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Gnomes In Little Red Cars? (Wollaton Park Gnomes; 1979)

This case is very interesting to me since in my country there have been several cases of dwarfs wearing clothes of different colors. On that occasion the goblins appeared in a small river in which several children were playing. An interesting link is also the relationship of dwarfs with stagnant waters such as marshes or even sewers. In fact, an event took place in the bathroom of a school in rural areas where there was a well into which the effluents were discharged and the goblins were hiding right there.
 
Although it is a somewhat off-topic contribution, I want to point out once again the link between elves and garbage or sewage disposal sites.

The enchanted dump
That Christmas in 2005 in La Floresta, near the Paraná, Argentina municipal garbage dump, the neighbors had built a large Christmas tree. They had done this by turning empty bottles and milk containers into polychrome decorations. The lights that climbed the wires of the fake foliage gave it the necessary magical touch. A novelty in the attractive landscape, surely, for curious elemental beings.
It is true that, from a couple of days before the end of the year, the local people and especially the children were able to observe how they went up and down the artificial tree, played with the decorations and made fun of the curious by showing their tongues.
Although, the performance did not end there, when the lights were turned off the little ones began throwing stones at those around them.
The show was repeated for several days. Frightened neighbors call the police who attack the rioters with gunshots who, in turn, throw stones at the uniformed men.

Finally, to get rid of the annoying creatures, they cut down the trees where those mischievous white goblins took refuge, who after such an attack will not return. In all of this, it is fair to remember that the witnesses to the unexpected spectacle were not a couple but almost a thousand. So many people can't be wrong. Or could they?

I can assure you that, according to the most well-founded knowledge that we have today about the inhabitants of Fairyland, the behavior of the little ones from the garbage dump, from the green balcony of the Paraná, was similar to that of the majority of the elves known to date. . It is also known that elementals, whom the most generalized theory considers to be intermediate beings between man and angels, are playful; they also love to confuse, scare and astonish humans with tricks, inventions and games.

For some scholars, on the other hand, goblins are not evil spirits or devils, because although they throw at people "large stones, fragments of wood and clods of the ground, they do not hit them, as if their way of acting were not evil." of devils, but the mockery of jesters and clowns.” Also its size, between 50 and 80 cm high, matches perfectly with the physiognomy of the vast majority of elves.

There is only one matter left to mention in this story. This is the color that witnesses attribute to the goblins of La Floresta. As far as I could find out, there is no evidence that white goblins have ever been sighted anywhere. On the contrary, all available information certifies that, usually, their skin is dark and their clothing is red or multicolored.

Credit: Mario R. Féliz​
One of the children who were there reported that the dwarfs “were small, white and stuck out their tongues, they were like a person and their hands were tiny.”

The oldest brother highlighted: “We provoked them – with stones – and the goblins returned them to us.” The informant, seeing that his story had nothing more than his testimony as an element of proof, challenged: “Come at night and the You will see almost certainly, but also this is not anyone's joke, this is something real, I did not invent it or anyone, and the truth is that we are beginning to be afraid of goblins."

The talk was interrupted by an elderly woman who mentioned: “I don't believe these things, and although I saw something strange, I prefer to tell the kids and neighbors that they are little angels, so I suggest they pray a lot.”

Another local reported that 30 years ago on Ameghino Street the same phenomenon was observed, a situation that was experienced 15 years later. Finally, a teenager from a nearby house commented: “It seems like they want to play, because otherwise, with so many stones they threw, they would have hurt the neighbors.”
 
charliebrown said:
This reminds me of Hello, I am all colours Sam, the Sandown Clown.

Again these are tales from children who may or may not be telling the right thing.

First of all, why are these kids out so late in the Autumn night without parent supervision ?
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Yes, we have discussed the late hour but this was of course back in 1979 when it was much more common for children to be outside on their own. As it was reported in the local newspaper you have to assume the parents were fine with this.
 
There is something wrong here.

