Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions - James Randi [50]
The Flying Saucer Delusion belongs in this book as another example of wishful thinking, poor research, and outright fraud. It joins the other species of nonsense and deserves the same kind of exposure given to other irrationalities. There is no proof whatsoever that UFOs are any more exciting than the TWA flight from New York to San Francisco. And the latter phenomenon is miracle enough for me.
In the top photo, taken by NASA, a bit of space debris can be seen on the right. The magazine Science Digest retouched the picture to eliminate the debris (bottom photo). A small white speck indicated by the arrow appears in the Science Digest retouched photograph that did not appear in the NASA original. The magazine identified the speck as an unknown object. NASA
Schematic diagram of the "Capitol flying saucer" photo. The triangles represent the "saucers"; the circles are bright lights within the field. The circles and their corresponding lens flares (triangles) are located an equal distance from the optical center of the lens, marked "C." The black circles on the lower right would be flared as shown by the black triangles on the upper left, which fall outside the frame. The flares of the two black circles on the lower left are washed out by the bright image of the dome. The circle (light) on the far left has no flare, probably because it is less luminous than the others; its flare would have appeared in the position indicated by the square on the upper right. An example of an image/flare pair is marked "X."
This photograph was alleged to show flying saucers over the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Omni magazine called it the "famous UFO 'formation'" photo, and said that the white spots over the building were "thought by many to be a reflection in the camera lens." Obviously, that is just what the saucers are, despite the claims of UFOlogists. Simple observation proves the case.
The Giggling Guru: A Matter of Levity
MUPPET: It's here! It's here! My correspondence course.
KERMIT: Your correspondence course?
MUPPET: It's called "How to Be a Superhero"! It comes complete with a helmet, a cape, a red shirt, and an instruction book called "Invincibility Made Easy."
KERMIT: I don't believe it.
MUPPET: Chapter ten—"How to Fly. Flying is a simple matter of belief. Anyone can fly as long as he believes that he can."
KERMIT: I can't watch this.
—The Muppet Show
CBS Television
February 18, 1980
My friends thought I was nutty to... learn to levitate. It cost me a lot more than I thought, and look at me. I know now... it was a rip-off."
—Ruth Basilio, TM student
Consumer magazine,
Wellington, N.Z.
To listen to the disciples of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, you'd think that "Transcendental Meditation" is something unique. In fact, speaking to any of his devotees almost always brings numerous corrections of your terminology when you fail to be precise. Because of that insistence on precision, which I greatly admire, I trust the TMers will adhere to that principle when they read the following analysis of their strange movement.
First of all, beware of using the expression "TM" to refer to anything but the genuine, approved, polished, and officially sanctioned