Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Skepticism

David Dees article
Hey folks! I'm currently working on a draft for an article about David Dees, the conspiracy theory artist. Before I dedicate a lot of time to writing it, I wanted to gauge if people felt like he meets notability guidelines, as well as get feedback on my prospective list of sources (and perhaps see if you all have additional sources I could use).

My plan is to build off of the (sadly somewhat thin) German Wikipedia article on Dees, as well as perhaps using the (not-particularly-encyclopedic) RationalWiki article for some supplementary ideas. In terms of sources, I was planning on using Brad Abraham's short documentary Do You See What I See?, the ADL's 2008 profile on him, and Ashley Feinberg's 2015 Gawker article. The German article has additional sources listed, but I think an editor who's fluent in German or French would be necessary to most accurately cite those.

Any feedback that people could provide would be greatly appreciated! Ithinkiplaygames (talk) 17:56, 2 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Here's the (very preliminary) draft so far: Draft:David Dees. Ithinkiplaygames (talk) 19:02, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Well that is a beginning. I would think he is notable, even I've heard of him before. I'm curious why you are using Draft and not your Sandbox for work? Sgerbic (talk) 22:51, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Hey, apologies for the late reply! Thanks for the feedback—I'll keep working with my existing sources and I think I can produce something that's at least serviceable
 * To be honest, the only reason I'm using Draft is because I'm new to making articles, and Draft was the option that popped up when I used the Article Creation Wizard. I imagine the drawback is that it's editable by others, unlike a sandbox? Ithinkiplaygames (talk) 04:53, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
 * We can edit each other's sandbox, but we shouldn't. I don't know why it looks odd to use Draft, I suppose there is nothing wrong with it, it just looks odd to me. I think that a sandbox is usually for something you are working on and intend to fuss over for awhile. But draft is something complete that you are hoping for feedback on, like a final product. Anyway, find the at least three really best citations that prove notability. Start there - otherwise you will spend a lot of time on something that will get deleted. Those three citations should be easy to locate - if you are having trouble then he probably isn't going to pass notability. I'm happy to have a look as you need help - ping me. Sgerbic (talk) 04:58, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
 * In terms of sources that prove notability, I have the aforementioned Gawker article, a 2010 Uproxx article in a very similar vein, the ADL article, and a Times of Israel article about the controversial use of one of his illustrations in a textbook. Think that's enough? I want the general thrust of the article w/r/t his significance to be about how his art has been widely-spread, both as an object of mockery/fascination by non-believers and as a legitimate method of spreading conspiracy rhetoric.
 * I also have some questions about WP:PRIMARY, WP:INDEPENDENT, and WP:RELIABILITY. When looking for biographical details, the main sources I've found about his life come from Abrahams' documentary, an interview appearance on some fringe podcast called The Michael Decon Program, and Dees' own self-written bio. The documentary is fairly obviously an independent source, but all of the biographical information within comes from direct interviews with Dees—should details sourced like that simply be presented at face value, or should I still preface them as being claimed by Dees. For the other two sources, I think it's fairly obvious that they're not exactly independent, being published by a fellow conspiracy personality and Dees himself respectively, but they also seem to verifiably come straight from the horse's mouth and to contain details of his life that don't seem to be found anywhere else. I'm not sure Dees would have any reason to lie about going to Emory to a random podcast host, but I can concede they're crappy sources, and so am very conflicted about including them. Ithinkiplaygames (talk) 05:50, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
 * It's okay to use interviews to document mundane details about themselves, such as where they grew up, what sparked their interest in that field, etc. Anything that actually related to notability - awards, employment, claims to fame - should come with an independant source. Robincantin (talk) 13:13, 3 March 2024 (UTC)

Canneto di Caronia fires


An arsonist was convicted of setting a number of fires in Italy, but our article seems to give equal weight to the possibility the cause was "unknown" and could have been aliens, demons, conspiracy, or some paranormal cause. &#45; LuckyLouie (talk) 19:43, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

UFO Convention AfD
I have just nominated the UFO convention article for deletion. The conventions listed were mostly not notable and the article has become a place of clutter. Why would someone need to understand what a UFO convention is? Just make a category once you have enough notable conventions? Articles for deletion/UFO convention I don't feel strongly about this article, I just dislike seeing articles that don't provide content, and not seeing reliable sources to beef up the article. Sgerbic (talk) 07:21, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

Requested move at Talk:Sagan standard
There is a requested move discussion at Talk:Sagan standard that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. SilverLocust 💬 19:08, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

Religion at the Fringe Theories Noticeboard
There is currently a discussion concerning the question of religion and whether or not it is an appropriate subject for the Fringe Theories Noticeboard. Experienced editors are encouraged to join the conversation. -Ad Orientem (talk) 19:47, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

Requested input at Talk:List of common misconceptions over lede
Looking for uninvolved editors opinions on the discussion at List of common misconceptions. Conversation seems to have stalled. Rollinginhisgrave (talk) 14:11, 6 July 2024 (UTC)