Could you see anything on a late autumn night in a patch of woods with almost no moonlight ?

The narrator stressed it was very dark.
 
The newspaper did say dusk, but dusk is defined as the darkest part of twilight and in the autumn it is a very short period.

I think we are looking at “ mass hallucinations “ or some kind of a encounter with a non humanoid being with mind control.

If one child in a group of children says they are sick, then strangely all the children will complain they are sick.

Have people interested in this paranormal tried to spend the night in these woods and document their stay ?

Has there been any investigation at all ?
 
charliebrown said:
The newspaper did say dusk, but dusk is defined as the darkest part of twilight and in the autumn it is a very short period.

I think we are looking at “ mass hallucinations “ or some kind of a encounter with a non humanoid being with mind control.

If one child in a group of children says they are sick, then strangely all the children will complain they are sick.

Have people interested in this paranormal tried to spend the night in these woods and document their stay ?

Has there been any investigation at all ?
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As I have verified on many occasions investigating reports of gnomes or little green men in my country, the witnesses are usually too precise when, given the lighting and distance conditions, they should not be. My appreciation in this case is that, as always happens, the human mind, and in this case of children, tries to build an image based on what it knows from television, children's books or some statue of gnomes that are very common in some places. in the gardens.
There is abundant documentation and studies on mass psychogenic illness in children, in fact I have investigated a case of the appearance of gnomes in a school of young children in which all of them ended up "seeing" the little beings.
The children at this elementary school were feeling sick and wanted their parents to pick them up. Fear clearly exacerbates this psychological contagion.​
 
I have read very carefully the transcription of the tape of the children's interview published by Simon Young and these phrases caught my attention.​
Hooters – the cars had hooters on, did they?
Not hooters – bells.
Oh, I see. Right, now when you were in Wollaton Park on Sunday it was dark - how could you see them if it was dark?
Because they was all dressed in yellow, red, green – you could see them in the dark. They showed up.

The existence of bells on the cars of these beings so similar to Santa Claus is still striking. It is a vision in which children could clearly add that accessory because it is something common for the aforementioned character.

Light colors are the ones that can be seen better even in situations where there is fog or little light, on the other hand, dark colors blend into the environment and their surroundings more easily in those circumstances.
1719105235674.png

1719105655643.png

Source: Simon Young . Wollaton Park Gnomes: Tape Transcript, 2016​
 
maximus otter said:
lt was full dark.

maximus otter
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Thanks for the reminder:

"The précis of the new book on the incident gives the date as 23rd September 1979. This was, in fact, a Sunday.

On that date, at Nottingham, the sun had risen at 0650hrs. and set at 1902hrs. If the time of the incident was indeed 2000 to 2030hrs., this wasn't "dusk", it was full dark: 1-1½ hours after sunset on a northern English autumn evening.

As they were primary school children, and it was a school day the next day, and the Yorkshire Ripper had committed his second murder of 1979 only three weeks beforehand, why weren't the parents climbing the walls?"

maximus otter
 
Also worth reminding ourselves that according to the newspaper report the children had heard "bells" before the actual sighting and this was their second encounter as they had seen the gnomes in that same park "in bushes and then they ran off" during the school holidays.

I am just curious as to why the parents didn't flat out deny their youngsters had been out that late? Also, the headmaster is quoted in the news article (page 2 of this thread) and he doesn't seem bothered about this aspect either.

Then you have the fact that this is the second such encounter the children claim to have had but with marked differences between the two (e.g. no bells or cars in the first encounter). We have to accept the high probability this was all invented by bored yet imaginative young schoolchildren during the long summer holiday and then for some reason revisited on that Sunday night in late September. However, they certainly stuck to their story and the pictures they drew seemed to at least be consistent.

