The soaring number of unexplained activities is set out in police reports and other official sources.
Now The Fringe Weird Report has been compiled by the Rev Lionel Fanthorpe, a Cardiff-based Anglican priest and president of the Association For The Scientific Study Of Anomalous Phenomena.
Ghosts of people are the most common phenomenon, followed by UFOs, strange sounds and road phantoms.
Also among the reports are poltergeists, crop circles and shucks - spectres of large black dogs.
In a normal year there are 140 to 180 reports but the number has been rising steadily.
Mr Fanthorpe said: "It has to be considered that news spreads faster in our technological days with mobile phones and the internet. However, it's beginning to look as if 2010 will produce a higher-than-average number of reports."
Something strange in the neighbourhood ... ghostly going's on
Here are some of the paranormal hotspots around the country.
NORWICH: Edmund Sheffield - the first Baron Sheffield - died in the Adam & Eve pub after being struck by a butcher during a revolt against land enclosures in 1549. As he lay dying he cursed those who harm the innocent.
The Maid's Head Hotel in nearby Tombland was said in March to be visited by a spectre of an old woman who smells of lavender.
PRESTWICK: The most recent event - a man on Saturday reported seeing a ball-shaped red object in the sky close to this Scottish town that changed colour, flew and was joined by other similar shapes.
TRURO: Passers-by reported in February hearing the rattling of chains at Comprigney Field, where criminals' bodies were exhibited in an iron cage known as a gibbet.
A phantom horse-drawn coach was reported in April on the road from Truro to Mevagissey.
BRISTOL: A black triangle was seen earlier this month above the city. It was seen to rise then disappear into the clouds.
IPSWICH: A woman was seen in February looking from a window in the Crown Hotel when the room was thought to be unoccupied.
Phantom footsteps were heard in May at the Buttermarket shopping centre, built on a monastery site.
TROWBRIDGE: Unexplained orbs of light, a strange phantom figure and examples of poltergeist activity were reported in March at the Wiltshire town's Rose & Crown pub.
NORTHBOROUGH: A husband and wife reported earlier this month seeing two very bright orange alien craft flying in a Cambridgeshire area known for RAF activity.
DERBY: The ghost of a gardener was seen in the distance in June walking thoughtfully across the lawns of Pickford's House Museum.
A figure wearing what looked like an ancient Roman cloak was said in May to haunt Royal Derby Hospital.
BATH: A poltergeist at the Curfew Inn was said to have interfered with beer taps in February and to have tried to play a pool shot.
CHESTERFIELD: A yellow light was seen in the sky near this Derbyshire town early this month, travelling silently and with two other lights following.
EXETER: St Thomas station is apparently haunted by a person wearing heels who likes to pat dogs. The animals respond affectionately even though no one can be seen. The latest report was in August.
The ghost of "Hanging Judge" Judge Jeffreys, who sentenced hundreds of people to death after a 1685 rebellion, was reported in June at the White Hart Hotel.
YORK: A girl carrying a child is reported on misty evenings on the A64 Malton Road where she is said to have been murdered by a highwayman. She was spotted in April.
Also in April a shuck was said to doggy-paddle furiously along some of the city's narrow alleys that heavy rain can turn into streams.
A ghost cyclist was said to ride around York Minster in March and the same month a phantom was reported rowing a boat on the Ouse.
BLANDFORD FORUM: A flock of spectral sheep is often seen or heard at Sheep Market Hill and horses are heard, but not seen, pulling a carriage at Ashley Wood golf club. There were reports of both happenings in May.
BLACKPOOL: The Pleasure Beach ghost train is said to have a real ghost, nicknamed Clogger because it seems to wear clogs. It last appeared in July.
LIVERPOOL: Bold Street is said to be the centre of a time slip in which shops and offices briefly take on the appearance they had in the 1950s. It was last reported in April.
Croxteth Hall is apparently haunted by the last Earl of Sefton who died in 1972. His most recent appearance was in January.
MANCHESTER: A yellow shuck was reported bounding over Godley Green in May.
ABERYSTWYTH: A spectre was reported in June at the 18th Century Nanteos Mansion, now a hotel.
AMLWCH: A shuck was seen running around a stone circle in March.
DUNDEE: A woman appears to wave from a window of Claypotts Castle. She was last seen in February.
CULCREACH CASTLE: A phantom harpist plays and in June was heard by boatmen on Loch Lomond.
KNOCKANDO: A boisterous shuck was reportedly seen and heard howling in February near Knockando distillery.
The Fringe Weird Report was commissioned to mark the release on DVD and Blu-ray of season two of sci-fi TV series Fringe. ( thesun.co.uk )
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