Patterns in Ufology

A few months back I picked up a (legitimate) copy of John Keel’s classic Operation Trojan Horse, this was made possible by the fine folks over at Anomalist Books who had recently reprinted the book. Prior to this the only copies of the book one could find online had been going for around 80 USD, which is a bit more than I want to pay for a non-textbook book.  But thankfully the newly printed addition is much more reasonable in price and so I highly recommend you purchase and read it if you haven’t before. In the work, Keel begins to layout his “Ultraterrestrial” Inter-dimensional theory of the UFO phenomena that I’ve discussed many times in the past on this blog. 

Additionally, as I rediscovered, Keel talks about an interesting pattern that he began to notice that the UFO enigma displayed. He entitled this the “Wednesday phenomenon” because of the reports that he looked into, the overwhelming majority of the sightings and interactions with the UFOnauts took place on Wednesday nights. Looking at other countries data, Keel found that this same “Wednesday” thing held true. Naturally, he wasn’t stating that all UFO sightings occur on Wednesdays but rather

“This does not mean that flying saucers are out in force every Wednesday night. But when there is a large flap, it nearly always takes place on a Wednesday.” pg 12 Operation Trojan Horse

The years with which Keel looked for this pattern, were unfortunately limited. Naturally I wondered if perhaps anyone else had looked into the “Wednesday” phenomenon more recently, and if so, what had they discovered? Thankfully on Twitter I was pointed over to the UFO DNA blog where the author had taken a second look at Keel’s theory. What he found was pretty interesting.

“The Wednesday Mystery ... Updated

John Keel noted that a disproportionate number of UFO sightings occurred on Wednesday evening. This was true when he was studying them in the 1960's, but was not true over the long term. Remarkably, the peak day for UFO sightings has migrated over the decades, an average of one day per week per decade until the 1990's. Thereafter it moved to Sunday in the 1990's, then firmly to Saturday in the 2000's and the 2010's”

I don’t wish to steal the bloggers thunder, he did a lot of work and there are some really cool graphics at the site so I definitely recommend that you check it out. Discussing the “Wednesday” phenomenon on Facebook, led to a friend pointing out the fact that Jacques F Vallee also did quite a bit of analysis on the UFO phenomenon, specifically looking for patterns. Vallee, who is a computer scientist by training, has been discussed a number of times by me here at Forteania.  

Vallee and a Dr. Claude Poher, eventually published  a paper entitled “Basic Patterns in UFO Observations”, which you can access as a PDF from Vallee’s website. Not to belabor that point too much, they came to a 4 point conclusion that I will list here about the phenomena:

(1) a significant proportion of the thousands of UFO reports analyzed by the authors come from witnesses who have really observed an object in the sky or at ground level; (2) the objects these witnesses have seen have characteristics very different from all identifiable objects and phenomena; (3) the phenomenon is of high scientific interest; and (4) a systematic research approach can be defined.

Jacques Vallee

The conclusions reached by Vallee and Poher seem to have not made much of a difference in regards to Ufology as a whole, or for the general public for that matter who largely don’t give a damn about this stuff one way or another. This idea isn’t unique to me of course; recently Tim Binnall of Binnall of America interviewed Historian/Author Aaron Gulyas about his most recent book, The Chaos Conundrum, when the idea of doing a statistical analysis of the UFO was brought up. 

Binnall and Gulyas both agreed that somewhere within all of those stats may lie some kind of clue as to what the UFO phenomena may be. I would tend to agree for the most part, although I wonder if perhaps we should be looking at the phenomena from a slightly different perspective. Knowing that Keel did his own kind of “stats” research and Vallee later did an arguably much more scientific analysis of the available UFO data, looking at the same side of the data might not prove very useful.

Instead, as Greg Bishop has said a number of times on his podcast Radio Misterioso, we should be looking at the people who have these experiences themselves. I’m not interested in what color the UFO was or what size it was. Rather, I wish to know if the person had recently had some kind of trauma in their life? Had they been experiencing any kind of depression or new stress? Maybe the key lies with the experiencer rather than with what it was they experienced?

Who knows? It’s unlikely that we may ever really discover the answer to any of this stuff, but at the very least we shouldn’t necessarily retread old ground. I say we keep trying new and different things. But what do I know? I’m just a guy with a blog.

That’s all for now dear readers. Until next, stay classy internet!

Podcast interview!

Film-maker, and self proclaimed "outlaw for love", Paul Kimball recently interviewed your's truly on his revived podcast, The Other Side of Truth. You can listen to the podcast here. Here's the description of the episode:

In this episode, I spend an hour chatting with Fortean researcher / blogger Tony Morrill, one of the bright youngsters out there who are interested in the world of the weird and the wacky. In an eclectic conversation where we throw in everything but the kitchen sink, we start off with some background information on Tony, and how he became interested in the paranormal at a young age, and then follow up with a back-and-forth on everything from UFOs to ghosts to Bigfoot. We also find time to pontificate / ruminate about posthumanism, tip our caps to the work of the late Mac Tonnies, Greg Bishop, and Nick Redfern, and "imagine the imagination factory" - all while keeping our tongues planted firmly in our cheeks. We even managed to reference a couple of cartoon characters we like, and I slipped in a musical interlude that is tangential to the point of being apropos of nothing, but somehow it still fits. This was a fun episode to record, and reminded me more than a bit of some of my past conversations with my pals in the "Cabal". Tony has his feet planted firmly on the ground, even as he has his eyes set to the sky. It's a good place to be!

