William R. Corliss

William Roger Corliss (August 28, 1926 – July 8, 2011) was an American physicist and writer who was known for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena (including cryptozoology, out-of-place artifacts and unidentified flying objects). Corliss was Charles Fort's most direct successor. Arthur C. Clarke described Corliss as "Fort's latter-day - and much more scientific - successor."

Biography Sourcebook Project Starting in 1974, Corliss published a number of works in the "Sourcebook Project". Each volume was devoted to a scientific field (archeology, astronomy, geology, et cetera) and featured articles culled almost exclusively from scientific journals. Corliss was inspired by Charles Fort, who decades earlier also collected reports of unusual phenomena.

Reception

In his book Unexplained!, Jerome Clark describes Corliss as "essentially conservative in outlook". He explains, "Corliss [is] more interested in unusual weather, ball lighting, geophysical oddities, extraordinary mirages, and the like — in short, anomalies that, while important in their own right, are far less likely to outrage mainstream scientists than those that delighted Fort, such as UFOs, monstrous creatures, or other sorts of extraordinary events and entities."

Arthur C. Clarke said:

quote|Unlike Fort, Corliss selected his material almost exclusively from scientific journals like Nature and Science, not newspapers, so it has already been subjected to a filtering process which would have removed most hoaxes and reports from obvious cranks. Nevertheless, there is much that is quite baffling in some of these reports from highly reputable sources. However, the geologist Henry Faul has criticized Corliss. In a review for Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena, Faul noted:

In a review for a book that documented astronomical anomalies, the astronomer Joseph Veverka wrote that Corliss had shown negligence of the scientific literature for more than a decade and made incorrect statements. However, Richard Baum wrote a mostly positive review, stating that it was an objective work and "his reviews are concise and well-referenced, and if on occasion his examples are questionable we do at least have the benefit of the bibliographies which will be useful to historians."

Science journalist Jeremy Cherfas in the New Scientist, suggested that Corliss' book Incredible Life had an agenda to challenge evolutionary theory as he believed that natural selection fails to explain biological mysteries. Science writer John Gribbin positively reviewed Corliss' book Unknown Earth in the New Scientist, stating it was a "delightful mixture of established science, and the lunatic fringe... Where else can you get such entertainment at so little cost?".