If it all was just a group fantasy that they convinced themselves was real, then I am still fascinated by the process of how these gnomes evolved from hiding in bushes to driving cars in the manner described. But I also have that nagging feeling about all the other high strangeness involving children in the 1970s which was either something paranormal manifesting in a way that the children could comprehend or some social contagion amongst young children, perhaps fuelled by the high-strangeness children's tv of that decade?
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
Also worth reminding ourselves that according to the newspaper report the children had heard "bells" before the actual sighting and this was their second encounter as they had seen the gnomes in that same park "in bushes and then they ran off" during the school holidays.

I am just curious as to why the parents didn't flat out deny their youngsters had been out that late? Also, the headmaster is quoted in the news article (page 2 of this thread) and he doesn't seem bothered about this aspect either.

Then you have the fact that this is the second such encounter the children claim to have had but with marked differences between the two (e.g. no bells or cars in the first encounter). We have to accept the high probability this was all invented by bored yet imaginative young schoolchildren during the long summer holiday and then for some reason revisited on that Sunday night in late September. However, they certainly stuck to their story and the pictures they drew seemed to at least be consistent.

If it all was just a group fantasy that they convinced themselves was real, then I am still fascinated by the process of how these gnomes evolved from hiding in bushes to driving cars in the manner described. But I also have that nagging feeling about all the other high strangeness involving children in the 1970s which was either something paranormal manifesting in a way that the children could comprehend or some social contagion amongst young children, perhaps fuelled by the high-strangeness children's tv of that decade?
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With regard to the lateness of the children being out, and the apparent lack of concern from adults, the 1970s were another country...
 
One rational explanation is that the children are all in the same house that Sunday evening, perhaps for a birthday party? They got talking about that gnomes they had 'seen' that summer, got themselves a bit over-excited and crept outside into the garden and/or towards the park. The motion of the gnomes in those cars has always reminded me of moths around a streetlamp at night, a good example here:

https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/item/76121313-moth-playing-lamp-post-03

I do wonder if seeing moths swirling around a streetlight in this helter-skelter fashion as darkness fell was a trigger for this story, it was about the right time of year.
 
Paul_Exeter said:
I do wonder if seeing moths swirling around a streetlight in this helter-skelter fashion as darkness fell was a trigger for this story, it was about the right time of year.
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I think going from moths swirling around a street light triggering such a bizarre story is maybe a step too far.

When I was a kid we used to play in bombed out houses in London's east end (early 60's) and one day in a basement we found a dead soldier wearing a trench coat and a tin hat. After running away we all did the kid thing of edging each other to go back and have a look but none of us had the courage.

After finding the local beat copper the police were called. What we in fact saw was just a trench coat with a tin hat nearby. There was no dead body. My point is we saw something. It simply wasn't what our minds added to it.

edit: I should add that we were 6 or 7 years old. A very imaginative age.
 
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kesavaross said:
I think going from moths swirling around a street light triggering such a bizarre story is maybe a step too far.

When I was a kid we used to play in bombed out houses in London's east end (early 60's) and one day in a basement we found a dead soldier wearing a trench coat and a tin hat. After running away we all did the kid thing of edging each other to go back and have a look but none of us had the courage.

After finding the local beat copper the police were called. What we in fact saw was just a trench coat with a tin hat nearby. There was no dead body. My point is we saw something. It simply wasn't what our minds added to it.

edit: I should add that we were 6 or 7 years old. A very imaginative age.
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Fair point and actually you reminded me of something from a similar age that took place in our village.

I was no more than 10 years old and possibly 9 as I was still at primary school and so was my step-brother who is a year older. so around about 1977-78. We were kicking a ball about down at the parish hall playing field. It was a dry day with light cloud high up. We saw an object far off in the sky that looked like a cigar balanced on one mind and fatter towards the bottom, from which a bright flame emitted. It was coming from the north and was slowly getting closer...

So, bang in the middle of the whole West Wales UFO flap and after we had watched those Broad Haven children of about our own age being interviewed about their UFO sighting, here was our very own UFO approaching...!

