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61-486: On May 31, 1987, it was widely reported that British ufologist Timothy Good claimed to be in possession of 1950s-era UFO documents. The documents purported to reveal a secret committee of 12, supposedly formed in 1947 by an executive order by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, and explain how the crash of an alien spacecraft at Roswell in July 1947 had been concealed, how the recovered alien technology could be exploited, and how

122-643: A cover-up of the Roswell UFO incident and speculated some secretive upper tier of the U.S. government was responsible. Shandera and his ufologist colleagues Stanton T. Friedman and Bill Moore say they later received a series of anonymous messages that led them to find what has been called the "Cutler/Twining memo" in 1985 while searching declassified files in the National Archives . Purporting to be written by President Eisenhower's assistant Robert Cutler to General Nathan F. Twining and containing

183-462: A British author about UFOs . In 1987 it was reported in The Observer that he was "Britain's leading UFO researcher". In his 1987 book Above Top Secret: The Worldwide U.F.O. Cover-up , he was involved in the initial publication of the purported Majestic 12 documents; later, according to skeptic Phil Klass , Good questioned the authenticity of at least some of the documents. In 2007,

244-473: A Skeptical Africa , which received endorsements from multiple public activists in Africa, as well as skeptical endorsers around the world. He is a Nigerian human rights advocate and campaigner against the impacts of child witchcraft accusations. Igwe came into conflict with high-profile witchcraft believers, leading to attacks on himself and his family. In 2018, Amardeo Sarma provided some perspective on

305-461: A commitment to science, reason, evidence, and the quest for truth. Carl Sagan emphasized the importance of being able to ask skeptical questions, recognizing fallacious or fraudulent arguments, and considering the validity of an argument rather than simply whether we like the conclusion. Similarly, Steven Novella described skepticism as selecting "beliefs and conclusions that are reliable and valid to ones that are comforting or convenient" and as

366-409: A community and background. Skeptical organizations typically tend to have science education and promotion among their goals. The skeptical movement has had issues with allegations of sexism. Mary Coulman identified a disparity between women and men in the movement in a 1985 skeptic newsletter. The skeptic movement has generally been made up of men; at a 1987 conference the members there discussed

427-423: A cover for quackery . According to AFIS, science itself cannot solve humanity's problems, nor can one solve them without using the scientific method . It maintains that people should be informed about scientific and technical advancements and the problems it helps to solve. Its magazine, Science et pseudo-sciences , attempts to distribute scientific information in a language that everyone can understand. In 1976,

488-796: A debunking tale as told in some versions of the Old Testament , where the Prophet Daniel exposes a tale of a "living" statue as a scam. According to Loxton, throughout history, there are further examples of individuals practicing critical inquiry and writing books or performing publicly against particular frauds and popular superstitions, including people like Lucian of Samosata (2nd century), Michel de Montaigne (16th century), Thomas Ady and Thomas Browne (17th century), Antoine Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin (18th century), many different philosophers, scientists and magicians throughout

549-497: A distinctive date format that matched one used in Moore's personal letters, and a conversation reported by Brad Sparks in which Moore confided that he was contemplating creating and releasing some hoax Top Secret documents in hopes that such bogus documents would encourage former military and intelligence officials who knew about the government's (alleged) UFO coverup to break their oaths of secrecy. The FBI began its own investigation of

610-450: A form of ritualized divination . While the anthropological approach attempts to explain the activities of astrologers and their clients, the skeptical movement's interest in the cultural aspects of such beliefs is muted. According to sociologist David J. Hess, the skeptical discourse tends to set science and the skeptical project apart from the social and the economic. From this perspective, he argues that skepticism takes on some aspects of

671-740: A grant making foundation and no longer accepting applications for the Million Dollar Prize from the general public. Other influential second-generation American organizations were The Skeptics Society (founded in 1992 by Michael Shermer ), the New England Skeptical Society (originating in 1996) and the Independent Investigations Group (formed in 2000 by James Underdown ). After the Revolutions of 1989 , Eastern Europe saw

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732-504: A methodological norm pursuing "the extension of certified knowledge". Roots of the movement date at least from the 19th century, when people started publicly raising questions regarding the unquestioned acceptance of claims about spiritism , of various widely held superstitions , and of pseudoscience . Publications such as those of the Dutch Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (1881) also targeted medical quackery . Using as

793-514: A novel called MAJIK-12 . Because of this, Pratt had always been inclined to think the Majestic 12 documents are a hoax. Scientific skeptic author Brian Dunning investigated the history of the subject, and reported his findings in the 2016 Skeptoid podcast episode "The Secret History of Majestic 12". He cited ufologist Bill Moore's suspicion that, rather than a hoax perpetrated by the UFO community,

