FORTEAN FRUIT CRATE LABELS

For something completely different and hopefully entertaining, a collection of vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels with a spacey and Fortean flavor.

I'll post more later on; I'm getting quite a collection!

Dates range from the 1920s to the 1940s, maybe 1950s. Enjoy!

"Not the Only Women in Bigfoot Research"

I'm not sure what's going on with posting over at Cryptomundo; the post I posted before took awhile before it came through, and my response to Kathy Strain's post hasn't gone through. (as of yet, it still might.)

Anyway, here's a post by a female Bigfoot researcher who posted over on Cryptomundo in response to the thread:
on sexism and racism in research.

# Kathy Strain responds: April 15th, 2007 at 3:49 am

I have several comments.

As a female bigfoot researcher (who is also part native), I have never ever been mistreated by fellow researchers due to my gender. I have been questioned, challenged, fought with, slapped around, etc., but it certainly had nothing to do with being a woman.

I have indeed seen some issues related to ethic background (digger indian being one) but I have chalked that up more to a lack of knowledge than to racism.

In fact, I have seen more bias against my college degrees (and being a professional anthropologist) than anything else (same issue that I have seen about comment on Meldrum and Krantz…damn Ph.D.’s!!!).

And, if we were going to be honest here (just not politically correct) I take offense to Lisa Shiels, Linda Martin, and Regan Lee’s blogs that besides themselves and Autumn Williams, they are the only female bigfoot researchers they know. For crying out loud, what rock have you been living under??? If you don’t know who Bobbie Short, Diane Stocking, me, and a whole host of other women are, then I don’t know what else to say. Your world is as big as you want it to be…as well as your experiences.

I'll try to recreate my response to Kathy as much as I can:

Kathy,
I have never meant to imply in any way I, and Lisa, etc. were the "only" female bigfoot researchers. (And, in fact, I wonder at the label for myself.) I can't speak for others, but for myself, I am learning new things every day. I am new to this field. For some reason, a series of events have propelled me into the area of "paranormal" Bigfoot, and that's where my focus is, as far as Bigfoot research goes. So if I exclude various female researchers, it's one of two reasons (or both): They do not support the "supernatural" Bigfoot aspect, and/or, you're right, I haven't heard of them. Yet.

That doesn't mean I "live under a rock" nor does it mean I don't care. It does mean I'm new to this area, my focus being on UFOs and other Fortean subjects. I'm glad you posted, now I know.

When I do come across researchers -- male and female alike -- who take seriously the aspects of Bigfoot research I'm interested in, I write about them.

We're all learning and coming across new things all the time.

Generally speaking, just for the record, I don't think all men are sexist, or that women are better, or that Lisa Shiel, etc. are the "only" researchers. I hope to god I haven't implied that, for that was never my intent.

However, giving some light towards the female Bigfoot researchers that do study this strange aspect of Bigfoot encounters is something I'm interested in. That in no way negates male researchers who support anomalous Sasquatch tales, or the fact there are female researchers who don't.

I'm not particularly interested in male or female Bigfoot researchers who either support a "kill" policy, or reject the weirder side of Bigfoot. So I don't usually list them or discuss them, unless it's in context of something else.

And, I, like most of us I assume, have day jobs and families that take away from spending the time we'd love to on these things. We can't always get to what we want to right when we want it.

Thank you, Regan Lee

So now, off to research Kathy Strain.

Early California Bigfoot-UFO Story

Received my copy of Preston Dennett's UFOs Over California yesterday, and discovered this:

"The many popular Native American legends of wise visitors from the sky could be the legacy of early California encounters. One of the first UFO-Bigfoot accounts occurred in 1888, and comes from the journal of a cattleman who had wintered with a tribe of Native Americans in northern California. During his stay, he saw a member of the tribe carrying a platter of raw meat into the forest. He followed the Indian to a nearby cave. Upon entering, he was amazed to see the Indian feeding the meat to a large, hairy man-like creature. The creature was totally covered with thick hair, except for its palms. Also, the creature had no neck, but ws much larger than a man. The Indian tribe called him "Crazy Bear" and explained that he had come to the earth in a "small moon" which carried two other similar creatures. Inside the "small moon" were several other entities who were human-looking, only very short and they wore shiny, silver clothes. After disgorging the three creatures, the object too off into space. The Indians told the cattleman that similar incidents had happened throughout the years, but only rarely." (Preston Dennett, UFOs Over California, Schiffer 2005, p10.)