I also suggest checking out his other latest interviews with Aaron John Gulyas and Walter Bosley. 

Additionally, you can also head over to Binnall of America in order to find my most recent Fortean Ramblings column entitled "We didn't start the fire". That's about all I have for now. Come back soon for shenanigans!

Herbert Schirmer - An Abductee in his own words

I'm not a huge fan of the vast majority of the current abductee literature mostly, I think, because it tends to be a bit repetitive and, if I'm being completely honest, dull. It quickly becomes a case of “If you've heard one, you've heard them all.” One can only have so many tales of 'anal-probes' or 'hybrid children' before you should be ready to scream and be done with the whole thing. However in looking back over the past literature available on the subject one case has always particularly stood out to me. And recently I was pleased to come across some audio of the abductee involved who spoke at a UFO conference on his experience.

At 2 AM on a December night in 1967, Patrolman Herbert Schirmer was making his normal rounds on Highway 6 in Ashland, Nebraska, when he saw lights that he at first took to be an oncoming vehicle but soon became obvious that something else was going on that night. At the junction of Highway 6 and 63, Schirmer came upon what he would later describe as UFO that had the appearance of aluminum and was hovering about 10 feet above the ground. The red lights that had earlier attracted Schirmer's attention were flashing from out of “portholes” around the object. After watching the object for only a few moments, it started to make what was described as a siren sound, and as something like flames shot out from underneath, it began to zoom off into the night sky.

Schirmer's Alien

Schirmer got out of his patrol car with flashlight in hand and began to look around the area where the craft had been hovering. After not finding anything that stood out, Schirmer went back to the police station and recorded the following entry into his log book “Saw a flying saucer at the junction of highways 6 and 63. Believe it or not!”. Seeing that it was 3 O' Clock, Schirmer figured that he was missing about 30 minutes of time that he could not account for. As it happened, the Condon Committee was in full swing as this incident occurred, and as a part of their investigation into the UFO phenomena, Schirmer was brought to Boulder, Colorado where he was eventually hypnotically regressed by psychologist Dr. Leo Sprinkle.

During the regression it came out that Schirmer had actually been taken aboard the craft by 4 ½ foot tall beings that had a Winged Serpent insignia upon their chest. Referring to Schirmer as “the watchman”, they guided him around their craft showing him many things. They revealed that a part of their mission on Earth was to take Electricity. Additionally they were involved in a breeding program of some form and that in order to keep their true agenda from being discovered they appeared to people completely at random. Below is a YouTube link to the lecture that Schirmer gave on the events of the night.

If you want to learn more, or if you prefer reading the story as opposed to listening to the YouTube link provided, you can follow these links if you wish to know more. But I highly recommend listening to Schirmer tell you what happened in his own words. I would like to leave you with the final words given to Schirmer. The final message that was offered from the beings to Schirmer has long been one of my favorite ET messages. They told him “We want you to believe in us, but not too much.” Somewhere in there may lie a clue as to what is actually going on behind this phenomena. 


ATS Thread on the Topic


UFO Evidence Report


Link to the MP3 if you prefer to download the audio.

Ashley takes on Ghost Adventures

Sometime back I mentioned that I was going to have a guest post up here at Forteania. Well that idea originally fell through, however tonight I'm pleased to introduce to you Ashley Ruff (who in the interest of full disclosure is my girlfriend). She has lovingly put up with this Fortean stuff for a number of years and tonight will be offering you her unedited opinion on a fairly well known paranormal TV show. 

The show in question is Ghost Adventures, which if you haven't seen before please check out this clip of some of their “best” evidence. So without further ado, I will let Ashley take it away from here.

Also here is the shows website, if you are interested in learning more about it. 

This past Saturday Tony introduced me to a television show on the Travel Channel called Ghost Adventures. The cast of the show consists of three men: Zak (what a douchey way to spell Zack), Nick, and Aaron. The main guy, Zak, looks remarkably like Ben Ten’s Kevin Eleven-stupid hair, bulgy muscles, tight t-shirts, and everything-complete butter face. Out of the three, I would probably rank Aaron as the dumbest. He’s supposed to be the camera man but he didn’t seem very capable of filming. At one point he was running around outside a parking lot in the rain and screaming. I don’t remember Nick.

Kevin Elevin                                                        Zak Bagans              

 In this particular episode the men locked themselves inside of dam which led to Zak making several unfunny puns. I can understand one, but after that he probably should have quit beating that dead horse. The dialogue of the episode consisted of Zak’s puns, the three men taunting the “ghosts” (Zak would say things like, “If you are here tweak my nipples.”), Zak flexing his muscles whenever he got the opportunity, and the men replaying their tape recorders and insisting that they had recorded EVPs, but don’t worry, if you didn’t catch the ghosts’ message they would replay each EVP three to four times.

