Out good friend Alison has recently returned from Dragoncon, where she took on some of the psuedo-science and paranormal info being put out and came out on top (as usual). In recognition of this and of her efforts in the area of skepticism, it’s worth noting that she has a pretty damn good website and investigative thing going on. It can be found at http://www.skepticalanalysis.com/ and goes by the short name “SAPS.” But make no mistake, this is no sappy site.

The investigations and background are very well written and researched. Alison started this after being inspired by “Ghost Hunters,” a show on the Sci Fi channel which searches for ghosts and seems to find them, despite the lack of any real evidence. Being a television show, it wouldn’t be that exciting if it constantly found nothing at reportedly haunted sites and in the world of TV ratings rule. But somebody has to take a stand for science and that’s where Alison comes in.

There have been a few run-ins with “TAPS” the organization which is behind the show, especially when Alison revealed that they are not actually a nonprofit entity, as their website claimed (big no no). And generally speaking, there are more than a few of the paranormalists who are a bit unhappy with being exposed. However, with sound science against you, it can be hard to make a comeback.In most cases, the paranormal investigation claims may look scientific and convincing on the surface, but when examined, there turns out to be a lot less to it. Often the investigators rely on such things as electromagnetic field meters, which can be effected by wiring and metal objects or pronounce muffled noise on a recorded tape as being evidence of a haunting. Bug the fact is that many of these guys don’t even know how their own equipment works. But then again… gadgets are cool, as long as they’re not being used to spread some very bad science.

Alison has a few others working under her and setting the record straight. She’s also a certified private investigator – although it’s unknown who’s privates she has investigated She is licensed to pack heat too, but that’s pretty much how things go in Texas, so it’s not really that noteworthy. She comes from a long line of no-nonsense people, including the Scottish, who are known for mooning the battlelines and then charging with faces painted. She’s also part Native American, which one might think would give her some sort of ability to be in tune with nature…. but we won’t say that here because that would be perpetuating a stereotype. Suffice to say, Alison is the kind who, when she sees an atrocity, would rather just bash in some heads than wait for some sissy tribunal.

It’s worth checking out the “reports” part of the website. Although the site is oriented toward paranormal investigators and investigating them, there’s also a lot of other good info and well researched materials on products, quackery and so on.

---

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Bad Science, Good Science, Links, Paranormal, Website. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

---

View blog reactions