In the Beginning

In the Beginning The first five years of the Skeptic Edited by Barry Williams The Original Aims of Australian Skeptics * To investigate claims of pseudoscientific, paranormal and similarly anomalous phenomena from a responsible, scientific point of view. * To publicise the results of these investigations and, where appropriate, to draw attention to the possibility of natural and ordinary explanations of such phenomena. * To accept explanations and hypotheses about paranormal occurrences only after good evidence has been adduced, which directly or indirectly supports such hypotheses. * To encourage Australians and the Australian news media to adopt a critical attitude towards paranormal claims and to understand that to introduce or to entertain a hypothesis does not constitute confirmation or proof of that hypothesis. * To stimulate inquiry and the quest for truth, wherever it leads. These aims will be pursued by: * Establishing a network of people interested in critically examining claims of the paranormal, * Publishing a periodical, the Skeptic and distributing relevant information. * Publishing articles, monographs and books that examine claims of the paranormal. * Maintaining a library. * Preparing a bibliography of relevant published material. * Encouraging and commissioning research by objective and impartial inquirers. * Conducting meetings, seminars and conferences. * Acting as a public information resource by making informed members and relevant expertise available to the news media and other interested groups. The skeptical attitude involves: * Seeking all relevant evidence concerning any extraordinary or putative paranormal event, claim or theory. * Keeping an open mind and not rejecting paranormal claims a priori. * Refusing to accept as true theories and explanations for which there is insufficient or ambiguous evidence and recognising that withholding belief is a preferable position to accepting claims for which there is insufficient evidence. * In seeking explanations, to prefer the ordinary to the extraordinary, the natural to the supernatural and the simple to the complex. And They Said It Would Never Last In January 1981 a new phenomenon burst upon the Australian publishing scene. It was manifested in a four page, tabloid format, newspaper under the title the Skeptic and it included articles headed "Skeptics Test Psychic Surgeon", "Doris Stokes Wrong - Police" and "Alien Honeycomb Tested", among others. This issue was followed in August 1981 by No 2, now in a 16 page A4 format magazine and in November by No 3, also of 16 pages. Thus, in its first year of publication, the Skeptic had three issues. From January 1982 the Skeptic became a quarterly magazine, it has remained so ever since, with the number of pages increasing to 20 then 24 during the next four years. Since then the number of pages has steadily increased until the present, when it regularly reaches 60 pages. It has always been our intention to keep all back issues available for our readers, however, the passage of time, the huge increase in the number of subscribers and the impermanence of paper has meant that issues from the first five years can now be offered in photocopied format only. It was decided by the National Committee that a more permanent record should be kept of the articles that appeared in those issues and this book is a result of that decision. It contains all articles of substance that were published from Vol 1, No 1 to Vol 5, No 4, together with correspondence of relevance to those articles. Missing from this book are reprints of overseas articles, newspaper clippings, some correspondence, internal matters to do with the organisation and some short items of topical interest only. I was reluctantly forced to delete some of the illustrations that appeared in the original articles, largely because the originals no longer exist and their photocopied reproduction would be insufficiently clear to assist in understanding the story. In setting out this book, I have selected a number of topic headings to enable the reader to follow through some of the major themes that concerned the Skeptics in their formative years and still do today. Within these headings, I have endeavoured to keep to the chronological order of the original publications, although I have departed from this practice where I considered it desirable to give an unbroken flow to several articles on the same topic. Minor editing of some of the original articles has been carried out to correct errors, to improve clarity and to standardize spelling and date formats. Any errors that remain, despite comprehensive spelling checks and repeated proof reading, are all my own work and I apologise in advance for their occurrence. I would appreciate any correspondence about any such errors, which will be corrected in future printings of this book. This then is an important historic document. It charts the beginnings and growth of Australian Skeptics, our successes and failures, and it stands