Robert Sheaffer

Sheaffer in 1983. From left to right: Pip Smith, Philip J. Klass (standing), Dick Smith, Sheaffer, John Merrell, and James Randi.

Robert Sheaffer (born 1949) is an American freelance writer and UFO skeptic. He is a paranormal investigator of unidentified flying objects, having researched many sightings and written critiques of the hypothesis that UFOs are alien spacecraft. In addition to UFOs, his writings cover topics such as Christianity, academic feminism, the scientific theory of evolution, and creationism. He is the author of six books.

Sheaffer wrote for Skeptical Inquirer (where he contributed the regular "Psychic Vibrations" column), 1977–2017, Fate Magazine, and Spaceflight. He was a founding member (with Philip J. Klass and James Oberg) of the UFO Subcommittee of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and is a former fellow of that organization. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a member of Mensa.

Biography Ben Radford in a review of Sheaffer's book Bad UFOs: Critical Thinking About UFO Claims called him an expert on UFOs. Sheaffer has frequently been quoted in the news media regarding UFOs and psychic predictions. Sheaffer was a member of a group called Bay Area Skeptics.

Sheaffer has had a passion for opera since the age of six, and has been taking voice lessons since 1991. He is a tenor and has performed in professional opera productions.

Sheaffer is a member of Mensa International.

Interviewed by the Toronto Sun newspaper December 20, 2010, Sheaffer is asked by columnist Thane Burnett to debate UFO enthusiast Chris Rutkowski to "debate the known realities". When asked "Is it reasonable to conclude a UFO – something that was beyond our comprehension and understanding – has ever crashed on Earth?" Sheaffer replies "No, because no one has ever produced any proof of any extraterrestrial technology being retrieved, despite many claims. Talk is cheap, show us the evidence."

On the August 4, 2012 episode of the Skeptic Zone podcast, Sheaffer was interviewed by Richard Saunders. When asked about the UFO phenomenon, Sheaffer said, "The Fortean researcher Hilary Evans has said that the UFO mythos looked at in its fullness is the richest set of contemporary myth when you consider all that has come from it.... The Men in Black, saucer crashes, Roswell, aliens, alien abductions, alien hybrids, it just goes on and on from there. It's not just something narrow like Bigfoot.... UFOs have evolved into this enormous richness as a social phenomenon." He also discussed the fallacy of the trained observer. "Pilots, surprisingly, make relatively poor observers, when they're hit with some surprise, unusual stimulus. Their thought is not, 'Gee let me analyze what that thing is.' Their thought is, 'I'm going to collide with that thing, I'd better go into a bank,' etc."

On January 10, 2014, a series called Close Encounters debuted on the Discovery Canada channel. The episode recounted a UFO incident that happened at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana on March 24, 1967. As Sheaffer summarizes it on his blog, "A bright, glowing orange UFO is allegedly seen over the base by security men, and then the Oscar Flight missiles were said to start going off-line, one by one." Sheaffer's investigation concluded that what the base security men probably saw was the planet Mars. "Whenever witnesses report a bright object in the sky that is red or orange, the first thing to check is whether Mars might have been the culprit.... Mars was only about 3 weeks away from its opposition of April 15, 1967, when it would be directly opposite the sun, and at its maximum brightness."

Conspiracy theories

In an interview by Karen Stollznow on Point of Inquiry for May 16, 2011, Sheaffer was asked, "Have any conspiracy theories ever turned out to be correct, or is a 'true conspiracy theory' really something else?" He replied, "Conspiracies occur all the time. ... organized crime is a conspiracy. ... there was a conspiracy to kill President Lincoln ... Real conspiracies do exist, but not grand conspiracies. ... [in which] The Masons are planning this or, you know, there's there's always some shadowy group who you can't really point to or you can't really say who's involved".

X-Files The twentieth episode of the third season of the X-Files television series, entitled "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", referenced Robert Sheaffer.

Speaking engagements He spoke at the "Where Are They" symposium at the University of Maryland, November 1979.

He spoke at the "Animal Mutilations, Star Maps, UFOs and Television" session of the "Science, Skepticism and the Paranormal" conference put on by CSICOP in 1983.

He spoke at the "UFOs: The Space-Age Mythology" CSI workshop in 2009.

He was on the panel of the "UFO Claims" session at CSICon, a conference put on by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, in 2011.

Sheaffer was one of the leaders of a workshop on "Preserving Skeptic History" at The Amazing Meeting in 2013.