Other Historical Mysteries was Nickell's 1992 foray presenting historical investigations to the reading public. In the introduction, he uses the legal concepts of "a preponderance of the evidence" and "clear and compelling evidence" as standards by which hypotheses explaining mysteries should be objectively measured. Subjectively wishing an explanation

1064-529: The Vinland Map . According to Publishers Weekly , Crime Science: Methods of Forensic Detection (1998) provided extensive basic information, with brief case studies. In Real or Fake: Studies in Authentication (2009), Nickell drew on his early work related to technical aspects of paper, ink, typefaces, pens, and other keys to determining authenticity of paper documents. New material details

1120-417: The radiocarbon dating process. In his 1993 book Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions and Healing Cures , updated in 1998, Nickell analyzes miracles claimed by various religions. For each incident, Nickell reviews the contemporaneous written accounts, explores various natural explanations, explains the cultural environment surrounding the events, and speculates on the motivations of

1176-479: The sandhill crane , a large American crane almost as tall as a man with a seven-foot wingspan and reddish coloring around its eyes. The bird may have wandered out of its migration route, and therefore was unrecognized at first because it was not native to this region. Due to the popularity of the Batman TV series at the time, the fictional superhero Batman and his rogues gallery were prominently featured in

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1232-467: The 1999 Russian apartment bombings . The Mothman Prophecies (2002) is a major motion picture, loosely based on the 1975 book of the same name by John Keel. In 2016, WCHS-TV published a photo purported to be of Mothman taken by an anonymous man while driving on Route 2 in Mason County . Science writer Sharon A. Hill proposed that the photo showed "a bird, perhaps an owl, carrying

1288-723: The Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church (I Corinthians chapters 12 and 14). Nickell's first book in the authentication genre was Pen, Ink, and Evidence: A study of Writing and Writing Materials for the Penman, Collector, and Document Detective , described as a definitive work for researchers and practitioners. Mary Hood of the Georgia Review praised Nickell's scholarship: Enthusiasm" does not quite express Nickell's sober authority of tone; "quiet passion"

1344-471: The Bible. Mr. Nickell focuses on the miracles of Jesus, dismissing them primarily as parables told to make a point that were later converted into miracle stories... Equally dismissive is his approach to glossolalia (speaking in tongues)... he does not bring to bear the available and abundant data that support the reality of this spiritual gift. He also ignores the discussion about glossolalia that can be found in

1400-603: The Center for Inquiry every Halloween. He is frequently consulted by news and television producers for his skeptical perspective. Nickell explained his philosophy to Blake Smith of the Skeptic podcast MonsterTalk . I don't like debunkers and I don't like dismissers, people who are just trying to say, "Oh, humbug... Those people were probably drunk or lying or hoaxing." I just think we shouldn't do that. If I'm studying vampires, I don't have to believe they exist to talk about

1456-483: The Mothman legend. On November 15, 1966, two young couples from Point Pleasant—Roger and Linda Scarberry, and Steve and Mary Mallette—told police they had seen a large black creature whose eyes "glowed red", standing at the side of the road near "the TNT area ", the site of a former World War II munitions plant. Linda Scarberry described it as a 'slender, muscular man' about seven feet tall with white wings. However, she

1512-496: The Mothman's "glowing eyes" were actually red-eye effect caused from the reflection of light from flashlights or other bright light sources. Benjamin Radford points out that the only report of glowing "red eyes," was secondhand, that of Shirley Hensley quoting her father. One of the prevailing hypotheses associated with the Mothman at the time of the original sightings was that it was a misidentified sandhill crane, due primarily to

1568-489: The affected religious community. He concludes that the claimed miracles were either hoaxes or misinterpretations of natural phenomena. For instance, after studying the weeping St. Irene icon in Queens, New York, Nickell said, The glistening varnish and certain surface irregularities created a play of light that produced the appearance of weeping. A religious supplicant predisposed to see tears... could, especially if carrying

1624-694: The age of 24, he moved to Canada. There he began his careers as a magician, card dealer, and private investigator. After President Jimmy Carter granted unconditional pardons to draft dodgers in 1977, Nickell returned to the United States. He returned to the University of Kentucky for graduate work, earning an M.A. (1982) and PhD (1987). His PhD is in English, focusing on literary investigation and folklore. In late 2003, Nickell reconnected with his college girlfriend Diana G. Harris. He learned he had

1680-576: The answers to the Crystal Skulls , spontaneous human combustion , the Mackenzie House , and lesser known mysteries. On a Point of Inquiry podcast years later, Nickell explained that the same mysteries are reported over and over again because, "For each new generation, they have to re-learn that there is controversy ... Each new generation hears these for the first time ... It's an endless process in which you have to be willing to speak to

1736-517: The book, Nickell shows how this strategy has been used to evaluate the claims of the Giant Ell, the Roswell UFO , the grilled cheese Madonna , and John Edward . In The Science of Ghosts (2012), Nickell relates several archetype ghost stories—the girl in the snow, Elvis, phantom soldiers, and haunted lighthouses, castles, ships, and theaters. By tracking the development of these stories over

