Skeptical Briefs — Investigative Files
A column by Senior CSI Fellow Joe Nickell
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The Image of Edessa Revealed
by Joe Nickell
Volume 19.2, June 2009
Investigative Files
Among certain reputedly miraculous images of Jesus was the Image of Edessa, known later to the Byzantines as the Mandylion.
Cagliostro: ‘Quack of Quacks’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 19.1, March 2009
Investigative Files
While on a five-country investigative tour of Europe in 2007, I twice came upon historic residences of the master deceiver...
Grilled-Cheese Madonna
by Joe Nickell
Volume 18.3, September 2008
Investigative Files
It has become the quintessential holy image to appear on an item of food: the Virgin Mary on a grilled-cheese sandwich.
Catching Ghosts
by Joe Nickell
Volume 18.2, June 2008
Investigative Files
Despite the popular antics of inept "ghost hunters," ghosts continue to remain elusive.
Werewolves—or Weren’t?
by Joe Nickell
Volume 18.1, March 2008
Investigative Files
Among those creatures that inhabit the night, or at least the nightmares of the credulous, are vampires, zombies, and werewolves
A Case of Automatic Writing From Robert G. Ingersoll’s Spirit?
by Joe Nickell
Volume 17.4, December 2007
Investigative Files
Did famed orator Robert Green Ingersoll communicate posthumously through a spiritualist medium to recant his atheism?
The Bermuda Triangle and the ‘Hutchinson Effect’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 17.3, September 2007
Investigative Files
Calling it "the world's greatest mystery," Gian J. Quasar revisits the enigma of the Bermuda Triangle.
Lake Monster Lookalikes
by Joe Nickell
Volume 17.2, June 2007
Investigative Files
As a cryptozoologist--albeit a skeptical one--I have long been on the track of fabled creatures...
Headless Ghosts I Have Known
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.4, December 2006
Investigative Files
In the popular imagination, ghosts are a form of “energy” that survives death.
Snake Oil: A Guide for Connoisseurs
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.3, September 2006
Investigative Files
In an earlier article, "Peddling Snake Oil" (Nickell 1998), I addressed the question of snake oil’s existence.
Postmortem on ‘Alien Autopsy’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.2, June 2006
Investigative Files
Britain's Manchester Evening News termed it a hoax that "fooled the world". Well, not exactly...
Sherlock Holmes, Paranormal Investigator
by Joe Nickell
Volume 16.1, March 2006
Investigative Files
Sherlock Holmes was not just the world's "only unofficial consulting detective."
Healing Waters - Part I: Spas
by Joe Nickell
Volume 15.3, September 2005
Investigative Files
Here we look at ancient baths and later spas; in Part II we discuss legendary "fountains of youth" and reputed healing shrines.
Return from the Dead
by Joe Nickell
Volume 15.2, June 2005
Investigative Files
She had suffered a fever of 104.5 and experienced shortness of breath, whereupon she declared, "Mother, I'm going to die."
The Lake George Monster Hoax
by Joe Nickell
Volume 14.4, December 2004
Investigative Files
Called "one of the grandest hoaxes of all times", the Lake George Monster has occasionally resurfaced since its debut in 1904.
Abraham Lincoln: An Instance of Alleged ‘Spirit Writing’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 14.3, September 2004
Investigative Files
Modern spiritualism began in 1848 at Hydesville, New York, when two schoolgirls pretended to communicate with a ghost who...
Riddle of the Glowing Statues
by Joe Nickell
Volume 13.4, December 2003
Investigative Files
Two women noticed it first. The eyes of the Virgin Mary statue on the church's bell tower had begun to glow.
The Case of the Alien Hand
by Joe Nickell
Volume 13.3, September 2003
Investigative Files
It was Monday, March 24, 2003, when the voice of CSICOP Executive Director Barry Karr came over my intercom...
Legend of the White Lady
by Joe Nickell
Volume 13.1, March 2003
Investigative Files
Every town in Franconia has a legend of Die Weisse Frau - a ghostly figure that walks about at night terrifying people.