My final thoughts:

1. I wonder if the guy who green-lit this show is still employed with the Travel Channel.
2. How much product is in Zak’s hair?
3. Overall if I ever want some Eye candy to look at, I know exactly where to go.

Dr. Karla Turner - Alien abductee and researcher

Alien abduction research is a fairly controversial topic, even among other already controversial Fortean topics. And in the last few years it would seem that the research took a big hit because of the "Emma Woods" fiasco. Essentially two of the biggest names in abduction research, David Jacobs and Budd Hopkins, were called out for some questionable decisions that were made over the "treatment" of a reported alien abductee going by the pseudonym "Emma Woods". But I'm not really here to talk about that issue. If you want to learn more about what all went down you can follow this link for more information.

Instead I wanted to talk about the one alien abductee researcher who was also herself an alien abductee, Dr. Karla Turner. Dr. Turner was a professor of Old English, who in 1988 would undergo a series of bizarre events that would have a dramatic impact on her life and career. Upon experiencing what by all accounts were encounters with alien intelligences, Dr. Turner wrote her first book detailing what she had gone through entitled Into the Fringe. After this was published, Dr. Turner recieved countless letters from others that also claimed to have experienced alien abductions.

She took a few of those stories and turned them into the book, Taken. And her final book was Masquerade of Angels. Dr. Turner had many fascinating theories about the alien abduction phenomena. In his book Wake up Down There! The Excluded Middle Collection, Greg Bishop and Wes Nations interview Dr. Turner. It's a really engaging interview and the UFO field is in sore need of more researchers like Dr. Turner. What's great is that she was never willing to settle down into one particular theory as to what was behind the phenomena itself. Which if you have been a reader of my site for any length of time, you know I'm a huge fan of those that are open to any explanation and haven't settled on any one. During the interview in the book, which I recommend you picking up not just for this interview but for a whole host of other great stuff, Dr. Turner is asked what theory would possibly best assimilate all of the variant data that she had collected. She responded:

My husband and I sat up late one night and said, "Let's throw out all the things we'd like to be. Let's throw out all the theories we know have holes in them. What could we come up with that would unify everything?" It would have to do with these creatures being strictly of Earth origin.... That's the only theory that we could come up with that explained things to our satisfaction. No one ever talks about it, it's just something we came up with to help us deal with things. I'm still very open to other theories. (pg 100 Wake up Down There!)

Unfortunately finding information about Dr. Karla Turner is next to impossible online. Her books are out of print, the one website that had previously existed (http://www.karlaturner.org) has since been taken down. Luckily there are still a few resources for those of you out there that wish to now more about her. S Miles Lewis, of Psiop Radio, wrote a piece for his Elf Infested Spaces (ELFIS) website entitled, "TAKEN INTO THE FRINGE RESEARCHER FOCUS: Dr. Karla Turner". Additionally at the Excluded Middle website, Greg Bishop has up an audio interview that he did with the late Dr. Turner.

I recommend that you try to read up about Dr. Turner as much as is possible. For some reason she doesn't get the recognition that I feel she deserves. After all it wasn't until after I had been reading about the alien abduction phenomena for years, before I ever heard the name of Dr. Karla Turner. Likely you are familiar with the other big names in the alien abduction arena; Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs (mentioned earlier), and of course the late Dr. John Mack. But Dr. Turner is, at least to my knowledge, never brought up on TV shows or in discussions about the alien abduction phenomena. Hopefully you can use this post as a springboard to learn more about the late Dr. Turner.

A few more resources:
http://alienresistance.org/drkarlaturner.htm 
http://www.realufos.net/2010/03/dr-karla-turner-on-abductions.html
Also you can go to YouTube and search for Dr. Turner to find videos of her lectures. 

Weekend Recommendations

Good evening dear readers. If you are anything at all like me, then you enjoy watching documentaries about Fortean topics. With this in mind I wanted to recommend two very fascinating and entertaining films for you to check out this weekend(or when you can get a chance to).

First up is Bob Wilkinson's Shades of Gray, below is the trailer.

The film tells the story of Gray Barker, an early Ufologist that is perhaps most famous for his involvement in the Albert K Bender saga and for his work on the Mothman sightings in West Virginia. The film is a fascinating look at his life both inside and outside of the Ufological field. Featured in the film are those that knew Barker; Jim Moseley, Jerome Clark, and Stan Friedman (among others).  They story is sad and also enlightening, especially if like me you enjoy learning more about the early days of Ufology. The movie is available for rent through Netflix or Blockbuster. Follow this link to head to the documentaries website.  Really I can't recommend this film highly enough. Also to hear an interview with the film maker, check out this episode of the Paracast.

Speaking of the Mothman events in West Virginia the next film I would recommend you checking out, is Eyes of the Mothman. The trailer is below.

