London Fortean Society

29 September 7.30pm - 10.30pm The first London Fortean Society meeting. There will be the first Fortmanteau; our monthly summary of strange news. LFS host and Fortean Londoner Scott Wood goes on the hunt for the ‘ Helpful Terrorist’ , a warning, a 9/11 rumour or an urban legend for troubled times?  Main talk (8pm): Chris French  & Robert Brotherton: Conspiracy Minded: The Psychology of Belief in Conspiracy Theories   Conspiracy theories have come to play a prominent role in contemporary culture. It is almost inevitable that any significant event will become the subject of conspiracy theorising, and considerable numbers of people endorse such theories. Although the psychology behind belief in unsubstantiated and implausible conspiracy theories is not yet well understood, social scientists are now beginning to address this important topic. This talk will introduce the topic of conspiracy theories and outline the difficulties that arise when trying to formulate a universal

The London Fortean Society were a brave and happy few standing outside 39a Marchmont Street, a home of Charles Fort's when staying in London, to celebrate the birthday of Charles Fort, the inspiration for the fortean approach to life.  Photo by David V Barrett  There was a reading from the opening paragraphs of  'The Book of the Damned', Fort's first 'fortean' book and then a fall of Fort Fish. The Society then marked the New Yorker's name across his adopted city by visiting 4 pubs, the F riend at Hand, the O ld Crown, the R oyal George and the T ottenham. Despite passing Fort's old reading ground of the British Museum, and a trip into occult bookshop Atlantis Books and quite a lot to drink, nothing fortean took place during our outing. Many thanks to those who came along with LFS founders Scott and David: Rachel Carthy, Lindsey Clarke and John Fraser. The London Fortean Society hope to make this an annual event - all forteans and friends

UFO spotted in Croydon town centre "At first we thought it must be a star, but it was too low. Then I thought that it must be a helicopter, but there were no flashing lights. We could see other planes flying in the sky, but this was different. I was glad my son was with me as he agreed it did not look like an aircraft. The light then emitted a beam into the cloud, which was followed by the light itself. However, the dazzling light then returned and continued to hover." Full story here .

The naïve and the pedantic and the bizarre and the grotesque and the sincere and the insincere, the profound and the puerile. The Book of the Damned From 4pm, 6 August 2011 Meet outside 39A Marchmont Street , Fort’s home in London, with a reading and toast (ale and cheese optional). Followed by a swift drink in his honour: F riend at Hand , 4 Herbrand Street, WC1N 1HX and after a short saunter and for the sure-footed and brave, the opportunity to write his name across London in pubs: O ld Crown , 33 New Oxford Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1BH R oyal George , Goslett Yard, Soho, London, WC2H 0EA T ottenham , 6 Oxford Street, W1D 1AR All forteans and friends welcome. 2010 procession revelry photographed by Nick Granger-Taylor "I am a collector of notes upon subjects that have diversity—such as deviations from concentricity in the lunar crater Copernicus, and a sudden appearance of purple Englishmen—stationary meteor-radiants, and a reported growth of