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Charles Fort

"Charles Fort" is also a: user

created by GollyGee

(person) by GollyGee (?) (print)   ?   I like it! Sat Nov 13 1999 at 10:13:38

Born in 1874 in New York, wrote about strange events like frogs falling from the sky, ice falling from the sky, blood falling from the sky, mysterious airships, etc., which he termed the Damned. Along the lines of Ripley's Believe It or Not but weirder. Invented the word teleportation. The magazine Fortean Times continues the chronicle. You could say, the first X-Files type.

(person) by Jet-Poop (16.2 min) (print)   ?   2 C!s I like it! Sat Nov 13 1999 at 10:13:38

"I think we're property."

American author (1874-1932). He chronicled anomalies which respectable scientists said couldn't exist, including frogs falling from the sky, evidence of supernatural beings, psychic powers, talking dogs, and other weird things. He recorded the earliest UFO reports. His books were always densely researched, but very entertaining.

Such strange phenomena are now called "Forteana" in his honor. He claimed not to believe anything, including the stories he compiled and the theories he presented. Perhaps for this reason, he is almost as despised among hardcore believers in the supernatural as he is by the hardcore skeptics.

(person) by kozmund (2 mon) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Sat Jan 13 2001 at 9:17:54

Charles Fort was born August 6th, 1874. In 1916, he recieved a small inheritance that allowed him to do what he wanted for the rest of his life. For Fort, that was rummaging through old newspapers and scientific journals, picking out everything excluded by science. He called these "The Damned". He collected reports of meteorites falling from the sky, in a time when all of the "experts" agreed there was no such thing.

Aside from throwing mounds and mounds of cited reports at his readers, he also tosses in some incredible commentary. Here are a few snippets, for you edification.

         "Science of today--the superstition of tommorow. Science of tommorow--the superstition of today.

-The Book of the Damned, pg 165

         "Would we, if we could, educate and sophisticate pigs, geese, cattle?
         Would it be wise to establish diplomatic relation with the hen that now functions, satisfied with mere sense of achievement by way of compensation?
         I think we're property.
         I should say we belong to something:
         That once upon a time, this earth was No-man's Land, that other worlds explored and colonized here, and fought among themselves for possession, but that now it's owned by something:
         That something owns this earth-all others warned off."

-The Book of the Damned, page 163

Published works include:

The Book of the Damned, Boni and Liveright Inc, New York, 1919;
New Lands, Boni and Liveright Inc, New York, 1923;
Lo!, Claude H. Kendall, New York, 1931;
Wild TalentsClaude H. Kendall, New York, 1932;

panamaus has noded The Book of the Damned. Go read it, and you will agree, panamaus rocks.

printable version
chaos

The Book of the Damned Fortean Times Gefiesistrifle Fortean skeptic
The Damned Rain of Frogs Forteana Rat King
the Lubbock Lights red snow Cup marks Fortean
Magnolia crop circles Charles Ives A Love Like Blood
I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals FLAMING! The Book of the Damned: Chapter 28 The Book of the Damned: Chapter 4 The Book of the Damned: Chapter 3
The Book of the Damned: Chapter 2 Pernicious denial skeptic mind control
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