854-417: A priori grounds—rather they argue that one should critically examine claims of paranormal or anomalous phenomena and that extraordinary claims would require extraordinary evidence in their favor before they could be accepted as having validity. From a scientific point of view, skeptics judge ideas on many criteria, including falsifiability, Occam's Razor , Morgan's Canon and explanatory power, as well as

915-521: A reference to Majestic 12, the memo is widely held to be a forgery, likely planted as part of a hoax. Historian Robert Goldberg wrote that the ufologists came to believe the story despite the documents being "obviously planted to bolster the legitimacy of the briefing papers". Claiming to be connected to the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations, a man named Richard Doty told filmmaker Linda Moulton Howe that

976-402: A review of Above Top Secret: The Worldwide U.F.O. Cover-up for The Skeptic in 1989, identified two of the book's central ideas: that "Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) do exist, and are spacecraft from other worlds" and "there is a worldwide cover-up about UFOs, with security agencies seeking to suppress the evidence". Bridgstock concluded that the book: is not a clear, rigorous survey of

1037-559: A sacred discourse, as in Emile Durkheim 's Elementary Forms of the Religious Life —Science, seen as pure and sacred (motivated by values of the mind and reason), is set apart from popular dealings with the paranormal, seen as profane (permeated by the economic and the social); obscuring the confrontation between science and religion. Hess states as well a strong tendency in othering : both skeptics and their opponents see

1098-776: A source of violence (notably in The God Delusion ), and considers creationism a threat to biology. Some skeptics, such as the members of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, oppose certain new religious movements because of their cult-like behaviors. Leo Igwe , Junior Fellow at the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies and past Research Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), wrote A Manifesto for

1159-665: A surge in quackery and paranormal beliefs that were no longer restrained by the generally secular Communist regimes or the Iron curtain and its information barriers. The foundation of many new skeptical organizations was as well intending to protect consumers . These included the Czech Skeptics' Club Sisyfos (1995), the Hungarian Skeptic Society (2006), the Polish Sceptics Club (2010) and

1220-809: A template the Belgian organization founded in 1949, Comité Para , Americans Paul Kurtz and Marcello Truzzi founded the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) , in Amherst, New York , in 1976. Now known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), this organization has inspired others to form similar groups worldwide. Scientific skeptics maintain that empirical investigation of reality leads to

1281-452: Is a British author on UFOs . His books include Above Top Secret: The Worldwide U.F.O. Cover-up (1987), Alien Liaison (1991) and Beyond Top Secret (1996), all published by Sidgwick & Jackson . Good has made many television and documentary appearances. Critics challenged the reliability of his writings. Good was born in London. He has also had a career as a violinist. Good is

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1342-402: Is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence . In practice, the term most commonly refers to the examination of claims and theories that appear to be unscientific , rather than the routine discussions and challenges among scientists. Scientific skepticism differs from philosophical skepticism , which questions humans' ability to claim any knowledge about

1403-605: Is also widely considered to be a fake and "a continuation of the MJ-12 myth". Ufologists Linda Moulton Howe and Stanton T. Friedman believed the MJ-12 documents to be authentic. Friedman examined the documents and argued that the United States government has conspired to cover up knowledge of a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. The name "Majestic 12" had been prefigured in the UFO community when Bill Moore asked National Enquirer reporter Bob Pratt in 1982 to collaborate on

1464-512: Is closely associated with skeptical investigation or rational inquiry of controversial topics (compare list of topics characterized as pseudoscience ) such as U.F.O.s , claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids , conspiracy theories , alternative medicine , religion , or exploratory or fringe areas of scientific or pseudoscientific research. Further topics that scientifically skeptical literature questions include health claims surrounding certain foods, procedures, and alternative medicines ;

1525-517: Is important to continue to address them and the underlying habits of thought that lead to them so that we do not "have a lot more people believing that 9/11 was an inside job, that climate change is a hoax, that our government is controlled by aliens, and so forth—and those beliefs are far from harmless". With regard to the skeptical social movement, Daniel Loxton refers to other movements already promoting "humanism, atheism , rationalism, science education and even critical thinking" beforehand. He saw

1586-414: Is little evidence for such beliefs. According to Hammer, the bulk of the skeptical movement's literature works on an implicit model, that belief in the irrational is being based on scientific illiteracy or cognitive illusions. He points to the skeptical discussion about astrology: The skeptical notion of astrology as a "failed hypothesis" fails to address basic anthropological assumptions about astrology as

