Fortean Times, named after maverick American writer Charles Fort, is one of the world’s most individual and best loved magazines. For over 35 years FT has been chronicling the stranger side of life, delivering a heady mix of weird world news, up-to-date reports and features on every aspect of the unexplained: myths, monsters, ghosts and UFOs rub shoulders with ancient wonders and future science, while expert columnists bring you the latest on everything from cryptozoology to conspiracy theory. Open-minded, well informed and maintaining a healthy sense of humour, FT is the only place to go for a sensible look at our mad planet – it will change the way you see the world.
Fortean Times
EDITORIAL
WHERE'S WALLY? • Wandering walrus embarks on European summer tour, complete with merch
EXTRA! EXTRA! • FT’S FAVOURITE HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
THE VINLANDMAP • Controversial chart is finally revealed as a deliberate fake
THE CIRCLE GAME
GHOST PHOTOS • Girls’ nights in and out yield a spectre at the feast and an incorporeal penis
IGNOBELS 2021 • Upside down rhinos, defensive beards and fat, corrupt politicians…
UNSETTLING TOYS • Need to find a new home for a creepy doll? Help is at hand…
CLASSICAL CORNER • FORTEANA FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD COMPILED BY BARRY BALDWIN
ARCHÆOLOGY • PAUL SIEVEKING looks at new evidence of ancient humans, giant monsters and Neanderthal art
Beyond the g factor • DAVID HAMBLING looks at our current understanding of intelligence… and what the future may hold
Scott and the supernatural • ALAN MURDIE explores Sir Walter Scott’s Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
THE CONSPIRASPHERE • Why is it that some denizens of the Conspirasphere have to ruin a perfectly good conspiracy theory by resorting to anti-Semitism, asks NOEL ROONEY
SATAN PLACE • Washington exorcist fights tech-savvy demons, Spanish bishop possessed by love, and the Satanic Temple’s ‘sacramental’ abortions
ALIEN ZOO • KARL SHUKER mourns two major figures in cryptozoology who were both longstanding friends
MONKEY BUSINESS • Hungry monkeys run riot, female macaque breaks the glass ceiling, and a strange legend from Kesey country
FORTEAN FOLLOW-UPS • Hero rat retires, killer historian sentenced, and the US grapples with Havana Syndrome
STRANGE CONTINENT • ULRICH MAGIN rounds up the latest weirdness from Europe, including a summer of extreme weather
NECROLOG • This month, we salute Avebury’s Arch Druid and Keeper of the Stones and wave goodbye to a longstanding promoter of ufology’s wilder shores
FAIRIES, FOLKLORE AND FORTEANA • SIMON YOUNG FILES A NEW REPORT FROM THE INTERFACE OF STRANGE PHENOMENA AND FOLK BELIEF
Seeing and believing • NIGEL WATSON surveys the latest sightings and ufological news from around the world
The eye of the beholder • JENNY RANDLES suggests that “seeing” a UFO is about being in the wrong place at the right time
THE SHORTENING OF THE WAY • With a new Dune movie in cinemas and a TV series in the offing, BOB RICKARD dons his still-suit and probes the origin of Frank Herbert’s protagonists – the Kwisatz Haderech – and their mysterious ability to transcend space and time.
ARTHUR C CLARKE’S MYSTERIOUS WORLD • Just over 40 years ago, unsuspecting ITV viewers were taken on a sometimes terrifying tour of the planet’s anomalies – from “the missing apeman” to “the Skull of Doom”. RYAN SHIRLOW hits the rewind button and reappraises a classic of fortean television.
SCARY STORIES FROM SCUNTHORPE • ROB GANDY continues his exploration of Lincolnshire weirdness, heading to the north of the county and the steel town of Scunthorpe, where he finds that this centre of modern industry is a...