This collection of Skeptical Inquirer magazine columns by investigator and folklorist Benjamin Radford guides readers on a science-based (yet open-minded) examination of 70 fascinating and mysterious topics. Drawing on two decades of first-hand research, Big-If True separates fact from fiction using forensics, science, psychology, folklore, and more. Big-If True examines these and dozens more mysteries including Bigfoot, reincarnation, chupacabras, Icelandic elves, conspiracy theories, UFOs, miracles, the terrifying Goat-Man, crop circles, subliminal advertising, sea serpents, wandering trees, medical mysteries, and hypnotist thieves-plus a 1990 Elvis sighting. For mystery lovers and armchair investigators alike, this book offers a look behind the scenes at investigating oddities and curiosities, both ancient and modern.

Chapter One LEGENDS 5

A Skeptic's Guide to Ethical and Effective Curse Removal • Egging the

Equator • Detour: Elves Ahead • Mysteries of the Coral Castle • Is Elvis

Presley in Home Alone? • Searching to Noah Vale • The Bell Witch Mystery

• The Myth of the Walking Tree • Bailing in the Mummies • Might Fright

Cause White? • (and more)

Chapter Two MONSTERS 51

Cryptozoology and Global Warming • The Mystery of the Texas

Chupacabra • Texas Goat-Men and the Chupacabra • A Wakey Water

'Monster' • Globsters Ahoy! • Investigating Mothman's Red Eyeshine

Chapter Three GHOSTS 83

Do Einstein's Laws Endorse Ghosts? • 'M' is for Mysterious Marks •

Have I Ever Seen a Ghost? • Soul Scales • The Cockington Church Ghost

Photo • Can Electromagnetic Fields Create Ghosts? • Infrared Cameras

and Ghost Hunting • A Closer Look at Orbs • The Sweet Spirit Sounds

of Rosemary Brown • (and more)

Chapter Four MYSTERIOUS POWERS AND PLACES 121

A Time to Die? • Crop Circle Origins • The GIGO Problem: Crop Circle

Research Edition • Channeling Ancient African Wisdom-Or Not • Mystery

of the Paulding Light • Dowsing: Dubious and Discredited • Fatima

Miracle Claims All Wet • Uri Geller Revisited • Did Psychic Visions

Locate Missing California Boy? • Beware Mesmer Thieves! • Secrets of

Spectacularly Skewered Skin

Chapter Five UFOs 165

The Phantom Menace of UFO Revelation • The Mysterious Phoenix

Lights • The Mysterious, Invisible 'Rods'

Chapter Six HEALTH AND MEDICINE 175

Bodytalk: Boon or Bogus? • Exercising the Brain Gym • Kinoki Foot Pads

• Diving HeadOn Into Pseudoscience • Subliminal Advertising, Trumpian

and Otherwise • Freaky Feldenkrais • Measuring Near-Death Experience

• A 100C Grain of Truth to Homeopathy? • Battle Over the BMI • The

Mysterious Morgellons Malady • Childbirth-Natural or 'Unnatural'? •

Vegetable Oil or Snake Oil?: The Pseudoscience of “Oil Pulling” • The

Pseudoscience of Personalysis • Left Brain or Right Brain? • (and more)

Chapter Seven CONSPIRACIES 229

Sandy Hook School Shooting: The Adam Lanza Death Certificate Conspiracy

• Curious Contrails: Death From the Sky? • The Truth About the 9/11

Truthers • Is America a Sheeple Factory?

Chapter Eight SKEPTICISM 243

Legitimizing Woo • Just Asking Questions • Caught Between the Possible

and the Paranormal • Dealing With Believers in Skeptical Investigation •

Anomaly Hunting • Mystery Solved-According to Whom? • Paranormal

Qualifications