Joe Nickell

[[File:JoeNickellAtQEDcon2012-2.jpg|thumb|right|165px|If I had a Nickell for every time someone made a bullshit claim...]]
{{skepnav|1}}{{cquote|Joe Nickell is ‘terrible’ at sighting ghosts and has a ‘pitiful record’ of catching extra-terrestrials. It’s as if they’re not real, he says.|||Jordan Gass-Poore, Daily Mail<ref name=dm040817>Jordan Gass-Poore, [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4755134/Meet-investigator-s-disproving-paranormal.html 'The Loch Ness monster? It's an otter. Bigfoot? Just a bear': Meet the 72-year-old magician-turned-paranormal investigator who travels the world probing ghost stories and eerie sightings (well, the truth IS out there)], ''Daily Mail'', 4 August 2017</ref>}}{{cquote|Forgers and frauds tend to use similar tricks, whether counterfeiting Hitler, U.F.O.s, or Jesus Christ.|||Joe Nickell<ref name=ny151202>Burkhard Bilger, [https://archive.ph/usZUZ Waiting for Ghosts], ''The New Yorker'', 15 December 2002</ref>}}

'''Joe Nickell''' {{lived|1 December 1944|4 March 2025}}, known for many years as “the world’s only full-time professional paranormal investigator,” was a senior research fellow of the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] (CSI) and investigative columnist for [[Skeptical Inquirer]] magazine.<ref name=cfi050325>[https://centerforinquiry.org/news/remembering-joe-nickell-iconic-skeptic-and-investigator/ Remembering Joe Nickell, Iconic Skeptic and Investigator], ''Center for Inquiry'', 5 March 2025</ref> 

Nickell published his first article in ''Skeptical Inquirer'' magazine in 1983. He was elected a CSI fellow in 1988 and joined its Executive Council in 1993. He was named CSI senior research fellow and began writing his regular ''Investigative Files'' column for ''Skeptical Inquirer'' in 1995.<ref name=cfi050325 /> In this role he investigated numerous [[paranormal]], [[pseudoscience]], [[woo|snake-oil]], and [[bullshit]] claims, from [[UFO]]s to [[Bigfoot]] to the [[Shroud of Turin]].<ref>[http://www.joenickell.com/index.html JoeNickell.com]</ref><ref>[http://skepchick.org/2012/06/joe-nickell-one-of-the-most-interesting-skeptics-in-the-world/ One of the Most Interesting Skeptics in the World] Skepchick</ref><ref>[http://artvoice.com/issues/v11n21/cover_story Hunting Monsters, Chasing Ghosts] Artvoice</ref>

He was voted number 12 in the [[CSI]]'s [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry#Outstanding Skeptics of the Twentieth Century|Outstanding Skeptics of the Twentieth Century]]<ref>[https://skepticalinquirer.org/2000/01/the-ten-outstanding-skeptics-of-the-twentieth-century/ Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Twentieth Century]</ref> and following his death in 2025 he was memorialized in their [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry#Pantheon of Skeptics|Pantheon of Skeptics]].<ref>[https://skepticalinquirer.org/pantheon-of-skeptics/ Pantheon of Skeptics]</ref>

==I don't believe we've met...==
{{cquote|I dreamed of becoming a magician. I dreamed of becoming an investigator. I dreamed of becoming lots of things, and eventually I became most of them.|||Joe Nickell<ref name=ny151202 />}}{{cquote|God help us if Nickell ever has an identity crisis. There’ll be twenty of him running around not speaking to each other.|||An old friend of Nickell<ref name=ny151202 />}}

Born and raised in the Appalachian town of {{wpl|West Liberty, Kentucky||,}} his parents were postmaster J. Wendell Nickell, an amateur magician and science enthusiast, and Ella Nickell (née Turner), a devout member of the Disciples of Christ.<ref name=jnfamilyman>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/FamilyMan/familyman1.html Family Man] joenickell.com</ref> A few tricks, taught to him at a young age by his father, sparked Nickell's dreams of becoming a professional magician.<ref name=ny151202 /> And for his eighth birthday his parents gave him a professional fingerprinting kit, resulting in a congratulatory letter from [[J. Edgar Hoover]], the transformation of a room in their house into an amateur crime lab, and further dreams of becoming an professional detective.<ref name=ny151202 />

