Moderate Forteana

I have an older edition of this book (the one with the spooky hand on the cover). "Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena" is a compilation of unusual, weird and/or inexplicable natural phenomena.

The compiler, William R. Corliss, was a Fortean, but his mastodon "Sourcebook Project" was also an attempt to make Forteanism more scientific. In contrast to Charles Fort, who didn't say no to sensational tabloid reports, Corliss took all his examples from scientific journals. Some of his examples of anomalous phenomena will probably strike more true-blooded Forteans as pretty weak or uninteresting: halos, red rainbows, cloud arches, mountain top glows, auroral pillars which look like searchlights, etc. Others are more mysterious, such as earthquake lights, storm lights, ribbon-like ball lightning or inexplicable hisses and buzzes of meteors which reach the observer immediately (i.e. faster than the speed of sound). Corliss has also found reports of something similar to Rods.

Of course, this volume also contain cases which are more truly Fortean in character: hat-shaped hailstones, falls of living animals (mostly fish), "manna from heaven", gelatinous meteors, etc. One report mentions hundreds of blackbirds dropped dead at an army airbase! Berries and seeds of the Judas Tree apparently also fall from the skies, as do snow-flakes five inches across.

Naturalists will point to this book, "proving" that UFOs are really misunderstood natural phenomena. Maybe. And then, maybe not. Some cases mentioned in the handbook easily lend themselves to the opposite interpretation: they are really UFOs. Corliss mentions three meteors flying in formation, dip below the clouds and then fly up again! Another observer saw an undulating meteor... At one point, the compiler strays from his moderate principles and includes a piece on the Egryn lights, claiming they are "psychic", quoting the SPR as his source.

Personally, I found this book somewhat boring and bought it mostly due to the very low price. But sure, if you're deeply into this kind of stuff, I suppose "Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena" can come in handy.