Well, I wasn't expecting to read that!

Loren Coleman on Sexist Racist Bufoons

That's my word, not his.

His recent piece on his blog Cryptomundo is great; and as always, the comments to the item are interesting to read.

The title of the piece is Homophobus mysognistis xenophobus ignoramus and he writes very eloquently on sexism, racism, and other isms in our society, as well as the Sasquatch research culture.

We can't divorce ourselves from the world. "Out there," meaning the "real" world may not know what we do, or about what we do, but we are a part of all that as well.

The Website

It's slow, it's coming along, it's under construction. But it's here:
Oregon UFO

Meanwhile, I am so fed up with Angelfire/Lycos. I can't begin to tell ya! Long story and I won't bore you with the story, but . . . we'll see if they give me the good customer service I'm expecting from them. Meanwhile, it seems many places are not Mac friendly, so ridiculously ponderous, . . .

Anyway, it's creaking along but I'm working on it.

Accessorize!

Yes, dahlings, I've changed the look of The OrangeOrb once more. And I've given up trying to find just one and stick to it. My blog looks reflect my fashion sense (as wacky as it may be, sort of post beatnik ex-hippie bo ho artsy fartsy multi cultural I live in Eugene, Oregon my feet hurt but I refuse to wear sensible shoes for a woman my age style) and, like the many purses I own of many colors, and shoes, oh and the earrings, I've decided to just be me and change the look of the blog whenever I feel like it. I know it goes against the advice of never changing your masthead and your overall look in order to keep devoted readers but I figure, if you know that at any given moment The OrangeOrb is going to look different, that's part of the excitement. It's "Jellyfish" today, who knows what will be tomorrow?

Trickster's Realm on BOA: Random Bits of Weirdness on the Oregon Coast

My latest piece for my Trickster's Realm column on Tim Binnall's site: Random Bits of Weirdness on the Oregon Coast, about my friend "Lola" and high strangeness occurances.

Be sure to check out the entire site. There are great audio interviews -- for free! -- with Tim and so many great writers, researchers and thinkers on the weird. Other columnists too; Lesley, Grey Matters, Tina Sena's Esorterica, Khyron's The K-Files, and Joe Vee's Wrath of Joe.

UFO and Bigfoot Sightings: Faith Has Nothing To Do With It

My recent piece for UFO Digest:UFO and Bigfoot Sightings: Faith Has Nothing to Do With It

http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0407/faith.html

Sasquatch Apparitions

I've just ordered Barbara Wasson's book Sasquatch Apparitions published in 1979. I don't believe Wasson is still alive. I'm not familiar with her research; have to wait until I read the book. If anyone has read the book or is familiar with her thoughts on Bigfoot, please share your comments.

Everybody Knows

Seems these lyrics from my favorite songwriter-poet are appropriate for what lurks within UFOlogy and Forteana.


"Everybody Knows"

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu
Everybody knows it's coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows

~ Leonard Cohen

You Are Fairly Skeptical

You're not the type of person who will fall for anything... But you do keep your mind open to all sorts of possibilities. You figure that anything could be true. After all, the world is a strange place. However, you're going to need some convincing before you can believe in aliens or reincarnation!

How Skeptical Are You?

Speaks for itself, doesn't it? :)

Orange Orbs and Bigfoot: Valley of the Skookum

I’ve just finished Sali Sheppard-Wolford’s Valley of the Skookum, and I couldn’t put it down. I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. reading it, almost getting to the end but not quite, finishing it the next day.

Sali Sheppard-Wolford is mother to Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams (who lives here in Eugene, Oregon. Must be the trees.)
I expected to find the book interesting, but had no idea I would be so drawn to it. And I’m not sure why; I felt a connection, a familiarity, as I was reading the book. It’s not a badly written book, but it isn’t great literature either. Of course, it isn't supposed to be, or even should be, since it isn’t fiction; it’s a personal narrative of one woman’s very strange encounters.

Sali writes about her years living in a remote place in Washington, with her young children, including Autumn, who was the youngest, staying at home with her mother during the day. Sali (and eventually the entire family) encounter Bigfoot, along with many other high strangeness events, including UFOs and orbs of light.

There’s a beauty to this story and I can’t put my finger on it. As I said, there was an echo of something that kept tugging at me. That aside, her experiences, while unique, do parallel other ‘LTW” (long term witnesses, as Autumn Williams calls them) of ‘paranormal” Bigfoot encounters.

