Charles Fort, Father of Modern Paranormalism
As far as Charles Fort was concerned, he was just going to the library to do research. When he began collecting newspaper clippings, stories, and other evidence of unexplained phenomenon, he had no idea that he’d eventually become known as the father of modern paranormalism.
Fort spent much of his adult life in libraries in New York and London, taking notes and gathering clippings on anomalous occurrences around the world. He was interested in alien abductions, psychics, spontaneous combustion and anything else that science couldn’t explain. He took these findings and condensed them into four books over the course of his lifetime: Book of the Damned, New Lands, Lo! and Wild Talents. It was Fort’s opinion that scientists often formulated theories and explanations based on their own personal biases instead of looking at the facts at hand. Fort collected evidence of the paranormal in an attempt to prove that unexplained phenomena did in fact exist, despite scientists’ assertions to the contrary.
In praise of Charles Fort’s expansive paranormal research, his friend Tiffany Thayer started the Fortean Society in 1931 to promote his work. After Thayer’s death, the International Fortean Organization was established, and the Fortean Times was founded. These organizations base their work on Fort’s theory that, “The fate of all explanation is to close one door only to have another fly wide open.” Read the full post at Paranormal Insider
