Michael Shermer

Background and Career

Michael Brant Shermer was born on September 8, 1954, in Los Angeles. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, an M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University, Fullerton, and a Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate School. After earning his master's degree, he worked as a writer for a bicycle magazine and spent ten years as a competitive cyclist and entrepreneur while teaching introductory psychology at Glendale College (1980–1991). This eclectic early career would later inform his skeptical approach to examining extraordinary claims through rigorous empirical analysis.

Shermer transitioned to full-time scholarly work in 1991 when he co-founded Skeptic magazine with Pat Linse, establishing himself as a leading voice in scientific skepticism and critical thinking. In 1992, he founded the Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting scientific literacy and rational inquiry. Over the following three decades, he became widely recognized as the public face of organized skepticism in America—a scientist-communicator committed to examining paranormal claims, pseudoscience, and fringe beliefs through the lens of peer-reviewed evidence and established scientific consensus.

Skepticism Career and UFO/UAP Stance

Shermer has held multiple platforms to advance his skeptical philosophy: he served for 30 years as a college and university instructor in critical thinking; spent 18 years as a monthly columnist for Scientific American; hosted the Skeptics Lecture Series at Caltech; and produced the 13-hour Fox Family series Exploring the Unknown (1999). He is a senior research fellow at Claremont Graduate University (since 2007) and adjunct professor at Chapman University (since 2011).

Regarding UFOs and UFO disclosure, Shermer has been outspoken in his skepticism. In his 2011 formulation, he dismissed what he called Completely Ridiculous Alien Piffle (CRAP)—crop circles, cattle mutilations, alien abductions, anal probes, and human-alien hybrids—as products of misidentification, prosaic explanation, or psychological projection. He has consistently argued that no credible physical evidence exists for extraterrestrial visitation to Earth, and that the burden of proof remains extraordinarily high for such extraordinary claims.

In November 2025, Shermer publicly wagered $1,000 against Avi Loeb, the Harvard theoretical physicist and chair of the new UAP Science Advisory Council, that disclosure or discovery of extraterrestrial life would not occur by the end of 2030. Shermer stated: "I've got $1,000 bet that it's not coming in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 or 2030…or ever because space aliens have not come to Earth. But I'm happy to be proven wrong."

2026 UAP Science Advisory Council Appointment

In June 2026, despite his decades of UFO skepticism—or perhaps because of it—the Trump administration appointed Shermer to the newly formed White House UAP Science Advisory Council. This appointment was controversial. Avi Loeb stated that Shermer's role would be to "keep the other members grounded and focused on examining UAPs through the lens of established scientific consensus." Shermer himself framed the appointment as an opportunity to bring scientific rigor and healthy skepticism to an investigation that he believed had been clouded by speculation, belief, and confirmation bias.

The appointment created notable tensions. Journalist and UFO researcher Ross Coulthart publicly objected to Shermer's presence on the panel, arguing that a long-time UFO skeptic would bias investigations toward conventional explanations and potentially dismiss genuine anomalies. Shermer responded by noting that "skeptical" does not mean "dismissive"—it means methodical, evidence-based, and resistant to premature conclusions in either direction.

Shermer's appointment reflects a broader shift in government UAP policy: moving from isolated secrecy to transparent, multidisciplinary investigation. His inclusion ensures that the council's work will be subject to external critical scrutiny and that claims of anomalous phenomena will be pressure-tested against alternative hypotheses before reaching public and policy audiences.