The Observatoire Zététique or OZ (English: ''Zetetic Observatory'') is a French

skeptical Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

founded in 2003, headquartered in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

. It is a member of the

European Council of Skeptical Organisations The European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO) is an Umbrella organization, umbrella of organisations defending scientific skepticism in Europe. Goals Founded on 25 September 1994, the ECSO aims to co-ordinate activities of European org ...

(ECSO).

Purpose

The OZ's stated goal is "promoting and spreading the methods and techniques of '' zététique''" (defined as "a research method based on doubt and verification of information", in English better known as

scientific skepticism Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence. In practice, the term most commonly ref ...

). It seeks to: *conduct investigations of the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

, *set up

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

s to evaluate the existence of purported paranormal phenomena, *publish the results of tests, *provide documentation, organise

conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

and exposés on recurrent themes concerning the

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

, *

reproduce Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: asexual and sexual. In asexual reprod ...

phenomena that have been declared "impossible". The Observatoire Zététique affirms it maintains a respectful approach to the freedom to believe tenets of the paranormal, to avoid dogmatism and to only comment on the validity of the evidence and reasonings.

Activities

The OZ explores mechanisms of

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. The OZ publishes its researches and dossiers online, and produces a monthly newsletter, the ''POZ'' (''Publication de l'Observatoire Zététique''). Regarding the Trans-en-Provence Case, a 1981 incident where a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

is supposed to have left behind physical evidence near the town of

Trans-en-Provence Trans-en-Provence (; Provençal: ''Tranç'') is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Trans-en-Provence is famous among the ufologists as the site of an alleged UFO incident called th ...

, the Observatory has done extensive investigations. On 20 and 21 September 2008, the Observatoire Zététique organised the ECSO symposium in Grenoble.

Reception

Vincent Brunner of ''

Les Inrocks ''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prima ...

'' commented that "On topics that are real springboards to fantasies (...) the skeptics at the Observatoire Zététique ffera recurring and valuable response (...): they know how to put things in their place."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Observatoire Zetetique 2003 establishments in France Educational institutions in Grenoble Non-profit organizations based in France Skeptic organizations in France Scientific skepticism organizations

Purpose

Activities

Reception

See also

References

External links