Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web

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written by Andrew Fraknoi
published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

This document contains a selected list of resources for those wishing to examine some of the claims at the fringes of science. It is organized into categories that include astrology, alien spaceships, Doomsday, ancient astronauts, and claims that the moon landing was a hoax. The editor provides annotated links to online magazines and articles, as well as bibliographies of related print material.

Editor's Note: Pseudoscience is a method, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific but does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology or lacks supporting evidence. One component of gaining science literacy is being able to distinguish an unsupportable claim from one that meets the rigors of testing, reproducibility, and peer review.

http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Gu...

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Astronomy - Cosmology - Historical Astronomy = Philosophy of Science - Solar System	- Informal Education - High School - Middle School - Lower Undergraduate - Professional Development	- Collection - Reference Material = Bibliography

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- General Publics - Learners - Educators	- application/pdf - text/html	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Mirror:: http://www.fraknoi.com/resource-g…
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2017 Andrew Fraknoi, Foothill College, and Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Can be freely used for any educational nonprofit purpose, as long as full author credit is given in all copies.
Keywords:: Erich Von Daniken, Immanuel Velikovsky, UFO, Velikovsky, aliens, astrology, astronomy bibliography, bibliographies, crop circles, myths, reading lists, resource guide, science fiction, superstition
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created March 9, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: January 25, 2023 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: December 1, 2017
Other Collections:: The PSRC

The Physics Front

The Astronomy Center

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

1. The Nature of Science

1B. Scientific Inquiry

3-5: 1B/E4. Scientists do not pay much attention to claims about how something they know about works unless the claims are backed up with evidence that can be confirmed, along with a logical argument.

1C. The Scientific Enterprise

6-8: 1C/M7. Accurate record-keeping, openness, and replication are essential for maintaining an investigator's credibility with other scientists and society.
9-12: 1C/H7. The strongly held traditions of science, including its commitment to peer review and publication, serve to keep the vast majority of scientists well within the bounds of ethical professional behavior. Deliberate deceit is rare and likely to be exposed sooner or later by the scientific enterprise itself. When violations of these scientific ethical traditions are discovered, they are strongly condemned by the scientific community, and the violators then have difficulty regaining the respect of other scientists.

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (1993 Version)

1. THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

B. Scientific Inquiry

1B (6-8) #3. What people expect to observe often affects what they actually do observe. Strong beliefs about what should happen in particular circumstances can prevent them from detecting other results. Scientists know about this danger to objectivity and take steps to try and avoid it when designing investigations and examining data. One safeguard is to have different investigators conduct independent studies of the same questions.

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=9885">Fraknoi, Andrew. Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, December 1, 2017.</a>

AIP Format

A. Fraknoi, (Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2017), WWW Document, (http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf).

AJP/PRST-PER

A. Fraknoi, Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web (Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2017), <http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf>.

APA Format

Fraknoi, A. (2017, December 1). Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web. Retrieved May 1, 2025, from Astronomical Society of the Pacific: http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf

Chicago Format

Fraknoi, Andrew. Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, December 1, 2017. http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf (accessed 1 May 2025).

MLA Format

Fraknoi, Andrew. Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2017. 1 Dec. 2017. 1 May 2025 <http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Andrew Fraknoi", Title = {Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web}, Publisher = {Astronomical Society of the Pacific}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {1 May 2025}, Month = {December 1, 2017}, Year = {2017} }

Refer Export Format

%A Andrew Fraknoi %T Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web %D December 1, 2017 %I Astronomical Society of the Pacific %C San Francisco %U http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Fraknoi, Andrew %D December 1, 2017 %T Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Brief List of Resources on the Web %I Astronomical Society of the Pacific %V 2025 %N 1 May 2025 %8 December 1, 2017 %9 application/pdf %U http://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Pseudoscience-Guide-2018.pdf

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