REALL News

History

The REALL News began publication in early 1993 from PO Box 20302, Springfield, Illinois 62708, as the newsletter of the Rational Examination Association of Lincoln Land. David Bloomberg served as Chairman of the organising committee and later as the publication's longest-serving editor. Wally Hartshorn edited the first volume, producing the newsletter on an Amiga computer using PageStream desktop publishing software and a laser printer. By Vol 1 No 3 (April 1993), Hartshorn was already announcing he lacked time to continue as editor and would step down after the May issue.

REALL operated as one of dozens of local sceptical groups that proliferated across the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s, inspired by CSICOP (the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) and its flagship journal Skeptical Inquirer. The newsletter reprinted material from CSICOP's network: Ray Hyman's "Proper Criticism" essay (originally from Skeptical Briefs, May 1987) appeared in Vol 1 No 2, laying out principles for responsible sceptical engagement that the group tried to follow. The editorial board consisted of Bloomberg, Hartshorn, and Bob Ladendorf, with guest speakers including Detective Bruce Walstad (Professionals Against Confidence Crimes) and visiting lecturers from the St. Louis Association for the Teaching of Evolution.

The newsletter's UFO coverage took the form of attending and critically reviewing local UFO presentations. "Saucers for Sale: An Evening with a UFO Cheerleader" by Ladendorf and Bloomberg (Vol 1 No 3) documented their attendance at a talk by UFO lecturer Bill Knell, noting that it would take "several issues" to address all the claims made in a single evening. This ground-level approach, attending the same UFO lectures that believers attended and writing detailed critical analyses, distinguished REALL News from national sceptical publications that typically engaged only with headline cases.

The newsletter ran for fourteen volumes through 2006, averaging roughly nine issues per year. Its scope covered UFO reports, alleged psychic phenomena, alternative medicine, creationism versus evolution, and conspiracy theories. REALL also documented its own organisational struggles: membership drives, board elections, constitutional drafting, and the challenge of maintaining a volunteer-run publication in a small midwestern city for over a decade.