Science: Attacking the New Nonsense

A committee of skeptics challenges paranormal claims

America has been saturated in recent years by tales of the paranormal and claims of the pseudo scientists. The list seems endless: Uri Geller, the Bermuda Triangle, E.S.P., levitation, Jeane Dixon, Kirlian photography, the Loch Ness monster, psychic surgery, Immanuel Velikovsky, thinking ivy plants and now—again —flying saucers.

Undoubtedly stimulated by the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, UFO freaks have been deluging the White House with mail. Most demand that President Carter make good on a campaign promise that if there were any secrets about...