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What's The Most Boring Fortean Subject?

I did enjoy the Finding Bigfoot sections of Joel McHale's show The Soup. Though it made me wonder if all these Bigfoot shows are actually meant as entertainment, rather than serious searches for the creatures.
 
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escargot said:
:chuckle:

The Mrs didn't take any notice though, did she? :thought:

Only suggestible people do. Like, er, you. :rollingw:
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:hahazebs:

No, she thought it was ridiculous, while somehow still believing in all the other stuff the medium told her about her own life. Perhaps luckily for my friend, we'd never been an item anyway. :D
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Okay, this might be controversial, but is the whole Bigfoot tv circus at risk of being included here? How many tv shows have we had now over the years without finding a scrap of actual verifiable evidence? I still watch the Small Town Monsters Bigfoot documentaries but more for the stunning American wilderness than any hope of them actually capturing anything conclusive on film or obtaining DNA. Yes, there are some genuine people involved and their hearts are in the right place but running around in the dark with night vision cameras is becoming tedious, any self-respecting Bigfoot will have heard and smelt them coming from miles away and dome a runner long before they even get there.
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Couldn't agree more!
The only other Fortean topic where the implausibility of ever finding any real evidence matches the ridiculously OTT media coverage has to be the Oak Island Money Pit.
 
Generic UFO tv shows recycling the same old long-debunked footage of things in the sky and boring on about Roswell and dead alien bodies (see above). Now with added tic-tac UAPs that have also been explained:

"One video, codenamed “Gimbal”, seems particularly impressive: it shows what looks like an actual flying saucer skimming over the clouds. [...] But my experience with the Chilean UFO immediately suggested a more mundane explanation: the infrared glare from the engines of a distant jet. Some investigation confirmed this was a very likely hypothesis. I looked up the camera’s patents; these revealed a de-rotation mechanism used to correct for “gimbal roll”, which would inevitably mean glares would rotate in the manner seen in the video. This is also probably why the navy gave it the code name “Gimbal”, rather than, say, “Flying Saucer”."

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...s-and-i-dont-believe-the-alien-hype-heres-why

But that won't stop them recycling the tic-tac and Gimbal footage as the voiceover gushes on about "Disclosure" being imminent
 
No, we'd already tried a relationship and that was knackered within days, courtesy of my signature rubbish style - it was like my mind was stuck on our 'roles' being friends and I couldn't move past that. I often have similar kinds of mental blocks, for some reason, and it can take quite a while for me to adjust to changed circumstances.
 
I found the passage below in Death on Iona, the mysterious death of Nora Fornario and the search for Netta, by Ben Oakley.I think it summarises my earliest view of the occult; how we could expand our consciousness and interact with the physical world around us, or as Crowley defined Magic "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will".

Once we depart from the power of the mind and delve into UFO‘s Cryptids etc I become bored. Falls of fish etc, I believe there is a rational explanation. Ghosts, the afterlife, astral travel, ESP would be an extension of expanding our consciousness in my simplistic view.

“The occult is generally acknowledged to involve practices that fall on the edge of science, and mainstream religion, which may involve phenomena appearing to invoke fear. The truth is, as I quickly discovered, the occult, at its heart, is mostly about seeking answers to questions regarding life, the universe, our own planet, and how we coexist with nature. It can be taken further to include understanding how our own minds work, and how best to focus energy on a mental state.

Fundamentally, the occult is a search for knowledge. If a foundation of knowledge can be learned, understood and utilised, then that knowledge can be spread far and wide.“
 
The Loch Ness Monster

To use a Monty Python expression, the evidence (minus all the debunked stuff and hoaxes) is Waffer Thin. And yet this is often rated one of the top mysteries.

Have long since stopped reading articles on it. The media loves it, though.
 
Analogue Boy said:
Aleister Fucking Crowley.
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And that sodding 'Madame' Blavatsky

Ascalon said:
For me, it's a toss up between ley lines and ancient astronauts.
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They both get on my 'bloody boring' list too. Much more interesting is the archaeological research that tells how, when and why ancient constructions were built, and often by whom!

My nominations are:

1) Tasmanian Tigers
2) Labyrinthine conspiracy theories involving Freemasonry
3) Spoon bending (other cutlery is available to be bent with woo-woo)
 
I was watching repeats of Weird or What? on Blaze and Shatner was looking at the formation of perfectly circular discs of ice (which were nice). The 'obvious' similarity to crop circles was almost immediately dismissed because they had been proven to be a hoax in 1993. Yet the week before on Blaze had been an hour long prog on Warminster (Wilts) being the world centre of crop circles, some-one had given up a profession job so she could devote more time to this unexplained phenomena etc etc.
I can't stand Ancient Aliens anymore either - Yeah I was interested 50 years ago when Von Daniken's books came out, but can't see any progression on the subject.
I'm prepared to defend Ley Lines, the possible local alignment of ancient landscape features - not all the post-Watkins shit on lines of energy, Serpent power, magnetic fields you can pendulum-dowse for or float monoliths down etc.
 
We've been let down by the denouement of so many UFO cases over the decades that this has almost destroyed my interest in the subject. A great pity because it's, arguably, a potentially earth-shattering phenomena with massive implications for us all. So much muddying of the waters by authorities; so many vested interests; and so much sensationalist reportage has all taken its toll. I'm not specifically pointing the finger of blame here - this deliberate or incidental aspect is far too convoluted and confused for that - instead I just regret that the subject is long past being a 'pure' one.
 