I said that the story isn’t fiction, and it isn’t. This could be seen as a bold statement, a rash, brash, and outrageous statement; after all, all this supernatural bigfoot stuff causes so many researchers to gnash their teeth at the very thought of such things. But there are only two possibilities: one, she’s lying. Or two, she’s not. I don’t think she’s lying, so she’s telling the truth. Still sounds pretty bold, doesn't’ it?

The point isn't whether or not “it’s true” as in, literally true. That’s a hard one for the majority of people to get, but that’s where I am these days with just about all of it: Bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts, all the psychic, Fortean, high strangeness goings on around us.

I’m not going to analyze that any further; not today anyway. It’s sort of like a Great Cosmic Joke: if you didn’t get it the first time, or the first couple of times, explaining it more slowly and breaking it down won’t help. And since the Trickster is everywhere in all this stuff, it is a Great Cosmic Joke. And that’s okay.

One of the things Sali writes about are orange orbs seen by herself and witnesses in the area. At times they’re described as “basket ball sized” and when I read that, I almost fell off the bed. I’ve been collecting sighting reports of orange orbs for some time, and often they’re orange “orbs” that are really pinpoints, or star sized, orange lights. The orange orb I saw so many years ago here in Oregon can be described as “basket ball sized.”

Impossible to know if these were the same kind of lights, or if the orbs in Sali Shepherd-Woolford’s book have anything to do with Bigfoot. It’s possible they do, it’s possible the area is full of energy that caused these things to occur. Keep in mind that when I say “UFO” it doesn’t mean flying saucer (necessarily.) In this context, I don’t think they were. Of course, I wasn’t there.

It is a fantastic story. And it may all seem a little much; psychic traits, psychic vampirism or energy drains, UFOs, MIBS, and Bigfoot. Sounds like a cheesy sci fi movie. As impossible as it may sound to some, there are people who’ve experienced these things. They’re not just saying they have: they do. I know, because I know some of these people myself, and I’ve experienced a lot of these things myself. It’s a hard thing to get, I realize, and I still have a hard time myself with some things. It’s a fine, thin, invisible line to walk, between telling your truth and being a complete dip who believes anything and everything. (Then again, remember what I said about “true.”)

And finally, why would someone put themselves out there with stories like this? (Yes, we can all picture the snarly skeptoids at the ready with their sneers, I mean the rest of us good people.) Why do writers, bloggers and witnesses come right out with their stories, using their own names? Statistically, we can’t all be nuts.

While research swirls all around us with arguments and dissections there are the folk, the witnesses, the experiencers, who continue to tell their stories. They are what they are.

Notes:
Autumn Williams has written an interesting piece on what she thinks of this “paranormal bigfoot” relationship:
OrangeOrb:
http://orangeorb.blogspot.com/2007/03/autumn-williams-on-weird-bigfoot.html

Sali Sheppard-Wolford has written other books, including a children’s book about Bigfoot. She currently lives in central Oregon.
http://www.oregonbigfoot.com/artists/sali_sw.php

Image: oil pastel drawing by Regan Lee.

Wild Women: More on that Elephant in the Room

Lisa Shiel has posted more on her earlier post on Wild Women; she discusses the response she’s received from both men and women, mostly positive. In
The Single Girl and the Sasquatch.
Shiel comments on the “lesbian” tag -- as I did as well -- that when others feel the need to insult and attack, they often throw out the term “lesbian” as if it’s an insult. Why would someone (usually male) call a woman a “lesbian” in order to insult? If one were a lesbian, what does it matter what she does in bed? Does her choice of sexual partner affect her brain cells? It’s not that it’s an insult, it’s just that it isn’t true (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) In their minds, “lesbian” is a slur, and can be translated as “man -hater.” (The thinking seems to be: if you’re sexually uninterested in men as sexual beings, then clearly you are also uninterested in anything else that is rational.)
Shiel points out an interesting bit of history:

I recently watched a documentary on the History Channel in which scholars discussed the original meaning of the word lesbian. The term referred to ancient Greek women who lived on the island of Lesbos. They were renowned lovers of men, not each other! I find this fact interesting, since these days people love to accuse strong women of being lesbians—which, to the name-caller, means "man-hater."

Along comes a poster, going by the name of “anonymous:”

Nah, nobody thinks you're a lesbian, you're just plain annoying. Playing the part of the woman-victim won't get you any respect from other 'researchers'.

But I guess it's easier to be a attention-seeking victim than re-evaluate your loony theories. Oh wait, you can't, because you have a book about it, and exposure/money is the apparent motivation.

