On the evening of Oct. 1, a series of strange lights were seen in the skies over the city of Washington Terrace, in northern Utah. The UFOs — more than a dozen in all — were first seen just after 11:30 p.m. and glowed a strange fiery red as they as they headed north...
Research
The Journal of Folklore Research Reviews ‘Tracking the Chupacabra’
The Journal of Folklore Research, a peer-reviewed publication of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University, was established in 1961. It is dedicated to promoting international scholarly dialogue about the world's traditional creative and expressive forms. A review...
Appearance at the American Folklore Society Conference on Chupacabra
I will be attending the American Folklore Society's conference in Bloomington, Indiana, Oct. 12 to 14. I will be on a panel titled "Fairy Animals, Demonic Beasts, and Fantastic Creatures in International Tradition." My topic will be "Folklore of the Chupacabra," based...
Haters, Bias, and Skeptical Inquiry
“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” –Benjamin Franklin I was recently and publicly called a “fat hater” on Facebook by someone I know. It was in response to an...
Reaction to Faster Than Light Claims Expose Anti-Skeptic Myth
One of the most common charges leveled against skeptics and scientists is that they refuse to acknowledge the existence of paranormal phenomenon (psychic abilities, ghosts, extraterrestrial visitors, etc.) because it would destroy their worldview. Skeptics and...
Murder Suspect Claims to be Vampire-Werewolf Hybrid
A Florida teenager behind bars as an accessory to a brutal murder believes she's part vampire and part werewolf. Oddly, this is not the first time we've heard this, as I discovered researching this case. You can read the story HERE on Discovery News.
My ‘Exploding Irishman’ SHC Article on MSNBC
An Irish coroner recently concluded that Michael Faherty, a 76-year-old Irishman who burned to death in his home in December 2010, was the victim of the mysterious spontaneous human combustion. I wrote about it for MSNBC, and even quoted my colleague Dr. Joe Nickell...
New MonsterTalk Podcast Episode: The Big Bad Wolf!
MonsterTalk #041 - The Big Bad Wolf - is now out. The first of a 2-part look at man eating wolves. Interview with author Jay Smith about The Beast of Gevaudan. A great interview with the author of a great book! Hear the podcast HERE.
Time Magazine References My Pokemon Investigation
In an article on mass hysteria, a Time magazine article referenced my investigation of the 1997 Pokemon Panic (which appears as a chapter in my book Scientific Paranormal Investigation). My co-author Bob Bartholomew, with whom I wrote up the case for the Southern...
Discovery News Article on Near-Death Experiences
Many people believe in ghosts and heaven, and about three in 100 Americans report actually having near-death experiences. These typically include an awareness of being dead, out-of-body experiences, meeting dead people, entering tunnels of light, and so on. But these...