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Posted: 10-02-2005 17:01 Post subject: Forteana found in the mundane

I thought there should be a place for the little bits of oddness you find in otherwise perfectly ordenery (or not so ordenery) books.

I'll begin shall I?

From Stewert Christie's autobiography 'Graan Made me an Anarchist' comes these little gems:

Posted: 10-02-2005 19:02 Post subject: Re: odd paragraphs

Posted: 11-02-2005 16:56 Post subject:

Aaa! ButI wanted this thread for the little gems of fortean weirdness burried in books Smile

Posted: 12-02-2005 05:00 Post subject:

Of which there are very many!
Sort of like Fortean asides...
Very Happy

Posted: 15-02-2005 19:06 Post subject:

Posted: 15-05-2005 03:54 Post subject: Fortean "Easter Eggs" in Mundane Books

Shirley Jackson's Life Among the Savages (1948) chronicles the adventures of Jackson's urban family after they move into an old farmhouse in New England. On page 27 of the Popular Library edition, out of the blue, Jackson writes of her young daughter: "Jannie spoke for a long time about a faraway voice which sang to her at night."

Martin Caidin, author of Marooned, Cyborg, and numerous books on aviation and war, combine the latter interests in his book Flying Forts: The B-17 in World War II (Ballantine, 1968). Flying Forts is a straight-laced history of the development and history of the B-17 bomber. In his introduction, however, Caidin reprints the notes of a British officer, John V. Crisp, which were sent to the American embassy in Britain and then on to the USA.

It seems that on 23 November 1944, an American B-17 landed roughly in a plowed field outside Brussels, near a British antiaircraft station. No one emerged, and the props continued spinning. "The Troop Commander put through a call to me at my Operations Room at Erps-Querps, near Cortonburg," writes Crisp. "Within twenty minutes I was examining the B-17 . . . The whole craft was devoid of occupants, although evidence of fairly recent occupation was everywhere." (p. 11). Crisp switched off the engines and studied the log; the plane had left Hertfordshire for a bombing run and had been returning when it crash landed. Code-books, flying jackets, and, strangest of all, a dozen parachutes were found in their places. The plane was undamaged except for the port wing, which grazed the earth upon landing. Attempts were made to locate the crew through assignments and identification numbers. "They have never been found," Caidin finishes.

What I'm getting at with these examples is, sometimes very mundane works will spring a strange or Fortean anecdote on the reader. I was wondering what paranormal "Easter Eggs" others have found in books that the average FT reader may be unaware of. I'll have to look up more myself, as well.

Posted: 20-05-2005 11:29 Post subject:

That Stewart Christie frozen-bloke-piloting-frozen-boat thing is unbelievably creepy!

In travel writer Tim Moore's excellent "Frost on my Moustache"*, he describes a trip to Spitzbergen, following in the footsteps of Victorian explorer Lord Dufferin. He passes through Iceland, and, having an Icelandic wife, ruminates on previous trips. On one of them, he and his companion pass a valley in which a man is herding ponies. Only the man is 20 feet tall. I had to read that bit three or four times, it was so unexpected.
There are also a couple of mentions of general Icelandic folklore and such - sadly I can't quote directly from the book, because some bugger's borrowed it and never given it back.

*the rest of the joke to go with that punchline, can, coincidentally be found on the "tell us a joke" thread.

Posted: 20-05-2005 15:03 Post subject:

I'm not sure this entirely counts as The Shadow Guests by Joan Aiken can't really be described as mundane but there is a lovely little aside in that book which isn't really anything to do with the story. Our hero who is staying at his aunts house, stays up overnight to view a ghostly coach and six that appears under certain conditions. Which it does. The description of the coach and six is so lovely I have pined after seeing one ever since. Smile

Posted: 24-09-2013 11:13 Post subject:

Here is a transcript of the Casanova's sighting of a UFO-like object that followed him in the night from 31 August to 1st September 1743, that I had mentioned in the FT 300 thread.
Note : Casanova was then 18 years old, and was planning an ecclesiastic career. Things would change...
As far as I know (I can refer only to a French version), the translation is accurate.

http://www.perceptions.couk.com/casanova-sighting.txt