A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

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topical index: frauds, hoaxes, conspiracies

0-9
2012 doomsday theories
9/11 conspiracies
A
alien abduction
Andrews, Lynn
anti-vaccination movement
Archaeoraptor
area 51
Apollo Moon landing hoax hoax
Aztec UFO hoax
B
belief armor
Ben Stein conspiracy
birthers
Blaylock, Russell (conspiracy involves Big Pharma, the WHO, and the US government)
Bridey Murphy
Rashid Buttar, D.O.
C
cannabis cures cancer hoax
Cardiff Giant
"Carlos" hoax
Castaneda, Carlos
cattle "mutilation"
charities hoax email
chelation therapy
chemtrails
Hulda Clark
climate change deniers
Cottingly fairy hoax
crop circle
crystal skull
D
Dianetics
Dixon, Jeane
E
electromagnetic fields (cell phones, Wi-Fi, etc.)
F
facilitated communication
firewalking
fluoridation
food allergy conspiracy
Ford, Arthur hoax
Fritz, Dr.
G
Geller, Uri (accused of being a fraud by James Randi, but he denies it)
Gerson therapy (Big Pharma conspiracy)
H
haunted house
herbal fuel
HIV/AIDS denial
hollow Earth
Holocaust denial
Horowitz, Leonard (many conspiracies but the best one is that the illuminati are behind the standards of the 12-note musical scale)
Hutchison hoax
I
Ica stones
Illuminati
Indian rope trick
Inset Fuel Stabilizer
J
Januarius
K
Knight, J.Z. (Ramtha)
L
Lenz, Frederick (Rama)
M
manufactroversy
medium
microacupuncture
mind control
multi-level marketing (MLM)
multi-level marketing (MLM) harassment
N
Nigerian scam
O
organic food (GM conspiracy)
P
perfect prediction scam
Piltdown Hoax
Philadelphia Experiment
Poe's Law
predatory open access journals
Project Alpha
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Protsch (von Zieten), Reiner
psychic
Pufedorf hoax
pyramid schemes, chain letters, & Ponzi schemes
Q
quack Miranda warning
Quadro Tracker
R
Rader, William C., M.D.
Raëlian
Rama
Rampa, Lobsang
Ramtha
Rath, Matthias
Rivas, Catalina
Roswell
S
Sai Baba
Satanic ritual abuse
shroud of Turin
Simpson, Rick (hemp oil cures cancer)
Soal-Goldney experiment
Sokal hoax
Steve Terbot hoax
T
Trudeau, Kevin
Trump University
U
UFOs
Urantia Book
V
vaccine conspiracy
Velikovsky, Immanuel
W
Andrew Wakefield
Y
Yellow Bamboo
Last updated 11-Jun-2016

Other Sources 

"Pranks, Frauds, and Hoaxes from Around the World." Robert Carroll (2004). Skeptical Inquirer. volume 28, No. 4. July/August, pp. 41-46.

Clever Irrationality by R. Carroll

My review of The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. The authors consider conspiracy theories to be examples of cogntive pareidolia or apophenia

Too Good to Be True

Recommended Reading

Abanes, Richard. End-Time Visions: The Road to Armageddon (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1998).

Brugioni, Dino A. Photo Fakery : The History and Techniques of Photographic Deception and Manipulation (Brasseys Inc., 1999)

Camp, Gregory S. Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia (Baker Book House, 1997).

Coughlin, Paul T. Secrets, Plots & Hidden Agendas: What You Don't Know About Conspiracy Theories (Intervarsity Press, 1999).

Feder, Kenneth L. Frauds, Mysteries and Myths: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology 3rd ed. (Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998).

Goldwag, Arthur. 2009. Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies:The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more.Vintage.

Hofstadter, Richard. 1964. The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Harper’s Magazine, November. Some things never change. Forty-five years ago, the paranoid right planted the seeds that continue to produce a parade of parrots.

Hoofnagle, Chris Jay. (2007). The Denialists' Deck of Cards: An Illustrated Taxonomy of Rhetoric Used to Frustrate Consumer Protection Efforts. SSRN.

Judson, Horace Freeland. (2004). The Great Betrayal : Fraud in Science. Harcourt.

Keene, M. Lamar. The Psychic Mafia (Prometheus, 1997).

McConnachie, James and Robin Tudge (2008). The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories 2  Rough Guides.

McCoy, Bob. Quack! : Tales of Medical Fraud from the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (Santa Monica Press, 2000).

Michaels, David. 2008. Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. Oxford University Press.

Oreskes, Naomi and Erik M. Conway. 2010. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Bloomesbury Press.

Pipes, Daniel. Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From (The Free Press, 1997).

Randi, James. An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, (N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1995)

Randi, James. The Faith Healers (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1987).

Randi, James. Flim-Flam! (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1982)

Randi, James. The Truth about Uri Geller, (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1982)

Ronson, Jon. 2002. Them: Adventures with Extremists. Simon & Schuster.

Shermer, Michael. 2009. Why People Believe in Conspiracies: A skeptic's take on the public's fascination with disinformation. Scientific American.

Specter, Michael. 2009. Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Penguin Press.

Stein, Gordon. Encyclopedia of Hoaxes (Prometheus, 1993).

Stein, Gordon. Hoaxes!: Dupes, Dodges & Other Dastardly Deceptions (Visible Ink Press 1995).

Steiner, Robert A. Don't Get Taken: Bunco & Bunkum Exposed -  How to Protect Yourself (Wide-A-Wake Books, 1989).

Swierczynski, Duane. The Complete Idiot's Guide To Frauds, Scams, and Cons (Alpha Books 2002).

Vankin, Jonathan and John Whalen. The Seventy Greatest Conspiracies of All Time: History's Biggest Mysteries, Coverups, and Cabals (Citadel, 1998).

If you find a Website you think is illegally selling human drugs, animal drugs, medical devices, biological products, foods, dietary supplements or cosmetics over the Web, please click here.

Books by R. T. Carroll

cover The Critical Thinker's Dictionary

The Skeptic's Dictionary

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