This is a list of organizations opposing mainstream science by frequently challenging the facts and conclusions recognized by the mainstream scientific community. By claiming to employ the scientific method in order to advance certain fringe ideas and theories, they are often charged with promotion of various forms of pseudoscience.
Edinburgh Phrenological Society - founded in 1820, the society was influential in its time, helping popularize the concept of phrenology in the 19th century. The last recorded meeting took place in 1870.
Flat Earth Society - an organization which aims to further the idea that the Earth is flat instead of an oblate spheroid. The modern organization was founded by Englishman Samuel Shenton in 1956 and was later led by Charles K. Johnson, who based the organization in his home in Lancaster, California. The formal society was inactive after Johnson’s death in 2001 but was resurrected in 2004 by its new president Daniel Shenton.
Global Energy Balance Network - funded by Coca-Cola and promoting the idea that obesity is due to lifestyle alone, and not excessive calorie consumption.
The Heartland Institute - A think-tank on a variety of issues, including support of "climate change skepticism"
Kepler College, which grants certificates in the studies of astrology.
Magi Society, an international association of astrologers.
National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality - an organization that offers conversion therapy and other treatments that purport to change the sexual orientation of individuals who experience unwanted same-sex attraction. The organization disagrees with the holding of the world's major mental health organizations that homosexuality is not a disorder.
National Institute for Discovery Science - the National Institute for Discovery Science was a privately financed research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and operated from 1995 to 2004. It was founded in 1995 by real-estate developer Robert Bigelow, who set it up to research and advance serious study of various fringe science, and paranormal topics, most notably ufology. Deputy Administrator Colm Kelleher was quoted as saying the organization was not designed to study UFOs only. "We don't study aliens, we study anomalies. They're the same thing in a lot of people's minds, but not in our minds."
Natural Philosophy Alliance An organization which believes there are fundamental flaws in theories such as relativity, the big bang, and plate tectonics.
New England Antiquities Research Association, which believes in the occupation of New England by ancient Celts and other western Europeans long before the arrival of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts.
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm - a zoo near Bristol, UK, that incorporates its belief in Creationism in its educational material about animals.
Parapsychological Association - founded in 1957, the organization's purpose was "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science."