Who is Joe Nickell?

Joe Nickell is the world’s single most unceasing critic of the shroud’s authenticity. He is an eloquent writer and during his long career as a book author and columnist for the Skeptical Inquirer he has done an admirable job of debunking all manner of dubious relics, hoaxes and outlandish beliefs in such things as the Loch Ness Monster. We get a picture of Nickell, who describes himself as a paranormal investigator, from “An Interview with Joe Nickell,” by Eric Krieg of the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking. “Joe impressed on me the difference between being a scientist and an investigator,” Krieg wrote. “Joe seems to have no significant credentials . . .  Joe remarks that a scientist tends to approach an investigation from the narrow view of his own specialty – where as a ‘jack of all trades’ would come up with more avenues of investigation.”

Raymond Rogers to the Editor of Skeptical Inquirer

Letter from Ray Rogers to the editor of Skeptical Inquirer:

I accepted the radiocarbon results, and I believed that the "invisible reweave" claim was highly improbable. I used my samples to test it. One of the greatest embarrassments a scientist can face is to have to agree with the lunatic fringe. . . . Joe [Nickell] did not understand the method or importance of the results of the pyrolysis/mass spectrometry analyses, and I doubt that he understands the fundamental science behind either visible/ultraviolet spectrometry or fluorescence. He certainly does not understand chemical kinetics. If he wants to argue my results, I suggest that we stick to observations, natural laws, and facts. I am a skeptic by nature, but I believe all skeptics should be held to the same ethical and scientific standards we require of others.