Prothero (Rhinoceros Giants), a geologist and paleontologist, and Callahan, religion editor for Skeptic Magazine, explore popular paranormal notions and conspiracy theories while explaining the best ways to evaluate them. The first step, the authors advise, is a healthy dose of skepticism: take a close look at the evidence. Humans' "believing" brains work overtime to fashion random events into patterns, such as finding false data correlations between vaccination and autism or seeing the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese sandwich. Combine that pattern-making survival skill with a need to have control over a threatening world and the result is often the kind of conspiratorial thinking that proliferates across the internet. Prothero and Callahan explore the modern myths of UFO sightings and alien encounters and the evidence for them that never quite adds up. They look into the reality-or lack thereof-of New World Order efforts to maintain a docile population, rapacious reptilian aliens disguised as humans, extraterrestrial-based religions premised on aliens seeding Earth with human life, and a crystal skull that is supposedly an ancient microchip for storing alien wisdom. With their book's brisk pace and energetic writing, Prothero and Callahan offer entertainment as well as wisdom for everyone who's ever wondered what's behind so many conspiracy theories and paranormal phenomena. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Prothero (Emer., Geology, Occidental College) and Callahan have here added to the genre of books dedicated to exploring paranormal phenomena. But their book contains more than the usual debunking of such easy targets as the allegedly toxic "chemtrails" (the contrails formed by aircraft): it is a well-written and entertaining exercise in critical thinking and evidence assessment. For example, the authors explain how the brain is hardwired to see non-existent patterns. Millennia ago, the ability to spot a deadly snake in the grass or a predator in the jungle could save lives, and this proclivity became part of the human gene pool. As a result, natural selection tended to favor the survival of ancestors who saw non-existent patterns over the survival of those who did not. The authors make a case for the argument that so-called "eyewitness" accounts and "expert opinions" are no match for empirical observation, scientific reasoning, and rational analysis. But given that 95 percent of unidentified flying objects sightings can be explained by means of natural causes, the remaining 5 percent cannot be blithely written off. That 5 percent deserves attention, and this admirable book provides the skills and tools that can be employed in the search. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Stanley C. Krippner, Saybrook University