Robert Sheaffer

Robert Sheaffer (born 1949) is an American freelance writer and UFO skeptic with a background as a data communications engineer in Silicon Valley. His technical training—demanding precise troubleshooting, data validation, and systematic problem-solving in complex systems—shaped his rigorous approach to investigating UFO claims. For four decades (1977–2017), Sheaffer wrote the "Psychic Vibrations" column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, delivering trenchant skeptical commentary on paranormal and UFO assertions to a broad readership. He was a founding member of the UFO Subcommittee of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, alongside fellow skeptics Philip J. Klass and James Oberg, establishing one of the first organized skeptical bodies to systematically investigate UFO reports. Sheaffer has authored six books critically examining UFO sightings and paranormal claims, deploying rigorous empirical methods to demonstrate mundane explanations for high-profile cases. In The UFO Verdict: Examining the Evidence (1981), his seminal work, Sheaffer systematically evaluates major UFO incidents through case-by-case evidence analysis, concluding that over 95% resolve to prosaic explanations—aircraft misidentifications, atmospheric phenomena, optical illusions, or hoaxes. His methodology emphasizes falsifiable evidence over probabilistic anecdotes, treating UFO claims as engineering problems to be solved through rigorous data analysis. More recently, Bad UFOs: Critical Thinking About UFO Claims (2016) applies the same skeptical lens to 21st-century UFO assertions, including viral internet videos, military pilot reports, and government UAP task force outputs, arguing that these are reliant on ambiguous footage, confirmation bias, institutional hype, and a lack of falsifiable physical data. Sheaffer's investigative work has earned recognition from paranormal investigator Ben Radford as "encyclopedic knowledge of a surprisingly diverse topic." Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, Sheaffer remains the UFO community's most systematic debunker, offering empirical counterarguments to both historical and contemporary UFO narratives.