Forteanism, Childhood & Curiosity

[merricat]

What actually happened to Coal?

If my memory is correct, he wrote to us in May 2023, requesting his account be closed and all his content be deleted.

We wrote back immediately saying that although we don't do content deletion, we would lock and retire his account in 24hrs and asked whether he wanted his username anonymised, but he never replied.

This was, it must be said, his second departure. I think he said the first time that he didn't consider himself much of a Fortean anymore and was losing interest in the content, but he returned—perhaps for the social aspect.

Thanks Yithian.

I now want to write a paper on the social aspects of the Fortean

 

[catseye]

Thanks Yithian.

I now want to write a paper on the social aspects of the Fortean

I have to admit that I am mostly here for the social aspect - I don't know anyone in real life (apart from one child) with similar interests in the weird and wonderful, and here is the absolutely best place to discuss those minor strangenesses of life.

 

[Steven]

The myriad mysteries of the paranormal cannot compete with the allure of the Cats thread in Chat.

 

[Yithian]

I have to admit that I am mostly here for the social aspect - I don't know anyone in real life (apart from one child) with similar interests in the weird and wonderful, and here is the absolutely best place to discuss those minor strangenesses of life.

And the place is all the better for your presence.

 

[catseye]

And the place is all the better for your presence.

Love you too, Yith.

 

[PeteByrdie]

I think he said the first time that he didn't consider himself much of a Fortean anymore and was losing interest in the content, but he returned—perhaps for the social aspect.

I get that. After probably four decades of interest in the unexplained, I can't say I care any longer. I've been thinking lately I'm not actually a fortean anymore. I even considered starting a thread about it. I wondered how many others have had that realisation. Even in terms of being sceptical of science; I still am, but I've realised so are scientists. That's part of the process. And, time and again, when people deny the scientific consensus, when I delved in and looked at all the data I could, the consensus is by far the best supported. Yes, there are things science has relatively little to say about (even if some scientists say too much); ghosts, fae, mystery animals reported here and there, mysterious lights and alien abductions. But, in forty years, nobody else seems to have got very far with that stuff, either.

I'm sure when a flying saucer crashes into Big Ben, or bigfoot gets hit by a car and taken to hospital, I'll see it on the news, and be thrilled. Until then, it leaves me cold.

 

[SimonBurchell]

I get that. After probably four decades of interest in the unexplained, I can't say I care any longer. I've been thinking lately I'm not actually a fortean anymore. I even considered starting a thread about it. I wondered how many others have had that realisation. Even in terms of being sceptical of science; I still am, but I've realised so are scientists. That's part of the process. And, time and again, when people deny the scientific consensus, when I delved in and looked at all the data I could, the consensus is by far the best supported. Yes, there are things science has relatively little to say about (even if some scientists say too much); ghosts, fae, mystery animals reported here and there, mysterious lights and alien abductions. But, in forty years, nobody else seems to have got very far with that stuff, either.

I'm sure when a flying saucer crashes into Big Ben, or bigfoot gets hit by a car and taken to hospital, I'll see it on the news, and be thrilled. Until then, it leaves me cold.

I'm still very much a Fortean. I've had too much deep weird happen to me, which has led to me questioning the nature of reality practically every day. To be clear, I will have a few years go by with nothing unusual, followed by a cluster of weirdness, some of it puzzling and some of it shocking, then another long spell of nothing of note.

 

[Tempest63]

I'm sure when a flying saucer crashes into Big Ben

Don’t say that. We only took down the scaffolding a few months back.

 

[catseye]

I get that. After probably four decades of interest in the unexplained, I can't say I care any longer. I've been thinking lately I'm not actually a fortean anymore. I even considered starting a thread about it. I wondered how many others have had that realisation. Even in terms of being sceptical of science; I still am, but I've realised so are scientists. That's part of the process. And, time and again, when people deny the scientific consensus, when I delved in and looked at all the data I could, the consensus is by far the best supported. Yes, there are things science has relatively little to say about (even if some scientists say too much); ghosts, fae, mystery animals reported here and there, mysterious lights and alien abductions. But, in forty years, nobody else seems to have got very far with that stuff, either.

I'm sure when a flying saucer crashes into Big Ben, or bigfoot gets hit by a car and taken to hospital, I'll see it on the news, and be thrilled. Until then, it leaves me cold.

