The Krazy Kat Experiment

by Claus Larsen Being a skeptic means that you learn a lot about how people who believe in paranormal phenomena think. Rational thought is often a scarce commodity, and you will encounter more or less bizarre notions. One of the more ridiculous ideas to pop up in...

Past li(v)es

by Claus Larsen Lack of documentation Famed psychic Sylvia Browne has done past life regressions for decades, literally thousands of them. Each and every one of these is claimed to be “true” and well documented. However, she will not allow anyone to...

Cell Memory

by Claus Larsen Cell memory is based on the idea that whatever happens in our lives, each cell “records” it – spiritually, of course. Homeopaths have cherished this idea for a long time now, and people like Dean Radin (see “Book Review: The...

Sun sign (in)compatibility

by Claus Larsen How well do astrologers agree? One of the more amusing aspects of an astrologer’s life is to predict who will be suitable as a partner for the client. This can be done in seconds: Merely compare the two persons’ astrological signs and you...

The Balloon Hoax

by Edgar Allan Poe This is Edgar Allan Poe’s famous hoax about the Atlantic being crossed by balloon. First published in an 1844 April issue of the New York Sun. Astounding News by Express, via Norfolk ! – The Atlantic crossed in Three Days ! Signal...

Portrait of a woo-woo

by Claus Larsen In his book, “The Demon-Haunted World”, Carl Sagan tells of a taxi driver, who held the most crazy ideas about pseudo-science: Lemuria, Atlantis, UFO abductions, you name it. I often wondered if Sagan was just lucky – or unlucky?...

Graham Bishop: One lousy Cold Reader

by Claus Larsen Graham Bishop is a self-proclaimed “spiritual teacher, trance medium, trance healer and medium”. He is also one lousy cold reader. After watching his performance in a Copenhagen cafe a sunny evening, that much is certain. After the initial...

How John Edward got two "special hits"

by “Instig8r” What is a “special hit”? One of the most frequent arguments heard from believers in psychic medium John Edward is that he is real because he gets those “special hits”: A lot of precise information, seemingly from out...

Klass’ 10 UFOlogical principles

Commented by Claus Larsen The most famous UFO skeptic is Phillip Klass. He has written many books on UFOs as well as articles for aviation magazines such as Aviation Week. He is also one of the original founders of CSICOP, the Committee for the Scientific...

An Evening with a Miracle Man

by Claus Larsen On Tuesday, the 29th of April, 2003, the author of the Danish book “Miracles – Encounters Between Heaven and Earth”, Niels Christian Hvidt, held a lecture in a small church in Southern Copenhagen. The Danish Skeptics were represented...