The Fortean Times

[metropolis_part_one]

I have never heard it mentioned here, so I will ask, does anyone read this publication?

[JamesM]

Originally posted by metropolis_part_one
I have never heard it mentioned here, so I will ask, does anyone read this publication?
I do, and have done for many years. It's probably my favourite magazine.

[a_unique_person]

It's like shooting fish in a barrel. A very small barrel, with a lot of fish in it.

[metropolis_part_one]

It's like shooting fish in a barrel. A very small barrel, with a lot of fish in it.

What is?

[Ersby]

I used to subscribe before my move to the continent. A very good magazine.

[arcticpenguin]

I haven't seen the magazine in several years. Charles Fort was known for collecting reports of odd occurences. He seemed to have no interest whatsoever in determining the true causes of the phenomena reported.

[SteveGrenard]

You can see a good deal of it online at:

http://www.forteantimes.com/

[Rose]

Finding the latest issue is my monthly mission. It has fun stuff in it, and I admire the fact that the FT will "own up" when a reasonable explanation of a phenomena is offered. It's a nice way to find articles on oddball happenings in the world.

[JamesM]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
He seemed to have no interest whatsoever in determining the true causes of the phenomena reported.
He did often write to the newspapers and the main witnesses for more information, but rarely got a reply. However, it's pretty clear from his writings that finding an explanation for the events he mentioned was not top of his priorities.

[Lucianarchy]

I beleive that in some quarters it has been heard that the one known as 'The Heirophant' is a discreet member of this forum.

[JamesM]

Originally posted by JAR
I've now ordered off of amazon.com "The Complete Books of Charles Fort."
Good luck - they are not an easy read. Fort had something of an idiosyncratic style. The first one hundred pages of The Book of the Damned are particularly hard going, but once you get into it (and past the vague philosophical meanderings and onto the cavalcade of oddities) it becomes much more enjoyable.

[Lucianarchy]

Originally posted by JAR
I just found out about the Fortean Times about a two weeks ago. I was reading "Mysterious World" by Arthur C. Clarke and read about Charles Fort in Chapter 2 of that book and that got me interested about the guy and I then did a search on the internet for "Fortean", which is the word for followers of Charles Fort and found the Fortean Times. I've now ordered off of amazon.com "The Complete Books of Charles Fort."

I liked the article by Adam Davies detailing his search for the Death Worm of the Gobi Desert. It's a worm that is over 20 inches long and kills people by looking at them and shooting lightning out of its eyes. He didn't find it but he's very optimistic and still thinks it's out there because everyone who claims to have seen it has the same description of what it looks like. [Edited to add description of article to link]Death worm of Gobi Desert article (http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/182_deathworm1.shtml)

Pah! That's nothing compared to that fish that swims up your cock and then kills you (with excrutiating pain) from the inside!
True.

Candaru?{sp} Amazon dweller, as usual.

[Nihilanth]

I flipped through an issue a while ago and found a REALLY good article on H.P. Lovecraft. Not many people take the stance that the man was just damned creative. It's more fun to believe Lovecraft had a vast occult library hidden in a secret chamber where he kept in contact with Shub-Niggurath and exchanged recipes.
My girlfriend's really into Charles Fort. She's even more of a skeptic than I am (she once accused quantum physicists as "making it up"), but she loves reading about weird little oddball happenings. I couldn't really get into the books myself.