High StrangenessS


Sherlock

The man who created the Fortean Times

The supernatural frogs falling from the sky, mysterious airships, spontaneous human combustion... it all fascinated Charles Fort, whose appetite for the paranormal lives on today in sci-fi, conspiracy theories and that quirky chronicle of the unknown, the Fortean Times.

Charles Fort
©Telegraph
Charles Fort in 1893: He coined the word 'teleportation', inspired the term 'Bermuda Triangle', and popularised UFOs

Magic Hat

Flashback Magicians and the Paranormal: A Survey

Magicians make their living by performing the impossible. Night after night they employ sophisticated sleight of hand and technological wizardry to make objects vanish into thin air, read minds, and generally defy the laws of physics. So, when it comes to the paranormal, you might expect them to be somewhat skeptical. Even a brief glance at the history books would confirm such expectations, with several well known magicians taking time out from their busy schedules to pour cold water on psychic claims. Around the turn of the last century, British magician John Nevil Maskelyne demonstrated how fraudulent mediums were fleecing a gullible public. In the 1920s, escapologist Harry Houdini gained a considerable reputation for investigating and exposing those who claimed to speak to the dead. More recently, James Randi has debunked several spoon benders and faith healers, while other modern-day magicians, including Penn and Teller, Chris Angel, and Derren Brown, have publicly declared their skepticism about matters paranormal.

Bulb

The Sliding Scale: Consciousness and Objective Reality

Here's something I'm just noodling on. I don't know if it has any validity. Much of what follows isn't very polished - it's just a slightly cleaned up version of some notes I scribbled to myself. As such, it's repetitious and disorganized. But maybe it will strike a chord with someone.

Smiley

Reports of fiery flying objects in McCloud

Recent reports of UFO sightings in McCloud have been making waves in cyberspace and spreading by word of mouth.

Dick Cary of McCloud said he saw a brightly lit flying object at about 11 p.m. the night of April 12 that hovered silently over his home just above tree top level for almost five minutes, then "quickly disappeared toward the east."

"I really don't believe in flying saucers, but I do know that something weird was happening," said Cary, an employee of the McCloud Community Services District and a lifelong McCloud resident.

He said he looked straight up with binoculars and saw what appeared to be a pulsating fire inside the hovering object.

"It looked like a giant jellyfish with a fire inside it," Cary said. "There were no canisters or anything... nothing. Just a fire inside it, and there was no noise at all."

UFO

1974-Wales UFO Crash

Summary: In Llandrillo, North Wales, United Kingdom, on January 23, 1974, an extremely compelling UFO event began. Many of the residents of the village heard an extremely loud noise. Most of the citizens thought that an explosion had occurred-possibly a plane crash. Those who ventured outside on this cold night were astonished to see blue and orange lights near the Cader Bronwen mountain.

Witness Statements: There would be many eyewitness accounts of what was seen. The press immediately investigated the occurrence, and interviewed those close to the scene of the lights on the mountain. The first newspaper accounts made this statement:

Binoculars

Woman in new 'beast' sighting

Another sighting of the so-called "beast of Hoddlesden" has added to reports of a big cat roaming the area. Catherine Riley, 39, of Bolton Road, Ewood, was on her way to visit her horse at its stables at Brockenhead Farm, off Roman Road, when she saw the "beast" in fields off Knowles Lane, at around 9am.

She said: "I saw it and wondered what it was - it was much bigger than a cat - and then I read about it in the paper and it all made sense. "I've never seen anything like it before. It was quite a way away but it still looked really big - larger than a cat or a dog.

"It had a cat-like face and it was white or grey, with darker patches around the mouth area. I just saw it in the corner of my eye and did a double-take. It made me jump a bit."

Smiley

Derek's Blog About Baltimore Co. Lightning Mystery

I've covered a lot of strange stories and this one ranks right up there as one of the weirdest.

Click Here To Read Story

When we were first tipped off to this loud noise and flash of light disturbing people in the Pikesville area, I immediately thought of lightning. But as the old saying goes, "Lightning never strikes the same place twice," let alone the same place dozens of times a year. So it was fair to say I was skeptical.

UFO 2

UFO buzz puts Australia's Northern Territories into flap

A "UFO flap'' is taking place and Territorians are needed to help scan the skies during a national spotting session tomorrow.

Binoculars

Bigfoot in Fresno County?

Whether you want to believe it or not, there are a lot of people in Central California who think they've had a brush with a Bigfoot, or Sasquatch.

Many won't talk about it for fear of being ridiculed. But others are convinced they are real, and think science is about to prove they really do exist.

Image
©Unknown

Lurking in the forests of the high Sierra are people, like Bill Compton. A cell phone salesman during the week, he spends many weekends in search of the elusive Bigfoot. He says," I truly believe there is a bi-pedal primate roaming the terrain. I've seen too many footprints, seen beasts walk away from me on two legs that look like giant, hairy animals."

Eye 2

Does a Welsh Loch Ness monster lurk in city lake?

Experts failed to pour cold water last night on reports a crocodile is alive and well and living in a Welsh lake.

Crocodile hunters are heading for Swansea after it emerged one of the reptiles has been spotted patrolling the 20ft deep pool in the middle of a city business park.