Driving Force

The commemorated 19th-century, French astronomer, Camille Flammarion, also studied the occult. He was particularly researching the question of life after death and how ghosts might relate to the question.

He published a book in 1900 entitled The Unknown. He recounts an experience he had when he was writing the chapter on the wind in his work on the atmosphere (L'Atmosphere).

A gale blew open his window, then lifted the loose pages he had just written and carried them out of the window. A few days later he was astounded to receive proofs of the vanished chapter from his publisher.

Apparently the wind had carried the papers into the street were the publishers porter happened to be on an errand. The porter picked up the scattered pages and took them on to Flammarion's publisher.

Everyone knows the wind is a Fascinating Mystery.