Fortean Times

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

NIGHTCLUB NEEDLE PANIC • Fearful clubbers report being injected with drugs and blacking out

EXTRA! EXTRA! • FT’S FAVOURITE HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

GENDER REVEAL FAILS • Boy, girl… or trail of death and disaster?

SIDELINES…

THE SCRYING GAME • The Mexican origin of Dr Dee’s magic mirror revealed

WORKING UP A SWEAT • Exploring Ireland’s 17th century stone saunas

ANOTHER RAT KING • Entangled Estonian rodents found stuck in a henhouse

ARCHÆOLOGY • PAUL SIEVEKING unearths the latest finds, including a Bronze Age pendant and an Iron Age idol

Intoxicated elk and drunken jumbos • DAVID HAMBLING raises a festive glass and shares stories of inebriated animals – but are they true?

Phantoms of plague and pestilence • ALAN MURDIE asks how pandemics influence our notions of post-mortem survival

CLASSICAL CORNER • FORTEANA FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD COMPILED BY BARRY BALDWIN

ALIEN ZOO • KARL SHUKER welcomes back Blenheim’s bees, plus a major owl find and a colourful catfish

HELLSTROM CHRONICLES REDUX • Strange tales from the alien world of insects

THE CONSPIRASPHERE • In a global landscape marked by competing narratives, is it any wonder that conspiracism now plays a major role in shaping and controlling them asks NOEL ROONEY.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS? • Moonie splinter church gets tooled up and a German WWII weapons nut gets busted

METEORITE MEDLEY • 2021 has been a good year for meteors and meteorites – although one or two landed a bit too close for comfort

FORTEAN FOLLOW-UPS • Updates on stories from previous issues, including Wally on the move and more creepy toy stories.

FAIRIES, FOLKLORE AND FORTEANA • SIMON YOUNG FILES A NEW REPORT FROM THE INTERFACE OF STRANGE PHENOMENA AND FOLK BELIEF

Ufological data dumps • NIGEL WATSON surveys the latest sightings and ufological news from around the world

Liverpool Echoes • JENNY RANDLES goes back to the future as she considers the importance of ufological contexts

A SHORTHISTORY OF FORTEAN BOARDGAMES • From the Ouijamania that swept 1920s America to the explosion of pop-cultural products featuring everyone from Bigfoot and Nessie to Kreskin and Uri Geller, bizarre board games have a long and fascinating history. PETER LAWS celebrates the fortean Games of Christmas Past.

THE RISE AND FALL OF NESSIE HUNT

URI GELLER ON HIS BOARDGAME, STRIKE!

KRESKIN’S E.S.P.

A BOARDGAME FROM AN ALIEN?

THE STOMACH RULES THE WORLD! • In an extract from his new book on the human body, FRANK GONZALEZ-CRUSSI pays tribute to His Digestive Majesty and explores the history of eccentric and excessive eating.

THE WANDERING STONES OF STREATLEY • In lockdown, with travel restricted, pubs shut and socialising banned, LISA GLEDHILL decided to try to crack a local mystery – where exactly are all the Streatley Sarsen Stones?

GREEN INK • SD TUCKER analyses Colonel Gaddafi’s many inept writings and reveals a strange plan to turn Libya’s deserts...