But there's just so much to the world of Forteana! What about dreams (what are they, what do they mean, why do we have them) or how people can vanish so completely or The Hum? It's not all UFOs and Bigfoot (I agree, probably twaddle) and ghosts and all that traditional stuff. I came for the ghosts but have stayed for the dialogue of 'ghost or timeslip?' and other threads where everyone wades in with their perspective. This is one of the most respectful sites on the Web as far as I can tell, and it's great to hear so many perspectives on things (even the things I consider twaddle).

 

[Tempest63]

I still consider myself a Fortean but my way of thinking has changed over 40 plus years and I look at it all differently.
I am a hell of a lot more sceptical now than the “dyed in the wool” out and out believer that I was. And Fortean topics have greatly changed over the years. Cryptids and UFO’s seem to be the go to subjects now as opposed to a lot more of the subjects that manifested from the self; precognition, ESP, telepathy etc, which I was much more at home with.
If there is someone on the train in the morning who constantly sniffs, coughs openly or makes horrible personal noises, I still try to make their heads explode (think scanners) but have had little success. Similarly I am still trying to levitate the cars of people who fail to observe the rules of the road and try and run me and my pack down.

 

[PeteByrdie]

I'm still very much a Fortean. I've had too much deep weird happen to me, which has led to me questioning the nature of reality practically every day.

Me too. In my late teens and early twenties I was dabbling in magic. I once raised a cemetery and a bunch of us saw things I'm sure could only be described as ghosts (that was a night), I've turned tables, I once saw lights in the Pennsylvanian sky that hung for three quarters of an hour then moved slowly off into the distance (I've no idea what can do that, but it could have been anything), my family has had a psychic approach us unsolicited to tell us things that only a particular deceased family member could know, and made predictions that all came true (I still think  almost all psychics are fake), and I've asked fairies to return a lost object and it turned up ten minutes later (probably coincidence). I'm sure I once saw a coypu in Norfolk, but I don't know whether that counts as a cryptid (they're supposed to have been eradicated in Norfolk, having been introduced by humans). Do you know what I learned from all this?

Nowt! It doesn't impact our lives, at least not in a way we're going to understand unless science finds the means to actually, properly investigate such things, so we're no longer interpreting them through the lenses of cultural conventions and personal intuition.

But there's just so much to the world of Forteana! What about dreams (what are they, what do they mean, why do we have them)

Our sleeping imaginations.

or how people can vanish so completely

There are a lot of people in the world. Some inevitably will.

or The Hum? It's not all UFOs and Bigfoot (I agree, probably twaddle) and ghosts and all that traditional stuff.

Thing is, I don't think it's twaddle. There's got to be a reason so many places have legends of hairy, humanoid primates, that are not dissimilar to hominids we know existed once, even if their physical existence now is improbable (if so many places have them, we'd have definitive proof of at least some). And, so on. But until there's actual proper data to study, we'll never have anything but supposition.

I came for the ghosts but have stayed for the dialogue of 'ghost or timeslip?' and other threads where everyone wades in with their perspective.

What I saw was no timeslip. But that's not a story I wish to share. But there's still no resolving any specific case.

This is one of the most respectful sites on the Web as far as I can tell, and it's great to hear so many perspectives on things (even the things I consider twaddle).

Granted, but I'm not sure I'm actually a fortean anymore. The site's great, but I spend less and less time here.

 

[merricat]

I grow more Fortean by the second, I could eventually implode.

 

[CharmerKamelion]

I grow more Fortean by the second, I could eventually implode.

Wow, merricat. Any chance you could livestream that?

 

[merricat]

will give it my best shot!

 

[gordonrutter]

If there is someone on the train in the morning who constantly sniffs, coughs openly or makes horrible personal noises, I still try to make their heads explode (think scanners) but have had little success. Similarly I am still trying to levitate the cars of people who fail to observe the rules of the road and try and run me and my pack down.

So not no success then.

 

[BS3]

But there's just so much to the world of Forteana! What about dreams (what are they, what do they mean, why do we have them) or how people can vanish so completely or The Hum? It's not all UFOs and Bigfoot (I agree, probably twaddle) and ghosts and all that traditional stuff. I came for the ghosts but have stayed for the dialogue of 'ghost or timeslip?' and other threads where everyone wades in with their perspective. This is one of the most respectful sites on the Web as far as I can tell, and it's great to hear so many perspectives on things (even the things I consider twaddle).

The thing about Forteana is that ultimately it's the study not so much of anomalous 'things' as of human experience. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

 

[Yithian]

I've always believed it's perfectly possible to take a Fortean perpective on non-Fortean subjects.

