I recommend readers have a look at this recent post by Dr. Larry Hurtado. It begins this way: If you want to see a good example of what be-devils any scholarly analysis of practically anything to do with Jesus and early Christianity, have a read of the postings of the...
LoreBunk & Hist-eria
The Sad Case of Carl Baugh
I came across some older stuff on Carl Baugh this evening and was startled to discover that, after 300+ posts on this blog, I'd never blogged anything about him. Time to fix that. Carl Baugh is the young earth creationist who claimed to have discovered human...
No – I’m Not Working For, or At, AREA-51
First, let me say this: Darn! If I did work at AREA-51 I might finally get into the Illuminati. It would be a nice credential to enhance my resume. What am I talking about? Well, a week or so ago a YouTube video was posted that claimed a new, super-secret military...
A Blow to Racist Fringe History
Jason Colavito has an interesting post on some recent research that damages the Solutrean Hypothesis. For those who haven't heard of this, Jason explains: Fringe history believers have long used the Solutrean claim as evidence for European primacy in the Americas, a...
The Map Behind the Piri Reis Map
That's the title of this intriguing essay on the Piri Reis map -- an early 16th century map that allegedly shows the coastline of Antarctica not covered by ice. The image above of the Piri Reis map comes from this much longer and more detailed analysis, the effort of...
Dr. Gary Nolan on the Atacama Specimen and the Starchild Skull
Jack Brewer has posted a recent email exchange with Dr. Gary Nolan, the Stanford scientist who conducted the DNA work on the alleged "Atacama alien." It's readable and interesting, and so I recommend it to my readers. Some key statements by Dr. Nolan: The specimen has...
Immanuel Velikovsky Resources
Immanuel Velikovsky's name is, for many, synonymous with paleobabble. I can think of a few other candidates I'd move ahead of him for such an honor, but Velikovsky indeed belongs to the "modern classical period" of wacky stuff related to study of the ancient world....
UFO Propaganda in Movies and TV Shows: Robbie Graham Interview
Jack Brewer of the excellent blog, The UFO Trail, recently interviewed Robbie Graham, who blogs at the fascinating Silver Screen Saucers. The thrust of the interview is that motion pictures and television have far greater potential to influence beliefs about UFOs and...
Top Ten List of Other Things You Believe if You Believe the World Ends on Dec 21, 2012 Because of Planet X
If you believe in this nonsense, then here is what else you must believe: 1. That everything we know about astronomy and celestial mechanics is wrong (I'd want to know how we put people on the moon, why Voyager was a success, and how we landed rovers on Mars if that's...
The Harbinger: Ode to Biblical Illiteracy
I've been asked by a couple of readers if I'd read the best-selling book by Jonathan Cahn, The Harbinger. It reminded me of a day back in an apologetics class that I took with Norm Geisler. An enthused student asked Geisler when he came into the room whether he'd read...
How Research Reaches the Public and PaleoBabble is Born
Robert Cargill posted this today on his blog. It's funny because we've all seen it happen, again and again. Although the creators forgot to include the Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel).
Aryan Mythology as Science and Ideology
I recently came across this interesting scholarly article on how Aryan Paleobabble was used by the Nazis. It's a good academic introduction tracing their rationale and (mis)use of archaeology, linguistics, and social science data.
Dinosaur Petroglyphs and a Lesson in Intellectual Dishonesty
I was alerted to a new scholarly article today on the issue of so-called dinosaur petroglyphs. Here is the citation (the article is free): Senter and Cole. 2011. "Dinosaur" petroglyphs at Kachina Bridge site, Natural Bridges National Monument, southeastern Utah: not...
The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar
Such is the title of this sixteen page academic essay from Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. It is very worthwhile reading. The author discusses, among others, John Major Jenkins' ideas about 2012. Here's the abstract: ABSTRACT:...
Pseudo-History in the Classroom
This is the title of another old article I found prepping for teaching. It was written in 1975 -- amazing how much PaleoBabble has been put out since then! Editor's note: Excerpt from the article below: ARE WE descendants of ancient astronauts? Was the flaming...