Nickell enrolled in 1962 at the {{wpl|University of Kentucky||,}}<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Student/Student1.html Student] joenickell.com</ref> where he met and first dated his future second wife Diana Margaret Gawen,<ref name=jnfamilyman />, underwent mandatory training with the Reserve Officers Training Corps,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/ROTCCadet/rotc1.html ROTC Cadet] joenickell.com</ref> and became an anti-[[Vietnam War]] activist.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/AntiwarActivist/antiwar1.html Anti-War Activist] joenickell.com</ref> Graduating with a B.A. in 1967, he went to the Deep South with {{wpl|AmeriCorps VISTA|Volunteers in Service to America| (VISTA),}} marched with [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and was tear gassed at the conclusion of the {{wpl|1967 March on the Pentagon||,}} none of which earned him a second congratulatory letter from Hoover. When his deferments ran out, he fled, with his first wife Ruth Holmes Everett,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Bridegroom/Bridegroom1.html Bridegroom] joenickell.com</ref><ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Divorcee/divorce1.html Divorcé] joenickell.com</ref> to Canada to dodge the draft.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/WarResister/warresister1.html War Resister] joenickell.com</ref><ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Immigrant/immigrant1.html Immigrant] joenickell.com</ref>

===Getting the hell out of Dodge===
Arriving in Toronto in 1968, he, quite literally, fell back on his old tricks, demonstrating, developing and selling magic kits as a pitchman<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/MagicPitchman/magicpitchman1.html Magic Pitchman] joenickell.com</ref><ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/MagicKitCreator/magickitcreator01.html Magic Kit Creator] joenickell.com</ref> at the Canadian National Exhibition, the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, and Simpson's department store; he also performed on the school circuit as a professional stage magician,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/StageMagician/stagemagician1.html Stage Magician] joenickell.com</ref> mentalist<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Mentalist/mentalist1.html Mentalist] joenickell.com</ref> and escapologist<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/EscapeArtist/escapeartist1.html Escape Artist] joenickell.com</ref> under the names Janus the Magician, Mister Twister the Magic Clown<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/MagicClown/magicclown1.html Magic Clown] joenickell.com</ref> and Mendell the Mentalist.<ref name=ny151202 />

It was during this time, following in the footsteps of his hero [[Harry Houdini]], that Nickell began to view himself as a skeptic of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.<ref name=jnskeptic>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Skeptic/skeptic1.html Skeptic] joenickell.com</ref> He attended his first séance in Toronto in 1969 for the CBC documentary ''Houdini in Canada'', where, despite the medium's bold pronouncements, Houdini was a no-show.<ref name=dm040817 /> This experience further solidified Nickell's identification as a skeptic and he continued to consider Houdini and other magicians who used their skills to expose trickery heroes throughout his life.<ref name=ny151202 /> His first paranormal investigation was into the [[#Mackenzie House haunting|Mackenzie House haunting]] in 1972.

Recruited as a private investigator,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/PrivateInvestigator/privateinvestigator1.html Private Investigator] joenickell.com</ref> thanks in large part to his background and skills as a magician,<ref name=ny151202 /> Nickell performed his last professional magic show in 1973 and spent the next two years honing invaluable skills for {{wpl|Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton}} conducting background investigations, fixed and moving surveillances,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Surveillant/Surveillant1.html Surveillant] joenickell.com</ref><ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/SecretAgent/SecretAgent1.html Secret Agent] joenickell.com</ref> and bodyguarding duties<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Bodyguard/Bodyguard1.html Bodyguard] joenickell.com</ref>. In this capacity, he spent lengthy times as an undercover operative<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/UndercoverOperative/undercoveroperative1.html Undercover Operative] joenickell.com</ref> working as a forklift driver, lens polisher, shipping/mail clerk, steelworker,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Steelworker/Steelworker1.html Steelworker] joenickell.com</ref> and tavern waiter/bouncer.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/TavernWaiter/tavernwaiter1.html Tavern Waiter] joenickell.com</ref><ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Bouncer/bouncer1.html Bouncer] joenickell.com</ref> "The irony," Nickell points out being that as a draft dodger he was, "a federal fugitive the whole time."<ref name=ny151202 />

