Editing Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (section)

=== Mars effect, 1975 ===
An early controversy concerned the so-called [[Mars effect]]: French statistician [[Michel Gauquelin]]'s claim that champion athletes are more likely to be born when the planet Mars is in certain positions in the sky. In late 1975, prior to the formal launch of CSICOP, astronomer [[Dennis Rawlins]], along with [[Paul Kurtz]], George Abell and Marvin Zelen (all subsequent members of CSICOP) began investigating the claim. Rawlins, a founding member of CSICOP at its launch in May 1976, resigned in early 1980 claiming that other CSICOP researchers had used incorrect statistics, faulty science, and outright falsification in an attempt to debunk Gauquelin's claims. In an article for the pro-paranormal magazine ''[[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]'', he wrote: "I am still skeptical of the occult beliefs CSICOP was created to debunk. But I have changed my mind about the integrity of some of those who make a career of opposing occultism."<ref>{{cite web
| last = Rawlins
| first = Dennis
| year = 1981
| url = https://www.discord.org/lippard/rawlins-starbaby.txt
| title = sTARBABY
| publisher = FATE Magazine
| access-date = 2006-06-21
| archive-date = June 15, 2006
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060615224537/http://www.discord.org/~lippard/rawlins-starbaby.txt
| url-status = live
}} Rawlins's account of the Mars Effect investigation</ref> CSICOP's [[Philip J. Klass]] responded by circulating an article to CSICOP members critical of Rawlins' arguments and motives;<ref>{{cite web
| last = Klass
| first = Philip J.
| year = 1981
| url = https://www.discord.org/lippard/klass-crybaby.txt
| title = Crybaby
| access-date = 2010-12-03
| archive-date = July 21, 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721044611/http://www.discord.org/~lippard/klass-crybaby.txt
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Klass's unpublished response, refused publication by ''Fate'', itself became the target for further criticism.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}