 

This film takes the reader on a whirlwind ride through the events leading up to and surrounding the Mothman sightings that occurred in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in the late 1960's. The film makers actually spend a lot of time in the town talking to townsfolk who were alive during the events about what they remember hearing and seeing. If you know nothing about the Mothman legend, or if you think you know everything, you will still likely learn a thing or two by watching this documentary. I did (I had never heard of the Curse of Chief Cornstalk before as an example). This film is available on Netflix instantly if you have the streaming option. Be sure to check out the website for the film. Also the film makers were interviewed on Tim Binnall's Binnall of America podcast, you can find the episode here.

Well that's all for tonight, until next time remember to keep your eyes to the skies

Book Review: Steve Volk's Fringe-ology

As mentioned previously, I finally finished reading Steve Volk's Fringe-ology. Volk is a journalist with the Philadelphia Magazine covering 'normal' news stories; such as crime, politics, and other assorted city stuff. Having experienced an unusual event in childhood (possibly a ghost or perhaps just a water pipe), Volk set out to research just what there might be behind paranormal events. UFOs, Ghosts, Psychic abilities, and even Lucid Dreaming all show up in this highly engaging book. Volk, who at all times tries to be open minded about the subjects, dives into these topics with some of the leading minds in the arenas.

Taking the reader along the journey with him, Volk brings up a major point that we certainly don't hear nearly as much as we should from either the True Believers or the Pseudo-Skeptics. Namely that at the end of the day we just don't know, and maybe that's OK. The book does an excellent job of introducing the subjects to those who may not be all that familiar with them. And I'll be honest with you, I actually learned a thing or two myself.

Launching from the 'I don't know' point, Volk asks the reader to realize that maybe we should be able to meet somewhere in the middle on these topics. For example, in the Remote Viewing section he talks to those that are studying the phenomenon and discovers that there is, statistically speaking, something to the phenomenon. But because it suffers from the “Paranormal Taint” (a term that Volk uses to describe mainstream sciences rejection of fringe topics simply on the basis that they are fringe) scientists aren't interested in exploring just what it could mean.

As a testament to his attempt to be an open minded journalist, Volk freely admits that he stayed away from the topic of Alien Abductions because of his own preconception that those who are experiencing the phenomena are simply making it up. While I would disagree with such a blanket statement, I respect that he is able to recognize that bias and wisely chooses not to say anything at all. And really for me that seems to be the best take away from the book. If these kinds of phenomena are occurring, by their very definition we would be unable to really currently understand them. But guess what? That's OK. Because we really don't know everything yet. And so Fringe-ology is designed to let the reader in on that little secret. Whether you are a True Believer or you are a Super Skeptic, guess what? You don't know what's going on behind some of this stuff.

So do yourself a favor and pick up this book. And while you read, even if just for a moment or two, try to let your biases go and just absorb the information for what it is. After all, you just may learn something new. In addition to the book, Steve Volk runs a blog where he talks about anything and everything. You can find that here. Also if you want to hear some interviews with him, Volk was on Open MindsRadio and Mysterious Universe a few weeks back. OK Forteans, that's all I have for tonight. I have to go finish the rest of the books on my (seemingly never-ending) reading list.

And once more here is the trailer for the book. Learn about the book from the author himself.

Odds and Ends

Tonight is a very slow night for me. I had a test earlier in my religion class and then I had to come home and start work on my presentation for my psychology class. We have to give a 5 to 7 minute presentation on a disease, in my case I will be presenting on Alzheimer's Disease. It doesn't sound like a lot, the 5 to 7 minutes part, but I almost always end up having stage fright right before I get up to do a presentation. Which is funny because people tend to think that I am quite naturally happy in front of a group. And depending on the location, and my familiarity with the topic I can be. But I just have a bad feeling that I will get nervous and mess up somehow. Inevitably I will just sike myself up and get it over with as early as possible. Luckily I have to present on the first day, so I will probably go like 2^nd or 3^rd (never first because I like to gauge the classes reactions to other people's presentations first).

The start of the summer semester coincided almost perfectly with my decision to begin blogging again. I had originally started blogging back in October of 2010, which was also when I tried my hand at podcasting (which if you really want to you can find those episodes here). For one reason or another though I quit working on the blog and didn't really think anything more about it until earlier this year when Tim Binnall gave a call for new writers for his site, Binnall of America. As I was sitting at work listening to the podcast, I suddenly said 'Fuck it, why don't I try to write for BOA'. This caused many curious stares from my coworkers that apparently had never heard of 'BOA' before. Long story short after I wrote my first couple of columns for BOA, I sorta put it all out of my mind and went on about my

business as usual. But for some reason on a Sunday in May, May 8^th to be exact, I decided to start blogging again. I figured a couple of things; 1) that people must obviously care what I have to say, 2) my insights would be unlike any other ever in the history of the Fortean, 3) it can't be that hard to blog.

I was wrong on literally every single one of those points. Well not entirely wrong, rather I was just naïve about the whole process. The first thing I learned was that blogging was not nearly as easy as I had originally assumed it to be. Especially because I set the bar fairly high for myself. I was going to have new quality posts every single night. After all the sites that I like to frequent are the ones that, you know, update daily. To top it off, I couldn't have picked a worse time to start blogging. Less than a week into the venture, I started back at school. That would be night classes of course. And so most evenings I have to juggle between homework, the blog, reading (my ever growing reading list is evidence I can't spend much time with books). Typically I manage to get out a fairly decent post every now and then. But it can be pretty tough sometimes.

