fortean

What it means

1. A follower or admirer of Charles Fort.

   1 more example

   Stories about alligators in the sewers have been of particular interest, however, to Forteans (followers of Charles Fort). Forteans contend that many happenings derided by the official science of the Western world (falls of frogs from clear skies, the appearance of lake monsters, mystery beasts and so on) are genuine occurrences.

   1996, Loren Coleman, “Alligators in the Sewers”, in Gillian Bennett, Paul Smith, editors, Contemporary Legend: A Reader (New Perspectives in Folklore; 4; Garland Reference Library of the Humanities; 1718), New York, N.Y.; London: Garland Publishing, →ISBN, page 153

2. One who investigates anomalous phenomena.

   Morandir [Armson] is also a traveller, a food blogger, a scholar of the occult, an amateur cook, a martial artist, an enthusiastic Fortean, and a transplant recipient.

   2013, “Contributors”, in Alex Norman, editor, Journeys and Destinations: Studies in Travel, Identity, and Meaning, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 287

   1 more example

   Not long afterwards, Fortean writer Paul Harris contacted me concerning this putative sea serpent, kindly supplying me with a couple of newspaper cuttings […] that contained photos of its remains, plus various additional details that he had gathered during his own investigation of this case.

   2003, Karl P. N. Shuker, “Bring Me the Head of the Sea Serpent!”, in The Beasts that Hide from Man: Seeking the World’s Last Undiscovered Animals, New York, N.Y.: Paraview Press, →ISBN, page 244

In a sentence

Stories about alligators in the sewers have been of particular interest, however, to Forteans (followers of Charles Fort). Forteans contend that many happenings derided by the official science of the Western world (falls of frogs from clear skies, the appearance of lake monsters, mystery beasts and so on) are genuine occurrences.

1996, Loren Coleman, “Alligators in the Sewers”, in Gillian Bennett, Paul Smith, editors, Contemporary Legend: A Reader (New Perspectives in Folklore; 4; Garland Reference Library of the Humanities; 1718), New York, N.Y.; London: Garland Publishing, →ISBN, page 153

Where it comes from

From Fort + -ean, named after Charles Hoy Fort (1874–1932), an American writer and investigator of anomalous phenomena. The word was coined by American journalist Ben Hecht (1894–1964) in a review of Fort’s book The Book of the Damned (1919) in the Chicago Daily News in 1920.