as a tribute to those whose enthusiasm in the early days ensured that the organisation would grow and prosper. Barry Williams ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the dark 'cut-and-paste' days before the advent of Desktop Publishing, production of the Skeptic called on the skills of many people. Issues Vol 1, No 1 to Vol 3, No 1 were edited by the indefatigable Mark Plummer, then National President of Australian Skeptics, with word processing carried out by National Secretary James Gerrand. From Vol 3, No 2, the editorship passed to Janet de Silva, who carried the load until Vol 5, No 1, when it was taken on by Anne Tuohy. Anne remained in the chair until Vol 6, No 4, when Tim Mendham took over and continued until Vol 10, No 1. Barry Williams became editor with Vol 10, No 2 and remains in that position. Harry Edwards has been an invaluable contributing editor during the latter two terms. To all of these and the others who contributed to the success of the Skeptic and of Australian Skeptics, I express my sincere thanks. In the production of this composite issue, I would like to express particular thanks to Kate Orman, Harry Edwards, Hilda Mendham and Tim Mendham. It has been a very time consuming task and it could not have been done without your invaluable help. CONTENTS ASTROLOGY PSEUDOSCIENCE Those Who Look to the Stars Have Horvath Car Secrets Revealed 57 Stars in Their Eyes 1 Description of Horvath's Patent 60 Astrology and Religion 3 Horvath Defends his Car 64 Book Review: Objections to Astrology 4 Horvath Car - Five years on 64 Correspondence on Astrology 5 Water, Water, What Fuel is Water 65 Reactions to Astrology Disclaimer 6 The Jupiter Effect 66 Horoscope Hokum 8 Book Review Beyond the Jupiter Effect 67 Astrology - The Oldest Con Game 8 Pinkney's Moonshine 68 Comet Halley 12 Firewalking at Geelong 69 Fire Walkers get Cold Feet 70 CREATIONISM SA Skeptics Investigate Anti-Gravity Hill 70 Creationists Challenged at Conference 15 The Claims of Charles Wallach 72 Another Six Day Creation 18 Physicists Examine Karen Hunt's EPFT 74 Letter to the Editor 20 How the MMBW got 'EMPF'ed 79 Skeptics Lead Fight Against Creationists 20 Creation 'Science' Seminar 21 PSYCHICS Philosophy & Creationism 22 Doris Stokes Wrong - Police 83 A Punt With Psychics 84 CRYPTOZOOLOGY Clairvoyant Croiset Clearly Seen 85 The Evidence for the Yowie 25 Perth Still There 87 Megalania Resurrected? 30 Psychic Predictions 87 Modem Sightings of the Thylacine 32 Clairvoyance No Help 88 Gorilla Makes Girl Pregnant 34 Disappearing Hand Claim True 90 Albert Best to Tour Australia 90 DIVINING Spirits, Spirits Everywhere 91 Almost the Best 93 The 1980 Divining Tests 35 Brisbane Psychometrist Fails Test 94 Two Divining Tests 39 SKEPTICISM HEALTH Where has Science Skeptics Test Psychic Surgeon 41 Teaching Gone Wrong? 97 More for Psychic Surgery 42 2300 Years of Skepticism 98 Perth Psychic Surgeons Challenged 43 Psychology Teaching and the Paranormal 100 Psychic Surgery - a Fraud 45 Parapsychology in Crisis 101 Psychic Surgery in Australia 46 Book Review: Explaining the Unexplained 106 Biorhythms Cause Aust - NZ Tensions 48 Letter to the Editor 108 Opinion - Faith Healing 49 James Gerrand replies 108 Negative Ion Generators 50 David Hume - The Miracle Unmaker 109 Mass Hysteria 51 Schools and Popular Media Tend to Mass Psychogenic Illness 52 Foster Belief in the Paranormal 110 Vitamin C and the Common Cold 53 Book Review: American Advertisements 54 Science: Good, Bad, &Bogus 114 Book Review: The Holistic Healers 56 To Believe, to Disbelieve or to Investigate 115 A Criticism of Moravec's "To Believe.." 117 "Believe" - A Response 118 Reply 118 Response to Mark Moravec 119 Letter to the Editor 119 The Terbot Hoax 120 The Steiner Tour - Post Exposure 123 Project Hook's Final Catch -AIPR 124 Philosophy of Skepticism 125 A Qualified Professional Scientist? 127 ESP and Australian Students 127 T M Are Meditators Levitators? 129 Rigby, Osborne Challenged 131 Some Notes on TM 132 TM's Novel Defence Plan 132 TM and Crime 133 TM and Medical Benefits 133 Professor Keen on Levitation 133 Prof McCusker Challenged at University 134 UFOS Alien Honeycomb Tested 137 F- 111s Search for UFO 139 UFOs and the RAAF 139 Book Review: 139 Close Encounters of an Australian Kind UFO Mystery Solved 140 The Valentich Mystery 141 The Aborigine and the Astronaut 144 Deyo's Cosmic Conspiracy and Schuessler's UFO Lectures 146 UFO Stops Train 150 Total Internal Reflection 150 Apparitions, UFOs and Wildlife 153 Conspiracies - An Adult Fairy Tale 155 Introduction Those Who Look to the Stars Astrology, the belief that the position of certain celestial Have Stars in Their Eyes bodies at the moment of an individual’s birth has an influence on the character and future of that individual, is one of the most widespread and persistent of magical beliefs. Vol 3, No 2 Phillip McKerracher Because it makes testable claims, astrology has been subjected to many tests.

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