Innholdsfortegnelse for 457 i Fortean Times

PHANTOM MENACES Welcome to our May issue where, with an eye on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, Brian J Robb examines the largely unsung contribution of the US ‘Ghost Army’, an unlikely cadre of artists and illusionists dedicated to fooling Hitler’s forces in the face of the Allies’ final push to liberate the continent. They were recently recognised with the award of a Gold Congressional Medal (pictured at right). Ghosts of a different sort figure in Rob Gandy’s visit to Shugborough Hall – not to mention goblins and the odd hobbit. Elsewhere, Jan Bondeson takes on the Welsh legend of the Robber’s Grave, Chris Saunders greets the return to British shores of the cuckoo, SD Tucker marks the anniversary of Covid lockdowns and…

ROAD GHOUL A spate of road accidents on Highway 36 in Bennington, Nebraska, have been caused by random objects left in the middle of the road, and after each one the same mystery man has shown up and offered the victims assistance, vanishing before emergency services arrive. Kyle Sorenson said that after his car hit a child’s bike inexplicably lying in the road the man “pulled up behind me saying he was checking to make sure we were okay,” but was then seen pouring oil onto the road before leaving. Police said they had multiple reports of objects in the road, adding: “We have a potential suspect in mind”. Independent.co.uk, 14 Dec 2024. TALKING TURKEY On the first day of the spring turkey hunting season in Oklahoma, a man from…

The world’s largest labyrinth has opened to the public (admission is free) on a site near Colliford Lake on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Fifty six metres (184ft) in diameter, the Kerdroya Cornish hedge labyrinth has taken five years to create and showcases artisan dry stone walling topped with turf, or hedging as it is known locally, from across Cornwall. It has been created as an “enduring legacy” to Cornish hedging by cultural entrepreneur Will Coleman, who claims it could last for 4,000 years. The labyrinth includes sections made from Bodmin Moor granite, serpentine stone from the Lizard, and West Penwith stone, with a centrepiece that is a miniature representation of the labyrinth itself, made of steel and copper, on a round plinth of solid granite. cornwalllive.com, 10 Mar 2025.…

CAT SHAVER MYSTERY [FT414:4-5, 430:24, 437:25, 445:22] Following outbreaks of cat shaving in the Medway towns, Coventry, Lambourn and various other locations around the country, the South Holland area of Lincolnshire has become the new epicentre of the phenomenon, with cats in the villages of Pinchbeck and Kirton returning home with small patches neatly shaved out of their fur. Police spokesperson Matthew Dickinson said the cats did not appear physically harmed, but small areas of their fur had been shaved “by some form of hair clippers”. Elouise Evans from Pinchbeck said her cat Dolly had been targeted three times, having the fur on her belly, back and right leg clipped. “It’s really upsetting if I’m honest – it’s one of those things that can induce such anxiety in them,” she…

LAST LADIES OF THE LAKE So, you want to live forever? Follow these instructions carefully. Bring warm clothes, a good pair of boots and plenty of Kendal Mint Cake. Then head out to Kinder Scout in Derbyshire on Easter Eve and walk for the heights. Reach the small tarn below the summit before midnight. Consume the Kendal Mint Cake. Then, stand quietly and wait until distant bells chime. If the wind’s not too wild and the Moon doesn’t hide her face, you may glimpse a figure bathing in the water. See her, they say, and you’ll never die. This elusive woman haunts once annually a moorland pool just below Kinder Scout. Though known today as Mermaid’s Pool, its folklore is confused: our 19th-century records are hopelessly tangled. Summed together, we…

In the latter stages of World War II a new Allied offensive was launched by a unique US Army unit prior to D-Day. Officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, this squad’s leadership was not made up of regular fighting men. Instead, the US Army recruited art school students, professional artists, advertising executives, scenic designers, comic book creators, and even magicians – anyone skilled in deception or propaganda. This elite unit was known colloquially as the ‘Ghost Army’, and its existence was a secret for five decades after the end of the war. The American Ghost Army initiative drew its inspiration from an earlier British-led action known as Operation Bertram. In 1942, the Allied forces – led by Field Marshal Montgomery – pioneered the art of battlefield deception. The…

