This is by Doctor Atlantis – one of the hosts of Monster Talk and I’ll see him at Dragon*Con this year! Yay! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl2WQyFHTHY The 8/19/2010 episode of SyFy’s show “Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files” included an investigation of a graveyard phantom. The team missed something pretty obvious – the actual solution! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Little Kitten – Fact or Faked: Cemetery Phantom Analysis", url: "http://podblack.com/2010/08/little-kitten-fact-or-faked-cemetery-phantom-analysis/" });

From PodBlack Cat
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PodblackCat/~3/H5f1N6Q9uNg/
8/21/2010 12:13:34 PM
Search rank: 495

Ratings – Syfy’s Hit Series “Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files” Leaps 30%. SyFy’s hit series Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files rose 30% among Adults 25-54 (782,000) and 16% among Adults 18-49 (750,000) during the Wednesday, October 26 telecast, compared to … Continue reading →

From Skeptic.com
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Skepticcom/~3/RXnYaK3FSzg/
10/29/2011 5:10:38 AM
Search rank: 494

I honestly don’t bother to watch the SyFy Channel on my own unless I’m in the mood for a bad “made-for SyFy” movie with poorly done CGI (newest one is Ice Road Terror inspired by Ice Road Truckers–ha! Great title!), but I finally did catch a mini-marathon of Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files and was [...]

From Freethunk
http://www.freethunk.net/articles/tv-commentary/fact-or-faked-paranormal-files-a-skeptical-babystep-on-syfy-2296
6/10/2011 11:37:39 AM
Search rank: 493

submitted by ashleyschaeffer
[link] [1 comment]

From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/l17gv/has_anyone_seen_the_syfy_show_fact_or_faked_is_it/
10/5/2011 12:46:06 PM
Search rank: 492

Today I had the good fortune to discover the show Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, which is available for free viewing on Hulu for those in the United States. This is, apparently, a Syfy Network original series that has already been running for two seasons, with a third premiering this spring. According to its website, [...]

From Skepchick
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Skepchick/~3/7BW8nt-m27A/
2/1/2012 4:51:25 AM
Search rank: 491

Paranormal

From Cult News Network
http://cultnews.net/command/click?id=43574
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 489

The Syfy Channel now has their own paranormal fighters; “Fact or Faked” who look amazingly like a younger, hipper version of the Skeptoplogists - and this shows has TWO women! Now that’s progress. “Fact or Faked” looks to be a nice segue from fiction to fact, which is what has been needed in the midst of the paranormal [...]

From Skepticblog
http://skepticblog.org/2010/07/31/skeptologists-usurped/
8/1/2010 6:59:44 AM
Search rank: 487

They show it on the syfy channel here in the UK. I'm only after watching an episode (ive only seen...

From JREF Forum
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=191000&goto=newpost
11/7/2010 1:06:32 PM
Search rank: 487

submitted by kylev
[link] [comment]

From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/hro05/fact_or_faked_paranormal_files/
6/5/2011 5:34:46 AM
Search rank: 486

From the Syfy network that inflicted us with Ghost Hunters, Mary Knows Best, Destination Truth and other unreality reality television, comes Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files.

From James Randi Educational Foundation
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1103-fact-or-faked.html
10/8/2010 1:37:49 AM
Search rank: 486

Fact or Faked? Faked!

From the same network that brought us Ghost Hunters, Mary Knows Best, Destination Truth and other unreality reality television, SyFy hosts the show Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files.

Billed as the “Mythbusters of the Paranormal,” a title coveted (but undeserved) by every paranormal show, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files supposedly “revolutionizes paranormal programming by investigating the evidence witnesses post on the Internet every day. Have you ever seen a photo or video online and wondered, ‘Is this real?’ This is the show that will answer that question.”¹

But does the show answer that question correctly, and truthfully? And is the very question honest?

The [...]

From Committee for Skeptical Inquiry | Main Feed
http://www.csicop.org//specialarticles/show/fact_or_faked_paranormal_files
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 483

The FSM rocks if you're an Atheist...

I was thinking that we could create one in the skeptic community which we design to be VERY VIRAL but which is FAKE ...

We then timestamp this post (or a wikipedia entry) so that when someone RANDOMLY mentions it, you can point out that it's fake and that they should be more skeptical.

