Fortean Picture Library
of Mysteries and Strange Phenomena
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T
he Fortean Picture Library takes its name from Charles Fort (1875-1932), the avid collector of data on strange phenomena, and FPL has followed his lead in amassing thousands of images that document the weirder side of life. The archive was created in 1978 by Janet and Colin Bord, who are also well-known for their numerous published books on mysteries, such as Mysterious Britain, Alien Animals, Bigfoot Casebook, Modern mysteries of the World.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
Ghosts, Spirits, and Psychic Research The collection contains a large number of photographs showing what appear to be ghosts, taken in circumstances where the photographer saw nothing strange. Some are over 100 years old, but many are recent, and they include photographs of ghost animals. Faked ghost photographs are also available, and famous and spooky haunted sites are represented, including ‘the most haunted house in England’, Borley Rectory. Poltergeist phenomena have also been captured on film: most poltergeist pictures show the damage caused, such as furniture thrown around a room, garments and furnishings cut and burned, messages written on walls. The late 19th century Spiritualism craze was documented by early photographers, including famous mediums holding séances where they levitated tables and materialised spirits out of ectoplasm. In addition, the collection covers 20th century psychic research into such skills as telepathy, extra sensory perception, psychokinesis, and metal bending, including photographs of Zener cards and Gansfeld experiments.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
Monsters and Mystery Animals In past centuries when large parts of the world were still unexplored, travellers’ tales of amazing animals were spread around, and beasts like the dragon and unicorn were thought to be real. Other mythical creatures, like the roc, harpy, and phoenix, are depicted in the collection; also phantom black dogs, werewolves and mermaids. Today, mystery animals are still reported worldwide, and studied by cryptozoologists, and the archive contains full coverage (in photographs and paintings) of unproven creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, sea serpents, Bigfoot/Sasquatch and Yeti and other man-beasts, Mokele-Mbembe (the prehistoric survival from the African Congo), Mothman, the Mongolian death-worm, and the ‘goat-sucker’ Chupacabras – and not forgetting the mystery big cats seen in many parts of Britain.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
Witchcraft and Magic Early witchcraft in Britain was well documented in engravings which cover all aspects of witchcraft practices including casting spells, flying to the Sabbat, meeting the Devil, covens, familiars, the Witchfinder General, torture and death. The Wiccan tradition still flourishes at the present time, and the collection includes photographs of modern witches at work. Other magical practices worldwide, such as voodoo and shamanism, alchemy, astrology and fortune-telling, are also included. Ritual magic has been practised for centuries and is well documented in engravings: coverage includes John Dee and Aleister Crowley, together with magicians at work, magical symbols, the Devil and demons.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
UFOs, Aliens and Other Worlds The age of flying saucers or UFOs began in the 1940s and the collection includes full coverage of the early years through the 1950s and 1960s, as well as some more recent images. There are very many photographs showing UFOs, as well as photographs of natural phenomena which could explain some sightings (e.g. cloud formations) and proven hoaxes. The personalities of ufology are well represented – researchers, witnesses, abductees, contactees. There are drawings of aliens, and a few photographs (though not many photographs of aliens exist!). Famous events like the alleged Roswell UFO crash of 1947 are fully documented. Early magazine and book covers portray the wilder side of ufology. Early astronomy and astronomical anomalies are also represented in the collection.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
Unsolved Mysteries Many weird and wonderful mysteries come within the coverage of Fortean Picture Library and among those not so far mentioned in this guide are: crop circles – fairies and other non-human beings – vampires – angels – toads in stone – falls of unexpected objects such as frogs and fish from the sky – ball lightning and other mystery lights – religious phenomena such as stigmata, visions, preserved bodies of saints, weeping and bleeding images, possession and exorcism – outof-body experiences – levitation – thoughtography – psychic healing and psychic surgery.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
Landscape Mysteries, Folklore and Legend Ancient man created enigmatic structures which today resonate with an aura of mystery – standing stones, burial chambers, hillforts, etc. Other landscape mysteries include hill figures (Uffington white horse, Cerne Abbas giant, etc), mazes, holy wells. Myths, legends and folklore people the British and Irish landscapes with giants, dragons, and heroes such as King Arthur, all included in our coverage. Other themes are Druids ancient and modern - dowsing – ley-lines – traditional customs (May Day, etc) – green man carvings – historic churches. Mystery sites outside Britain and Ireland are also represented, such as Egyptian pyramids, Easter Island statues, Mexican and South American sites, Brittany, India and various locations further east – and not forgetting the lost land of Atlantis.