But if it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not. Really I have enjoyed working on this blog. It's been a crazy experience over the last couple of months. Watching the readership grow, seeing my blog listed on other people's sites. Especially sites of those that I admire and have a lot of respect for. Plus I've gotten a chance to talk with people I probably wouldn't have otherwise. So while it can sometimes be a huge pain in the butt to work on this blog, it's definitely a labor of love. It's come pretty far in just the two months that I have been posting at it, I can't wait to see were it will be by the end of the year. Or even the next year. It's success is thanks to you, whoever you are reading this right now. Maybe this is your first time here at Forteania (and if so let me say thanks for stopping by!) or you have been here for a little while. Thanks for sticking around and thank you to those that have commented.

In the end however I'm really doing this blog for selfish reasons. I think that I am hoping to learn something by doing this. Other wise whats the point right? Well that's all for tonight, this post was a bit rambling and I apologize for that. I just had to get these thoughts out, you know how it goes. I need to get going, because I actually have some down time so I can try and make a dent into my ever-expanding reading list. Until next time this is your friendly neighborhood Fortean Philosopher saying “Where's the beef?” (That can't still be copyrighted can it?)

First impressions of Fringe-ology

 As noted in last nights post here I was able to finally tracked down a copy of Steve Volk's Fringe-ology. I had first heard of this book about a month ago from one of the numerous sites I frequent (honestly I can't seem to remember at the moment which one it was). Then I heard him on a couple of podcasts that I listen to, first he was on Open Minds Radio and then he made an appearance on Mysterious Universe. After listening to him on these interviews I was pretty excited to read his book. It seemed like maybe finally someone else had woken up and realized that we just don't know anything.  What I mean is that in his book Volk explores all many of Fortean, or as he calls it paranormal, phenomena with as unbiased of an opinion as you could hope to have.

Volk seems to realize that while debunkers may believe they have science on their side, at times they can be just as quick to believe as those that are true believers. Volk argues that the truth is probably somewhere between the two extremes, in the 'Excluded Middle' if you will. It's very refreshing to hear people coming to this conclusion. After all in many aspects of life we are dealing with too many unknowns. I don't think there is anything wrong with admitting that we simply don't know what something is or where it comes from.

The problem that we run into is that instead of searching for whatever evidence may exist out there, we simply find evidence that backs up our preconceived notions. Volk points this out in his book to the chagrin of both True Believer's and the Debunkers. I'm not very far into the book but I am already enjoying it very much and look forward to it only getting better as I go along. So with that if you will excuse I have to get back to finishing the book. Look for a full review of it to come soon, in the mean time I highly recommend you get yours hands on it. Trust me, as long as you remain an open minded as you can you will not be disappointed. Who knows, perhaps you may even learn a thing or two. Until next time this is your friendly neighborhood Fortean Philosopher saying, Have a Happy 4th of July!

Monday night blues

Well dear readers allow me to apologize for tonight. For whatever reason I can't seem to get focused enough in order to do a proper post. I will most likely be going to bed now as I am quite tired. Between work, class, the blog, and working on that magazine article (yes that is still in the works believe it or not), I have just about run myself completely down. It's possible that either tonight or tomorrow night there will be a guest blog by another blogger. I will be giving her the chance to write a post for you guys.

Other than that I don't have too much to say, today is definitely one of my off days. They happen every now and then. You know where its really hard to focus on anything? Yeah one of those. Oh and as a follow up to this post here, Greg Bishop interviewed Jeffrey Gonzalez on his Radio Misterioso show yesterday. And now the podcast is up for you to check out here. I suggest giving it a listen and then deciding for yourself what to make out of Gonzalez group's claim about their Bigfoot 'evidence'. Well that's all for tonight, until tomorrow night remember "No mystery is closed, to an open mind." Tim White (the sign off from Sightings)

Great Daily Resources (or these sites don't suck)

There have been a few posts in the past that have demonstrated how I got frustrated with the Alien/UFO section on ATS, which if you haven't read yet you can find here and here. The conclusion that I came to after the first of the posts was that I will look for resources that I enjoy and that actually teach me a thing or two. Because beyond hopefully coming to a better understanding about Fortean topics, I'm really hoping to actually learn something from this endeavor. Because, if I'm not learning anything, really whats the point? So with this in mind allow me to take this post to plug some of the better resources for learning that I have come across thus far. Among them are some of the biggest influences on my current model of how the Fortean functions. These are sites that I check on a daily basis.(Also they are in no particular order by the way, they are simply in whatever order that I happen to remember them in).

First up is a blog that I highly recommend people check out. Paul Kimball's The Other Side of Truth. This blog has a little bit of everything; UFOs, politics, religion, philosophy, and most importantly Paul Kimball's transformation as he stays on top of the Ufological/Paranormal world (but mostly as an observer). Paul Kimball is a film director whose credits are far too many to list, but the main one I would recommend (and do regularly) would be his 2007 film Best Evidence. It collects the 10 best UFO cases, and you would be hard pressed to disagree with the choices he has made.

