Alien Stigmata, Shy Craft, and a UFO Conference
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SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Vol. 18, No. 1 Fall 1993/$6.25 HONESTY TESTS How Valid Are They? L 1 £ /^-f tefy Til Mathematical Magic • Challenging Education Myths astrology's Counterattack . Science & Feminism • Weird Water Published by the Committee 7^70"80575' for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an international organization. Editor Kendrick Frazier. Editorial Board James E. Alcock, Barry Beyerstein, Susan J. Blackmore, Martin Gardner, Ray Hyman, Philip J. (Class, Paul Kurtz, Joe Nickell, Lee Nisbet. Consulting Editors Robert A. Baker, William Sims Bainbridge, John R. Cole, Kenneth L. Feder, C. E. M. Hansel, E. C. Krupp, David F. Marks, Andrew Neher, James E. Oberg, Robert Sheaffer, Steven N. Shore. Managing Editor Doris Hawley Doyle. Contributing Editor Lys Ann Shore. Business Manager Mary Rose Hays. Assistant Business Manager Sandra Lesniak. Chief Data Officer Richard Seymour. Computer Assistant Michael Cione. Production Paul E. Loynes. Art Linda Hays. Audio Technician Vance Vigrass. Librarian Jonathan Jiras. Staff Alfreda Pidgeon, Ranjit Sandhu, Sharon Sikora, Elizabeth Begley (Albuquerque). Cartoonist Rob Pudim. The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal Paul Kurtz, Chairman; professor emeritus of philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo. Barry Karr, Executive Director and Public Relations Director. Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director. Fellows of the Committee James E. Alcock,* psychologist, York Univ., Toronto; Robert A. Baker, psychologist, Univ. of Kentucky; Stephen Barrett, M.D., psychiatrist, author, consumer advocate, Allentown, Pa. Barry Beyerstein,* biopsychologist, Simon Fraser Univ., Vancouver, B.C., Canada; Irving Biederman, psychologist, Univ. of Southern California; Susan Blackmore,* psychologist, Univ. of the West of England, Bristol; Henri Broch, physicist, Univ. of Nice, France; Jan Harold Brunvand, folklorist, professor of English, Univ. of Utah; Vern Bullough, Distinguished Professor, State Univ. of New York; Mario Bunge, philosopher, McGill University; John R. Cole, anthropologist, Inst, for the Study of Human Issues; F. H. C. Crick, biophysicist, Salk Inst, for Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif.; L. Sprague de Camp, author, engineer; Cornelis de Jager, professor of astrophysics, Univ. of Utrecht, the Netherlands; Bernard Dixon, science writer, London, U.K.: Paul Edwards, philosopher. Editor, Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Antony Flew, philosopher, Reading Univ., U.K.; Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, Calif.; Kendrick Frazier,* science writer, Editor, THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER; Yves Galifret, Exec. Secretary, L'Union Ratlanaliste; Martin Gardner,* author, critic; Murray Gell-Mann, professor of physics, California Inst, of Technology; Henry Gordon, magician, columnist, Toronto; Stephen Jay Gould, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Univ.; C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist, Univ. of Wales; Al Hibbs, scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human understanding and cognitive science, Indiana Univ.; Ray Hyman, psycholo gist, Univ. of Oregon; Leon Jaroff, sciences editor, Time; Lawrence Jerome, science writer, engineer; Sergei Kapitza, editor, Russian edition, Scientific American; Philip J. Klass,* science writer, engineer; Marvin Kohl, professor of philosophy, SUNY at Fredonia; Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer, director, Griffith Observatory; Paul Kurtz,* chairman, CSICOP; Lawrence Kusche, science writer; Paul MacCready, scientist/ engineer, AeroVironment, Inc., Monrovia, Calif.; David Marks, psychologist, Middlesex Polytech, England; David Morrison, space scientist, NASA Ames Research Center; Richard A. Muller, professor of physics, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley; H. Narasimhaiah, physicist, president, Bangalore Science Forum, India; Dorothy Nelkin, sociologist, Cornell Univ. Joe Nickell,* author, technical writing instructor, Univ. of Kentucky; Lee Nisbet,* philosopher, Medaille College; James E. Oberg, science writer; Loren Pankratz, psychologist, Oregon Health Sciences Univ.; John Paulos, mathematician. Temple. Univ.; Mark Plummer, lawyer, Australia; W. V. Quine, philosopher, Harvard Univ.; Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. of Chicago; Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell Univ.; Wallace Sampson, M.D., clinical professor of medicine, Stanford Univ.; Evry Schatzman, President, French Physics Association; Eugenie Scott, physical anthropologist, executive director, National Center for Science Education; Thomas A. Sebeok, anthropologist, linguist, Indiana Univ.; Robert Sheaffer, science writer; Dick Smith, film producer, publisher, Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia; Robert Steiner, magician, author, El Cerrito, Calif.; Carol Tavris, psychologist and author, Los Angeles, Calif.; Stephen Toulmin, professor of philosophy. Northwestern Univ.; Marvin Zelen, statisti cian. Harvard Univ. Lin Zixin, former editor Science and Technology Daily (China). (Affiliations given for identification only.) 