This show was on the Learning Channel last night. Usually these kind of shows credibly portray the curse of the Bermuda Triangle or UFOs or alien autopsies with a breathless lack of cynicism.
This one was different.
It was hosted by Judd Nelson.
For an hour the show debunked the paranormal.
They showed how crop circles were made.
How faith healers work
How Seances are pulled off.
How cold psychic reads are accomplished.
Telekenetics,
etc.
They showed some gambling cheaters as well.
As an amateur magician I was mildly peeved that they gave away some of the secrets to some excellent parlor tricks, but only mildly as these tricks have mostly passed from the purview of performance magic into the realm of the con-man.
I guess it’s better that my dinner trick be exposed than have people (no matter how dumb,) conned into giving away their life’s fortunes to a con-man.
Anyway, it was an excellent show, and I’d like to give credit to The Learning Channel for debunking some of these scams.
It was funny to note that about five minutes before they debunked the history and workings of crop circles there was an advertisement for a “Secrets of the Unexplained” kind of show that gave the impression that Crop Circles remain a baffling mystery to science.