Following this Nickell spent some time in the Klondike Gold Rush town of {{wpl|Dawson City}} in the Yukon Territory,<ref name=ny151202 /> working variously as a blackjack dealer,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/BlackjackDealer/Blackjackdealer1.html Blackjack Dealer] joenickell.com</ref> croupier,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Crownanchor/crownanchorcroupier1.html Crown and Anchor Croupier] joenickell.com</ref> and part-time can-can show emcee<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/MasterofCeremonies/masterofceremonies1.html Master of Ceremonies] joenickell.com</ref> at {{wpl|Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall||;}} a riverboat manager<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/RiverboatManager/riverboatman1.html Riverboat Manager] joenickell.com</ref> and trainee riverboat captain<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/RiverboatCaptainTrainee/riverboatcaptaintrainee1.html Riverboat Captain Traineee] joenickell.com</ref> for Dick Stevenson's Yukon River Tours; and a gold prospector.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/GoldProspector/goldprospector1.html Gold Prospector] joenickell.com</ref>

US President [[Jimmy Carter]]'s signing of {{wpl|Proclamation 4483||,}} granting unconditional pardons to draft dodgers, on his first full day in office in 1977, cleared the way for Nickell to return home.

===No shit, Sherlock===
Nickell first headed to Hollywood, where he appeared as an extra in a couple of productions,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/MovieExtra/movieextra1.html Movie Extra] joenickell.com</ref> completed the course in firearms at the United States School of Law Enforcement in Los Angeles,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/Marksman/Marksman1.html Marksman] joenickell.com</ref> worked as an armed guard for a security firm,<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/ArmedGuard/armedguard1.html Armed Guard] joenickell.com</ref> and attended {{wpl|Paul Stader||'s}} Hollywood Stunt School.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/StuntmanTrainee/stuntmantrainee1.html Stuntman Trainee] joenickell.com</ref>

Re-enrolling at the University of Kentucky in 1979, he completed his master's in 1982, and his PhD in 1987, with a  dissertation titled, ''Literary Investigation: Texts, Sources, and "Factual" Substructs of Literature and Interpretation''.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/DoctorofPhilosophy/doctorofphil1.html Doctor of Philosophy] joenickell.com</ref> His literary detective work for this disertation, among other achievements, discovered the 18th-century "missing" edition of {{wpl|John Barth||'s}} ''{{wpl|The Sot-Weed Factor (novel)|The Sot-Weed Factor|,}}'' provided a solution to [[Ambrose Bierce]]'s disappearance, and identified the real-life model for {{wpl|Nathaniel Hawthorne||'s}} "Veiled Lady" in ''{{wpl|The Blithedale Romance||.}}'' It was published as the book ''Ambrose Bierce is Missing and Other Historical Mysteries'' (reissued as ''Unsolved History'').<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/LiteraryDetective/LiteraryDetective1.html Literary Detective] joenickell.com</ref>

Nickell's work attracted the attention of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), now known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, publisher of ''Skeptical Inquirer'' magazine.<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/ParanormalInvestigator/paranormalinvestigator1.html Paranormal Investigator] joenickell.com</ref> His first article, detailing the recreation of the giant Nazca condor drawing in Peru, was published in the Spring 1983 issue. Elected a Fellow in 1988, joined the Executive Council in 1993, and was named Senior Research Fellow in 1995. Relocating to CSICOP’s international headquarters in Buffalo, his Investigative Files column for Skeptical Inquirer and CSICOP newsletter Skeptical Briefs were launched that year. Nickell received CSICOP’s Distinguished Skeptic Award in 2000 and  the American Humanist Association's Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2004.