Someone had the bright idea of getting closer to it and so we headed off through the village towards the square and beyond where there would be a clear view over a valley. Some older kids had joined us and they were brave enough to knock on the door of the church and ask the caretaker (not the actual vicar, I remember that much) if we could go up the tower to get a better view. Might sound like fiction in 2024 when churches are locked up but back then it was a different world and we had all been up there before on school visits and with the Cubs etc.

So we were accompanied up the spiral staircase to the top where there was fantastic view of the UFO which was now getting unnervingly close...! Looking back, I am pretty sure the adult with us had already sussed what it was:

5479030093_d4a8998637_b.jpg


The UFO was actually a version of the spark plug hot air balloon on the right (above) probably using the church spire to navigate. Although I was rather gutted a few of the other boys were petrol-heads and seemed more excited about a flying spark plug than visitors from outer space...

But my main reason for posting this is none of us subsequently claimed a version of events that differed from the above, and trust me it was the talk of the village amongst us children and adults. Even back at school, I cannot recall any of my classmates exaggerating what happened, although there was some leg-pulling about us thinking to was a UFO.

tl;dr: maybe children aren't as prone to exaggeration as adults would believe,
 
charliebrown said:
This reminds me of Hello, I am all colours Sam, the Sandown Clown.

Again these are tales from children who may or may not be telling the right thing.

First of all, why are these kids out so late in the Autumn night without parent supervision ?
Click to expand...
I was at primary school 1960s/70s and we were always playing out and, like generations before us, were meant to come home when the street lights came on, at the latest. So at some times of year and especially in summer, we could be out quite late. In winter, much earlier.

And we might interpret "when the street lights come on" a bit more creatively than our parents did. Wonder if this park had lights, btw? Some do.

But I think everyone I knew, had the same rule. It was like an unofficial curfew time that shifted slightly, unless your parents were strict about bed times (mine weren't). We'd often still be out in the dark if we'd stranded ourselves right the other end of the village, or if we were particularly absorbed with what we were playing but it didn't feel threatening or scary in any way as we were naive and there was usually a gang of us. In my case two of my three best friends (boys, as well, so I felt safe with them) lived right opposite, so there was no question of me walking home alone in the dark, either.

Might have got told off if I got home after dark but not really that much and not enough to stop me the next time I played out. Would imagine a lot of kids had similar parents.
 
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Paul_Exeter said:
Fair point and actually you reminded me of something from a similar age that took place in our village.

I was no more than 10 years old and possibly 9 as I was still at primary school and so was my step-brother who is a year older. so around about 1977-78. We were kicking a ball about down at the parish hall playing field. It was a dry day with light cloud high up. We saw an object far off in the sky that looked like a cigar balanced on one mind and fatter towards the bottom, from which a bright flame emitted. It was coming from the north and was slowly getting closer...

So, bang in the middle of the whole West Wales UFO flap and after we had watched those Broad Haven children of about our own age being interviewed about their UFO sighting, here was our very own UFO approaching...!

Someone had the bright idea of getting closer to it and so we headed off through the village towards the square and beyond where there would be a clear view over a valley. Some older kids had joined us and they were brave enough to knock on the door of the church and ask the caretaker (not the actual vicar, I remember that much) if we could go up the tower to get a better view. Might sound like fiction in 2024 when churches are locked up but back then it was a different world and we had all been up there before on school visits and with the Cubs etc.

So we were accompanied up the spiral staircase to the top where there was fantastic view of the UFO which was now getting unnervingly close...! Looking back, I am pretty sure the adult with us had already sussed what it was:

View attachment 78622

The UFO was actually a version of the spark plug hot air balloon on the right (above) probably using the church spire to navigate. Although I was rather gutted a few of the other boys were petrol-heads and seemed more excited about a flying spark plug than visitors from outer space...

But my main reason for posting this is none of us subsequently claimed a version of events that differed from the above, and trust me it was the talk of the village amongst us children and adults. Even back at school, I cannot recall any of my classmates exaggerating what happened, although there was some leg-pulling about us thinking to was a UFO.

tl;dr: maybe children aren't as prone to exaggeration as adults would believe,
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Yes, was my experience when I was a primary school teacher. My kids had excellent BS radars. Better than many adults'.
 
