March 2006
by Steven Novella, MD
There are no shortage of conspiracy theories in the halls of pseudoscience and pseudohistory, not to mention pop culture mythology. According to a 1992 New York Times survey, 77 percent of Americans hold the demonstrably wrong belief that the JFK assassination was the work of a conspiracy. Others believe there are [...]
October 1999
by Perry DeAngelis
The Virgin Mary makes yet another appearance, this time in our own
Hartford, Connecticut, and NESS investigators take a look.
As Juan Ramon Gordils sat in his Hartford living room watching TV at two in the morning, the hot July night was suddenly broken up by a vision of the blessed Virgin Mary. [...]
April 1998
by Robert E. Bartholomew
“Light Bulb” Mania of 1897, and the Great Airship Hoax of 1909-1910
Collective delusions and so-called mass hysterias take many forms, of which there are at least four common types. For a detailed discussion of each type, see my recent article in The Skeptical Inquirer (May-June, 1997). I will next provide [...]