For example... we could say that "humans have a 3rd nostril 3 inches inside their head that only smells smoke" or something like this...

It's INTERESTING and people will be like 'wow... ' and remember it and pass it on.

This would be easily falsifiable of course.

The only problem that I see is that when someone brings it up they would immediately squash it by pointing that it is fake... but if you TELL them they might deliberately pass it on as the truth to punk other people!

Anyway... I think we should vote on what urban legend / myth we want to [...]

From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/p3h9d/the_skeptic_community_needs_its_own_version_of/
1/31/2012 7:50:26 AM
Search rank: 481

From Uploads by DoctorAtlantis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl2WQyFHTHY&feature=youtube_gdata
8/21/2010 7:18:42 AM
Search rank: 478

Anybody here watch Fact or Faked? The regulars on the show seem for the most part to be level...

From JREF Forum
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=229610&goto=newpost
2/4/2012 6:32:04 PM
Search rank: 474

“Elvis is alive.” We’ve heard this refrain for years. It is a well-traveled companion of popular culture. The notion that Elvis faked his death is as ubiquitous as claims that a giant-headed alien was subjected to an autopsy at Roswell or that Sasquatch roams the forests of any number of

locales around the world. It is so ubiquitous, in fact, that many people simply assume that there are facts and figures to support the idea. So what are the actual facts? What is the basis of the debate? Is it really possible that Elvis faked his death and went into hiding only to reveal himself through various means many years later?

The answer is a resounding no. There are no facts to support the theory that Elvis faked his death, and the debate itself is not valid. It is time to set the record straight and properly frame the issue because this faulty debate has gone on far too long. [...]

From Committee for Skeptical Inquiry | Skeptical Briefs
http://www.csicop.org//sb/show/theres_no_debate_elvis_is_not_alive
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 465

Ghost Hunters Halloween Live 2011 Ratings This year, Jason, Grant and team members from Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files went to Pennhurst Asylum in Pennsylvania, a former state mental institution. From 7 PM – … Continue reading →

From Skeptic.com
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Skepticcom/~3/X8wTHF_5N-M/
11/3/2011 12:42:37 AM
Search rank: 461

Here's a slightly different spin on the old fake pregnancy prank. (Reality Rule 1.1 in Hippo Eats Dwarf is "Just because a woman looks pregnant, it doesn't mean she is."

As a social experiment, the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol made one of their operatives appear to be pregnant. Then they sent her to the state fair and had her stand around in full view drinking beer. They wanted to see if anyone would say something to her about how she shouldn't drink alcohol while pregnant. They even had the woman approach strangers with her beer in hand and ask them to take photos of her drinking.

The result: No one said anything negative to her. In fact, a few people congratulated her for drinking while pregnant.

From The Museum of Hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/a_fake_pregnancy_experiment
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 460

Today I had the good fortune to discover the show Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, which is available for free viewing on Hulu for those in the United States. This is, apparently, a Syfy Network original series that has already been running for two seasons, with a third premiering this spring. According to its website, FoFPF (pronounced: "fawf-pfffff") "revolutionizes paranormal programming by investigating the evidence witnesses post on the Internet every day." Finally, someone is paying attention to "amateur paranormal researchers" who post fuzzy videos on YouTube!

I was wondering if the hosts would actually take a skeptical look at the paranormal, so I checked out their website and was happy to find an article titled 5 Historic - and Spooky - [...]

From Committee for Skeptical Inquiry | Main Feed
http://www.csicop.org//specialarticles/show/review_of_syfys_fact_or_faked
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 454

Here's an open letter to the folks at 96.7 - The Legend. Tonight I heard a very disturbing commercial for a company called ITV that appears to be trying to push the snakeoil solutions of Kevin Trudeau.
------------------------------------
Hi Shane,

I love your radio station but was very disturbed to hear advertising promoting fake cures for diseases such as HERPES. Shane, science isn't out to trick everybody. HERPES is a virus and there is no cure for it - herbal, magical or scientific. The book that ITV claims to be giving away for free appears to be a step for marketer Kevin Treudau to bypass FTC rulings prohibiting him from advertising. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau)

His book can LITERALLY lead people do die by encouraging them to stop taking their medications and try his fake remedies.

