Forteans

   Forteans are followers of Charles Hoy Fort (1874-1932), an American writer whose books, The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931), and Wild Talents (1932), explored the realms of 'strange phenomena' which science could not explain, had declared impossible, or had refused to countenance. A magazine entitled The News was launched in Britain in 1973, which changed its name in 1976 to Fortean Times: The Journal of Strange Phenomena, and is now the leading periodical in the field, published bi-monthly. A more heavyweight journal, Fortean Studies, was launched in 1994, and there have also been a number of books and booklets from the same stable. The Fortean movement includes a wide range of viewpoints, from outright believers to scientific sceptics, and their typical fare includes UFOs, alien abductions, crop circles, sea serpents, dreams, government conspiracies, strange coincidences, mystery animals, ghosts, poltergeists, spirit forces, and so on, and there is clearly a great deal of overlap with contemporary folklore studies, at least in terms of subject-matter if not always in approach.