This book is an extensive encyclopedia that defines and describes the people, events, theories, history, and truths of the paranormal -- prepared by the world's leading skeptic, iconoclast, and debunker, James Randi. Is the earth regularly visited by extraterrestrials with a serious penchant for examining the genital areas of unwilling human subjects? Is "spoon-bending" done through psychic powers? Do the sick regain their health at the hands of faith healers? Are Satanists sacrificing our children in the woods? With a few hard, factual definitions to work with, you can be better equipped to answer these questions which the media, now more than ever, bombards us with on a daily basis. Dealing with subjects that border on both science and mythology, Randi's Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural is a wide-ranging compendium, with entries from A to Z of hundreds of topics, many of which are frequently the subject of news stories, television documentaries, and best-selling books on the paranormal. Some of the items are handled or scrutinized in depth, others are more concisely defined. Cross-references are indicated and a comprehensive index provides the reader with a valuable road map to the occult. Until now, the reading public has been poorly served by previous similar catalogs, which, having often been compiled by undiscriminating and rather naive authors, can fail to give a complete and accurate picture of the subjects they seek to define. In this scrupulously researched work, which has been in preparation for over ten years, Randi reveals, with humor and dispassionate insight, the actual facts behind the ever-accelerating flight from reason, a troubling journey that has seized our generation. Recognized internationally for his tireless and successful investigations of psychic, supernatural, and "magical" claims, Randi gently prods the imagination and reasoning powers of his readers. With an introduction by Arthur C. Clarke, An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes is a major work by one of America's most original and fearless thinkers. - Jacket flap.