Next is one I only discovered recently, and that is Who Forted?. This is a blog that takes a look at the realm of the Fortean in the only sane way you can, with a big sense of humor. They definitely seem to know there stuff as far as Fortean topics are concerned, but at the same time they have an excellent sense of humor about all of it. (For example check out their review of Syfy's Haunted Collector Reality TV series.) When not openly mocking people, which I mean come on who doesn't love that right?, they have some really cool stuff up on their site daily. Definitely a must visit daily site.

One of the better Paranormal podcasts in existence is Tim Binnall's Binnall of America. The show, which has been running now for I think 6 years, has literally interviewed everything one in the realm of esoterica that you can think of. And even some folks that you can't think of, or in my case may never have heard of until they came on Tim Binnall's show (Bruce Rux I'm looking at you). The show mostly comes out on a bi-weekly basis and is a definite must listen to.

In addition to an amazing series of interviews, the show also is home to some of the best writing on  fringe topics in the columns section of the site. Leslie, Regan Lee, Richard Thomas, Marla Pena, Richelle Hawks, Tina Sena, Bruce Priddy, and to a lesser degree yours truly the original Closet Anomalist Tony Morrill. With the exception of Bruce Priddy and myself, the other writers have archives that go back years that are full of all kinds of Fortean goodness.

On the topic of podcasts, Greg Bishop's Radio Misterioso is another must listen to. Especially now that Greg Bishop seems to have gotten his old show archives sorted out and seems to be adding them back to his site. Radio Misterioso is great because, in addition to some of the coolest music you are likely to ever hear, Greg Bishop interviews a lot of cool people. The conversations always seem to go in weird and unexpected places, and I can easily say that this show has introduced me to many of the people that have shaped my understanding and reasoning on Fortean topics. Definitely should check on this one daily.

Along those same lines, Greg Bishop writes for another site that some BOA writers and Nick Redfern all contribute to. UFO Mystic is a great place to visit at least semi-daily for all sorts of great writings by Nick Redfern, Greg Bishop, and a seemingly never ending supply of contributing writers. All in all a great site to visit.

As a general all around great resource for news, there are actually two that tie. First is Daily Grail, which isn't just a news site but that is like my favorite part of it. Seriously I check there daily for a great list of crazy Fortean news stories. The second one is very similar to this, The Anomalist. Like Daily Grail, the Anomalist collects all kinds of random Fortean goodies for you the reader to enjoy. You know now that I think about it, Fortean Times also has this same kind of feature. A Daily roundup of weird news.

Well that about wraps it up. The sites that I have listed above are the ones I visit on a daily basis in order to get my Fortean fix. If you have any suggestions for sites that I should visit, please let me know.

Put your money where your mouth is! I did.

It is likely painfully clear to any regular reader of Forteania, that I am not the world's biggest fan of so called, with no apparent sense of irony, 'mainstream' Ufology. I mean one only has to look at literally any of the posts I have made on this blog to figure that much out. Along those lines I am constantly on the lookout for anything that can offer a sliver of hope for the quagmire that is Ufology. As I have pointed out ad nauseum, we need to move past the "UFOs=aliens" paradigm we have been saddled with for the past 60 plus years.

With all of this in mind, I was extremely happy to hear that Paul Kimball was working with Tim Binnall in order to produce a 'sequel' to his amazing Best Evidence documentary which, as I have pointed out a number of times on Twitter, is one of the best UFO documentaries that I have ever seen. Best Evidence, which Paul Kimball has put up for free on Vimeo (find it here, seriously watch it then come back and finish this post), is an excellent film that through ten amazing UFO cases does a superb job of demonstrating that there is, in fact, an objective (hah that's not a loaded word) reality to the UFO phenomena.

Once we understand that there is a reality to the UFO subject, which probably most of you reading this have come to that conclusion already, where do we take it from there? The main answer for years has been the ETH, which contrary to what I may sometime indicate on this blog, is a valid hypothesis. But it is not the only one, and this is the problem that the newest project that Kimball and Binnall are working on seeks to solve. In Beyond Best Evidence, they seek to give the viewer all of the different options for what is behind the UFO enigma. ETs? Yep they are gonna be in the film with the respective ETH guys, like Kevin Randle and Stan Friedman. Ultraterrestrials/Interdimensionals? You bet. Hell even the Cryptoterrestrials will make an appearance.

Essentially the hope is that this documentary will allow you the viewer, to understand that the UFO problem is far more complicated (in an exciting way) than just alien visitor's from Zeta Reticuli. So what can you do, oh loyal readers of Forteania? I'm glad that you asked. As it stands Paul Kimball and Tim Binnall are trying to raised $25,000 in order to help fund this project. As of this posting they have only reached $1580, but you can help. If you, like me, are ready to make a change for the positive in Ufology or just to get people to be more open to a myriad of possibilities, please support this cause in anyway you can. Unfortunately the fund-raising part only has 3 days left at this moment, but I think we could do it if we all pitch in.

