my published articles

Air Forces Monthly
'The crash of ZD576', Jan 2000. (an early analysis of the crash, but now
    superceded by Chinook Crash, see BOOKS).

The Beacon (SICEC, Malta)
'Amateur science solves the UFO mystery', Winter 1999. See http://www.cohenufo.org/amtr_hypoth.html (a version of the article uploaded to an internet site, though not necessarily this one, in Dec 1995. This online version contains criticism and gratuitous questions by Jerry Cohen).

The British & Irish Skeptic (as The Skeptic from 4/3)
'The monstrous myth at Loch Ness', 1/3 (May/Jun 1987)
'Seeing the light at Knock', 1/4 (Jul/Aug 1987), with publication of a
   missing section in 1/5 (Sep/Oct 1987) An explanation for the Marian
   Apparition. I responded to criticism of this article in 2/2 (Mar/Apr
   1988).
'Nessie in conference', 1/5 (Sep/Oct 1987) A report on a symposium
   called 'The Search for Nessie' held during a joint meeting of the
   International Society of Cryptozoology and the Society of Natural
   History in Edinburgh on 25 July 1987.
'UFO Congress '87', 1/5 (Sep/Oct 1987) Report on BUFORA's 4th
   International UFO Congress in London 10-12 Jul 1987.
'Nessie hunt', 1/6 (Nov/Dec 1987) Operation Deepscan (9-11 Oct
   1987).
'Kilroy on UFOs' (review of BBC1 TV programme on 26 Nov 1987) 2/1
   (Jan/Feb 1988).
'Forty years of UFO reports' (review of UFOs 1947-1987: The 40-year
   search for an explanation, compiled and edited by Hilary Evans and
   John Spencer) 2/2 (Mar/Apr 1988).
'Special report: Findhorn', 2/3 (May/Jun 1988) The Findhorn
   Foundation.
'The undoing of a parapsychologist' (review of a BBC 'Antenna'
   programme about Prof. Sue Blackmore), 2/3 (May/Jun 1988)
'How to be a contactee' (review of Light Years: An Investigation into the
   Extraterrestrial Experience of Eduard Meier by Gary Kinder) 2/5
   (Sep/Oct 1988).
'From Flying Saucers to Pseudoscience' (review of Phenomenon: 
    From Flying Saucers to UFOs--Forty years of Facts and Research 
   edited by John Spencer and Hilary Evans) 2/6 (Nov/Dec 1988)
'Calculation of maximum range of water discharge'. 3/2 (Mar/Apr 1989)
‘The Newsreader’s Tale’ (review of Nicholas Witchell’s The Loch Ness
   Story), 3/3 (May/Jun 1989).  
'Who invented the Loch Ness Monster?' 6/2 (Mar/Apr 1992) Digby
   George Gerahty?
'Great Balls of Fire', 6/6 (Nov/Dec 1992) Does ball lightning exist?
'Close encounters of the cult kind' (review of UFOs The Final Answer?
   edited by David and Therese Marie Barclay) 7/6 (Nov/Dec 1993).
'Wasted time' (review of Time Travel: Fact Fiction & Possibility by Jenny
   Randles) 8/6 (1995)
'A Close Encounter of the Fireball Kind?', 14/2 (Autumn 2001) An
   explanation of a UFO report made by pilots on 6 Jan 1995.
‘Making up History’, 20/1 (Spring 2007) [wrongly titled ‘Winter
   2006’] Criticism of Julian Barnes's historical novel Arthur & George in
   which my grandfather features.
'If there isn't a god, why bother?' An essay that won second prize in the
   Mary Evans Picture Library competition (July 2010). Published only  
   online; see this link.

British Journal of Photography
'How not to photograph ball lightning', No. 6326, Vol, 128 (23 Oct 1981)
   an explanation of the Jennings photograph.
'The Surgeon's Monster Hoax', No. 6454, Vol. 131 (20 Apr 1984)  an
   exposé and analysis of the Surgeon's Photograph of Nessie.
'Ball lightning exposed', No. 6645, Vol. 134 (17 Dec 1987) an
   explanation of the Davidov picture.
'The key to the loch?', No. 6685, Vol. 135 (22 Sep 1988) how boat
   wakes can explain reports of Nessie.
'The Childerhose UFO: fact or fiction?' No. 6686, Vol. 135 (29 Sep
   1988)
'UFO: hoax or mirage?', No. 6722, Vol. 136 (15 Jun 1989) an analysis
   of the 'UFO' pictures taken at Trindade Is. in 1958.
'Film of a UFO or Venus?', No. 6767, Vol. 137 (3 May 1990) an analysis
   of a film taken in New Zealand in December 1978.
'Fireball by Day', No. 6814, Vol. 138 (4 Apr 1991) about a UFO report
   linked to the crash of an F-111 fighter aircraft in Oxforshire on 11 Jan
   1973.

