This category includes presentations of weird, unusual, bizarre, or generally odd places, people, art, stories, theories, or just plain things. The sites in this category include an eclectic mixture of all manner of things considered to be out of the mainstream. Expect a wide-range of topics to be covered at these sites. Because of the huge scope of unusual phenomena, it would be difficult to categorize and present each one separately within these Weird Pages. Begin your journey here if you would like a broader view of the Fortean world, or are just beginning your journey into the world of weird.

Charles Fort (1874-1932) was an American journalist and writer who collected news articles of anything bizarre or unusual that challenged the scientific paradigms of his day. He was opposed to the practice of throwing out, or discarding data which did not conform to conventional scientific knowledge. He called such data "damned". Fort wrote several books and put forth his theories and ideas, some of which were as strange as the data he collected. From his name, the word Fortean was derived, which encompasses the philosophy that all data must be examined, and not thrown aside merely because it does not conform to accepted paradigms.

Although the existence of crop circles became widely known in the 70s, there is evidence that suggests knowledge of crop circles existed as early as 1647. They have appeared in all manner of crops and in most countries. While some circles are small and simple, some circles are extremely elaborate and stretch the belief that they could have been fashioned by human hands...at least without some sort of intervention from unknown sources. The theories surrounding crop circles are almost as numeerous as the circles themselves. Within this category, you will be offered the opportunity to see crop circles, to learn how to make them, and to try to form your own opinions as to who or what causes them to appear.

Cryptozoology is the study and search for hidden, unknown, out-of-place, or strange animals. Most people are likely to think of Bigfoot, or Nessie when they hear the word "cryptozoology", but the field is not necessarily confined to large beasts, or even well-known ones. New species are constantly being discovered. Some animals are actively searched for when regional inhabitants talk about certain animals that have not been officially recognized. Some are discovered accidentally while scientists are doing field work, and find an animal that is somehow different than any that are known. Cryptozoologists tend to fall into two groups...those that believe the animals they seek are viable flesh and blood, and those that believe that they are of a paranormal nature.

Prominent in this category are sites which deal with the urban legends, or FOAF (friend of a friend) stories. All of us have received e-mail that pleads us to forward a copy to everyone we know. Before you go sending off an e-mail to everyone you know, check to see if you are falling victim to one of these immortal hoaxes. This category also offers you a chance to increase your knowledge base with a whole lot of other useless (or maybe not so useless) information.

Paycheck burning a hole in your pocket? Need a gift for the guy or gal who has everything? Wanna impress the rest of the gang? There's something for everyone here. Well, OK, maybe not *everyone*, but your cousin Alphonse was always kinda picky anyway.

It is doubtful there is a place on Earth that has not had a story or two about hauntings of some form or fashion. It is also doubtful that almost no one has not had an opportunity to consider the possibility of restless spirits wandering among us. Hauntings can take the form of something as simple as a cold wave of air moving through the area, voices heard only on electonic recording devices, actual visual embodiment of those now deceased, or events in which objects are moved or misplaced. Our fascination with what happens after death sometimes leads us to attempt communication with the deceased, and chicanery and fraud is the unfortunate result. But what of the evidence which remains that is not intended for profit or gain? Is it all in our imaginations, or are there really among us those who cannot or will not sleep peacefully in their graves?

Where would you say it is the strangest place on Earth? What kinds of secrets does our planet have? Who is responsible for the giant statues on Easter Island, what causes the mystery lights in Marfa, Texas, who dug the frustratingly hard to explore money pit on Oak Island? What really happens in the Bermuda Triangle? These are not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to strange places on Earth. There may be only "7 Ancient Wonders of the World", but there are hundreds of places that invite us to ask, "who, what, and why." Let this category be your travel agent to send you off exploring these strange places.

If you need a regular dose of weirdness delivered to your snail or e-mail boxes, you will find something here. Hard-copy periodicals, e-zines, newsletters, and mailing lists are all available in a wide range of topics.

The words "strange things" mean a lot of different things to different people. But there are some things which will remain strange even after they have been explained. This category will allow you to explore things like rods, ball lightening, anomalous and curious medical conditions, and odd-looking stones and found objects. You will also be able to hear the Taos hum, and witness photographs of the Shroud of Turin.

In all of recorded history, there seems to be evidence of visitation by others from the sky. Now commonly referred to as UFOs (unidentified flying onjects), objects have been seen representing a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors which defy definition, at least for the ones who witnesss them. Within this category are reports of alien abductions, cattle mutilations, alien sightings, strange lights, illnesses, and even strange creatures (see Cryptozoology) which are alledged to appear in connection with UFO sightings. Some sort of phenomena is present.Is it the result of mass hallucination, mental illness, mistaken identity, paranoia, secret government operations, or are we really being visited from extraterrestrials? If so, what is their agenda and how should we react? Probably more so than any of the other topics presented in the Weird Pages, this is the one with players ranging from the most respected scientists to the fringe crowd affectionately known as "Psycho-ceramics."

If no one in the history of human existence had never had weird thoughts about just about everything, where would we be now? We'd probably all be crowded into the center of the world for fear of falling off of one of the edges. Those who dare to come forth with the wildest ideas and the conviction to stick with them have been the ones to whom history owes the greatest thanks. Granted, there are a lot of strange ideas that are more entertaining than anything, but even then, they give us pause to think.