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1792-431: The common otter and found a near perfect match. It turns out that three or four otters swimming in a line look remarkably like a serpentine, humped creature undulating through the water. It is very easy to mistake for a single creature if you see them from a distance. "This isn't speculation. I'm not making this up," Nickell said. "I've spoken to people who saw what they thought was a lake monster, got closer and discovered it

1848-857: The development of ghost stories since the 17th century, and how they have been influenced by changing technology and communication methods. The faked Cottingley Fairies photographs, for example, became possible only when cameras became available to the general public. The Outer Edge: Classic Investigations of the Paranormal is a collection of articles edited by Nickell, Barry Karr and Tom Genoni. It features Nickell and John F. Fischer's 1987 article, "Incredible Cremations: Investigating Spontaneous Combustion Deaths," along with essays by Martin Gardner , Ray Hyman , Susan Blackmore , and James Randi . Adventures in Paranormal Investigation

1904-411: The early 1980s, he has researched, written, co-authored, and edited books in many genres. He was profiled by The New Yorker writer Burkhard Bilger, who met Nickell during the summer of 2002 at Lily Dale, New York . The investigator had disguised himself to investigate Spiritualist psychics. Nickell is a recurring guest on the Point of Inquiry podcast and conducts the annual Houdini Seance at

1960-536: The event chose the Mothman to be the center of the festival due to its uniqueness, and as a way to celebrate its local legacy in the town. According to the event organizer Jeff Wamsley, the average attendance for the Mothman Festival is an estimated 10–12 thousand people per year. A 12-foot-tall metallic statue of the creature, created by artist and sculptor Bob Roach, was unveiled in 2003. The Mothman Museum and Research Center opened in 2005. The festival

2016-735: The existence of, a 'Mothman'." Some pseudoscience adherents (such as ufologists , paranormal authors, and cryptozoologists ) suggest the Mothman could be an alien , a supernatural manifestation, or a previously unknown species of animal. In his 1975 book, Keel claimed that Point Pleasant residents experienced precognitions including premonitions of the collapse of the Silver Bridge, UFO sightings, visits from inhuman or threatening men in black , and other phenomena. Point Pleasant held its first Annual Mothman Festival in 2002. The Mothman Festival began after brainstorming creative ways to attract visitors to Point Pleasant. The group organizing

2072-456: The geeks. Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World's Most Elusive Creatures is a collaboration of Nickell and Ben Radford . Author Ed Grabianowski summarizes one of the many possible explanations for lake monster sightings, ... a convincing argument based, again, on data mapping. He plotted the distribution of North American lake monster sightings. Then he overlaid the distribution of

2128-490: The history of photography. He presents methods of dating photographs, from the physical characteristics of the work to the subject and contents of the photo. He explains how old photographs can be faked and how those fakes can be detected. He also describes identification of persons and places in old photos and the use of photography by law enforcement. He explains various trick photography techniques, including ghost and spirit photography. These have become even more elaborate with

2184-493: The history of vampires, the cultural and literary history. There are many aspects, all worthy of some scholarly discussion. He served as a character consultant to Hilary Swank in her starring role in the horror film The Reaping (2007), in which she plays a paranormal investigator. Nickell's books can be divided into four main categories—religious, forensic, paranormal, and mysteries. He has also written two books for young readers and two stand-alone books (one on UFOs, one on

2240-569: The legends, demonstrating that no special powers are needed to duplicate the effects. In others, he answers common lore with facts uncovered in his research. In 1982, Nickell and five of his relatives created a 440 foot long condor in a field in Kentucky by plotting coordinates of points on a drawing, a technique Nickell believes could have been used to create the Nazca Lines in Peru. "That is, on

2296-491: The most likely explanation for the original sightings. This investigation found that the mis-identification of an owl—most likely a Barred owl —was the most likely explanation. Harry Eager of the Maui News calls Secrets of Sideshows "... virtually an encyclopedia of that nearly extinct form of entertainment." He faults Nickell for downplaying the brutality and grim fakery of the shows, especially what he calls "prettying"

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2352-534: The next crop of people." Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics, and Other Mysteries , written by Nickell and Robert A. Baker , is a handbook that combines the practical techniques of investigating the paranormal with a description of the psychology of believers. Nickell often quoted Baker, "... there are no haunted places, only haunted people." Mysterious Realms: Probing Paranormal, Historical, and Forensic Enigmas , written by Nickell and Fisher, analyzes 10 frequently reported mysteries, including

2408-547: The other side is ridiculously open-minded." In 2008, Prometheus Books published John Calvin 's Treatise on Relics with an introduction by Nickell. He wrote a brief biography of Calvin and uses references from his own 2007 Relics book. In his The Science of Miracles: Investigating the Incredible (2013), Nickell applied his investigative technique to 57 reported miracles. From the Virgin Mary 's face appearing on