BUFORA Bulletin (BUFORA)
'A ghost rocket tailpiece', 10 (Sep 1983). about mystery rockets over
   Sweden.
Review of How to build a flying saucer and other Proposals... by T B 
   Pawlicki (Corgi) 10 (Sep 1983).
'A definition of a "UFO"', 10 (Sep 1983)
'The UFO myth', 20 (Jan 1986)
'Astronomical UFOs', May 1986
'The Uninvited star', May 1986 an explanation of an account given in
    Frank Taylor's The Uninvited 2: The Visitation (1984)
'Not coming through the glen', Nov 1986
Review of The World's Greatest UFO Mysteries by Nigel Blundell and 
     Roger Boar (Octopus Books, 1984) 24 (Jan 1987).
'Mirages explain UFO reports', May 1988 

The Clan Campbell Society U.K. Newsletter
'The Etymology of Campbell', No.4, Jul 1978; pp. 13-14. Repeated
    more fully in No.5, Jan 1979; pp. 5-6.

The Computer UFO Newsletter
‘The astro-meteorological hypothesis for UFO reports’, 2/1 [date?]

Cryptozoology (International Society of Cryptozoology)
'The tail of an otter' (Comment on LeBlond and Collins, with response
   by LeBlond) Vol 7 (1988), pp. 116-18.
'Disinherit the wind', (Comment on Paul H LeBlond, with response by
   LeBlond) Vol 8 (1989), pp.129-35.

CUFOS Associate Newsletter (Center for UFO Studies, USA)
‘Investigation Report on 1980 Photograph At Pitlochry, Scotland’, 6/1
   (Feb/Mar 1985).evidence of a hoax

Scottish Daily Express
'Wake up to the truth about Nessie', 17 Sep 1996

Electricity International
'Danish SNOX plant a success', 4/4 (May 1992)

In The Encylopedia of UFOs (ed. Ronald Story, Doubleday, New York,
  1980: entries on: 'Ball lightning', 'Hallucinations' and 'Myth theory of
   UFOs'.

Enigmas (Strange Phenomena Investigations)
'The "Miracle of the Sun" at Fatima' (Nov/Dec 1992) a reprint of the 
   article in Journal of Meteorology.

Forthright (Lothian & Borders Police magazine)
‘A Close Encounter of the Livingston Kind’, Vol. 26 (Spring 1982?).
‘A Not-so-close Encounter at Livingston’, 12/4 (1986).

The Freethinker (G W Foote & Co)
Review of The UFO Verdict: Examining the Evidence by Robert Sheaffer, (Aug 1981).
'The Empty Tomb and the Origin of Christianity', 105/5 (May 1985)
'Superstitions Ancient and Modern', 107/2 (Feb 1987)
Review of The Unriddling of Christian Origins—A Secular Account by Joel Carmichael, (Jul 1996).
‘A close encounter with Islam’ 122/3 (Mar 2002)
‘Science and the Koran’ 122/5 (May 2002)
‘Which God?’ 125/11 (Nov 2005)
'Freethinking about Jesus' 130/3 (Mar 2010)

Flying Saucer Review
'False report from Loch Ness', Mar 1981

Humanism Scotland
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (Cllr Pringle), 2/18 (Summer 1999)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (Prof John Erickson on International Conflict), 2/20 (Winter 1999)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (Dr Martin Plant on drug addiction), 3/1 (Spring 2000)
‘A Close Encounter with Islam’, 3/4 (Winter 2000)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (Faith in Schools), 3/11 (Autumn 2002)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (War on Iraq?), 3/12 (Winter 2002)
‘Did Jesus rise from the dead?’, 3/14 (Summer 2003)
‘Tony Blair’s Brave Decision’, 3/16 (Winter 2003)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (Not filling the void), 3/20 (Spring 2005)
'David Hume: a sceptical life’, (Spring 2005)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (Religion and the law), 3/21 (Summer 2005)
Review of Edinburgh Group Meeting (The Theory That Wasn’t There?), 4/2 (Spring 2006)