Ghost In The Machine said:
I was at primary school 1960s/70s and we were always playing out and, like generations before us, were meant to come home when the street lights came on, at the latest. So at some times of year and especially in summer, we could be out quite late. In winter, much earlier.

And we might interpret "when the street lights come on" a bit more creatively than our parents did. Wonder if this park had lights, btw? Some do.

But I think everyone I knew, had the same rule. It was like an unofficial curfew time that shifted slightly, unless your parents were strict about bed times (mine weren't). We'd often still be out in the dark if we'd stranded ourselves right the other end of the village, or if we were particularly absorbed with what we were playing but it didn't feel threatening or scary in any way as we were naive and there was usually a gang of us. In my case two of my three best friends (boys, as well, so I felt safe with them) lived right opposite, so there was no question of me walking home alone in the dark, either.

Might have got told off if I got home after dark but not really that much and not enough to stop me the next time I played out. Would imagine a lot of kids had similar parents.
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"We were frightened and ran to the gate. I don't think they liked the lights outside because they didn't follow us to the street."

it might be a good idea to present a chronology of the events, drawing together all the separate sources as I know I am forgetting details from earlier in the thread.

Also, it is not apparent if the 'gnomes' were actually aware of the children or that the children interpreted it that way because the 'cars' were whizzing round in their vicinity and so they felt they were being chased, but never caught. That would make for a very different interpretation of events as - putting my Fortean hat on here - this may have been some sort of dimensional-slip at play which they children were able to witness but not actually interact with (remember: none of the children had any physical contact with the gnomes or their cars).

Another possibility worth revisiting is the gold cart theory and also that description of "strange triangular lights" on the rooftops of the gnome's "red and white cars', this is an odd detail and might be a key to unlocking a rational explanation. One major stumbling block in this case is the level of detail given by the children isn't congruent with the known time and lighting conditions. That said, in time-slips there have been reported differences in the light and even weather.

Another thought, one of the children compares the gnome's cars to bubble cars and it might be a good idea to remind ourselves of how eird and wonderful these could be back then:


peel-trident-micro-car-auction-810965.jpg


https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/810965/peel-trident-micro-car-auction

107296478-1694015564259-Microlino.jpg


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/07/tiny-bubble-cars-from-the-60s-are-making-a-comeback-in-ev-form.html
 
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Also this is interesting:

They were from Radford, which at that time was a working-class suburb of Nottingham. We must not judge by today’s standards, but quite simply they were ‘latch-key kids’ out on an adventure just over 2 miles from home. They were certainly not strolling in the park as some accounts would have us believe. When questioned as to what they had been doing immediately before their encounter with the gnomes, Patrick, one of the older children reluctantly admits that they had been trespassing on the grounds of the secondary school on the edge of the park. This kind of trespass by children seeking an adventure they could latter brag about to fiends was relatively common given the schools long boundary with the park."

So were the parents all down the pub or shift working perhaps?

A posible later sighting:

"Twenty years later my friend was visiting from university with his new girlfriend. They lived in Wales so were keen to look at the Castle, Newstead Abbey and Wollaton Park. After their trip to Wollaton Park they arrived back at my house and as we were having dinner I asked them what they thought of the Park because I hadn’t been there for a few years and was planning a visit myself. “Lovely” they said, “except for the weird experience we had when we some ‘Lilliputian’

type people by the lake”. At this point his girlfriend actually began to look a bit embarrassed and swore blind that she’d seen these little people, all dressed in waistcoats, pretty dresses and all wearing hats.

All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck when I heard this because I immediately remembered my Aunt Almas story.

“Were they by the lake” I asked.

Both replied with a cautious nod of their heads.

“Did they disappear into the bushes when you noticed them”

Again, a nodded yes.