So like the title says, I put my money where my mouth is will you? If so head to the Indie GoGo page for the film to donate whatever you can! For more information on the project from the gentleman running it, check out the latest Binnall of America podcast up now to learn more about this film. And after that seriously go watch Best Evidence. Hopefully together we can make this documentary a reality, sooner rather than later. Well that's all I have for now, check back later for more Fortean shenanigans.

More synchronicities!

I related how a few weeks back that I had luckily been able to pick up a copy of the late Conspiracy Theorist/Researcher Jim Keith's Casebook on the Men in Black (Read more about that story here). I have been looking forward to reading this book ever since last year when I read Keith's equally excellent Saucers of the Illuminati. If you haven't been able to figure out yet by reading this blog (or if you are a new reader) I really enjoy anyone who is willing to go beyond the ETH when it comes to the UFO phenomena. Keith's Saucers of the Illuminati is just what it sounds like, namely that most (if not all) of the 'UFOs' that are sighted by people are in fact the instruments of the ubiquitous government (or shadow government). I don't necessarily agree with this theory, but I applaud the 'out of the box' thinking that is involved. And off-topic I highly recommend that you check out this book, it really is a fascinating read.

After I read this book sometime last year I looked up some other books by Keith. Two in particular stood out to me as must reads; the first Mind Control and UFOs: Casebook on Alternative 3, the second was Casebook on the Men in Black. Unfortunately I have been unable to get a copy of the Alternative 3 book (which by the way if you haven't heard of Alternative 3 you should really look into very strange conspiracy stuff), but as previously noted I was able to happen upon a copy of Casebook on the Men in Black at my local bookstore. Because of school and work my progress has been rather slow unfortunately, but that isn't because the book isn't a great read. Having read about some MIB encounters in John Keel's work, it was nice to see another researchers treatment of the topic. Not entirely unlike his Saucers of the Illuminati, Keith isn't as quick to jump on the 'MIBs = Aliens' as some have suggested. Instead he focuses more on the idea that they may be representatives of an Earthly organization of some form.

At the same time however, he doesn't overlook the history of figures dressed in black that have shown up from time to time. Instances of witches reportedly cavorting with 'Men cloaked in black garb' or one really interesting story he relates a story first recounted by Freemasonic historian Manly P Hall

It was during the evening of July 4, 1776, that the second of these mysterious episodes occurred. In the old State House in Philadelphia a group of men were gathered for the momentous task of severing the last ties between the old country and the new. It was a grave moment and not a few of those present that their lives would be forfeit for their audacity. In the midst of the debate a fierce voice rang out. The debaters stopped and turned to look upon the stranger …. they had never seen him before, none knew when he had entered, but his tall form and pale face stirred them to their very souls.... As the stranger sank into a chair exhausted, a wild enthusiasm burst forth. Name after name was placed upon the parchment: the Declaration of Independence was signed.

That is just one of the strange stories that he recounts in his book. Again I haven't finished yet so this isn't intended as a proper review. Rather the above is a backdrop for my strange synchronicities of late. Yesterday I was listening to the newest episode of Binnall of America, (yes I don't just write a column for the site, I also really enjoy Tim's show) Tim was interviewing documentary film makers Matthew J. Pellowski and Anastasia Konstantinou about their new film Eyes of the Mothman. Which I haven't been able to check out yet but am looking forward to. The film documents a non-John Keel view of the events of 1966-1977 Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Included, obviously, is the Mothman and other assorted bizarre Fortean events (like the Men in Black [synchronicity #1]). One item that stuck out in my mind for no particular reason was the story of Woodrow Derenberger and his 'friend' Indrid Cold.

This was a classic 'conctactee' case. Where Derenberger claims to have meet an ET named Indrid Cold. I'm not going to give the whole story (check out the documentary for that!). But keep Indrid Cold in mind. So this morning before work I was getting some reading of Casebook on the Men in Black and as I was finishing the chapter I was on I turned the page to find the next chapter which was entitled 'Indrid Cold' (Synchronicity #2). But we are not done just yet. This afternoon as I was listening to the latest Radio Mistierioso episode, Greg Bishop had Paul Kimball and Walter Bosley on the show. During the second half of the show, Paul and Walter really got going on a weird synchronicity kick. As they were going through all of the different synchronistic events that had occurred to them, Walter Bosley brought up how the #9 had some mystical connotations to it. My final synchronicity of the day? The chapter that I was starting that was entitled 'Indrid Cold' ….. was chapter 9.

News follow up

I related in last nights early post, that after weeks of procrastinating I was finally able to complete the article that I will be submitting to a UFO magazine (to be named once confirmation has been received that the article is being published for sure). For many reasons I had put off completing the article, some legitimate others not so much. Either way yesterday around 2 in the afternoon I had finally completed the damn thing. Once it was done I wanted someone to read over it, you know to make sure that I didn't sound like a complete imbecile (which is something I suspect when or if I ever re-read previous posts here at Forteania or my column Fortean Ramblings over at Binnall of America).