1647-647: Is more likely to teach and change minds than debunking. A striking characteristic of the skeptical movement is the fact that while most of the phenomena covered, such as astrology and homeopathy , have been debunked again and again, they stay popular. Frazier reemphasized in 2018 that "[w]e need independent, evidence-based, science-based critical investigation and inquiry now more than perhaps at any other time in our history." The scientific skepticism community has traditionally been focused on what people believe rather than why they believe—there might be psychological, cognitive or instinctive reasons for belief when there

1708-492: Is no evidence of efficacy, can result in destructive actions. James Randi often wrote on the issue of fraud by psychics and faith healers. Unqualified medical practice and alternative medicine can result in serious injury and death. Skeptical activist Tim Farley , who aims to create catalogue of harmful pseudoscientific practices and cases of damage caused by them, estimates documented number of killed or injured to be more than 600,000. Richard Dawkins points to religion as

1769-482: Is skepticism of critics and [their] criticisms of paranormal studies." According to skeptic author Daniel Loxton , "skepticism is a story without a beginning or an end." His 2013 article in Skeptic magazine "Why Is There a Skeptical Movement" claims a history of two millennia of paranormal skepticism. He is of the opinion that the practice, problems, and central concepts extend all the way to antiquity and refers to

1830-669: Is strong. For example, in 1994, Susan Blackmore , a parapsychologist who became more skeptical and eventually became a Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) fellow in 1991, described what she termed the "worst kind of pseudoskepticism": There are some members of the skeptics' groups who clearly believe they know the right answer prior to inquiry. They appear not to be interested in weighing alternatives, investigating strange claims, or trying out psychic experiences or altered states for themselves (heaven forbid!), but only in promoting their own particular belief structure and cohesion ... Commenting on

1891-557: The CIA cited Above Top Secret as one of the sources contributing to "the idea that CIA has secretly concealed its research into UFOs". In 2012 Good was interviewed on the BBC 's Frank Skinner's Opinionated show. In May 2019, Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 credited Good's books with "opening his eyes" into UFOs, leading to DeLonge's development of To The Stars . Martin Bridgstock, in

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1952-660: The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) and created the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge , where anyone who could demonstrate paranormal abilities, under mutually agreed-upon controlled circumstances, could claim the prize. After Randi's retirement in 2015, the Paranormal Challenge was officially terminated by the JREF with the prize unclaimed: Effective 9/1/2015 the JREF has made major changes including converting to

2013-455: The 19th and early 20th century up until and after Harry Houdini . However, skeptics banding together in societies that research the paranormal and fringe science is a modern phenomenon. Two early important works influential to the skeptical movement were Daniel Webster Hering 's Foibles and Fallacies of Science (1924) and D. H. Rawcliffe's The Psychology of the Occult . Loxton mentions

2074-561: The Belgian Comité Para (1949) as the oldest "broad mandate" skeptical organization. Although it was preceded by the Dutch Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK) (1881), which is therefore considered the oldest skeptical organization by others, the VtdK only focuses on fighting quackery, and thus has a 'narrow mandate'. The Comité Para was partly formed as a response to a predatory industry of bogus psychics who were exploiting

2135-532: The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) since November 2006, was founded in the United States . Some see this as the "birth of modern skepticism", however, founder Paul Kurtz actually modeled it after the Comité Para, including its name. Kurtz' motive was being "dismayed ... by the rising tide of belief in

2196-934: The JREF in Las Vegas had been the most important skeptical conference since 2003, with two spin-off conferences in London , UK (2009 and 2010) and one in Sydney , Australia (2010). Since 2010, the Merseyside Skeptics Society and Greater Manchester Skeptics jointly organized Question, Explore, Discover (QED) in Manchester , UK. World Skeptics Congresses have been held so far, namely in Buffalo, New York (1996), Heidelberg , Germany (1998), Sydney, Australia (2000), Burbank, California (2002), Abano Terme , Italy (2004) and Berlin, Germany (2012). In 1991,

2257-469: The MJ-12 story was true, and showed Howe unspecified documents purporting to prove the existence of small, gray humanoid aliens originating from the Zeta Reticuli star system. Doty reportedly promised to supply Howe with film footage of UFOs and an interview with an alien being, although no footage ever materialized. Soon, distrust and suspicion led to disagreements within the ufology community over

2318-732: The Russian-speaking Skeptic Society (2013). The Austrian Skeptical Society in Vienna (founded in 2002) deals with issues such as Johann Grander's "vitalized water" and the use of dowsing at the Austrian Parliament . The European Skeptics Congress (ESC) has been held throughout Europe since 1989, from 1994 onwards co-ordinated by the European Council of Skeptical Organizations . In the United States, The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM) hosted by

