Increasing what’s imaginable by
The Singular Fortean Society bridges the gap between skepticism and belief. We know the difference between entertaining an idea and accepting it. A singular fortean is someone who strives to separate themselves from dogma in the pursuit of the unknown. We are each of us unique and remarkable, and it is our experiential perspectives that allow us all to add to the base of knowledge through which we gain a deeper understanding of the paranormal.
We think that speculation is good in the name of discovery, and most importantly, we believe that only by coming together and sharing ideas can we begin to take the holistic view of unexplained phenomena necessary to bring its study into the 21st century. Make no mistake, The Singular Fortean Society isn't comprised solely of the people listed on our website under "Singular Investigators"—its membership includes anyone and everyone with an open mind and questing spirit. Hopefully, that means you.
Why Fortean?
The word “fortean” comes from the surname of Charles Fort, an early 20th century collector of weird news stories. Fort would collect tales of anomalous phenomena from all over the world and compile them into volumes in which he would speculate—often tongue-in-cheek—about what might be behind them. We can thank him for such notable contributions to the field as coining the word teleportation, and the idea of a Cosmic Joker being responsible for especially confounding experiences. He’s the godfather of high strangeness and has influenced the study of anomalous phenomena arguably more than any other single individual.
One of Fort’s most famous quotes is “One studies a circle beginning anywhere.” We’ve always taken that to mean that by studying any individual aspect of the paranormal—be it ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, or what-have-you—we can understand something about all of them. That’s why we don’t specialize in any particular area, and why we’re always looking for connections between seemingly disparate phenomena. And, interestingly enough, often finding them.