==Investigations==
===Mackenzie House haunting===
Nickell's first paranormal investigation was into a reported haunting at {{wpl|Mackenzie House}} in Toronto in 1972.<ref>Ed Grabianowski [https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/afterlife/ghost-buster3.htm How Ghost Busters Work], ''HowStuffWorks''</ref> The caretaker described hearing footsteps, mysterious piano music, and an apparition seen by his wife, while a photograph of a piano showed an unexplained white blur. Through interviews and analysis, Nickell discovered that the sounds came from an adjacent building where a late-night cleaning crew and a pianist were active. A professional photographer identified the blur as a reflection of a camera flash on sheet music. The apparition was attributed to a common phenomenon known as a waking dream or hypnagogic trance. Nickell ultimately concluded that the house was not haunted.

==Positions==
===Nickell's position statement on UFOs===
In a position statement laid out by Nickell in ''The Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters'',<ref>[[Ronald Story]] (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, ''New American Library'', 2001.</ref> which he described as an "occasionally flawed reference work,"<ref>Joe Nickell, [https://www.joenickell.com/contributebooks.html Books Contributed To] joenickell.com</ref> he notes that the modern UFO phenomenon has developed from simple UFO reports in 1947 into a mythology featuring extraterrestrial beings and speculation about humanity’s origins. While he admits there is a large amount of evidence that exists for alien visitation, it is, he counters, generally of poor quality, consisting of unreliable physical traces and anecdotal accounts often explained as misperceptions or hoaxes. Furthermore, when believers argue that the small number of cases remaining unsolved suggest a paranormal cause, they are, he feels, engaging in fallacious argument from ignorance and mystery mongering. While he concedes that skeptics can be overly dismissive, they rightly note, he mainatians, that lack of explanation does not imply extraterrestrial origins. The best approach, he concludes, is therefore neither blind belief nor outright dismissal but careful investigation of credible cases.

==Portrayal and pregnancy in popular media==
===The Reaping===
The skeptical investigator character played by Hilary Swank in the 2007 horror film ''The Reaping'' is loosely based on Nickell, at least in the first half of the movie. In the second half, supernatural forces have their way with Swank and she ends up pregnant and bearing the spawn of [[Satan]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070410164010/http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/reaping.html "The Reaping"], CSICOP</ref>

== Bibliography ==
{{collist|2|
*''Inquest on the Shroud of Turin'' (1983, 1998)
*''Secrets of the Supernatural'' (with John F. Fischer, 1988, 1991)
*''The Magic Detectives'' (1989)
*''Pen, Ink, and Evidence'' (1990, 2000, 2003)
*''Wonder-Workers!'' (1991)
*''Ambrose Bierce Is Missing'' (1992)
*''Missing Pieces'' (with Robert A. Baker, 1992)
*''Mysterious Realms'' (1992)
*''Looking for a Miracle'' (1993, 1998)
*''Psychic Sleuths'' (1994)
*''Camera Clues'' (1994)
*''Entities'' (1995)
*''Detecting Forgery'' (1996)
*''The Outer Edge'' (1996)
*''The UFO Invasion'' (1997)
*''Crime Science'' (1999)
*''Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal'' (2001)
*''The Kentucky Mint Julep'' (2003)
*''The Mystery Chronicles'' (2004)
*''Secrets of the Sideshows'' (2005)
*''Lake Monster Mysteries'' (with Benjamin Radford, 2006)
*''Relics of the Christ'' (2007)
*''Adventures in Paranormal Investigation'' (2007)
*''Real or Fake'' (2009)
*''Tracking the Man-Beasts'' (2011)
*''CSI Paranormal'' (2012)
*''The Science of Ghosts'' (2012)
*''The Science of Miracles'' (2013)
*''American Hauntings'' (with Robert E. Bartholomew, 2015)
*''The Science of Monsters'' (2024)
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.joenickell.com/press.html JoeNickell.com]

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickell, Joe}}

[[Category:Authors]]

Categories: Authors