Selected Resources in the Pseudoscientific and the Paranormal

Reference Sources

• A dictionary of superstitions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
  REF BF1775 .D53 1989
  Covers a wide array of popular superstitions, touching on virtually every aspect of human culture.
• Encyclopedia of pseudoscience. New York: Facts on File, 2000.
  REF Q157 .E57 2000
  Examines how fringe or marginal sciences have affected people throughout history, as well as how they continue to exert an influence on social and academic lives today.
• Encyclopedia of strange and unexplained physical phenomena. Detroit: Gale, 1993.
  REF Q173 .C554 1993
  Places physical (as opposed to psychic) phenomena into scientific and sociological context.
• The encyclopedia of urban legends. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001.
  REF GR105.34 .B78 2001
  Arranged alphabetically, entries summarize urban legends from around the world, detail their variations, discuss major themes, analyze subtexts, and consider the scholarly research on the subject.
• Encyclopedia of UFO's. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1980.
  REF TL789 E52
  Attempts to accurately represent the state of knowledge on the subject of UFO's.
• The encyclopedia of witches and witchcraft. New York: Facts on File, 1999.
  REF BF1566 .G85 1999
  A detailed look at witchcraft and its history from its ancient origins to its modern revival.
• Harper's encyclopedia of mystical & paranormal experience. San Francisco: Harper, 1991.
  REF BF1407 .G85
  A comprehensive A-to-Z reference to all aspects of the paranormal.
• The little giant encyclopedia of superstitions. New York: Sterling, 1999.
  REF GR81 .L57 1999
  A-Z source for signs, omens, spells, charms, cures, rituals, and taboos.
• Man, myth & magic: the illustrated encyclopedia of mythology, religion, and the unknown. 12 vol. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1983.
  REF BF1411 .M25 1983
  A comprehensive guide to all the world's major (and many of the minor) faiths, philosophies, legends, mythologies, and folklore, as well as literature, symbolism, superstition, and the supernatural, from the remote past to the present day.
• UFOs and ufology: the first fifty years. New York: Facts on File, 1997.
  REF TL789 .D474
  Reviews and evaluates reports of unidentified flying objects and reactions to them in the half century since an alien craft is alleged to have crashed at Roswell, New Mexico.

Web Sites

• Bermuda Triangle
  http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm
  Naval Historical Center's attempt to debunk supernatural explanations for disasters at sea.
• Journal of Cayce Studies
  http://www.ciis.edu/cayce/
  An on-line, semiannual academic journal devoted to Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), the American psychic.
• National UFO Reporting Center
  http://www.ufocenter.com/
  "Dedicated to the collection and dissemination of objective UFO data," the site logs numerous self-reported UFO sightings from around the world and posts all of its data in summary form.
• Seti Institute
  http://www.seti-inst.edu/
  The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.
• Skeptic.com
  http://www.skeptic.com/
  The Skeptics Society is a scientific and educational organization of scholars, scientists, historians, magicians, professors and teachers, and anyone curious about controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas and the promotion of science
• The Skeptic's Dictionary
  http://skepdic.com/
  A collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions.
• Urban Legends Reference Pages
  http://www.snopes.com/
  This site includes not only urban legends, but also misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, and celebrity gossip
• Unusual Phenomena Listing from the FBI
  http://foia.fbi.gov/unusual.htm
  Documents made available through the Freedom of Information Act on a small number of "unusual phenomena".