Journal (of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh) [online from issue 38].
‘The case for UFOs’, Oct 1981 (no. 3)
'The Star of Bethlehem', May/Jun 1983 (no. 7)
'Bode's Law and the Evolution of the Solar System', Mar 1985 (no. 11)
'More on Bode's Law', Jul 1985 (no. 12)
'The star that never was', Nov 1985 (no. 13)
'The moon illusion', Apr 1986 (no. 14)
'An unusual stellar mirage', Feb 1987 (no. 16)
'Why are stars pointed?', Feb 1988 (no. 18)
'The last word on the moon illusion?', Jul 1988 (no. 19)
'Why was Sirius red?', May 1989 (no. 21)
'Astronomy and the Great Pyramid', Feb 1990 (no. 23)
Comments on ‘The calendar, part 1’, Sep 1991 (no. 26)
'Astronomy and the Great Pyramid'+, Jun 1994 (no. 31) [+largely a repeat of the Feb '90 article]
Review of The Orion Mystery by Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert, Dec 1994 (no. 32) 
'A Mirage of Venus', Dec 1995 (no. 34)
'The Moon Illusion explained?', April 2000 (no. 41) online
Review of The Mystery of the Moon Illusion by Helen Ross and Cornelius Plug, Aug 2003 (no. 46) online.
‘Cooling the Earth’, June 2005 (no. 48) online
‘Solar global warming’, December 2006 (no. 51) online
‘More on cooling the Earth’, July 2007 (no. 53) online
‘Why is it dark at night?’, Sep 2008 (no. 57) online

Journal Für UFO-Forschung 4 (1984)
'Nahe Begegnung in Schottland'. A German translation of 'Close Encounter in Scotland' published in the Journal of Transient Aerial Phenomena, March 1980.

The Journal of Meteorology (later as The International Journal of Meteorology)
'Mirage of a mountain?', 12/119 (May/Jun 1987) how a mirage of Helvellyn was seen 95 km away.
'Mirage over Edinburgh', 12/123 (Nov 1987) how a mirage of an aircraft landing at Edinburgh airport looked like a missile.
'Russian accounts of ball lightning', 13/128 (Apr 1988) alternative explanations.
'The Smethwick ball lightning report', 13/134 (Dec 1988).an alternative explanation.
'The 'Miracle of the Sun' at Fatima', 14/142 (Oct 1989).explained as a meteorological phenomenon. 
'The Ashford 'ball lightning' video explained' [with Arne Bergstrom], 16/160 (Jul/Aug 1991).as caused by a street light.
‘The Senning “BL” Case: A Mirage Hypothesis’, Letter, 21/207 (March 1996).
'Ball lightning through the window glass?', (Jul/Aug 1997) a critique of claims that ball lightning caused holes in windows.
'A note on a sky mirage at Kinloss, Scotland', 34/343 (Nov 2009). a report of a video of multiple mirages seen from Inverness (not Kinloss).

Journal of Transient Aerial Phenomena (BUFORA)
'Are UFOs an atmospheric phenomenon?', Mar 1980 revoked.
'Close encounter in Scotland', Mar 1980
'A natural theory of UFOs', Jul/Aug 1980 revoked
'What is a UFO?', May 1981
'Not ball lightning', May 1981
'Hypnotic fantasies', 2/? (Jul 1982) hypnotic regression is unreliable
'Ball lightning update', 2/2 (Jan 1983)
'The great Dumfries UFO', Aug 1983
'Ball lightning update', Aug 1983
'Ball lightning update', Apr 1984
'Jupiter and the natural theory of UFOs', Oct 1984 revoked
'Poher's false correlations', 3/4 (Mar 1985) mistakes by French ufologist Dr Claude Poher.
'Livingston: A new hypothesis', Sep 1986
'The Todmorden UFO explained', Sep 1987

Magonia
'Throwing light on Rendlesham', 21 (Dec 1985)
'Flying saucers from Moore's?', 23 (Jul 1986) [An exposé of Patrick Moore’s hoax book Flying Saucer From Mars] with Christopher Allan.
'The astronomical mirage hypothesis', 27 (Sep 1987)

The MUFON UFO Journal
'The credibility of UFO hypotheses', Feb 1981

New Humanist (Rationalist Press Association)                    
'Prepare to meet thy market', 88/3 (Jul 1972) how evangelical Xianity saw the EC as presaging the coming of Antichrist
'Unethical report', 90/10 (Feb 1975) criticism of a survey by the Order of Christian Unity on various ethical issue  
'Gospel problems', 90/11 (Mar 1975) a defence of the historical Jesus
'Rational ufology', 91/9 (an 1976) UFOs are not alien craft 
'Does Jesus matter?', 91/12 (Apr 1976) discovering the real Jesus matters historically
'Reasonable-Ness', 92/1 (May/Jun1976) revoked
'Househusband', 93/3 (Oct/Nov1977) call for equality in the home
'A peculiar style', 94/1 (Summer 1978) stylometry
'Scientific myths: evolution', 94/2 (Autumn 1978) Elaine Morgan and The Aquatic Ape Theory
'Scientific myths: relativity', 94/3 (Nov 1978) revoked
'Zamenhof's journey from Esperanto to Humanism', 94/4 (Feb 1979)
'More about Christian origins', 96/1 (Jul 1980) further defence of the historical Jesus
'The religious catastrophe', 102/1 (1987) the application of catastrophe theory to religion
'Reflections on the Knock apparition', 103/2 (Jun 1988) an astronomical explanation
'Tales of Mystery and Imagination' 103/3 (Oct 1988) review of UFO-Abductions: A Dangerous Game by Philip J Klass.
'Fatima's dusty veil', 104/2 (Aug 1989) The 'Miracle of the Sun' explained
‘Star of Bethlehem’, 104/? (Jan 1990) did not exist
'The origin and purpose of the Pyramids', 106/4 (Dec 1990) why they are pyramidal and how they are tombs for gods

