Phantom ‘facts’

Each day I get two newspapers, one with lots of pictures one with lots of words. The one with the pictures had a large article on an investigation of a “haunted” site although it was effectively an ad for an upcoming documentary.

The investigators included a psychic, a medicine woman, a paranormal investigator and a native healer who all found “energies” and communicated with “spirits”.

The only part missing was any disclaimer that this was all unscientific and had no basis in fact. With the spread of fake news there is a need to be able to identify what is factual and what is fake. This is not the same as reading your daily stars as, although they can be amusing, any sensible person knows they are rubbish. It would appear that many people have more faith in what they read than they should have, especially in regard to social media.

Time for boring, accurate facts and findings. DENNIS FITZGERALD

Landale Street Melbourne, Australia