Fort Report: Bad Skeptics, Odd Exorcisms, and Annoying Ghost Hunters

Fort Report: Bad Skeptics, Odd Exorcisms, and Annoying Ghost Hunters

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Greetings, fellow Forteans!

First off, many apologies for the weekend disappearance. A case of the flu rocked the WF HQ and turned my face into a snot fountain. I took a few days off rather than risk ruining my keyboard.

Now I’m back and at ’em, and that means a new edition of the Fort Report loaded with links from the last several days in weird. What’s on tap? There’s a look at some tasteless remarks from prominent skeptics, weird craters in New Zealand, exorcism mistakes and misconceptions, attempts to crack the code in a mysterious manuscript, and a guy fed up with annoying ghost hunters.

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Read on, oddnauts, and start calling bad skeptics “Simplencios”.

 

Predicting the Boston Bombs

Hayley Stevens has something to say to the skeptics who wasted no time decrying psychics for failing to predict the tragedy at the Boston Marathon. More skeptics like Hayley, please.

 

Mysterious Giant Crater-like Structures Found near New-Zealand

A multinational team of researchers led by marine geophysicist Dr Bryan Davy from GNS Science has found what may be the world’s biggest pockmarks on the seafloor about 310 miles east of Christchurch, New Zealand. Scientists currently planning world’s largest skin peel operation.

 

Priest speaks on misconceptions of exorcisms

Father Vince Lampert says that while some parts of an exorcism can look like scenes from a movie, most exorcisms are much different. Far less pea soup and floating.

 

NZ urged to help repeal PNG Sorcery Act

New Zealand could play a role in repealing Papua New Guinean sorcery legislation following an Easter “witch-hunt” which saw the abduction and torture of seven locals, Amnesty International says. Because nothing screams Easter like an old fashioned with burning.

 

Naval base in Cape Town fires hundreds of rounds in the air and attracts UFO

An UFO captured on video for about 40 minutes was sighted over the naval base in Simon’s Town Naval Base, Cape Town when hundreds of rounds were fired into the air at around 9 pm last Saturday night.

 

A Point of View: Science, magic, and madness

Galileo was a great scientist partly because he wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong, argues Adam Gopnik, who only wishes some of the people who write to him could do the same. Great argument here for nicknaming “parrot skeptics” Simplencios.

 

GP took patient to church for exorcism, hearing told

A general practitioner persuaded a patient to give up her anti-depression medication before taking her to his church to be exorcised, the General Medical Council was told. That should be a fun malpractice suit.

 

Paranormal investigations unearth more questions at inn

Visiting investigator Darren Davies and a team from the not-for-profit group, Paranormal Paratek, stayed at the Drayton inn from sunset to sunrise to determine whether the historic property was home to spirits from the past.

 

Castle owner fed up with ‘ghost hunters’

The owner of Castle Claremont says he is fed up with would-be ”ghost hunters” bothering visitors late at night. Police removed four teenagers from the property on Saturday evening after the group claimed they wanted to see the ”ghost”. I can’t help but think he’s missing a golden opportunity to play a Scooby Doo villain.

 

Cracking the Code: Quest to Unlock the Voynich Manuscript

A mysterious manuscript has plagued historians, mathematicians, linguists, physicists, cryptologists, curators, art historians, programmers, and lay enthusiasts alike since an antiquarian and book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich first began to mention it in his correspondence in 1912.

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 Got a news tip for the next instalment of The Fort Report? Did we miss something? We want your thoughts! Tweet us @WhoForted or leave a message in the comments section below. To stay up to date with the latest weird news, like us on Facebook!


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