Anomalous phenomenon

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An anomalous phenomenon is an observed phenomenon for which there seems to be no agreeable scientific explanation. Because such observations do not fit into the established framework or consensus reality, they can be the subject of controversy.

These phenomena are not generally accepted as real by mainstream scientists. Ideas about hard-to-reproduce anomalies are considered pseudoscientific, partly because science needs phenomena to be reproducible.

Other phenomena are recognized to be real, but cannot be readily explained. For example, many people have observed unidentified flying objects; but their explanations for such objects differ.

1 Examples of anomalous phenomena
2 Written works
3 Further reading
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Examples of anomalous phenomena

Some examples of anomalous phenomena are:

Some anomalies eventually get a scientific explanation, losing their status as unexplained phenomena. For example, while the idea of stones falling from the sky was once considered anomalous, meteorites are now acknowledged and well understood. Another example of this was the Tunguska event, which spawned a wide variety of both scientific and pseudoscientific explanations, ranging from asteroids to cross-dimensional rips, prior to the emergence of a strong scientific consensus that the event was the result of the explosive disruption of an asteroid, or possibly a comet, in the atmosphere.

Though actually a subcategory of anomalous phenomena, some paranormal phenomena are studied in the field of parapsychology, and can be divided into three main classes:

Mental phenomena: unusual mental states or abilities, such as telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition
Physical phenomena: unusual physical occurrences that may be controlled by a conscious entity, as in the cases of psychokinesis, poltergeists, stigmata or materializations
Survival phenomena: out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs)

[edit] Written works

Classical civilization included unique signs and prodigies of nature in works of paradoxography such as The Phaenomena (240 BC) by Aratus of Soli.
Inoue Enryo, a Japanese educator and philosopher, authored the six-volume The Study of Yōkai (妖怪学). As a result, he was best known as Dr. Ghost (お化け博士) or Dr. Yōkai (妖怪博士).
Charles Fort, in his four works on anomalies (The Book of the Damned, New Lands, Lo!, and Wild Talents) lambasted and ridiculed the scientists of his day for their shortsightedness. Some of the anomalies listed in his work have been explained and incorporated into modern science, while others continue to be unexplained.
William R. Corliss' Science Frontiers has covered reports in the scientific literature regarding anomalies for years. He, through his Sourcebook Project, has published a large body of reports collected in many of the scientific disciplines.
Leonard George, a psychologist who specializes in anomalous phenomena, compiled an authoritative encyclopedia of unusual experiences, activities, and beliefs in his 1995 book Alternative Realities.
Fortean Times, a British monthly magazine, continues in the spirit of Fort's work by publishing reports of anomalous phenomena and longer investigative articles.
The Anomalist, edited by Patrick Huyghe and Dennis Stacy, is another magazine/journal devoted to the study of anomalies (which may be called anomalistics).
Strange Magazine is another magazine devoted to the study of anomalies in the spirit of Fort's work.
Fate Magazine, with the slogan "True Reports of the Strange and Unknown" has been published continuously since 1948, and is the longest-running publication of its kind.

[edit] Further reading

Fort, Charles (1975). The Complete Books of Charles Fort (paperback), Dover Publications, 1126 pages. ISBN 0-486-23094-5.
Corliss, William R. (1983). Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena: Eyewitness Accounts of Nature's Greatest Mysteries (paperback), Anchor Press, Doubleday, 423 pages. ISBN 0-385-14754-6.
Rickard, Bob, Michell, John (2000). The Rough Guide to Unexplained Phenomena (paperback), Rough Guides, 400 pages. ISBN 1-85828-589-5.
Dash, Mike (1997). Borderlands: The Ultimate Exploration of the Unknown (paperback), Dell, 544 pages. ISBN 0-440-23656-8.
Remote Viewing Secrets, Joseph McMoneagle, Hampton Roads, 2000, paperback, 296 pages, ISBN 1-57174-159-3
The Conscious Universe, Dean Radin PhD, Harper, 1997, hardback, 362 pages, ISBN 0-06-251502-0
Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources. John Klimo, St. Martins Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87477-431-4
Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology, Lawrence Weschler, 1996, trade paperback, 192 pages, ISBN 0-679-76489-5 (see web site link above)
Patrick Grim, ed. Philosophy of Science and the Occult, 1982, SUNY, ISBN 0-87395-573-0