Low in the churchyard, greenand fair, where leaves and blossoms waveIs shown a strip of barrenearth, ‘tis called the ‘Robber’sGrave’From other graves it liesremote, no turfy mound is near;No letter’d stone is there to tellthe sadly-closed career. Old Poet The peaceful old town of Mongomery, Powys, is situated in the Welsh Marches. Its main historical claims to fame are the signature of the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267, and the sackings of the town by Owain Glyndwr and later by English parliamentary forces. As the county town of the old county of Montgomeryshire, it flourished for some time, with its historic 13th century church and its long since ruined castle. As indicated by the Edwardian postcard reproduced here, the main fortean attraction in Montgomery is a grave in the parish…

Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age Dir Adrian Munsey, UK 2025 Sky Arts Flying saucers were very much the product of the atomic age. The contactees said they came here to stop us from destroying our world and the Universe beyond with our new-fangled weapons, while scientifically inclined ufologists often thought these craft were atomic-powered and had harnessed this energy for good rather than evil. Our own British Rail even patented a nuclear fusion flying saucer in 1973! It helps to understand the wider cultural context of these reports and stories, and OdysseyTelevision’s four-part documentary series Wonderland is a great introduction to the influence of science fiction on all forms of media. Episode 1, “Mary Shelley to Isaac Asimov”, considers the importance of early science fiction and how it…

CONTACT US BY POST: PO BOX 1200, WHITSTABLE CT1 9RH, OR E-MAIL SIEVEKING@FORTEANTIMES.COM PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS The Green Children of Woolpit I would like to congratulate John Clark on his excellent article on the famous Green Children [FT455:38-43]. I was also pleased to see he had given my own research, detailed in Fortean Studies 4, a fair hearing. The suggestion of the Jewish identity and cause of the green skin coloration being favism I found particularly interesting. However, the translation of Ralph of Coggeshall that I had used referred only to a green tinge to the children’s skin, which could still be the usually suggested chlorosis. Other historical references exist to green skin, notably in a letter by Sidonius back in the fifth century to the…

One of DonaldTrump’s campaign promises was to release all the documents on the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother Robert, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, on “Day One” of his second presidency. All three deaths have been shrouded in conspiracy theories and allegations of state cover-up – one 2022 survey found that only 38 per cent of Americans believed the official story that JFK was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone – and campaigners on all three deaths have long urged the Government to come clean. This proved to be one of the occasions whenTrump was telling the absolute truth: on 23 January he signed Executive Order 14176 authorising all documents on the three assassinations to be released in unredacted form. This was not the…

GOBLINS AGAIN In Zimbabwe, the goblin panic (FT444:4-5, 448:22) continues. Three families in the Bulawayo suburb of St Peters claim to have been besieged by goblins that behave in a poltergeist-like manner and repeatedly pelt their houses with stones, often smashing windows. As a result, two of the three families have fled. Lister Tshuma, the landlord of Xolani Mlalazi, whose family is one of those who has abandoned their property, described what had happened: “Recently, while we were having supper, our tenants burst into our living room, screaming that they were being stoned. They told us that one of the doors had been flung open and stones rained into the room, forcing them to flee.” She explained that: “The tenants joined forces with my daughter and other community members to…

A TREE-MENDOUS TANZANIAN DISCOVERY As a cryptozoologist rather than a cryptobotanist (or cryptophytologist, an alternative term for mystery plant seekers coined several decades ago by Bernard Heuvelmans, but which never seemed to catch on), I don’t often document newly-discovered plant species, unless they are truly spectacular – which this example certainly is, so here is its story. The rainforests of eastern Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains are home to many rare, endemic species, some of which have remained unknown to science until recent years. Having said that, none of them are anywhere near as visible as the species reported here, on account of its enormous size, which would make its exceedingly belated scientific discovery difficult to understand, were it not for how inaccessible and therefore littlevisited these mountains are. In 2019, however,…