'Member, CSICOP Executive Council Manuscripts, letters, books for review, and editorial inquiries should be addressed to Kendrick Frazier, Editor, THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, 3025 Palo Alto Dr., N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87111. Subscriptions, change of address, and advertising should be addressed to: THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Box 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. Old address as well as new are necessary for change of subscriber's address, with six weeks advance notice. Subscribers to THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER may not speak on behalf of CSICOP or THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. Inquiries from the media and the public about the work of the Committee should be made to Paul Kurtz, Chairman, CSICOP, Box 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: (716) 636-1425. FAX: (716)-636-1733. Articles, reports, reviews, and letters published in THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER represent the views and work of individual authors. Their publication does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by CSICOP or its members unless so stated. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is indexed in the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Copyright *1993 by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, 3965 Rensch Road, Buffalo, NY 14228. All rights reserved. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is available on 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, and 105mm microfiche from University Microfilms International. Subscription Rates: Individuals, libraries, and institutions, $25.00 a year; back issues, $6.25 each. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER (ISSN 0194-6730) is published quarterly. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Printed in Canada. Second-class postage paid at Buffalo, New York, and additional mailing offices. Send changes of address to THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, BOX 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Vol. 18, No. 1, Fall 1993 I ~~l Journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal I — 1 SPECIAL REPORT 'Perspectives on Education in America': Sandia Study Challenges Misconceptions Kendrick Frazier 26 I I ARTICLES Do 'Honest/ Tests Really Measure Honesty? Scott O. Lilienfeld 32 Astrology Strikes Back—But to What Effect? Geoffrey Dean 42 Diagnoses of Alien Kidnappings That Result from Conjunction Effects in Memory Robyn M. Dawes and Matthew Mulford 50 Mathematical Magic for Skeptics Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer 52 The Blind Girl Who Saw the Flash of the First Nuclear Weapon Test Rolf Sinclair 63 Science: The Feminists' Scapegoat? Barbara G Walker 68 NEWS AND COMMENT 3 UFO 'Dogfight in Kentucky / CSICOP Wins Lawsuit in Maryland / Old Minerals with New Names in Vermont / Paranormal Hotline in Nebraska / The 'Face' in the Cervix / Notes and Comments NOTES OF A FRINGE-WATCHER Weird Water, or H2Oh! Martin Gardner 15 PSYCHIC VIBRATIONS Alien Stigmata, Shy Craft, and a UFO Conference Robert Sheaffer 21 BOOK REVIEWS Paul Eberte and Shirley Eberie, The Abuse of Innocence: The McMartin Preschool Trial Lloyd K. Stires 73 Lyall Watson, The Nature of Things: The Secret Life of Inanimate Objects Robert A Baker 76 Anthony Aveni, Conversing with the Planets L Stephen Coles 79 Jacques Vallee, UFO Chronicles of the Soviet Union Erik Vaughn 82 NEW BOOKS 89 ARTICLES OF NOTE 90 FORUM Science and Truth and Us Ralph Estling 95 American Indians and the New Age Rick Romancito 97 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 100 ON THE COVER: Illustration by Bruce Adams. HELP US DEFEND SKEPTICISM AGAINST HARASSING SUITS CSICOP LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION n the Winter 1992 issue of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER we outlined the I difficulties that the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal is experiencing because of harassing lawsuits filed against skeptics. We feel confident that these suits will eventually be dismissed. Still, we suspect that the lawsuits were brought for reasons other than the redress of alleged grievances. For what do these suits mean? They mean that the pro- paranormalists think they have finally found a way to strike below the belt of scientists and skeptics. For years they have been unable to prove their claims of miraculous abilities. They've grown tired of hearing our challenges. Now they have turned to intimidation by lawsuit in an effort to silence their only persistent critics. It doesn't necessarily matter if the plaintiff wins or loses the suit. Their purpose is to waste their opponents' resources and to intimidate and silence them—in effect, depriving individuals or organizations of their First Amendment rights. We are