Missing Pieces [Hardcover]

Joe Nickell (Author), Robert Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

Readers wishing to investigate paranormal claims can learn how the professionals do it. "Missing Pieces" is filled with practical information on checking out every type of mysterious anomaly, including UFO sightings, ghost hauntings, psychic feats, and other weird events. This is a complete handbook, featuring tactics and techniques you can use immediately to get at the truth. This book helps you learn how to conduct investigations, interrogate witnesses, recognise deception, and use the mental and electronic tools of the trade for 'ghostbusting'; uncover the tricks used by those who say they can heal or influence behaviour using only the power of their minds; and, expose those who allege that they were selected by gods or extraterrestials to bring messages to humankind. Baker and Nickell also address why otherwise intelligent people often accept paranormal claims without question and how the investigator can use the media to spread the truth.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 339 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1ST edition (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879757299
• ISBN-13: 978-0879757298
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,427,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written skeptical look at how to approach the "unexplained", May 21, 2009

By 

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Missing Pieces (Hardcover)

Though a rather old book now, this remains a good starting point for anyone interested in the skeptical (or scientific) investigation of claims of supernatural phenomena. The guiding principle is that extraordinary claims require at least pretty decent evidence. Additionally, there is a significant chance of fraud in these phenomena (that has historically been the case regardless of the merits of individual cases) and exploring and exposing such instances.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most intelligent book on the paranormal out there., November 29, 1999

By 

Tamara, Dir. CSPI ([e-mail]) (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missing Pieces (Hardcover)

This really is invaluable to anyone interested in researching paranormal claims. Full of humor, references and suggestions, it's like a gigantic handbook, or operations manual for the paranormally inclined. Told from a skeptical point of view, the insight and commentary is enlightening. A must-have in the library of anyone who has an interest in all aspects of the supernatural.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Skeptics and Believers, you get what you asked for., July 2, 2011

By 

drew - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Missing Pieces (Hardcover)

Skeptics will cheer. Believers will boo. Anyone with an ounce of objectivity will scratch his or her head and wonder what these guys are talking about.

For example, the duo spent a fair amount of effort describing the "ideal investigator" in the Introduction - and then spent the rest of the book violating those ideals in every way. The "science" they quote or paraphrase (often inaccurately, inappropriately, or entirely out of context) are often obscure or even very obsolete even at the time their book was written (Maslow's hierarchy? Give me a break). There is very little in here that is actually about investigating anything.

There are probably some good advice and true moments in here, but unless you're willing to test its accuracy chapter by chapter, paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, it's just not worth the investment of time and money. I was looking for good information on how to investigate unusual claims. What I found here was the Skeptical Party Line, and it's every bit as pseudoscientific as any Believer book.