New Scientist
 ‘A year in a thousand-The debate about when the millennium ends’, Forum (10 Feb 1990). First two paragraphs can be seen here, but full article only available to subscribers to NS.

The Photographic Journal (The Royal Photographic Society)
'Monster or boat?', 126/2 (Feb 1986) an anlysis of Tim Disdale's film
'The doctored Nessie photographs', 130/1 (Jan 1990)  an exposé of Tony Shiels’s fake picture.

The Probe Report
'The birth of the UFO myth—George Adamski', 3/4 (Apr 1983)
'Lights of Fancy' (review of Earthlights by Paul Devereaux) 3/4 (Apr 1983) 

Question 8 (Rationalist Press Aassociation)
'The Origin of Christianity', Sep 1974

Scienca Revuo (International Scientific Association of Esperantists)
'La sistemo internacia de mezurunuoj' [The international system of measurement], 21/3/95/, 25 Jun 1972.  

The Scotsman
‘Energy conservation may encourage us to burn even more fuel’, (Platform, 27 Feb 2006).
‘Alternative Take’ on climate change (1 Nov 2007)
Obituary of Ron Dow (6 Nov 2007)
'Renewable energy statistics not telling the whole story' (Platform, 4 Jan 2010)

Scottish Field
'A Nuclear Near Miss' (May 1994)

Scottish Nuclear News
'Renewable energy use not the answer', April/May 199

Scottish World
'Two Great Mysteries 1: Is Nessie There?', Nov 1989

The Skeptic
See: The British & Irish Skeptic

Skeptical Intelligencer
'The Monstrous Myth at Loch Ness', Vol 3, Issue no. 1, July 1998, pp. 32-35.

The Skeptical Inquirer
'The 'Monster' Tree-Trunk of Loch Ness', 7/2 (Winter 1982/3) an exposé of Frank Searle’s fake photographs.

Spelling Progress Bulletin (USA)
'The principles of Esperanto spelling', Vol. 22, No. 3 (Fall 1982). A paper presented at the 3rd International Conference on Reading and Spelling in Edinburgh from 31 Jul-3 Aug 1981 and sponsored by the Simplified Spelling Society.

Strange Daze (NUFORI)
'Amateur Science Solves the UFO Mystery', May 1997

Proceedings: Fourth TORRO Conference on BALL LIGHTNING
'Does Ball Lightning exist?' (script of a talk given on 11 July 1992 at Oxford Polytechnic) (ed. Mark Stenhoff) 1992

UFO Insight
'A fantasy of the fourth kind' (a review of The Janos People by Frank Johnson) 2/2 (Apr 1981)
(errata and corrections to the above) 2/3 (Aug 1981). 

UFO Times (BUFORA)
'Fear response in UFO Reporters', May 1990
'Fireball by Day', Jul 1991 a UFO report is linked to the crash of an F-111 fighter aircraft in Oxforshire on 11 Jan 1973.

The Unexplained
'UFOs: the grip of fear', Vol.13(150)
'Livingston: the verdict', Vol.13(152) revoked

URIP (UFO Research in Progress, UPIAR)

Scientific Investigation of a CE-2 Case, 1/2 (1982) 43/50. with summaries in French, German, Italian and Spanish.

The Veseyan (school magazine)
‘The Unknown Political Prisoner!...’ 41/3 (Summer 1953) an immature article on modern art.

Weather (Royal Meteorological Society)
'Not lightning damage', 36/3 (Mar 1981) a refutation of the idea that ball lightning created a hole in a window at Edinburgh University.
'Ball lightning at Crail—1968', 37/3 (Mar 1982) revoked
'Lightning craters', 38/4 (Apr 1983).
'Dundee's dark day', letter, (Aug 1985).
'The City of Dreadful Night', another letter about Dundee's Dark Day of 28/29 Aug 1930 (Aug 1986). 

‘Grand Tour by hearse’ (16 October 2008) online. Some photographs are missing but the website refuses to make the necessary corrections.