Believe it or not

Maybe some people can read minds. Perhaps there is a prehistoric beast at the bottom of Loch Ness. Spiritualists could be in touch with those who have died, passing on their messages to us at a fiver a time.

But there is an alternative, rational, non-magical explanation available for all these mysteries. You might not accept it. You might think that it is more likely that people bend cutlery through the power of thought than by adept sleight of hand. But as William of Ockham pointed out, it is usually better to accept the explanation which doesn't require you to invent something new and unknown. For instance, corn circles might be created by little green men, or else by hoaxers. Take your pick – except that we know all about hoaxers; the world is full of them. Little green men have yet to put in an appearance.

People who do believe in the paranormal often appeal to the sceptics' sense of fair play. They imply that we sceptics are greedy when we say that there is a rational explanation for all the phenomena they come up with. Can't we be open minded, they ask, and allow them at least one or two miracles? Sorry, no. If you met someone who claimed that rain was the angels crying, you'd probably feel obliged to tell him that it was water vapour condensing in the atmosphere. And if he tried to claim that at least sometimes it was the angels crying, you'd have to be firm and say that it was absolutely always and invariably condensing water vapour.

Of course people hunger for the strange and wonderful. And they can find it. The dead walk and talk in my living room when I watch a video of Casablanca. I can sense what people thousands of miles away are thinking by calling them on the phone. And scientists are learning the secrets of the universe, from the tiniest particles of life in our bodies, to the origin of the most distant galaxies.

But these wonders are never enough for the paranormal brigade. They want more. Flying telephones. Ghostly tambourines. Bent spoons. Children can detect a picture of a ship inside a lined, sealed envelope. Often they manage to persuade others that these are the result of weird, inexplicable happenings. People who are normally quite sensible, will say: 'Well, I don't understand – there must be something in it.'

Generally there isn't. But it's hard to find explanations. The press, particularly the tabloids, are in the business of creating wonderful mysteries, not explaining them. (Often the most absurd claims are printed without elaboration. For instance, in December 1989, Uri Geller claimed to have stopped Big Ben. The fact that he made this claim only after the clock had broken down did not, apparently, strike anyone as absurd.)

Does it all matter? After all, there's no harm in reading your horoscope in the daily paper. On the other hand, some people pay large sums to people who claim that their lives are being dominated by heavenly bodies millions of miles away. The wife of the heir to the throne consults astrologers. For several years the President of the US had his timetable drawn up in consultation with the planets.

Psychic healers, fire-walking teachers and others relieve people of large sums by offering them the false hope of a better life. Authors of innumerable occult books make small fortunes by peddling nonsense to the gullible and the naive. Even clever people are taken in if the rational, practical alternatives are not presented. Here are a few...

• Bermude Triangle

• Corn Circles

• Cryptozoology

• UFOs

• Cold Reading

• Psychic Detectives

• Telepathy

• Biorhythms

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