I asked them exactly what they had seen and they told me pretty much the same story my aunt had with the exception of the boat. They said it had just been on land around the bushes near the lake. When I told them the story my aunt Alma had told me I could see them both look physically shaken and my friend girlfriend actually cried."

https://nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam.wordpress.com/2022/02/10/the-wollaton-park-gnomes/
 
Coming upon new information for me, Nottingham is called the city of caves, around 400 caves and maybe more.

Wollaton Hall beside being in the movie 2008 Batman, The Dark Knight, has many caves underneath its grounds which in the past have had people living in them.

Back when all of this took place the head schoolmaster spent a lot of time with these children and except disagreement on the color of the gnomes’ beards, the head schoolmaster proclaimed these children were telling the truth.

Anything human or non human could have been living in these caves, so I think these children told the truth.

So, I have change my mind and think this is a true case.

Researchers have searched for these kids, now in their 50s, but no luck.
 
charliebrown said:
Coming upon new information for me, Nottingham is called the city of caves, around 400 caves and maybe more.

Wollaton Hall beside being in the movie 2008 Batman, The Dark Knight, has many caves underneath its grounds which in the past have had people living in them.

Back when all of this took place the head schoolmaster spent a lot of time with these children and except disagreement on the color of the gnomes’ beards, the head schoolmaster proclaimed these children were telling the truth.

Anything human or non human could have been living in these caves, so I think these children told the truth.

So, I have change my mind and think this is a true case.

Researchers have searched for these kids, now in their 50s, but no luck.
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Had no idea about theca's until your post:

https://www.visit-nottinghamshire.co.uk/things-to-do/city-of-caves-p354851
 
I am sure I recall the original thread, or was it part of a wider discussion from a good while ago? Definitely a favourite of mine, on par with the stick men thread, which sadly doesn't seem to get much traction these days, certainly not in terms of reported experience. I often wonder if there is less inclination for people to share their unique, weird stories so much nowadays. Perhaps not thinking they will be believed?

Glad to see this one up for discussion though!
 
merricat said:
I am sure I recall the original thread, or was it part of a wider discussion from a good while ago? Definitely a favourite of mine, on par with the stick men thread, which sadly doesn't seem to get much traction these days, certainly not in terms of reported experience. I often wonder if there is less inclination for people to share their unique, weird stories so much nowadays. Perhaps not thinking they will be believed?

Glad to see this one up for discussion though!
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I often find myself thinking the same. Is it simply because such events were rare even when children were playing outside at all hours of the day? if so, is it the case that those gnomes still manifest in the park on occasions yet no children are there to see them?

I do feel we should consider that whilst these children perceived they were being chased because of their proximity to the 'gnomes', there was no actual interaction to confirm this. After all, given the speed those cars were reported as travelling at the children should have been 'caught' within seconds.

There maybe something in the golf club and cart theory, that is a number golf carts with headlights were being taken for a spin on the adjacent golf course. The children then put their own interpretation on this based on their claimed earlier gnome encounter. I worked in a hotel with a championship golf course and one of the perks of being rostered on Sunday evenings was the weekly duty manager's stroll down to the clubhouse for a beer. It was always very quiet on Sunday nights those electric golf carts are great fun to take for a spin.

But then we have so many high-strangeness reports from children in the 1970s in particular I am not so sure. I am also open to the idea that these children encountered something so alien/not of this dimension that they had to grasp at images from their own lives to be able to comprehend what they were seeing. Then there is the theory that an 'intelligent other' has interacted with humanity for millennia but always disguises its true nature and thus manifests in the guise of contemporary folklore: gnomes, fat folk, airships, black hound s with glowing red eyes, flying saucers, Bigfoot, silver-suited humanoids, dogmen, werewolves, big black puma-like cats...
 
Paul_Exeter said:
I often find myself thinking the same. Is it simply because such events were rare even when children were playing outside at all hours of the day? if so, is it the case that those gnomes still manifest in the park on occasions yet no children are there to see them?