290: TEDDY AND THE BEAR The myth US President Theodore (‘Teddy’) Roosevelt spared a bear cub during a hunt, and that’s how teddy bears were invented… The “truth” It’s almost true – except for that word “spared”. In 1902, President Roosevelt, a keen killer of inedible animals, was taking part in a bear hunt in Mississippi. Almost all other details after that are disputed between different versions, but it went something along these lines: Teddy failed to bag a bear, so some of his courtiers tethered a captured specimen to a tree and went to fetch the President. They invited him to shoot it; he declined, saying that to do so would be unsporting and dishonourable. In the story that spread around the world in the following weeks, the bear…

NEW SCIENCE The New Science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP) is a study of scientific research on UFOs around the world by more than 30 authors, scientists and researchers led by Professor Kevin Knuth, Department of Physics, University at Albany. It aims to “clarify the existing global and historical scientific narrative around UAP” with an emphasis on initiatives outside the United States. In this 164-page-long work, the authors intend to “enable future studies to draw on the great depth of experience documented to date”. There is a large section on studies carried out in the US since 1947, followed by briefer surveys of research in Russia, China, France and Canada. Field studies like those conducted by Project Hessdalen at Hessdalen in Norway since 1984, and SETI projects are also included.…

An earlier Allied military deception unit that pre-dated the prolific Ghost Army took part in various activities under Operation Fortitude – an overall deception and propaganda strategy that aimed to throw the Axis forces off balance over the planned Allied invasion of Europe in spring 1944. A trio of deception units were involved: Ops (B), R Force, and A Force. Ops (B) was established in the UK in 1943 under the command of Colonel John Jervis-Read and used its very limited resources to deploy various attempts at physical deception and the running of double agents who provided intelligence. Their attempt to convince German forces of imminent invasions in France and Norway did not succeed, offering an example of rare failure in the field of Allied military deception. There was no…

Shugborough Hall is a National Trust country house located in Milford, six miles east of Stafford on the A513.1 Originally there was a moated mediæval palace here belonging to the bishops of Lichfield, but this was bought by a successful lawyer named William Anson in 1624, who adapted the palace ruins to create a new manor house. However, in 1693 his grandson (another William) demolished it and replaced it with a modest three-storey country house that forms the core of the current building. It was enlarged from 1745 into an impressive Georgian mansion by adding a pair of neo-classical pavilions to flank the central block. George Anson, great-grandson of the first William, rose to become First Lord of the Admiralty, and in the 1740s captured a Spanish ship laden with…

If you enjoyed the third season of Wild Crime on Hulu – the one about Mormon-raised serial killer Israel Keyes – you were probably told you “might also like” Daughters of the Cult, a five-episode Hulu true crime series about Ervil LeBaron, “The Mormon Manson”. If you’re hankering for more Mormon mayhem, you could also check out Murder Among the Mormons on Netflix, a recent mini-series about Latter-day Saints Church (LDS) forger and bomber Mark Hofman. Netflix might suggest you next watch Sins of Our Mother, about an apocalyptic Mormon cult. If that doesn’t appeal, how about Under The Banner of Heaven, the story of two detectives investigating a brutal LDS killing? What’s the deal with Mormons and murder, and why are TV streaming services apparently competing to supply us…

The British Isles are replete with mysteries, but in the public consciousness one stands head, neck and humps above the rest. Like the Loch itself, what Nessie lacks in clarity she makes up for in longevity, from early St Columba claims to the modern era of plasticene heads on little submarines. All of this gets only a cursory mention as the BBC weighs in by focusing on the 1960s to 1980s and applying – as all good investigations should – social sciences as much as biological ones: couple this with the kind of montage documentary exemplified by the work of Adam Curtis and the result is Loch Ness: They Created a Monster. John Maclaverty’s film does a very neat job of contextualising both the history and the zeitgeist, with the…

