Big-If True: Adventures in Oddity (Paranormal)

Product Description This collection of Skeptical Inquirer magazine columns by investigator and folklorist Benjamin Radford guides readers on a science-based (yet open-minded) examination of 70 fascinating and mysterious topics. Drawing on two decades of first-hand research, Big-If True separates fact from fiction using forensics, science, psychology, folklore, and more. Big-If True examines these and dozens more mysteries including Bigfoot, reincarnation, chupacabras, Icelandic elves, conspiracy theories, UFOs, miracles, the terrifying Goat-Man, crop circles, subliminal advertising, sea serpents, wandering trees, medical mysteries, and hypnotist thieves-plus a 1990 Elvis sighting. For mystery lovers and armchair investigators alike, this book offers a look behind the scenes at investigating oddities and curiosities, both ancient and modern. Chapter One LEGENDS 5A Skeptic's Guide to Ethical and Effective Curse Removal - Egging theEquator - Detour: Elves Ahead - Mysteries of the Coral Castle - Is ElvisPresley in Home Alone? - Searching to Noah Vale - The Bell Witch Mystery- The Myth of the Walking Tree - Bailing in the Mummies - Might FrightCause White? - (and more)Chapter Two MONSTERS 51Cryptozoology and Global Warming - The Mystery of the TexasChupacabra - Texas Goat-Men and the Chupacabra - A Wakey Water'Monster' - Globsters Ahoy! - Investigating Mothman's Red EyeshineChapter Three GHOSTS 83Do Einstein's Laws Endorse Ghosts? - 'M' is for Mysterious Marks -Have I Ever Seen a Ghost? - Soul Scales - The Cockington Church GhostPhoto - Can Electromagnetic Fields Create Ghosts? - Infrared Camerasand Ghost Hunting - A Closer Look at Orbs - The Sweet Spirit Soundsof Rosemary Brown - (and more)Chapter Four MYSTERIOUS POWERS AND PLACES 121A Time to Die? - Crop Circle Origins - The GIGO Problem: Crop CircleResearch Edition - Channeling Ancient African Wisdom-Or Not - Mysteryof the Paulding Light - Dowsing: Dubious and Discredited - FatimaMiracle Claims All Wet - Uri Geller Revisited - Did Psychic VisionsLocate Missing California Boy? - Beware Mesmer Thieves! - Secrets ofSpectacularly Skewered SkinChapter Five UFOs 165The Phantom Menace of UFO Revelation - The Mysterious PhoenixLights - The Mysterious, Invisible 'Rods'Chapter Six HEALTH AND MEDICINE 175Bodytalk: Boon or Bogus? - Exercising the Brain Gym - Kinoki Foot Pads- Diving HeadOn Into Pseudoscience - Subliminal Advertising, Trumpianand Otherwise - Freaky Feldenkrais - Measuring Near-Death Experience- A 100C Grain of Truth to Homeopathy? - Battle Over the BMI - TheMysterious Morgellons Malady - Childbirth-Natural or 'Unnatural'? -Vegetable Oil or Snake Oil?: The Pseudoscience of "Oil Pulling" - ThePseudoscience of Personalysis - Left Brain or Right Brain? - (and more)Chapter Seven CONSPIRACIES 229Sandy Hook School Shooting: The Adam Lanza Death Certificate Conspiracy- Curious Contrails: Death From the Sky? - The Truth About the 9/11Truthers - Is America a Sheeple Factory?Chapter Eight SKEPTICISM 243Legitimizing Woo - Just Asking Questions - Caught Between the Possibleand the Paranormal - Dealing With Believers in Skeptical Investigation -Anomaly Hunting - Mystery Solved-According to Whom? - ParanormalQualifications About the Author Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written thousands of articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelors degree in psychology from the University of New Mexico and has a masters degree in education from the University of Buffalo. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the American Folklore Society, the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, among other organizations. Radford is one of the world's few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done firs