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Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080024-8
THE NEW YORK ! ! MES, SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 1978
SKEPTICS CRITICIZED
ON PARANORMAL ISSUE
Scholar
Tells Scientists That
Occult and U.F.O. Phenomena
Merit Legitimate Inquiry
By BOYCE RENSBERGER
One of the scholars who helped start
@' campaign to Investigate reports of
paranormal phenomena has split with his
former colleagues, contending that the
movement became more preoccupied with
denouncing such reports than with inves-
tigating them fairly.
The scholar, Dr. Marcello Truzzi, a
sociologist of science who teaches at
Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti,
believes that the study of paranormal
phenomena should not be dismissed out
of hand.
Dr. Truzzi resigned as editor of the
.group's magaine, then called The Zetet-
ic, and established a new journal whose
consulting editors include both skeptics
and believers. The older magaine is now
called The Skeptical Inquirer, and the
new one is called Zetetic Scholar.
The first group, which calls itself the
Committee for the Scientific Investiga-
tion of Claims of the Paranormal, grew
out of a widely published denunciation
of astrology that was signed by 186
scientists and philosophers in 1975. Its
leader, Dr. Paul Kurt, a professor of
philosophy at the State University of
New York at Buffalo, maintains that the
. nation is awash in a rising tide of irra-
tionality and gullible acceptance of re-
ports of occult and paranormal phenome-
na, and says this portends grave conse-
quences for a society heavily influenced
by public opinion.
"This is absolute nonsense," said Dr.
Truzzi, the leader of the breakaway
group.
Seeking Answers Through Science
Dr. Truzzi said he saw little danger
In the current popularity of paranormal
matters. The rising interest, he contends,
reflects a trend In which believers in
these topics are abandoning supernatural
explanations
and seeking answers
through science.
With the demystification of religions,
Dr. Truzzi said in a telephone interview,
beliefs that used to be the focus of secret
societies and mysterious cuits are now
being tested for natural explanations.
As examples, he cited the work of J.
Allen Hynek, an astronomer, to explain
unidentified flying objects; J. B. Rhine,
a Duke University psychologist, to test
extrasensory perception, and Michel
Gauquelin, a French psychologist, to test
astrology statistically.
"I think this is only healthy," Dr.
Truzzi said, adding that he belleved
many such investigators were dealing
Approved For Release:200 1/03726
puzzle areas
Opposes 'Outright Condemnation'
"I don't doubt that 99 percent of oc-
cultism is empirically false," Dr. Truzzi
continued, "but the approach to it has
to be based on an examination of the
evidence by people qualified to do that,
not on outright condemnation. We
shouldn't just dismiss these things out
of hand."
That, Dr. Truzzi added, is what he be-
lieves Dr. Kurtz and his committee is
doing.
"The committee Is tarring everybody
with the same brush," Dr. Truzzi said.
"When you do that, you're cutting your-
self off from what may not be just a
bunch of kooks, but from what I would
call a protoscience."
Dr. Kurtz, taking issue with Dr.
Truzzi's assertions, said, "We are inter-
ested in fair investigations of claims of
the paranormal, but we do believe it's
important that, when claims of the para-
normal get wide public attention and be-
lief, the skeptical position also get media
attention."
Chief Disagreement Cited
Dr. Kurtz said his chief disagreement
with Dr. Truzzi was over how much em-
phasis to place on reaching the public
with skeptical comments on paranormal
issues. Dr. Kurtz said this was an impor-
tant mission of his organization; Dr.
Truzzi said he would prefer to establish
a credible body of contrary evidence be-
fore publicly denouncing something.
When Dr. Truzzi resigned his editorship
of The Zetetic, Dr. Kurtz and his commit-
tee hired a new editor, Kendrick Fraser,
formerly an editor of a popular science
magazine, to change the magazine's con-
tent and format to have greater public
appeal.
The address of The Skeptical Inquirer
is P.O. Box 5, Amherst Branch, Buffalo,
N.Y. 14226. Subscriptions are $10 a year.
The address of Zetetic Scholar, also $10
1 year, is Department of Sociology, East-
ern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Mich.
48197.
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