Author. He was an American researcher into anomalous phenomena, which is defined as the scientific methods used to evaluate anomalies or phenomena that fall outside current understanding, with the aim of finding a rational explanation. He helped to characterize the phenomena and wrote extensively on phenomena that lay outside of generally accepted theories and beliefs of the time, expounding on such topics as the occult, the supernatural, extraterrestrial, and the paranormal. He is credited with coining the term "teleportation." He would report on numerous topics such as unidentified flying objects, spontaneous human combustion, unaccountable noises, poltergeist sightings, reports of ghostly visitations, strange objects found in unlikely places, strange animals found in odd locations not their normal range, and human disappearances with sudden reappearances. He is perhaps the first person to hypothesis alien abduction by extraterrestrials, and the first to suggest that strange lights seen in the night sky might be alien spacecraft. Fort wrote about the interconnectedness of nature and synchronicity, believing that everything is connected and that strange coincidences happen for a reason. Many of these coincidences are referred to as Fortean phenomena, or Forteana. Fort would postulate many basic principles that were decades ahead of mainstream accepted scientific thought, such as the belief that the boundaries between science and what is termed pseudoscience are often fuzzy, without good definition, and that these boundaries may change with time. Fort also noted that facts are often objective, and that how facts are interpreted depends upon who is doing the interpreting and within what context. Fort also insisted that there exists a strong sociological influence on what in science is considered acceptable and what is condemned as false. Fort was born in Albany, New York of Dutch ancestry, to a grocer father, who raised his children in an authoritarian and strict manner. As young Fort grew up, he became independent with a strong interest in nature. While he did not excel at school, he was considered witty and full of knowledge about the world. At 18, he left home, to go on a world tour and learn more about the world. Leaving New York for New Orleans, he traveled through the western part of the United States and parts of Canada, then to England and Scotland, until becoming ill in South Africa and forced to return home. There he was nursed back to health by an English lady, Anna Filing, who he known during his childhood and would marry on October 26, 1896 in New York City. Although his wife was four years older than him, and enjoyed movies over books, they were happy together. They would survive on his intermittent payment as a humous short story writer, although they were poor most of the time. In 1916, he inherited a small fortune from his uncle, which enabled him to quit his day job and to become a full-time writer. The next year, 1917, his brother Clarence Fort died, leaving his share of the uncle's estate to be split between Charles and his other brother, Raymond. Fort would write ten novels, but only one, "The Outcast Manufacturers" in 1909, would be published. His second book, "The Book of the Damned" in 1919 was published as non-fiction; the book's title referred to the information that Fort collected, for which science could not account for and thus, was either rejected or ignored. Fort would postulate with wit and humorous sarcasm that most editors and journalists of scientific work would rationalize the scientifically incorrect, thus dismissing that which was unpopular as not believable or as science not worthy of consideration and investigation. Between 1924 and 1926, he and his wife lived to London, England. His wife would go to the cinema while he was doing his research. After two years in London, they returned to New York, where he resumed his research and writing. Fort's many books on unconventional science were generally full of his wit and were popular with the general public, admired for both their literary quality as well as his critique of scientific theory. While writing his final work, "Wild Talents" in 1932, he collapsed and was taken to the Royal Hospital in The Bronx. He died there shortly after being admitted, believed to be from untreated leukemia. He wrote thousands of notes on a myriad of subjects. His wife donated his more than 60,000 notes on anomalous scientific phenomena to the New York Public Library. His books were successful and still in print in the 21st century. He has had at least three biographies write about him.