Children’s voices In Women in White [FT450:30-35], Alan Murdie revisits the phenomenon of the female spectre. Rebecca Batley explores specifically Legends of the Grey Lady in the same issue. I cannot claim that one of these discarnate beings is related directly to my experiences in 1971, but shared geography and a local tradition may hint at a connection. That year, inspired by Liege & Lief (by the sleeve notes as much as by the music), Fairport Convention’s seminal folk-rock album from 1969, I travelled to Padstow in Cornwall for the annual ‘Obby ‘Oss celebration in May. On the way, I diverted from the A30 road and found myself at a place I later learned was called Fingle Bridge. That August, I made the journey again but this time with Steve,…

On 27 March, Royal Mail launched a set of stamps celebrating British myths and legends, which they describe as “a fascinating aspect of British culture and custom”. They show entities from across Britain, including Nessie, Beowulf and Fionn mac Cumhaill and while some are well known, the Grindylow, a dangerous river sprite fromYorkshire and Lancashire, and Blodeuwedd, a woman created from flowers in the Welsh Mabinogion, may be less familiar to the general public. The artist behind the stamps, Adam Simpson, says “I think it’s important to celebrate where these stories come from; each one is associated with a region, and each one has its own identity, and together they demonstrate our rich mythological heritage.” This is not the first time Royal Mail has issued stamps showing mythical creatures; in…

On 2 January 2021, beachcomber Seonaid McGurk from Monifieth near Dundee, in Scotland, found an unusual bottle during a beach clean. It contained a business card reading “HOUSE OF COMMERCIALS The Farmers Arms Hotel Prop J M Finch (?) Penny Street Lancaster Telephone 2996(?)”. McGurk says, “It is difficult to make out the name and telephone number as there is a bit of water damage. The other side of the card in the bottle says: ‘*Fully Licensed * Restaurant TV Garage Quality Lunches Teas Dinners with Party Catering a Specialty Comfort, H & C and Heating all Rooms’.” Considering how long it might have been in the water, McGurk says: “From the style of the print, I would think it probably dates back to the 1960s when the White Cross…

309: HOT SPOTS The Los Angeles fires (FT455:23), plus the many global conflagrations in recent years, sometimes make one feel the entire planet is burning. Since Antiquity is the business of these columns, I single out the contemporary combustions that have afflicted Greece and Italy. Early Christians must have felt this way, given God’s threat to destroy the world by fire; 2 Peter 3.10. Likewise Jews, in light of the almost 100 OldTestament references (e.g. Numbers 11.11) to divinely-inspired fiery destructions, most famously of course being that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their modern counterparts are the ineffable Televange lists and other hellfire preachers (worst being the Kansasbased Westboro Baptist Church, once characterised by Barack Obama as the most hateful group in America) who blame all natural disasters on God’s wrath…

It is a grim time for pubs, haunted ones included. Since pubs and inns are one of our most consistently types of haunted buildings in the UK, their steady decline is a cause of concern to more than the drinking classes. As I write, the Abbot’s Fireside in Elham, near Canterbury, originally built as the Smithies’ Arms in 1451, and which boasted a rich history of royal and military connections, has announced closure. Now I don’t know if the Abbot’s Fireside is haunted, but it ought to be. Local tradition holds King Charles II once hid there from Roundhead forces, secreting himself in a hole within the main fireplace (Metro, 14 Feb 2025 and many others). If this can happen to a pub in the heart of hop-growing country, it…

BEAVERING AWAY Attempts to restore a wetland in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic, which had been drained to stop flooding at a now closed military base, got bogged down for more than seven years over issues of permits and land ownership without anything getting built, and no prospect of imminent resolution. However, such issues do not concern beavers. A colony of eight moved into the area and set to, building their dams in almost exactly the same places as the stalled artificial dams were supposed to be built. They also did it much more quickly, completing their constructions in just two days, rather than the several months the human-built dams would have taken to build. Bohumil Fišer, director of the Brdy Protected Land Administration (PLA) that would have…