“Visitations”: After-Death Contacts
by Joe Nickell
Volume 12.3, September 2002
Investigative Files
Those who suffer the loss of a loved one may experience such anguish and emptiness that they are unable to let go...
‘Miraculous’ Image of Guadalupe
by Joe Nickell
Volume 12.2, June 2002
Investigative Files
Mexico's Image of Guadalupe is a sixteenth-century depiction of the Virgin Mary that, according to pious legend...
Secrets of the Voodoo Tomb
by Joe Nickell
Volume 11.4, December 2001
Investigative Files
Among the sites associated with New Orleans voodoo is the tomb of its greatest figure, Marie Laveau...
Remotely Viewed? The Charlie Jordan Case
by Joe Nickell
Volume 11.1, March 2001
Investigative Files
Was fugitive drug smuggler Charlie Jordan nabbed after a CIA "remote viewer" helped pinpoint his location in northern Wyoming?
Spirit Painting (Part II)
by Joe Nickell
Volume 10.2, June 2000
Investigative Files
Part II: The Bangs Sisters
Spirit Painting (Part I)
by Joe Nickell
Volume 10.1, March 2000
Investigative Files
During the heyday of spiritualism, among the "physical phenomena" commonly manifested were so-called spirit paintings.
Sideshow! Carnival Oddities and Illusions Provide Lessons for Skeptics
by Joe Nickell
Volume 9.4, December 1999
Investigative Files
Like Robert Ripley, I have always been attracted to the odd and the curious.
Springer Psychic: A Study in ‘Clairvoyance’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 9.3, September 1999
Investigative Files
On March 16, 1992, I appeared on The Jerry Springer Show with what were billed as "today's outrageous psychics."
The Gypsies’ ‘Great Trick’
by Joe Nickell
Volume 9.1, March 1999
Investigative Files
Everyone knows what fortunetelling is supposed to be, but sometimes it is best defined as "the art of absconding with fortunes."
Peddling Snake Oil
by Joe Nickell
Volume 8.4, December 1998
Investigative Files
Questions about the origins of the term provide the basis for an interesting investigation.
Investigating Spirit Communications
by Joe Nickell
Volume 8.3, September 1998
Investigative Files
Thanks to modern mass media, old-fashioned spiritualism is undergoing something of a revival.
Italy’s Graveyard “Ghost” Photo
by Joe Nickell
Volume 8.2, June 1998
Investigative Files
On January 24, 1998, CSICOP received an e-mail letter and scanned photograph from Dave Esch...
A Case of Reincarnation — Reexamined
by Joe Nickell
Volume 8.1, March 1998
Investigative Files
Perhaps not since an American housewife supposedly discovered she was the reincarnation of an Irishwoman...
The Roswell Legacy
by Joe Nickell
Volume 7.2, June 1997
Investigative Files
Fifty years ago this summer, the modern UFO craze began...
Spontaneous Human Nonsense
by Joe Nickell
Volume 6.4, December 1996
Investigative Files
Follow up to the earlier article in Skeptical Inquirer
Nessie Hoax Redux II
by Joe Nickell
Volume 6.3, September 1996
Investigative Files
A reader's response
Levengood’s Crop-Circle Plant Research
by Joe Nickell
Volume 6.2, June 1996
Investigative Files
The question of bias is important since Levengood's attitudes and assumptions reveal him as a partisan crop-circle "believer."
Nessie Hoax Redux
by Joe Nickell
Volume 6.1, March 1996
Investigative Files
In 1934, a photo of "Nessie," the fabled Loch Ness Monster, was allegedly snapped by a London gynecologist named Robert Wilson.
The Skeptic-raping Demon of Zanzibar
by Joe Nickell
Volume 5.4, December 1995
Investigative Files
The scene is modern-day Zanzibar where a terrible monster is swooping into bedrooms at night and raping men.
The Haunted Tape Recorder
by Joe Nickell
Volume 5.3, September 1995
Investigative Files
As most people who own them know, tape recorders sometimes malfunction...