William Roger Corliss (August 28, 1926 – July 8, 2011)[1] was an American physicist and writer who was known[2] for his interest in collecting data regarding anomalous phenomena (including cryptozoology, out-of-place artifacts and unidentified flying objects).

"[6] Arthur C. Clarke said: 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.

In a review for Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena, Faul noted: [Corliss] is particularly prone, to classify things as "unexplained" even when a good explanation is available...

Grossly incomplete, naively uncritical, supplied with inaccurate sketches (many of them fictitious, like the illustrations in old novels), and lacking an author index, it is no handbook at all.

"[10] 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.