Wilmarth Against Uncertainty

The Colour Out of Space

This flow traces the conflict between Wilmarth’s desire for a rational account and evidence that repeatedly exceeds his explanations.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Public Dispute The Public Dispute from "The Colour Out of Space". Skepticism on Record An Explanation from Folklore Wilmarth argues that old legends shape how flood witnesses interpret debris and bodies.

The Public Dispute from "The Colour Out of Space". Skepticism on Record An Explanation from Folklore Wilmarth argues that old legends shape how flood witnesses interpret debris and bodies.

Skepticism on Record An Explanation from Folklore Wilmarth argues that old legends shape how flood witnesses interpret debris and bodies. Opponents Persist His public confidence is tested by people who believe the reports preserve a real encounter.

The Voice on the Record The Voice on the Record from "The Colour Out of Space". Sound Resists Dismissal Akeley's Recording A buzzing speaker repeats ritual words in a voice that seems unlike human speech.

The Voice on the Record from "The Colour Out of Space". Sound Resists Dismissal Akeley's Recording A buzzing speaker repeats ritual words in a voice that seems unlike human speech.

Sound Resists Dismissal Akeley's Recording A buzzing speaker repeats ritual words in a voice that seems unlike human speech. Interpretation Under Pressure Wilmarth can imagine ordinary explanations but finds the recorded sound difficult to fit comfortably into them.

The Missing Stone The Missing Stone from "The Colour Out of Space". Evidence Slips Away A Failed Shipment The black stone never reaches Wilmarth, and railway witnesses recall a strange-voiced man.

The Missing Stone from "The Colour Out of Space". Evidence Slips Away A Failed Shipment The black stone never reaches Wilmarth, and railway witnesses recall a strange-voiced man.

Evidence Slips Away A Failed Shipment The black stone never reaches Wilmarth, and railway witnesses recall a strange-voiced man. A Crisis Without Resolution The disappearance heightens the mystery but cannot establish who intercepted the object or how.

The Farmhouse Climax The Farmhouse Climax from "The Colour Out of Space". The Observer Becomes Involved A Gathering Below Wilmarth hears alien voices and perceives evidence of a gathering in Akeley’s home.

The Farmhouse Climax from "The Colour Out of Space". The Observer Becomes Involved A Gathering Below Wilmarth hears alien voices and perceives evidence of a gathering in Akeley’s home.

The Observer Becomes Involved A Gathering Below Wilmarth hears alien voices and perceives evidence of a gathering in Akeley’s home. Flight as Judgment Unable to test each explanation safely, he escapes instead of remaining to gather evidence.

A Rational Mind Unsettled A Rational Mind Unsettled from "The Colour Out of Space". Doubt Replaces Certainty No Public Proof The farmhouse investigation produces no apparatus or definitive traces of the events Wilmarth reports.

A Rational Mind Unsettled from "The Colour Out of Space". Doubt Replaces Certainty No Public Proof The farmhouse investigation produces no apparatus or definitive traces of the events Wilmarth reports.

Doubt Replaces Certainty No Public Proof The farmhouse investigation produces no apparatus or definitive traces of the events Wilmarth reports. A Private Conviction His continued fear coexists with the possibility that the whole encounter was a hoax or delusion.

Late 1927 to spring 1928

Summer 1928

July 1928

September 1928

After the escape