2379-411: The U.S. should engage with extraterrestrial life in the future. According to researchers, ufologist Jaime Shandera had, in 1984, received an envelope containing film which, when developed, showed images of eight pages of documents that appeared to be briefing papers describing "Operation Majestic 12". The concept of "Majestic 12" emerged during a period in the 1980s when ufologists believed there had been

2440-455: The authenticity of the MJ-12 documents, and Moore was accused of taking part in an elaborate hoax, while other ufologists and debunkers such as Philip J. Klass were accused of being "disinformation agents". Klass's investigation of the MJ-12 documents found that Robert Cutler was actually out of the country on the date he supposedly wrote the "Cutler/Twining memo", and that the Truman signature

2501-469: The degree to which their predictions match experimental results. Skepticism in general may be deemed part of the scientific method ; for instance an experimental result is not regarded as established until it can be shown to be repeatable independently. The Sci.Skeptic FAQ characterizes the skeptic spectrum as divided into "wet" and "dry" sceptics, primarily based on the level of engagement with those promoting claims that appear to be pseudoscience;

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2562-458: The demand for the new movement—a movement of people called "skeptics"—as based on a lack of interest by the scientific community to address paranormal and fringe-science claims. In line with Kendrick Frazier , he describes the movement as a surrogate in that area for institutional science. The movement set up a distinct field of study, and provided an organizational structure, while "the long-standing genre of individual skeptical writing" lacked such

2623-414: The dry skeptics preferring to debunk and ridicule, in order to avoid giving attention and thus credence to the promoters, and the "wet" skeptics, preferring slower and more considered engagement, in order to avoid appearing sloppy and ill-considered and thus similar to the groups all skeptics opposed. Ron Lindsay has argued that while some non-scientific claims appear to be harmless or "soft targets", it

2684-593: The evidence for UFOs. It is a polemical volume, which seems to be devoted to making the case for UFOs, and a cover-up, seems as convincing as possible. However, inspection of the theses put forward in the book, and checking of a few cases with other sources, seem to show that the book is not reliable and its conclusion cannot be trusted. Good was born in Islington , London. Skeptical movement Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism ), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry ,

2745-481: The fact that the attendees were predominantly older white men and a 1991 listing of 50 CSICOP fellows included four women. Following a 2011 conference, Rebecca Watson , a prominent skeptic, raised issues of the way female skeptics are targeted with online harassment including threats of sexual violence by opponents of the movement, and also raised issues of sexism within the movement itself. While she received some support in response to her discussion of sexism within

2806-694: The grieving relatives of people who had gone missing during the Second World War . In contrast, Michael Shermer traces the origins of the modern scientific skeptical movement to Martin Gardner 's 1952 book Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science . In 1968, the French Association for Scientific Information (AFIS) was founded. AFIS strives to promote science against those who deny its cultural value, abuse it for criminal purposes or as

2867-429: The labels "dogmatic" and "pathological" that the "Association for Skeptical Investigation" puts on critics of paranormal investigations, Bob Carroll of the Skeptic's Dictionary argues that that association "is a group of pseudo-skeptical paranormal investigators and supporters who do not appreciate criticism of paranormal studies by truly genuine skeptics and critical thinkers. The only skepticism this group promotes

2928-442: The more dangerous for his success in appropriating the mantle of the unbiased and open-minded inquirer". Some advocates of discredited intellectual positions (such as AIDS denial , Holocaust denial and climate change denial ) engage in pseudoskeptical behavior when they characterize themselves as "skeptics". This is despite their cherry picking of evidence that conforms to a pre-existing belief. According to Wilson, who highlights

2989-754: The most reliable empirical knowledge , and suggest that the scientific method is best suited to verifying results. Scientific skeptics attempt to evaluate claims based on verifiability and falsifiability ; they discourage accepting claims which rely on faith or anecdotal evidence . Paul Kurtz described scientific skepticism in his 1992 book The New Skepticism , calling it an essential part of scientific inquiry. The Skeptics Society describes it as "the application of reason to any and all ideas—no sacred cows allowed." Robert K. Merton introduced Mertonian norms , which assert that all ideas must be tested and are subject to rigorous, structured community scrutiny. Kendrick Frazier said that scientific skeptics have

3050-511: The movement, she later became a target of virulent online harassment, even from fellow skeptics, after posting an online video that discussed her discomfort with being propositioned in a confined space. This became known as " Elevatorgate ", based on Watson's discussion about being propositioned in a hotel elevator in the early morning after a skeptic event. The verb "to debunk" is used to describe efforts by skeptics to expose or discredit claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. It