My girlfriend, who is my unofficial editor, was at work so that ruled her out. My brother has an extremely bizarre sleep schedule and likely wouldn't be awake for another few hours and I really wanted to get the rough draft sent in the event that the magazine editor decided that they no longer wanted to use my article. Then I thought about a friend of mine who is very supportive in all of my writing exploits (he even listened to every episode of my very short lived podcast I did with another friend). I texted him to see if he too was at work or at home. His response was that he would be out of town for the remainder of the day. At this point I was so desperate for anyone to read my article that I actually contemplated running out into the streets and flagging down cars just to have someone read the damn thing.

Luckily for me it is unbearably hot outside right now where I live, so that option never left the planning stages. Instead I thought, 'Fuck it I will just send the article anyway'. Kind of a lay it all on the line scenario. Plus I had already decided that if, for whatever reason, the magazine didn't want the article I would just sell it to another magazine. So with all of this in mind I emailed the editor my rough draft of the article and spent the rest of the day not thinking about the email at all.....




I wish. As soon as I sent the email, I immediately regretted the decision and wanted to call it back. Unfortunately I'm unaware of any way to So the rest of the afternoon was spent with me secretly checking my phone for an email response. Even though I knew it was unlikely that he would have gotten back to me so quickly. I managed to more or less go about a normal daily routine. Posted up a couple of things up here, watched a movie or two, and read some more of Wake Up Down There: The Excluded Middle Anthology. Finally I went to bed pretty late. When I woke up just a few short hours later (I have a terrible sleep cycle, if I'm lucky I will get 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night) and there was an email waiting for me on the phone.

I checked and, as you could probably guess, it was from the magazine editor. With much trepidation I slowly opened the email, took a deep breath and slowly began to scan the message. Immediately I breathed a huge sigh of relief, he liked the article a lot and thought it was really good. I was ecstatic. Now the only thing that stands between me and being a published writer are a few illustrations that my girlfriend (remember she is also my editor) is working on for the article. Once she has these completed, I will send everything to the editor and hopefully not too long after you will be able to pick up a magazine from the newsstands that has an article written by yours truly.


OK well thats all for now readers, I will return in a little while with some more posting (and likely more photos, because photos are fun). Until then remember “Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you”

I'm not the only one ..... right?

Among the many consequences of being a Closet Anomalist is that you often don't get a chance to talk with others about how they feel about strange or Fortean things. Many times since becoming fascinated by these kinds of topics I have wondered, 'Am I the only one who is interested in these topics?' I know logically I can't be. Just look at the proliferation of 'ghost hunting' TV shows. Clearly some TV executives somewhere are green lighting these programs because they know the shows will be profitable. I'm talking more about on an interpersonal level. You know day-to-day life.

I sit around in public places, either on my net book at conspiracy/paranormal websites or reading paranormal books, and watch other people around me and wonder; 'Have they ever seen a ghost? A UFO? Been to a séance?' For some reason I believe that a lot of others in the paranormal/conspiracy field (at least those that aren't prolific in some way, like Nick Redfern, Paul Kimball, or Greg Bishop. These are all guys who are at least fairly well known within the field) feel the same way as I do, in that they keep it as a dark secret. This can definitely lead to the feelings of superiority that some give off, especially in the Conspiracy Theory arena. You know that whole 'I know the Truth about Fluoride in the water and/or the Illuminati', but it also exists to a degree within the UFO field especially.

I realize that the best way to get over this would be to begin to ask my close friends these kinds of questions. For whatever reason though, I can't seem to make it over that hurdle. It would be nice to know that others have at least entertained these thoughts. Before I began listening to podcasts, like Tim Binnall's Binnall of America or Greg Bishop's Radio Misteriso, or really before I ever got on the Internet, I really did think I was the only one thinking about these topics. I realize now that a whole lot of people are fascinated by these topics, and for good reasons. If any of these things are true or happening they could radically change how we perceive reality.

I think I will begin to make baby steps in the direction of being more open about this aspect of my personality. I don't mean that I will make up business cards that say “Tony Morrill Fortean Philosopher” or anything like that (unless of course I could get a good deal on some). But you know it would be cool to get other's perspectives on these topics. That's definitely one of the reason's I have but also it's given me a chance to talk to people I may not have been able to talk to before. Not because I didn't think they would have answered, but that I have gotten more confidence from doing this blog. As a matter of fact I commented to my girlfriend last night that it was a lot easier to get involved in this Ufological 'field' than I had thought.

Well that's all I have for now, I was supposed to be doing my homework and studying for a test. But I had to get this out for the time being, don't worry there will be another post at the regularly scheduled posting time. Until then behave yourselves Internet. Hopefully by tonight I will be able to report that I will have at least talked to one person about UFOs. Wish me luck!

Back from the dead?

So its been a long time since I have posted anything here. I doubt I even have anyone reading it, but I figured what the hell. In between my column Fortean Ramblings which you can find over at Binnall of America, and my always hilarious tweets (check the side bar to follow me on twitter) I will be posting random assortments of Fortean junk on here. Also I am going to re-release my earlier posts in cleaned up formats so that hopefully they can be given a second chance at being read by someone. Till the next post (in the next few minutes) This is Tony saying take it easy bitches.