I do feel we should consider that whilst these children perceived they were being chased because of their proximity to the 'gnomes', there was no actual interaction to confirm this. After all, given the speed those cars were reported as travelling at the children should have been 'caught' within seconds.

There maybe something in the golf club and cart theory, that is a number golf carts with headlights were being taken for a spin on the adjacent golf course. The children then put their own interpretation on this based on their claimed earlier gnome encounter. I worked in a hotel with a championship golf course and one of the perks of being rostered on Sunday evenings was the weekly duty manager's stroll down to the clubhouse for a beer. It was always very quiet on Sunday nights those electric golf carts are great fun to take for a spin.

But then we have so many high-strangeness reports from children in the 1970s in particular I am not so sure. I am also open to the idea that these children encountered something so alien/not of this dimension that they had to grasp at images from their own lives to be able to comprehend what they were seeing. Then there is the theory that an 'intelligent other' has interacted with humanity for millennia but always disguises its true nature and thus manifests in the guise of contemporary folklore: gnomes, fat folk, airships, black hound s with glowing red eyes, flying saucers, Bigfoot, silver-suited humanoids, dogmen, werewolves, big black puma-like cats...
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Yes. I have definitely wondered if we are interacting with 'things' less than before, or whether we are simply using our attention differently, interpret differently, etc.
As someone who frequently delves into the archives here, I do get the sense that more people were posting randomly about their experiences around 15-20 yrs ago, possibly one-time posters, and some of the more regular visitors, too. The only conclusion I could come to is that people are either not as open to popping on here and sharing their stories as much, or are possibly sharing them elsewhere - if someone uses Reddit, for instance, they would be guaranteed much more traffic...but since the majority of stories on Reddit look to be made up or urban myth's, I am not sure how much point there is to that.

I don't think people are experiencing less weird stuff in general, if I am honest. Perhaps just dealing with it differently. I hear most of them in person these days, as opposed to online. I have left a few of my own odd tales in the IHTM section over the years but they don't really catch interest, so maybe the demographic here has altered somewhat, too?
 
merricat said:
Yes. I have definitely wondered if we are interacting with 'things' less than before, or whether we are simply using our attention differently, interpret differently, etc.
As someone who frequently delves into the archives here, I do get the sense that more people were posting randomly about their experiences around 15-20 yrs ago, possibly one-time posters, and some of the more regular visitors, too. The only conclusion I could come to is that people are either not as open to popping on here and sharing their stories as much, or are possibly sharing them elsewhere - if someone uses Reddit, for instance, they would be guaranteed much more traffic...but since the majority of stories on Reddit look to be made up or urban myth's, I am not sure how much point there is to that.

I don't think people are experiencing less weird stuff in general, if I am honest. Perhaps just dealing with it differently. I hear most of them in person these days, as opposed to online. I have left a few of my own odd tales in the IHTM section over the years but they don't really catch interest, so maybe the demographic here has altered somewhat, too?
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One answer to this is that when FT ran this board the editorial team used to push any IHTM that didn't make the magazine onto these forums (@stu neville mentioned this on a podcast). I suppose Facebook, Mumsnet and Reddit have diverted potential posters, too. I feel the decline of pub culture has played a part with people spending less time chatting with other member sou the community and sharing experiences that is in turn a trigger to share their experience further abroad. Then perhaps a major factor is that most of us trust the internet a lot less than less we did at the turn of the century due to trolling and identity theft etc.

On a more positive note I have noticed how when a researcher gets active in a particular area the suddenly then Fortean tales spring forth, for example see the work of @RuthRoperWylde, Paul Sinclair (Yorkshire ) and Nick Redfern (Cannock Chase0 and more recently the Uncanny podcast had listeners coming forward with experiences that had never shared before. Also, if you look back at the BUFORA journals a lot of what was being reported to their network of investigators was Fortean rather than actual UFOs (tree mists and vehicle interference, small/unusual humanoids interacting with children etc).
 
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