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Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell is equally at home when recreating the mysterious Nasca lines at a remote site in Kentucky as he is in his research lab at the office of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has traveled the world, seeking to understand its strange mysteries. Nickell does not engage in hype or sensationalism, yet he avoids the instinctive dismissiveness of many skeptics. Instead, he scientifically investigates the claims he encounters with the intention of finding the truth. Guided by the notion that the extent of the evidence must be commensurate with the extent of the claim, and by the principle of Occam's Razor--that the simplest tenable explanation is most likely correct--Nickell has spent his career uncovering the truth behind seemingly inexplicable phenomena.

In Adventures in Paranormal Investigation, Nickell presents the case files of his examinations of claims ranging from alien abductions to zoological enigmas. He investigates snake charmers, alien autopsies, crystal skulls, a Russian girl with X-ray eyes, Jack the Ripper, and a haunted gas chamber at Dachau, among many others. He even reveals how intuition has changed his life, causing him to meet the daughter he never knew he had. Nickell brings his trademark skepticism to each investigation, carefully observing each claim and using scientific methods honed over many years to discover the real stories behind these fascinating tales.

Joe Nickell is Senior Research Fellow of the committe for Skeptical Inquiry and author of  Detecting Forgery, Camera Clues, Unsolved History, Real-Life X-Files, Crime Science, The Kentucky Mint Julep , More Real-Life X-Files and Secrets of the Sideshows.

Reviews:

"In this book - his latest of many - he offers a delightful but definite debunking of some of the paranormal's most-beloved creatures, enigmas, misunderstood occurrences, and mysteries.... 'Adventures in Paranormal Investigation' is a great book, mostly because Nickell isn't a bit stuffy in his chase for truth." -- TAPS Paramagazine

"Nickell's writing style is direct and clear, and the illustrations are relevant and useful." -- R.H. Cormack, Choice

"The broad range of topics and up-to-date sources make this a definite read for believers and skeptics alike."--Dan Harms, SUNY Cortland Memorial Lib., Library Journal.com

"[Nickell] has an adventurous spirit tempered with an analytical mind. The result is a book that casts a rational light on phenomena that have frightened and bewildered people for generations." -- Barry A. Royalty, Kentucky Monthly

"Nickell has the right skills to separate truth from confabulation."--Publishers Weekly

"Joe Nickell has done his usual brilliant work here in the fields of scientific and skeptical investigation that, really, no one else does better."--Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, contributing editor to Scientific American, and author of Why People Believe Weird Things