COMMENT:A fine collection of <a href="/bib/89"><cite>Skeptical Inquirer</cite></a> articles. Many of the pieces contain postscripts and updates, and multi-part studies are presented in their entirety; countering defenses against refutations of such classic stories of the paranormal as the MJ12 UFO hoax, Whitley Streiber's "Communion" abduction stories, astrological claims, or reports of so-called responsive xenoglossy (speaking in tongues under hypnotic regression). Other topics covered and debunked are The Hundredth Monkey phenomena (evidence for telepathic groupthink among macaques), homeopathy and other fringe health issues (six articles), graphology (two articles), the Pons/Fleischmann cold fusion affair, and spontaneous human combustion. The opening theoretical essays are slightly repetitive, but the book overall serves as a vade mecum in confronting paranormal and "New Age" claims.