Please tell your [...]

From The Doctor Atlantis Show
http://thedoctoratlantisshow.blogspot.com/2009/07/967-legend-and-choice.html
7/8/2009 1:59:00 PM
Search rank: 448

About two weeks ago a story hit the news wires about a car that landed on the roof of a house in Fresno, CA. The story goes that Benjamin Tucker stole the car, was driving fast, but lost control as he was going round a corner and hit some landscaping rocks, causing the car to become airborne. And it flew through the air until it landed on the roof of a nearby house.


The autoshopper blog points out that this chain of events is highly improbable:

Let’s put together some relevant facts for the sake of reason. The speed limit was 30 MPH, which [...]

From The Museum of Hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/car_land_on_roof_of_house_real_or_fake
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 444

From here. The conclusion:

Given the power of our prior beliefs to skew how we respond to new information, one thing is becoming clear: If you want someone to accept new evidence, make sure to present it to them in a context that doesn’t trigger a defensive, emotional reaction.

This theory is gaining traction in part because of Kahan’s work at Yale. In one study, he and his colleagues packaged the basic science of climate change into fake newspaper articles bearing two very different headlines–“Scientific Panel Recommends Anti-Pollution Solution to Global Warming” and “Scientific Panel Recommends Nuclear Solution to Global [...]

From The Panda's Thumb
http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2011/04/great-article-b.html
4/19/2011 11:41:58 AM
Search rank: 443

An albino, one-eyed shark, an image of which started circulating online back in July, has been confirmed by scientists to be real. (Link: livescience.com). Which shouldn't have been a surprise. Like the case of Cy the one-eyed kitten (from back in 2006), the mutant shark suffered from cyclopia. According to messybeast.com, this is a genetic abnormality in which, "the eyes are fused into a single enlarged eye that is placed below the nose (the nose may or may not form, if it forms it resembles a proboscis)."



One-eyed creatures are one of those phenomena that fit into the rule that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction. In fact, off the top of my head [...]

From The Museum of Hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/cyclops_shark
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 442

Newt Gingrich It seems that trainwreck-of-a-politician Newt Gingrich (R) is guilty of massive Twitter fraud:

Gingrich [...]

From Preliator pro Causa
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Preliator/~3/O-6ddMRZY2g/newt-gingrich-continues-to-crumble.html
8/3/2011 6:17:00 AM
Search rank: 441

The crowd at the Smoky Hill library was probably expecting ghost stories; after all, the talk was titled: Paranormal Ghost Hunting. Instead, they received an introduction to critical thinking and the scientific method. Better yet, this outreach was to a room full of kids, teenagers and their parents. 

The talk was given by Bryan Bonner and Matthew Baxter, who presented “Investigating the Investigators” at TAM 9, a talk about their hoax of a paranormal group. (You may have seen the duo in the halls of the South Point casino, wearing black suits and alien-green fluorescent ties.)

Bryan and Baxter are currently giving lectures about science and the paranormal to groups at libraries in the greater Denver area. This is a series of talks aimed at teenagers, teaching them the basics of skepticism, in a fun, approachable and interactive way. Kids and youths are the future of skepticism, so 17-year-old Logan Baxter was also involved in the talk.

The audience [...]

From JREF Swift Blog
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1365-skepticism-the-next-generation.html
8/2/2011 3:00:00 PM
Search rank: 441

Let's face it. The vast majority of "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) or "integrative medicine" (IM) therapies are nothing more than placebo medicine. This should be so abundantly clear to readers who have followed this blog, Science-Based Medicine, and/or Neurologica Blog more than a few weeks, but I feel that it bears repeating as an introduction to today's subject matter. CAM/IM is almost all placebo medicine, and placebos effects are poorly understood (or even misunderstood) even among physicians. It is this misunderstanding that has provided the opening for CAM apologists, faced with the failure of their favorite woo to demonstrate efficacy over and above that of placebo time and time again in well-designed randomized clinical trials, to "rebrand" their methods as "harnessing the power of the placebo." In doing so, they like to ascribe magical powers to placebos, [...]

From Respectful Insolence
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/insolence/~3/ThNGPqE8n1E/credulous_reporting_on_placebo_effects_s.php
1/4/2012 11:00:00 PM
Search rank: 439