Take heart, forteans!

As an FT reader and occasional correspondent of some 30 odd years, I enjoy the magazine as much as ever, but I did understand where Matt Colborn was coming from in his Forum piece “Middle Aged Mulder Syndrome” [ FT415:58-59].

Over the past few years, I have also detected a certain sense of disillusionment creeping into the writing of some columnists and contributors. Matt puts this down to the number of classic fortean cases which have been debunked, which may indeed be a factor. I had also attributed it to a sense of personal disappointment on the part of some writers; disappointment perhaps at the growing realisation that some mysteries may not be solved during their lifetime and possibly even disappointment that they have not been the person to find the solution. Such feelings are quite understandable and natural for those who have devoted considerable time to fortean topics, but we must guard against a sour grapes “I didn’t find any monsters, so there aren’t any” mindset.

I had great admiration for the late FT contributor Ivan Mackerle, who had the determination (as well as the time and resources) to mount expeditions around the globe pursuing the likes of the Mongolian Death Worm, Loch Ness Monster and Tasmanian tiger, and never seemed to lose his enthusiasm and wonderment despite an apparently complete lack of success.

With an unjaundiced eye, there seems to be more interest than ever in the subjects covered by FT. Danny Robins’s paranormal podcasts on the BBC are drawing a wide audience and we have TV channels like Blaze broadcasting wall-to-wall ghosts, mysteries and conspiracy theories.

May we continue to live in interesting fortean times!

Mark Graham

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire