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This page contains summaries of some of the most interesting topics covered by The Skeptic, together with links to back issues in which the full articles can be found, a bibliography for further reading and links to other internet sites.

If you don’t see the topic you want in the summaries, try searching here.

Aliens

Have intelligent beings from other planets or distant galaxies ever visited us, made crop circles and systematically abducted millions of humans? Is there a government conspiracy to keep such encounters secret? Many articles in The Skeptic have investigated these topics in depth and true to our name, we remain skeptical. A genuine encounter would be one of the most exciting imaginable events, yet the ‘evidence’ is suspiciously weak and culture-specific (for example, sightings and abductions are much more common in some countries and eras than others). Get hold of our articles on Close encounters of the fireball kind; Flying Saucers of the Third Reich; Sleep paralysis or alien abduction?; Watch Out Alien Big Cats About!; Abductions That Never Leave the Ground; UFOs yesterday and today; Little grey aliens; The psychology of alien abductions; The myth of the flying saucer; Crop circles -- the full story; Faking an alien; Where do we file flying saucers?; Do-it-yourself UFOs; Canals on Mars and The man who invented UFOs.

Alternative Medicine

Conventional medicine has failed to cure many serious illnesses - can alternative medicine fill the gaps? Billions are spent every year on life-or-death treatments - isn’t it vitally important to find out which are truly effective? The evidence is that therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathic and herbal remedies, faith healing, psychic surgery, hypnosis, psychoanalysis, meditation and many others may be ineffective or even dangerous, or cure only by the placebo effect. The House of Lords has published a report on complementary and alternative medicine - have a look at  our contribution. Make up your own mind, after reading Quackupuncture; An instructive tale of ear candling; Is your mobile phone killing you?; John Diamond on Miracle Cures; Multiple Personality Disorder; Breatharians; Feng Shui Revisited; Psychoanalysis: Science or Pseudoscience?; Ginseng; Regression hypnosis; Multiple personality disorder: fact or fiction?; The wandering womb; Psychic surgery in Britain: an alarming report; Therapist power: the social psychology of healing and therapy; Quackery old and new; The placebo effect; Patent medicines; The pseudoscience of the ‘Water Cure’; A healthy dose of sarsaparilla; The myths of meditation; Meditation: skepticism or cynicism?; A short course on homeopathy and Alternative medicine in Europe.

Divining the Occult

Scientists admit there is much we do not know about our universe. Is it really possible (as many claim) to communicate with spirits, divine the future, discover past lives, communicate telepathically, and generally know the unknowable? Such claims generally ought to be testable, shouldn’t they? Of course, they have been tested and investigated many times. Some of the details are in Remote Viewing; The Psychological Reality of Haunts and Poltergeists; Does astrology work?; The Enigma of Florence Cook; The Brahan Seer; Regression hypnosis; Investigating a haunted pub; The Cottingley Fairies; Testing a ‘psychic’ guru; Meet a psychic faker; The supernatural in detective fiction; The Delphic oracle; Spiritualism, ancient and modern; Is there anyone out there? Desperately seeking immortality; Sigmund Freud and the paranormal; The theft of the tarot pack; A test for reincarnation; Beyond the near-death experience; Spirit guides and after-images; The science of miracles; Dualism, ESP and belief and Reflections on past life regressions.

The skeptical attitude

How can you avoid being taken in by charlatans (and losing your life savings)? Why is belief in the paranormal so widespread in the first place? How can we teach rational thinking? It will all be elementary, after consulting The Psychology of Psychic Readings; Asking awkward questions; Would We Be Better Off Stupid?; The last witchcraft trial; Careers in pseudoscience; Why do people believe in the paranormal?; The psychology of alien abductions; A critical look at childrens’ books about the paranormal; Teaching sixth-formers about skepticism; Lies, damn lies and statistics; Arthur Conan Doyle: the unlikely Spiritualist; Skepticism--1895 style; Write your own pseudoscience; Science and nonsense; The case for super-skepticism; Wet and dry skepticism; Seeing is believing? and Assessing evidence.

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Back issues of The Skeptic

Back issues of The Skeptic are still available, at £4 each (U.K. price). You can order them from our online shop or manually by post.

Other skeptical resources on the Internet

Bibliography

We suggest you visit the "Science and the Paranormal" section of the Prometheus Books website for a comprehensive selection of recommended literature.

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