While I enjoy books or TV shows on unusual or unexplained phenomena, I can rarely give them more than 2 or 3 stars. This book is no exception.

"Beyond the Bermuda Triangle" is a collection of stories recounted by the author, most of which he received since publishing his prior book, "The Fog." Stories, in general, are important, but must be taken lightly. We had stories of ball lightning, for example, well before there was documented scientific proof or it. However, it seems more common that a lot of stories from people are made up.

The author of this book seems more than willing to believe any stories people send his way. At one point he deflects criticisms that they may be fabrications by saying, in effect, that he's sure these people have better things to do than to make up stories to send to him. No, Bruce, some people don't.

Consider the story of Chris Suprun, who received numerous honors for being a hero first responder during 9/11, including becoming a (faithless) elector in Texas, except that there was no record of him being a responder during 9/11.

Consider, too, the stories of needles in Pepsi cans during the mid-90s. The initial one was a hoax, while the others were fueled by mass hysteria and greed of those wanting to be involved in a class action lawsuit.

Consider, finally, the thousands of people on Reddit and other social media sites who tell supposedly true stories for the sake of getting attention in the form of karma points.

The fact is, stories are unreliable. What makes the difference in a book like this being science rather than pseudoscience is the method. There is no critical method, for the most part. It is largely replaced by confirmation bias.

There is a more scientific analysis towards the end. It is important to cautiously keep an open mind. On the one hand, it's easy to force concepts, both accepted and fringe, into your theory (the moon hoaxers and flat earthers can be good at this). On the other hand, severe skepticism can itself become dogmatic, so that it forbids ideas outside the comfort zone of the skeptic.

Finally, I need to comment on the section regarding the number 23. Supposedly 23 is a special number with all sorts of significance. The author lists various instances the number 23 appears in the world. But a similar list could be made for most numbers less than 100. This is like the conspiracy theorists who want to prove that Jewish people run the world by listing various Jewish people who are in a position of power or influence. At the end of the day, it proves, demonstrates, or slightly hints at absolutely nothing. ( )