THE AMAZING KRESKIN George Joseph Kresge Jr found fame as a TV mentalist in the US under the name “The Amazing Kreskin”. Trained as a clinical psychologist, he was also deeply interested in stage magic and combined the two to create his act. He began performing mentalist tricks in his early teens, and despite his apparently reality-defying feats, he frequently reminded audiences that he was not psychic and did not possess any supernatural powers. Instead, he explained that his stunts were the result of his ability to read certain cues, like body language, and use the power of suggestion to guide people’s actions. Kreskin made his TV debut on The Steve Allen Show in 1964 and swiftly became a regular on the US talk show circuit, going on to host…

Many of the artist recruits that ended up in the 23rd Headquarters outfit came direct from New York’s Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. James Boudreau, the Institute’s Dean, was a pilot and a General in the US Army Reserve. In the early 1940s, with the war well underway in Europe, Boudreau organised what he called an “experimental laboratory” concentrating on research and development in the field of camouflage. He recruited experts and established a formal course. Students would build detailed tabletop models of battlefields in order to figure out ways of hiding military activity from air surveillance. They studied the use of shadow and shape, colour and texture, to deceive, blending them together to mislead the eye and the camera. Boudreau would take his best students out to the Pratt family…

Does the name ‘Shugborough’ mean ‘goblin hill’? Well, maybe it is pure coincidence that someone who knew and wrote a lot about goblins (and elves, dwarves and hobbits) lived in Great Haywood. This was none other than JRR Tolkien. As a soldier with the Lancashire Fusiliers in World War I Tolkien was stationed in various parts of Staffordshire, including the Brocton Camp on Cannock Chase. Following their marriage in early 1916, his wife Edith moved to Great Haywood to be close to him, and he regularly visited her until his posting to France in June of that year. He served at the Battle of the Somme, but returned to Great Haywood in December to recuperate from trench fever, a typhus-like infection. It was at Rock Cottage, on Main Road, that…

The arrival of the cuckoo when it returns to UK shores from its winter sojourn in Africa represents the first rays of spring. But traditionally, the advent doesn’t just herald the beginning of a new season, but also a whole wave of weirdness. Cuckoos have played a prominent role in human culture for thousands of years, to such an extent that few other creatures hold such a revered place in myth and folklore. Pliny the Elder wrote that cuckoos have a magical ability to protect from pestilence with their distinctive calls, while in Japan the bird has come to symbolise unrequited love and longing. In Greek mythology, they are sacred to the goddess Hera, and in Indian culture are forever associated with Kamadeva, the god of desire and longing. Interestingly,…

Think to New Worlds The Cultural History of Charles Fort and his Followers Joshua Blu Buhs University of Chicago Press 2024 Hb, 384pp, £28, ISBN 9780226831480 It is an exciting time for scholars of Charles Fort’s life, career and ideas. Must-reads include Jim Steinmeyer’s excellent biography of Fort, Tanner Boyles’s study on his influence on science fiction, Chris Aubeck’s collection of Fort’s letters and Martin Shough’s book Redemption of the Damned. Joshua Blu Buhs’s book Think to New Worlds now raises the standard and scope of Fort research. It is indispensable for students of Fort’s work, especially those interested in his literary and cultural influence. Buhs should be known to FT readers from his earlier book, Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend, and his informative blog From an…

Dimwood Richard Corben Dark Horse Books Hb, 136pp, £35.99, ISBN 9781506739984 Xera returns home for a family funeral after many years away, but there are monsters lurking in the trees – and some of them might be closer than she thinks. Comic book legend Richard Corben had his background in underground comics, and that comes through in the art style of this gothic/folk horror. The woods are filled with menace, the mushrooms have an unsettling texture, and the monster design leans heavily into the grotesque. In Dimwood, the artwork is as lush as the forest that surrounds Dimwood Mansion. This is due in no small part to the colour design, both the colour work by Corben’s daughter Beth Corben Reed, and the additional colour by José Villarrubia. The tones and…