A corollary of this is that one needn't have found truth in any of the kinds of phenomena typically discussed within traditional 'Forteana' to remain 'a Fortean'.

 

[Stormkhan]

I use this place as a replacement for Uncons etc. that I can rarely attend.
While I'm quite introverted, I like interaction with people I have something in common - a rare thing in my situation. In most places I actually live, I feel like a cuckoo in the nest.

 

[CharmerKamelion]

So not no success then.

I imagine @Tempest63 means he has managed to trigger a nosebleed on occasion.

 

[escargot]

I use this place as a replacement for Uncons etc. that I can rarely attend.
While I'm quite introverted, I like interaction with people I have something in common - a rare thing in my situation. In most places I actually live, I feel like a cuckoo in the nest.

Preach. Ploughing a lonely furrow.

Often the best I can manage, weirdness-wise, is to beat ghost stories out of customers at work who feel able to tell me because I'm a stranger and they won't see me again.

 

[catseye]

I use this place as a replacement for Uncons etc. that I can rarely attend.
While I'm quite introverted, I like interaction with people I have something in common - a rare thing in my situation. In most places I actually live, I feel like a cuckoo in the nest.

Isn't it sad though, that the rest of the population can't see the wonder in simple things? They just shrug and say 'yeah, just one of those things,' and don't wonder about it.

It's their loss. We retain the wonder in the world for the rest of them who can't be bothered.

 

[Stormkhan]

One time, after work, I stood in the carpark looking at a lovely sunset through a colourful cloud formation.
A workmate asked what I was doing. I pointed it out.
He just laughed and walked away, shaking his head.

It's lonely in my own head. Luckily I have a wife with an equal awareness.

 

[CharmerKamelion]

Isn't it sad though, that the rest of the population can't see the wonder in simple things? They just shrug and say 'yeah, just one of those things,' and don't wonder about it.

It's their loss. We retain the wonder in the world for the rest of them who can't be bothered.

You hit the nail bang on the head there, @catseye. I know that shrug so well. I wonder what it is that makes some people ponder and take notice, where others seem content to accept anything a bit odd as 'just one of those things'. Is it just that some (it would seem most) people have a desire to believe our lives are understandable and rational and under control?

Sorry, this is off topic.

Referring to the comments above about people who feel their interest in forteana has dwindled, I do find it hard to think that would ever happen to me. There are so many seemingly mysterious things that just carry on being mysterious. The longer we don't get any answers, the more intrigued I become.

That said, I find my interest does wax and wane a bit. Real life (sic) gets in the way. But the monthly appearance of FT usually gives it a boost though! The latest issue (444) has a cracking story in 'It Happened To Me' of a spooky phone call.......

 

[Steven]

This subject, which is necessarily a wide one as well as being interesting, needs its own thread...if only for the pointless digressions I always spout.

 

[Stormkhan]

Hey, Mods - creation or merge?

 

[kesavaross]

This subject, which is necessarily a wide one as well as being interesting, needs its own thread...if only for the pointless digressions I always spout.

I agree completely.

 

[catseye]

One time, after work, I stood in the carpark looking at a lovely sunset through a colourful cloud formation.
A workmate asked what I was doing. I pointed it out.
He just laughed and walked away, shaking his head.

It's lonely in my own head. Luckily I have a wife with an equal awareness.

I had exactly the same on Christmas Eve, when there was that peculiar ice crystal formation at the edges of clouds. I noticed it and called my daughter out to see too. She was busy taking photos when a man came out of another house to see what we were looking at. I pointed out the clouds (it was beautiful) and he sort of laughed and said that he thought I was looking at a tree about to come down on his house. He just sort of glanced at the clouds and laughed again, then went indoors.

We actually felt quite privileged that we saw it,, and my daughter got lots of lovely pictures. Some people are just...obtuse, I think.

 

[escargot]

The late DJ John Peel once said he tried to interest his teenage daughter in a fox that was cavorting on their lawn.
Her reply was 'And this concerns me how?'

 

[catseye]

The late DJ John Peel once said he tried to interest his teenage daughter in a fox that was cavorting on their lawn.
Her reply was 'And this concerns me how?'

I think that's a personality thing - all of my kids would have been at the window in a flash if we'd had foxes on the lawn.

 

[Steven]

Without imagination, curiosity and the sense of possibilities, all we're left with is the 9-to-5 and the four walls; a life that might as well be death.