The International Fortean Organization (INFO) |
The Legacy of Charles Fort |
“One measures a circle beginning anywhere” — Philosopher Charles Fort |
 For 27 years, the American writer Charles Hoy Fort worked full-time researching scientific journals and old periodicals to gather material on phenomena on the borderland between fact and fantasy - the wide range of mysteries that orthodox science either ignored or improperly explained away. His pioneering researches appeared in four books: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931), and Wild Talents (1932).
In these volumes, Fort gathered, organized, and commented on a wild host of phenomena: UFOs, falls of living animals; poltergeists, ghosts and psychic phenomena; earthquakes and volcanoes; astronomical and archaeological mysteries; stigmata; mass hysteria and panics; spontaneous human combustion; disappearing people; and much more. The Original Fortean Society founders included many leading literary lights of the day including Theodore Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, Ben Hecht, H. L. Mencken, Alexander Woolcott, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Fort's work also influenced science fiction and horror writers through the introduction of Fortean themes which is often evident in the work of contemporary luminaries such as Stephen King. Science fiction great Robert Heinlein was also a long-time member of the International Fortean Organization (INFO) until his death.
The International Fortean Organization (INFO) was incorporated as a non-profit educational society in 1965 in order to continue and expand the original Fortean Society. INFO is dedicated to disseminating Fort's work and continues his research into unexplained phenomena by holding annual conferences such as FortFest, FortNite and FortScape and by publishing the intriguing INFO Journal. Audio and video tapes of lectures by intellectual pioneers such as John Anthony West, Patrick Harpur, John Keel, Hillary Evans, John Michell, Mario Pazzaglini, Budd Hopkins, Paul Laffoley, Raymond Moody. Richard Hoagland, Sal Trento, Richard Greenwell, Gerald Hawkins, David Hufford, Ingo Swann, Alvin Holm, Colin Wilson and William Corliss are available from the organization at reasonable cost. Intrigued by the baffling and often hilarious universe of anomalous phenomena? You may want to find out more about INFO.
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Illustration by Margarite d'Arsinoe Upcoming Events...
Upcoming Events...
FortFest 2008 "Beyond Belief" (Click here for more info)
at the American
Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), Baltimore, MD, March 29-30, 2008.
Email: fortfest99@yahoo.com
FortFest Lectures on YouTube:
John Michell from 1998 FortFest
Budd Hopkins from 2002 FortFest
Doug Skinner from 2002 Fortfest
Colin Wilson from 1994 FortFest
FortNite at Sea Sept 11-23, 2008 on Carnival's
Splendor
Sailing from Dover to LeHavre (Paris, Carnac), Vigo,
Lisbon, Malaga, Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno (Florence
and Turin), Rome.
FortFest at Sea December 13-20, 2008
Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan, St. Thomas
(visit Tortola, Virgin Gorda, St. John), Casa del
Campo and La Romana, Nassau.
*Please email us for details and deposit requirements
for our exciting cruises and phenomenal Seminars at
Sea!
"Mermaid" © P Benjamin
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 For More Information Please Go To:
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Media/TV production enquiries please contact us at:
The FortFest Tapes: (Purchase lecture tapes from our 1989 through 2005 Conferences)
Past Conferences: Take a look at our recent work ... |
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FortFest Caribbean Cruise -December 9-17, 2007 - Phenomenal!
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FortFest Med - Extraordinarily great!
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FortFest '06 at Sea Speakers: Budd Hopkins, John Anthony West, Phyllis Benjamin, Dianna Rose, Al Rosensweig, Leslie Kean, Marion Dolan, a Mayan theosophist and others. Having too much fun and too much champagne to record!
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FortScape '05 Here's what happened in the hot West Virginia mountains.
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FortNite '05 Here's what you missed at INFO's 2005 spring conference.
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FortFest '04 Here's what you missed at INFO's 2004 fall conference.
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FortScape '04 INFO's Spring Conference held in the Mountains of West Virginia.
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FortFest '03 INFO's 35th Annual Conference! See what happened.
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FortNite '03 INFO's 33rd Conference. Click for what went on.
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FortNite '01 Spring Conference on Anomalous Phenomena's featured speakers were...
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FortFest '00 Annual Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- Here's what you missed...
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FortNite '00 Spring Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- The featured speakers were...
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FortFest '99 The 28th Annual Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- Here's what you missed.
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FortFest '98 The 27th Annual Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- Here's what you went on.
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FortNite '98 INFO's Spring Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- The featured speakers were...
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FortFest '97 The 25th Annual Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- Here's what happened.
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FortNite '97 INFO's Spring Conference on Anomalous Phenomena -- Here's what happened.
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FortFest 1996 The 24th Annual Conference on Anomalous Phenomena ... See what you missed!
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Other Sites of the Paranormal Kind |
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John Michell's The Hope. To Realize the Vision of Jerusalem in our Lifetime: The City of Peace, a House of Prayer for all the Nations.
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Adventures Beyond Unique Organization Produces Videos Based on Actual Field Research.
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Martin Gray on Sacred Sites Twenty years of research and images to review.
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FATE magazine The longest-running magazine of Fortean material in the world.
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Dr. Bob Hieronimus with his fabulous Art Car, first shown at the FortNite '06 at AVAM!
Check out phenomenal 21st Century Radio at
www.21stCenturyRadio.com. |
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The International Fortean Organization (INFO)
INFO OFFICERS
President/FortFest Chair - Phyllis Benjamin
Vice President - Dave Singer
Treasurer/Secretary - Allan Rosenzweig
INFO ADVISORS
John Keel, John Michell, Colin Wilson
SUPPORT
Library Committee Chair - James Boyd
New England Forteans (INFO-NEF) - Greg Sullivan
Advertising - Tom Ritchford
MUSICAL CHAIRS
Doug Skinner
Joscelyn Godwin
HISTORIAN
Marion Dolan, Ph.D.
SACRED ARCHITECTURE CHAIR
Alvin Holm, AIA
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Larry Arnold
BigFoot Orienteering Dept.
Al McCann
Please send unknown animal reports to McCann via INFO so he can check out local reports. Indicate if you want to help with the investigation.
Special Correspondent
Ken Moak
Canadian Correspondent
Dwight Whalen
South American Beat
Antonio Huneeus
Open JAW
John Anthony West
JAW's Phoenixfire
blog and pod cast
The International Fortean Organization (INFO) is a non-profit, educational corporation, a 501.c.3, donations are tax-deductible!
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Photo by Marty Cain
El Castillo, Xunantunich, Belize
Visited on 2005's phenomenal cruise.
Photo © INFO
The Tecolutla Monster
Case investigation conducted by INFO.
Please note: |
The International Fortean Organization published the bimonthly, then quarterly, INFO Journal continuously for over 35 years.
Our hardcopy Journal will soon be re-born as an online magazine! Click here for a list of our extraordinary back issues!
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