Someone else said it best.. Just because you can write a book.. Doesn't mean you should.

So, we have a new twist on the inaccurate lesbian slur: “victim.” This is a ploy used by chronic skeptics; accusing someone of “playing a victim” when the c.s. has been called on their stuff, or they simply don't like what they're hearing. In this case, the anonymous poster accuses Shiel of playing a victim.

I can’t speak for Shiel, but I will say that being forthright and addressing some of the crap pulled by the dishonest and immature is not whining “victim.” That is simply another inaccurate tactic used by those who disagree with someone; it’s an attempt to trivialize and silence.

Disagree with Shiel or any of the other “paranormal” Bigfoot witnesses; certainly one’s right to do so.

But really, try to refrain from stooping to the level of a grade schooler by insulting and accusing someone of writing books “to make money” -- as if...

Which Brings Us To the Making Money Slam
What’s wrong with making money? Wouldn’t most, if not all, of us love to make money -- our actual living -- from doing what we love most to do? And isn’t making money the American Dream? A solid all American, capitalistic thing to do? It’s positively patriotic, dahlings!

There are only two reasons why someone accuses people such as Shiel of making money as if it were a crime:
1. they think she’s an outright liar, a scam artist, a huckster.
2. they think she’s nuts. All out, far out, gone baby gone nutso.

If you think people like Shiel are lairs, then that’s your opinion. She could be, it’s true. Personally, I don’t think so, but that's’ my opinion. But if you do think people like her, who’ve had these kinds of experiences, are lairs, nothing much you can do about it. Not with out proof. Have any?

In this context of shape shifting beings and extreme high strangeness I’m reminded of Pamela Stonebrooke. (Reptilians, sex, etc.) I have my intuitive feelings about her, and wonder; and yet, her experiences do parallel others. Now it could be she’s taken this up for her own ends to further her career, it could be she’s telling the truth, it could be she’s a psy ops victim,it could be her interpretation of experiences on the astral plane, it could be a combination of those things, who knows. We don’t know. And all that aside, we need people like her for a variety of reasons: her story about her story is part of the Trickster comedy within UFOlogy, and that’s not a bad thing, nor is it a wrong thing.

If you think Shiel and others with similar experiences are loony toons, then why be so cruel as to attack? Do you attack people with diseases, or broken limbs? What’s to be gained from insulting, slurring and inaccurately portraying someone who is utterly bananas?

Those that stop to spend the time to write insulting comments (or worse, have blogs that spend inordinate amounts of time insulting and attacking those they consider “loony” for no reason other than to prove they’re not) are trolls, of course.
They’re also thin skinned and defensive of their own belief systems. What’s it to them if someone “believes” in ET, or that Bigfoot is a shape shifter? Well, it seems like it’s a very big deal for people like this that others believe these things. And, at least these money making, lesbian, man hating, victimized nut cases write on public forums using their real names in most cases.

(And some of us wonder why UFO and high strangeness witnesses don’t always want to let their real names or locations known to the world.)

I think it’s pretty amazing when anyone - whether I can handle their experiences or not, and there are many I can’t -- uses their real name, goes out there in the world, and shares their experiences with others. I’ve said that many times in this blog. And that’s why I offer support and encouragement, and urge others to do the same. We don’t always have to agree with each other, or even understand each other at times. But we can always learn, and that includes learning from those we have a hard time “getting.” (Like me and exopolitics.)

This realm is an amazing realm, and very weird things happen in it, despite the denial of many. Who knows what’s really behind that curtain; entirely possible what we experience is only what we think we experienced, or what “they” want to show us, or . . .endless possibilities. But hell, at least we’re looking. And we are also a little bit crazy: for why else would we put ourselves out there, in public, knowing that there will always be those who cannot get through the day without hurling insults at others?


We’re just trying to tell our stories, while dancing around that elephant in the room. And if we make a little money off of that, fantastic. Though so far, I don’t think any of us have been able to retire to that villa in Tuscany. With our men folk. Or, not. Either way, who we share our oversized fluffy beds under a canopy of silk surrounded by sultry cerulean skies with is nobody’s business.

Wild Women and Shape Shifters

Lisa Shiel, author of the Bigfoot Quest Blog and Backyard Bigfoot: The True Story of Stick Signs, UFOs, & the Sasquatch encourages woman to get involved in Bigfoot research. As Shiel points out, there are very few women in Bigfoot research. There’s herself, and Autumn Williams, and that’s about it.

