| Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sul Paranormale | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | CICAP |
| Formation | 1989 |
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose/focus | Scientific skepticism |
| Location | Padua, Italy |
| Region served | Italy |
| Official languages | Italian |
| Executive Director | Massimo Polidoro |
| Affiliations | European Council of Skeptical Organizations |
| Website | www.cicap.org |
CICAP (Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sul Paranormale; in English Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) is an Italian, non-profit, skeptic organization, founded in 1989. CICAP's main goals are the promotion of the scientific analysis of alleged paranormal phenomena. It is a member of the European Council of Skeptical Organizations.
Contents |
CICAP was started by the Italian science journalist Piero Angela together with a group of scientists including Luigi Garlaschelli and others. The organization has always worked closely with Italian media to help insure accurate coverage of paranormal topics.[1] At the moment, two Nobel prize winners are members: Carlo Rubbia and Rita Levi Montalcini. Other notable members include the philosopher, semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco.[2] As of 2009[update], the executive director is Italian skeptic investigator and writer Massimo Polidoro.[3]
In October 2004, CICAP and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry co-sponsored a World Skeptics Congress in Italy.[4]
CICAP's Logo is based on the grid illusion. Designed in 1992 by Franco Ramaccini, was amended in 2009 with the inclusion of the words Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sul Paranormale.[5]
The organization has investigated a number of paranormal phenomena including:
In September 2005, National Geographic Channel's Is It Real? program (episode 10) asked for a demonstration of "Knockout" Chi (a no-touch knockout technique), during which instructor Leon Jay was unable to knock-out Luigi Garlaschelli, an investigator from CICAP.[8][9]
|
||||||||||||||