Forteana
Fortean phenomena (or Forteana) refers to odd phenomena of high strangeness of an occult, supernatural and paranormal nature. The term is named after Charles Fort, an American investigative writer. The investigation of such things is generally prominent amongst the New Age movement. Some specific areas have developed into their own schools of thought: for example, reports of UFOs in ufology and unconfirmed animals (cryptids) in cryptozoology. These new disciplines per se are generally not recognized by most scientists or academics however.
Fort focuses on supposed events of teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining);[1][2] poltergeist events; falls of frogs, fishes, inorganic materials of an amazing range; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects; unexplained disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat).
He offered many reports of out-of-place artifacts (OOPArts), strange items found in unlikely locations. He also is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis, specifically suggesting that strange lights or object sighted in the skies might be alien spacecraft. Fort also wrote about the interconnectedness of nature and synchronicity. His books seem to center around the idea that everything is connected and that strange coincidences happen for a reason.
See also
References
- ↑ "Mostly in this book I shall specialize upon indications that there exists a transportory force that I shall call Teleportation." in Fort. C. Lo! at Sacred Texts.com), retrieved 4 January 2009)
- ↑ "less well-known is the fact that Charles Fort coined the word in 1931" in Rickard, B. and Michell, J. Unexplained Phenomena: a Rough Guide special (Rough Guides, 2000 (ISBN 1-85828-589-5), p.3)
