THC+ Book Report | The Book of the Damned by Charles Fort

A frozen turtle falling from the Mississippi sky and mysterious Devonshire footprints lead a journey through the anomalous archives of the original researcher Charles Fort.

Charles FortVicksburg TurtleAnomalous phenomenaFortean researchThe DamnedDevonshire footprints

By The Higherside Chats Free Show | 2m listen | 1 chapters

Charles Fort challenged scientific orthodoxy in 1919 with the publication of The Book of the Damned, a seminal collection of anomalous phenomena that mainstream academia refused to acknowledge. The text documents impossible physical descents from the sky, including the 1894 Vicksburg Turtle which fell during a Mississippi hailstorm while encased in a block of ice.

Historical records cited by Fort include a worked stone disc discovered in France and unclassifiable clawed footmarks that appeared across Devonshire, England. Reverend W. Reed reported millions of self-luminous bodies moving through space as observed via telescope, while other accounts detail falls of organic matter and metallic debris. These data points represent the excluded facts of the Victorian era that Fort categorized as the damned for their refusal to fit into established scientific models.

This deep dive into Fortean philosophy captures the eccentric spirit of the original researcher who spent decades in the New York Public Library. The narrative highlights the absurdity of the 19th-century scientific establishment when confronted with a turtle falling from the clouds in a frozen tomb.

Charles Fort and Anomalous Events in the Book of the Damned

The Book of the Damned documents historical accounts of bizarre objects falling from the sky and other unexplainable phenomena. Notable cases include a worked stone disc discovered in France and the 1894 Vicksburg Turtle, which fell during a Mississippi hailstorm encased in ice. Additional reports mention unclassifiable clawed footmarks in Devonshire, England, and millions of self-luminous bodies observed via telescope by Reverend W. Reed.

book of the damned· charles fort· vicksburg turtle· devonshire· anomalous phenomena

00:40 And if you were to become a member through Patreon rather than my own website, you can even get Plus on Spotify if that's your thing. Help me help you treat yourself and get twice as much with THC+. Use the links right in the show notes or go over to TheHigherSideChats.com to start a free trial! Here is a preview of what we got going on today… So I'm sure we've all at least heard of the Book of the Damned, and I would say it's most commonly known for recounting strange events or bizarre things falling from the sky specifically. During a violent storm in France, a stone disc described as very regular and clearly worked by human-like means fell from the sky!

01:20 Then comes the instance of a man, his wife and his three daughters who were looking out at their own lawn during a thunderstorm when they saw a stone fall from the sky kill a sheep and bury itself in the ground. In Devonshire England inhabitants discovered a vast number of unclassifiable clawed footmarks. Then we have the Vicksburg Turtle of 1894, during a hailstorm in Mississippi, a 6 to 8 inch gopher turtle fell from the sky encased in ice! The Reverend W Reed reported seeing a host of self-luminous bodies passing through the field of his telescope for six hours numbering in the millions!! So what do I think? Well

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THC+ Book Report | The Book of the Damned by Charles Fort

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Charles Fort and Anomalous Events in the Book of the Damned