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
The Fortean Picture Library List of Categories Abductions
Brittany
Death
Freaks
Abominable Snowman
Brochs
Demons
Freemasonry
Alchemy
Buddhism
The Devil and Devil-sites
Bullauns
Dolmens
Burial chambers
Dowsing
Ganzfeld
Dragons Cairns
Druids
Carnac Carvings and pictograms Castles Cattle mutilation Cats (British mystery, winged, and cat-lore) Alignments Aliens Altars Amulets and charms Ancient astronauts Angels
Caves Celtic sites and crosses Cerne Abbas giant
Ghosts
Chambered tombs
Giants
Chapels Charms and amulets
Apports
Earthlights Earthworks Easter Island statues
Archaeological enigmas
Ectoplasm
Arthurian legend
Excavations
Astrology
Exhibitionist carvings
Atlantis
Exorcism ‘Extinct’ animals Faces, mystery Fairies and dwarves Falls from the sky
Automatic writing, music
Fertility
and art
Fire-walking
Ball lightning Bermuda Triangle Bigfoot Bimini road Birds, giant Black dogs Bleeding images Blood mysteries Borley Rectory Brahan Seer
Chupacabras Churches Clairvoyance
Folklore Footprints Fortune-telling
Glastonbury God and gods Graffiti Graves and gravestones Green men Hadrian’s Wall Haunted places Heads Healing Heaven and Hell Herbalism Heroes Hill figures Hillforts Hoaxes Holed stones Holy wells
Crop circles
Horned men
Crosses
Horoscopes
Cryptozoology
Horseshoes
Crypts
Human magnetism
Cup and ring marks Cursing stones
Incorruption
Customs
Inscriptions
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
Jersey Devil
Mythology
Saints
Tintagel Castle
Saxon crosses and
Toad/frog in stone
Nazca Lines
churches
Tombstones
King Arthur
Newgrange
Sea monsters
Trackways
Kirlian photography
Nostradamus
Self-mutilation
Traditions
Shamanism
Trees: bleeding/
Ogham stones
Sheila-na-gigs
decorated/healing
Labyrinths
Out-of-body experiences
Shrines
Tumuli
Lake monsters
Out-of-place animals
Silbury Hill
Tunguska
Simulacra
Turin Shroud
Joseph of Arimathea
Knights Templar
Legends Palmistry Pictish symbol stones Pilgrimages PK experiments Poltergeists Prophets and prophecy Psychic archaeology Psychic art Psychic research Psychic surgery
Levitation
Psychometry
Ley-lines
Pyramids
Loch Ness Monster Lost lands
Skulls Sleep phenomena Sorrat Pk experiments Souterrains Spirals
Magic
Spirit photography
Magnetic hills
Spiritualism
Maiden Castle
Spontaneous human
Man-beasts
combustion
Materialisations
Standing stones
Mazes
Stigmata
Mediums
Stone circles
Merlin
Stonehenge
Mermaids
Rat-kings
Sunrise and sunset
Metal-bending
Relics, religious
Swastikas
Meteorological phenomena
Religious phenomena
Symbols
Miracles
Ringing rocks
Mokele-mbembe Monsters Mothman
Rituals
Telepathy
Robin Hood
Thoughtography
Uffington white horse UFOs Unicorns Vampires Virgin Mary Visions, religious Voodoo Vortex Water Weeping images Werewolves
Rollright Stones
Witchcraft (past and
Roman sites
present)
Roswell UFO crash
Witch-doctors
Round towers
Woodwoses
Rune stones Thylacine
Zener cards
The Fortean Picture Library available at TopFoto.co.uk
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