Steven said:
We've been let down by the denouement of so many UFO cases over the decades that this has almost destroyed my interest in the subject. A great pity because it's, arguably, a potentially earth-shattering phenomena with massive implications for us all. So much muddying of the waters by authorities; so many vested interests; and so much sensationalist reportage has all taken its toll. I'm not specifically pointing the finger of blame here - this deliberate or incidental aspect is far too convoluted and confused for that - instead I just regret that the subject is long past being a 'pure' one.
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Yup, back in the '60s I'd avidly read my father's UFO books with their blurred photos of what turned out to be car hubcaps thrown in the air...
... or is that what they wanted us to think? :thought:
 
For me it's hypnotic regression. It has some of the same lack of interest as people telling you about their (very involved and detailed) dream. It's of interest only to them, it's all in their mind and it's been influenced by things they've read, seen, heard and been told.

Although I do admit to a liking for the 'What did you dream of last night' thread on here, possibly because it's random jottings, not being cornered by someone who wants to ask me "what does it all MEEEEEEAN?'

But yes, hypnotic regression, whether it's to 'find' lost memories or experience past lives. It's all tosh, as far as I am concerned. And sometimes bollocks.
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
This pains me to say it, really clenches my colon if you know what I mean, but the Fortean subject I now find the most boring is...

Time Slips. Bloody Sleman
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I get your drift but there have been many genuine people who have had experiences we would describe as time-slips, just stay away from the Liverpool stuff and you will find some intriguing cases elsewhere. A good place to start is the old 70s and 80s documentaries such as 'Strange but True?' that have episodes dedicated to time-slips. Also, have you read "Time Storms' by Jenny Randles?

Then there is the ongoing debate about whether some or all ghost encounters are in fact time-slips of people from the past 'slipping' into our time (hence the surroundings don't change). I feel this is especially relevant to the many cases where the ghosts react in shock upon seeing the witness. I also personally feel that ghost encounters where noise is heard from said ghost/s are another candidate for time-slips, such as the Harry Martindale York cellar 'ghost' Roman soldiers blowing a trumpet:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/vi...Harry looked, he saw,two abreast, 20 in total.

... but I know many will take issue with this and advocate the stone tape theory. However, it is an intriguing perspective to take on many such hauntings.
 
I agree with many of the topics listed. I have never been interested in aliens/ufos. Add Bermuda Triangle or any such woo zone that forms a triangle.

Angels. Channeling messages from a benevolent entity. I knew a couple of people in early 2000s who spent money on purchasing books that relayed channeled messages from a being referred to as either Bryon or Byron. Oh, just remembered a probably more well known one - Ramtha. You know, the ones on how to think the world into a better place or something. Similar to psychics except the person never claims to be psychic, but claims that they have a special connection to one special being. I could listen to a psychic doing readings all day, because I find it amusing that I can do the same thing with as much accuracy, but wouldn’t give the time of day listening to someone talking about their special messages for the benefit of humanity. I can’t tell you why this particular thing irks me more, but it does.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: I had a lot of eye rolling in this post, so I just moved all of them to the end.
 
For me it has to be lost civilisations and hidden treasure type stories, which oddly seem to get lumped together with fortean topics. It's probably because I don't find archaeology or anthropology particularly interesting or engaging.

I used to be very interested in UFOs/UAPs and I guess I still am, but I rarely engage with any of it online (Twitter/X, YouTube etc.) I think there are a lot of dishonest actors with hidden agendas in that area, and it seems to have gotten particularly bad over the last five or so years. All I can say is... if there is anything to it, if I were working in disinformation I'd be rubbing my hands with glee at the current situation.
 
Conspiracy theories and esoterica.

Conspiracy theories because there’s no end to them, literally or metaphorically; we just bump up against the smug, knowing wink and the phrase, “Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? / That’s what they want you to believe!”

Esoterica because it inevitably degenerates into phrases like “A synopsis of Jungian liminal Weltanschauung”, verbose pish that causes my eyes to roll audibly.

maximus otter
 
Druk said:
British bigfoot :chuckle:
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Okay, so I will agree with you as regards people who make YouTube videos of themselves walking through conifer plantations in flip-flops and shorts whilst making wood knocks and wetting themselves every time they see a broken twig....

BUT, for example, the work of Nick Refern in investigating various sightings on and around his former home turf of Cannock Chase and the 'Man-Monkey' of the Shropshire canal is to my mind a different kettle of fish and Redfern believes this is paranormal in nature rather flesh and blood (and even matching the classical description of a US Bigfoot)
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Okay, so I will agree with you as regards people who make YouTube videos of themselves walking through conifer plantations in flip-flops and shorts whilst making wood knocks and wetting themselves every time they see a broken twig....

BUT, for example, the work of Nick Refern in investigating various sightings on and around his former home turf of Cannock Chase and the 'Man-Monkey' of the Shropshire canal is to my mind a different kettle of fish and Redfern believes this is paranormal in nature rather flesh and blood (and even matching the classical description of a US Bigfoot)
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Although the point of this thread is what do you find boring, not what do you find plausible...

I must admit that, whilst I find the idea of creatures, coporeal or non-corporeal, living in the wilds of the UK interesting, I'm not keen on the stories that turn them into Bigfoot. I love the idea of folk myths turned into flesh and blood creatures, but I tend not to read the stories about them because it all tends to derive downwards into 'how could Bigfoot live in such a small country?'
 
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