What should we rename "Fortean phenomena"?

Mick West

Mick West

Administrator
Staff member
"Fortean phenomena" is probably not that meaningful a title to most people. I'd like to rename it so people understand what it is. Something like:

  1. Aliens and Paranormal
  2. UFOs and The Unexplained
  3. Weird Stuff
  4. Aliens, UFOs, and the Paranormal
Any suggestions?
 
First vote is for 1 with 2 coming in close behind. Weird stuff is too broad and the last seems a bit redundant because UFO and Aliens fall in the same category.
 
what about bigfoot, cupacabra and Nessie? they aren't paranormal either. "The X files: UFOs and other such stuff" ?
 
don't you have enough room to put "Fortean Phenomenon: Aliens, Paranormal, (creatures) etc.

so people can learn the term fortean at the same time?
 
Josh Heuer said:
Shouldn't "UFO's" technically have a spot in the Skydentify section anyway?
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's a little overlap. But Skydentify for looking at very specific cases. It covers contrails as well, which are also discussed in the Contrails/Chemtrails forum.

I'm thinking about a tag system, so people can discover groups of content in various ways - not just within the label of a particular forum.

For example, you might want to see all the experiments that people have done, but they are spread across multiple forums (Like: burning snow, building a model of the WTC, crushing cans, making astrolobe, etc).
 
deirdre said:
what about bigfoot, cupacabra and Nessie? they aren't paranormal either.
Click to expand...
"Aliens, monsters and the paranormal"?

or perhaps "Anomalous Phenomena" as thats what the field pioneered by Charles Fort was called before his followers started calling themselves Forteans, though it isn't very descriptive.
 
On the main forums page, could it be made to show the names of the sub forums without having to hover over the icon to see them? Leave the Fortean as the main title but have sub forums for Aliens, Monsters and such.

Example from a game forum I use. The sub forums for each profession are visible.
3457654.jpg
 
Soulfly said:
On the main forums page, could it be made to show the names of the sub forums without having to hover over the icon to see them? Leave the Fortean as the main title but have sub forums for Aliens, Monsters and such.

Example from a game forum I use. The sub forums for each profession are visible.
View attachment 8282
Click to expand...

I had it like that once, but the Xenforo display of sub-forums is not as nice at Vbulletin. I'll see if this has changed.

I've also added a "tags", which may remove some of the need for sub-forums (especially in the less well travelled forums)
 
deirdre said:
i don't know what anomalous phenomena means. doesn't sound like ghosts or monsters. just sounds like ESP and Northern lights type stuff.
Click to expand...

External Quote:

Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Forteanand Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.
It's just a more standard version of describing Fortean phenomena. Anomalous - anomaly. Something out of the ordinary. Like I said, pretty much covers all of what is being looked at. Can't really get much more succinct, without actually using the term 'Fortean'
 
Josh Heuer said:
External Quote:

Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Forteanand Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.
It's just a more standard version of describing Fortean phenomena. Anomalous - anomaly. Something out of the ordinary. Like I said, pretty much covers all of what is being looked at. Can't really get much more succinct, without actually using the term 'Fortean'
Click to expand...
thanks. was wondering who made ups such a weird word like Fortean. thought it was a star trek thing or something.

edit. yea not sure ghosty people really think of them as anomalies. I like AMP.
 
deirdre said:
thanks. was wondering who made ups such a weird word like Fortean. thought it was a star trek thing or something.
Click to expand...
Haha, I'm pretty sure a certain few people here would have been all over it, cracking jokes and making references that us non-Trekkies (or is it Trekkers? Or what?) would have been lost on.
 
Soulfly said:
Debunking specific claims of evidence should take place in forums with specific name titles.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the question is HOW specific. We don't need Fortean -> Cryptozoology -> Cryptid Hominid -> Bigfoot.

I'm thinking the tags will be more useful there.
 
Mick West said:
Yeah, but the question is HOW specific. We don't need Fortean -> Cryptozoology -> Cryptid Hominid -> Bigfoot.

I'm thinking the tags will be more useful there.
Click to expand...
Works for new posts, old ones wont have tags unless you go back and tag them. Sub-forums, you could just search thread titles and then just move them into that forum. A lot easier than trying to tag old threads. Don't need a sub-forum for every different topic. Just more specific name(s).
 
Or just 'Anomalistics.' It's what Charles Fort was into, and where Fortean was from.

External Quote:
Anomalistics is the use of scientific methods to evaluate anomalies (phenomena that fall outside of current understanding), with the aim of finding a rational explanation.[1] The term itself was coined in 1973 by Drew Universityanthropologist Roger W. Wescott, who defined it as being "...serious and systematic study of all phenomena that fail to fit the picture of reality provided for us by common sense or by the established sciences."[2][3]
I mean, aliens, ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, telekinesis, quantum hoo-ha, they all fit in this category. It's broad but straight to the point.
 
Josh Heuer said:
Or just 'Anomalistics.' It's what Charles Fort was into, and where Fortean was from.

External Quote:
Anomalistics is the use of scientific methods to evaluate anomalies (phenomena that fall outside of current understanding), with the aim of finding a rational explanation.[1] The term itself was coined in 1973 by Drew Universityanthropologist Roger W. Wescott, who defined it as being "...serious and systematic study of all phenomena that fail to fit the picture of reality provided for us by common sense or by the established sciences."[2][3]
I mean, aliens, ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, telekinesis, quantum hoo-ha, they all fit in this category. It's broad but straight to the point.
Click to expand...
Anomalistics sounds like a band that has a bag pipe player.
 
Josh Heuer said:
Haha, I'm pretty sure a certain few people here would have been all over it, cracking jokes and making references that us non-Trekkies (or is it Trekkers? Or what?) would have been lost on.
Click to expand...
maybe they have. and we just don't know. still cant figure out what that dolphin clip @WeedWhacker keeps posting has to do with anything. : )
 
I favor something like UFOs, Cryptids and the Paranormal. Listing UFOs and aliens seems redundant.
 
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