2464-714: The public eye. While the villain Killer Moth did not appear in the show, the comic book influence of both him and Batman is believed by some to have influenced the coinage of the name "Mothman" in the local newspapers. Following the December 15, 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge and the death of 46 people, the incident gave rise to the legend and connected the Mothman sightings to the bridge collapse. According to Georgian newspaper Svobodnaya Gruziya , Russian UFOlogists claim that Mothman sightings in Moscow foreshadowed

2520-468: The recountings of the 1966–67 Mothman reports usually state that at least 100 people saw Mothman with many more "afraid to report their sightings." However, he points out that these written sources for such stories consisted of children's books or sensationalized or undocumented accounts that fail to quote identifiable persons. Brunvand found elements in common among many Mothman reports and much older folk tales, suggesting that something real may have triggered

2576-445: The scares and became woven with existing folklore. He also records anecdotal tales of Mothman supposedly attacking the roofs of parked cars occupied by teenagers. Conversely, Joe Nickell says that a number of hoaxes followed the publicity generated by the original reports, such as a group of construction workers who tied flashlights to helium balloons. Nickell attributes the Mothman stories to sightings of barred owls , suggesting that

2632-473: The sightings were due to an unusually large heron he termed a "shitepoke". Contractor Newell Partridge told Johnson that when he aimed a flashlight at a creature in a nearby field, its eyes glowed "like bicycle reflectors". Additionally, he blamed buzzing noises from his television set and the disappearance of his German Shepherd dog on the creature. Wildlife biologist Robert L. Smith at West Virginia University told reporters that descriptions and sightings fit

2688-574: The size of the bird as well as the "reddish flesh" around the crane's eyes. Daniel A. Reed examined the migration patterns and historically reported sightings of Sand Hill Cranes in the area of Point Pleasant, West Virginia and proposed that, in cases where eyeshine was not noted, it was statistically more likely that witnesses were seeing and misidentifying a Great Blue Heron instead. According to University of Chicago psychologist David A. Gallo, "55 sightings of Mothman in Chicago during 2017" published on

2744-483: The small drawing we would measure along the center line from one end (the bird's beak) to a point on the line directly opposite the point to be plotted (say a wing tip). Then we would measure the distance from the center line to the desired point. A given number of units on the small drawing would require the same number of units—larger units—on the large drawing." In the case of West Virginia's Mothman , Nickell interviewed witnesses and conducted on-site experiments to find

2800-571: The step-by-step investigations of specific cases: the purported diary of Jack the Ripper (fake), The Bondwoman's Narrative (date authenticated, author unknown), Lincoln's Lost Gettysburg Address (fake), and An Outlaw's Scribblings (fake). Secrets of the Supernatural: Investigating the World's Occult Mysteries was Nickell's first book of his paranormal investigation genre. He and his collaborator, John F. Fisher, look for

2856-451: The use of computer images or digital camera technology. Detecting Forgery: Forensic Investigation of Documents (1996) presents an overview of a document expert's work. He says that forged documents are often revealed by the forgers' ignorance of or inability to re-create historic typefaces, inks, papers, pens, watermarks, signatures, and historic styles. Nickell explains forgeries of Daniel Boone 's musket, Mark Hofmann 's Mormon papers, and

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2912-509: The website of self-described Fortean researcher Lon Strickler are "a selective sample". Gallo explains that "he's not sampling random people and asking if they saw the Mothman ;– he's just counting the number of people that voluntarily came forward to report a sighting." According to Gallo, "people more likely to visit a paranormal-centric website like Strickler's might also be more inclined to believe in, and therefore witness

2968-613: The years, he demonstrates that the stories are not evidence of spirits, but evidence of the effects an appropriate setting can have on susceptible witnesses. He includes an analysis of 21st-century paranormal investigators , particularly Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters . He compares their investigations of the Myrtles Plantation , the Winchester Mystery House and

3024-665: Was actually a line of otters. That really happens." Clearly, not every lake monster sighting can be accounted for with otters, but it's an excellent example of how our perceptions can be fooled. The research for Tracking the Man-Beasts: Sasquatch, Vampires, Zombies, and More took Nickell to many locations of reported monster sightings—the Pacific Northwest for Bigfoot , Australia for the Yowie , Austria for werewolves , New England for vampires , Argentina for

3080-450: Was conceived. Later, based on intuition, Cherette challenged her mother directly about her father and sensed equivocation. After more conversations and a DNA test, Cherette learned that Nickell was her biological father. Nickell used his daughter's claim that she had made an intuitive search for him as the basis for an article on the unconscious collection and processing of data. In it he concluded: "Cautions notwithstanding, I must admit to

3136-458: Was unable to discern its face due to the hypnotic effect of its eyes. Distressed, the witnesses sped away, reporting that the creature flew after their car, making a screeching sound. It pursued them as far as Point Pleasant city limits. Over the next few days, more people reported similar sightings after local newspapers covered it. Two volunteer firemen who saw it said it was a "large bird with red eyes". Mason County Sheriff George Johnson believed

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