3111-531: The nature of the world and how they perceive it, and the similar but distinct methodological skepticism , which is a systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one's beliefs. The skeptical movement ( British spelling : sceptical movement ) is a contemporary social movement based on the idea of scientific skepticism. The movement has the goal of investigating claims made on fringe topics and determining whether they are supported by empirical research and are reproducible , as part of

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3172-493: The other as being driven by materialistic philosophy and material gain and assume themselves to have purer motives. While not all pseudoscientific beliefs are necessarily dangerous, some can potentially be harmful. Plato believed that to release others from ignorance despite their initial resistance is a great and noble thing. Modern skeptical writers address this question in a variety of ways. Bertrand Russell argued that some individual actions based on beliefs for which there

3233-506: The papers were actually part of a disinformation campaign of the US government meant to deflect attention from secret Air Force projects. The following individuals were described in the Majestic 12 documents as "designated members" of Majestic 12. Not to be confused with the Twining memo of 1947 establishing Project Sign Timothy Good Timothy Good (born 28 July 1942)

3294-488: The paranormal and the lack of adequate scientific examinations of these claims." Kurtz was an atheist and had also founded the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion . While he saw both aspects as being covered in the skeptical movement, he had recommended CSICOP to focus on paranormal and pseudoscientific claims and to leave religious aspects to others. Despite not being the oldest, CSICOP

3355-417: The phenomenon in his 2008 book Don't Get Fooled Again , the characteristic feature of false skepticism is that it "centres not on an impartial search for the truth, but on the defence of a preconceived ideological position". Scientific skepticism is itself sometimes criticized on this ground. The term pseudoskepticism has found occasional use in controversial fields where opposition from scientific skeptics

3416-724: The plausibility and existence of supernatural abilities (e.g. tarot reading ) or entities (e.g. poltergeists , angels , gods —including Zeus ); the monsters of cryptozoology (e.g. the Loch Ness monster ); as well as creationism / intelligent design , dowsing , conspiracy theories , and other claims the skeptic sees as unlikely to be true on scientific grounds. Skeptics such as James Randi have become famous for debunking claims related to some of these. Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell cautions, however, that "debunkers" must be careful to engage paranormal claims seriously and without bias. He explains that open minded investigation

3477-492: The state of the skeptical movement by addressing "the essence of contemporary skepticism and [highlighting] the vital nonpartisan and science-based role of skeptics in preventing deception and harm." He emphasized the dangers of pseudoscience as a reason for prioritizing skeptical work. Richard Cameron Wilson, in an article in New Statesman , wrote that "the bogus sceptic is, in reality, a disguised dogmatist , made all

3538-506: The study of "pitfalls of human reason and the mechanisms of deception so as to avoid being deceived by others or themselves". Brian Dunning called skepticism "the process of finding a supported conclusion, not the justification of a preconceived conclusion.'' Skeptics often focus their criticism on claims they consider implausible, dubious or clearly contradictory to generally accepted science. Scientific skeptics do not assert that unusual claims should be automatically rejected out of hand on

3599-430: The supposed "secret" documents and quickly formed doubts as to their authenticity. The United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations stated that no such committee had ever been authorized or formed, and that the documents were "bogus". The FBI subsequently declared the MJ-12 documents to be "completely bogus". Later in 1996, a document called the MJ-12 "Special Operations Manual" circulated among ufologists. It

3660-400: Was "a pasted-on photocopy of a genuine signature—including accidental scratch marks—from a memo that Truman wrote to Vannevar Bush on October 1, 1947". Klass dismissed theories that the documents were part of a disinformation campaign as "ridiculous", saying they contained numerous flaws that could never fool Soviet or Chinese intelligence. Other discrepancies noted by Klass included the use of

3721-882: Was "the first successful, broad-mandate North American skeptical organization of the contemporary period", popularized the usage of the terms "skeptic", "skeptical" and "skepticism" by its magazine, Skeptical Inquirer , and directly inspired the foundation of many other skeptical organizations throughout the world, especially in Europe. These included Australian Skeptics (1980), Vetenskap och Folkbildning (Sweden, 1982), New Zealand Skeptics (1986), GWUP (Austria, Germany and Switzerland, 1987), Skepsis r.y. (Finland, 1987), Stichting Skepsis (Netherlands, 1987), CICAP (Italy, 1989) and SKEPP (Dutch-speaking Belgium, 1990). Besides scientists such as astronomers , stage magicians like James Randi were important in investigating charlatans and exposing their trickery. In 1996 Randi formed

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