London Fortean Society:
Strange Central: Mysteries, Monsters, Ghosts and UFOs

Are you ready for the strangest day? Join the London Fortean Society for a day of deep-dives into the paranormal world. Hosting expert talks on ghost hunting, flying saucers, sea monsters and sasquatches and more. Speakers include Darren Naish, Mark Pilkington, David Clarke, Alice Vernon and Dominic Chorney.
 

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Andrew J Bartlett & Jamie Lewis
The Shape of Bigfoot: Making Knowledge Claims from Absences
Bigfoot exists; it undoubtedly has a material effect on the world. According to various surveys, many thousands of Americans believe in Bigfoot, and hundreds organise their lives around the creature. As one interviewee noted, “there is this foolish statement thrown around that there is no evidence for Bigfoot. There’s plenty of evidence, there’s no proof. There’s a big difference.”

In this talk, Andrew J Bartlett and Jamie Lewis will explore the way in which Bigfooters make, defend, and debunk knowledge claims about Bigfoot – using witness accounts, images, sound recordings, footprint casts, and biological traces. In doing so, we explore the centrality of absences to their epistemology.”
 

David Clarke
‘The most spectacular UFO photo ever’: Deception, Conspiracy and New Folklore of the Calvine UFO
Described variously as ‘the most spectacular UFO photo ever’, ‘a clever hoax’ or ‘just a rock in a pond’ the Calvine photograph purportedly shows a UFO shadowed by a military jet above the Scottish Highlands in the summer of 1990.

Dr David Clarke‘s exclusive Daily Mail story released the image into the public domain for the first time in 2022. The online debate that followed covered the whole spectrum of belief and disbelief as actors took positions on the truth or falsity of the image. This led to the rapid development of new folklore and the sharing of conspiracy theories, deceptive claims and bizarre interpretations that did more to obfuscate than reveal. This talk will explore a baffling UFO legend that has more twists and turns than a John le Carre novel.
 

Dominic Chorney
History’s Weird Money: Treasures of the Occult
The mysteries of the world aren’t confined to haunted houses, spooky woods, and dark tunnels. They’re everywhere. They even haunt the money we spend. For over 2,000 years, since the beginnings of currency in the ancient world, coins and treasure have been associated with unusual events, frightening creatures and occult magic.

Coin specialist Dominic Chorney will investigate the world of ‘occult numismatics’, looking back through the ages, from the present day to ancient times. In the ancient world, mythical beasts reared their ugly heads on the currencies of great cities, while Greeks and Romans buried their dead with coins in their mouths. In medieval times, silver coins were bent and pierced to ward off witches. In the world of the paranormal, poltergeist encounters are accompanied by coins thrown through the air. UFOs can be seen on rare tokens from 17th century France, which depict strange flying saucers in the sky.

These are just a few of the many topics explored in Dominic’s talk. When you’re done with this presentation, you might never look at the coins in your pocket the same way again.
 

Age Recommendation:

All ages. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Price:

*A £2 venue levy is applied to each ticket purchased. This levy helps to support us in covering the costs of keeping our grade II listed building running and our doors open.*

In advance: • Standard £23 • Living Support £15 • Student £18 (+ £2 venue levy)
On the Door: • Standard £24 • Living Support £15 • Student £19  (+ £2 venue levy)
Online: • Standard £12   (+ £2 venue levy)

Access Information

This event is in the Main Hall, which is located on the ground floor.

All the ground-floor rooms are fully accessible by wheelchair. Main Hall (street access, step-free), Brockway Room (street access, step-free), Bertrand Russell Room (street access, shallow ramp), Cafe (street access, step-free). There is also an accessible toilet on the ground floor opposite the Brockway Room.