On 29 August, 2000, ghosthunter Drew Sinton was filmed by an independent film group re-enacting a challenge he issued to the Australian Sceptics society in 1993.

The Australian Sceptics is basically a society of grumpy old men and women dedicated to pooh-poohing ghosts and other supernatural beings.

In an attempt to debunk the debunkers, Sinton's challenge proved that various members of the Australian Sceptics believed more than they were willing to let on.

Following is a transcription from the film Irrationality directed by Per Anderson for The Victorian College Of The Arts. ...

DCS CLIMBS HAUNTED BOOKSHOP STAIRS DRESSED IN BLACK GHOST TOUR COAT, HAT AND SKULL CANE

DCS: Greetings, victims, and welcome to The Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour. ...

Enter freely and of your own will. ...

DCS CROSSES FLOOR AND STANDS IN FRONT OF COUNTER NEXT TO LARGE CRUCIFIX

They say the mind of a sceptic does not move - it sits there waiting for certainties. ...

Most of the people who come on my tours are sceptics. ...

But at least their minds are moving. ...

Come this way. ...

DCS APPROACHES VAMPIRE/WEREWOLF SECTION BEFORE WALKING OFF-CAMERA

Institutionalised sceptics, on the other hand, are the ones whose minds often do not move. ...

When the head dog barks the little dogs yip along. ...

Example: a few years ago, Australian Sceptics president Barry Williams described ghosts as "bloody rubbish." ...

Pretty articulate. ...

Since then many sceptics have gone yip, yip, yip. ...

CLOSE-UP DCS WITH INTERCUT OF PHILLIP ADAMS ARTICLE: "A BENIGN PRESENCE FROM THE PAST" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1 FEB 1975, PP 9)

But how many people know that the founder of the Australian Sceptics, Phillip Adams, once shared a house with a ghost? ...

INTERCUT "STARVATION ARMY" BOOKLET (SCAM PUBLICATIONS, 1999) SHOWING DICK SMITH REFERENCE (PP 11)

Or that Dick Smith, another Sceptics founder, is a patron of the Salvos - that believes in the Holy Ghost, among other supernatural phenomena. ...

BACK TO DCS CLOSE-UP

A few years ago I became increasingly sceptical of the Sceptics. ...

I decided it was time for me to debunk the debunkers. ...

MOVE TO DCS IN RITUAL ROOM WEARING MITRE WITH INVERTED CROSS AND HOLDING DILDO CROZIER

I noticed, for instance, that the Sceptics never challenged the Catholic Church - an institution that makes more money from the supernatural than anyone else. ...

DCS HOLDS UP MONEY BAG

Or Telstra, who makes more money out of psychic lines than the operators. ...

Instead, they picked on little people - backyard psychics, retired water diviners, so on. ...

Perhaps the reason the Australian Sceptics avoids mainstream religion is because, deep down, they are Christian Sceptics. ...

I put this theory to the test in 1993 at a convention of theirs. ...

DCS BANGS GONG; INTERCUT OCCULT IMAGERY: SKULLS, CANDLES, DEVILS, ANGELS ETC

In front of a packed audience, including a parliamentarian, I approached their committee and said:

"You don't believe in God, do you?" ...

"No." ...

"You don't believe in angels, ghosts or demons?" ...

"Nup." ...

"The Devil?" ...

"Nope." ...

"But the Devil is a supernatural being?" ...

"Yes." ...

"Then you should have no problems signing this." ...

Know what it was? ...

DCS PICKS UP DEVIL CONTRACT AND HOLDS IT TO CAMERA

A pact with the Devil. ...

And you know what? ...

Despite what the press said, they did not sign it. ...

Methinks they believed more than they were willing to let on. ...

How irrational is that. ...

NB: Drew issued this challenge two years before Bart sold his soul to Milhouse in The Simpsons (episode 3F02 which first aired 10 August, 1995).