Both women are active researchers: they’re field researchers, actually going out there and doing all the physical “nuts and bolts” research things one does in search of Bigfoot.

But, there’s a difference as well. Both of these women have had no problem at all with making public their views that Bigfoot is more than just a flesh and blood creature.

Shiel believes that Bigfoot is much more than just basically a “giant ape” or some other animal. There’s much more to Bigfoot than the simple idea it’s another animal. It’s a shape shifter, it’s paranormal, it’s no mere big dumb missing link.

Williams has a different take on this, but both agree that it’s vital to include all the data when investigating reports, and that includes the stories of UFOs, floating lights, telepathy, dematerialization, and all the other weirdness often associated with Bigfoot encounters.

I’ve found that the few women who are involved in Bigfoot research in some way very naturally include the high strangeness data. They are more open to the possibilities, more open with their own experiences that many consider far too weird to discuss seriously.

(With all due respect, take a look at what Loren Coleman has said about Mary Green. Not pretty. Mary Green is a Bigfoot experiencer/researcher of the “high strangeness” kind.)

Shiel says that being a woman in a predominantly male field has its share of expected nonsense:

Now I like men. But as a woman—even worse, a single woman—engaged in a testosterone-ridden field of research, I can testify to the fact that most male Bigfoot researchers haven't heard about equal rights or women in the workplace. One man told me women don't want to get involved in Bigfoot research because they're afraid of the woods. Come on!

I remember watching a program on the Sci-Fi channel with Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams. There were others on the team; I forget who, but she was the leader of the field research team and the only female. She was the bigfoot expert, not them. None of the men were in any way overtly asses, but one guy just had to up and mock her, and do stupid things like make ape calls as loud as he could. and this from an adult, who seemed to be in his fifties. I had to laugh at the way Williams really ripped him a new one.

This is the elephant in the room; I’ve spoken to a lot of female UFO and bigfoot writers, experiencers and researchers, and the things said -- and done -- to them at times is frustratingly astounding. We don’t talk about it for a lot of reasons. Females in any male dominated field experience this, this is not news. It’s so typical, it’s boring to even comment on. Still, it does get to one at times. It’s just a matter of fact aspect of being in this field. I’ve been sent ugly e-mails, and ugly things have been written about me openly on-line, by men. I’ve been called a lesbian (not that’s there anything wrong with that) (but I’m not,) a Jew-bitch, a man-hater. I’ve been “accused” of “wanting to write like a man” and, that I “write like a man.” (that’s either a backhanded compliment or so surreal it’s not worth trying to figure out.) I’ve been told I have a “castration problem” and my husband has been called names (he doesn’t even go on line!) simply because he’s married to me; the implication being he’s a wimp. (Listen, the man’s a double Scorpio, believe me, he’s not afraid of nuttin’, see?!) I’ve maintained for decades that the real last threat to some men from females exists on an intellectual level. (I experienced this in philosophy classes in college.) Men are no exception, we’re all called names and insulted. Take a look around and you’ll find insult fests going on between various male writers and researchers that make you wonder how we’re supposed to take anyone seriously, if they behave so badly? Anyway, this somewhat beside the point; I don’t intend to go off an a tangent here. It's a given, and you move on.


Shiel encourages women who are researching Bigfoot to contact her. Please do:

If you are a women involved in Bigfoot research, please e-mail me at lisa@upbigfoot.com. If you have a blog or website, we can exchange links. Women researches need to help and support each other as much as possible—start our own groups, exchange knowledge and wisdom, provide moral support.

I don’t consider myself a true Bigfoot researcher, since I've never once gone out in the woods to look for Bigfoot. (And it’s not because I’m afraid of the woods.) If anything, I’m an “armchair” scholar on Bigfoot, and that includes all the high strangeness stories concerning Bigfoot, the focus being on the anomalous aspects of encounters.

I don’t know if I personally will ever go out to look for Bigfoot on an expedition, because I’m convinced it’s pretty much pointless. Bigfoot will show itself if and when it wants to, not because you’re out there. Following up on stories would be interesting, however, and clues could be found; but it’s all in the approach. Banging around out there making lots of noise and thinking Bigfoot’s going to appear on cue is ridiculous.

Right now there is a possible Bigfoot case in my area that I’ve been keeping track of. The case includes paranormal activity. If I get involved in this further, I will do physical research as well. This isn’t in hopes of seeing a Bigfoot, but rather to gather any possible evidence of something anomalous.

So if you’re a female researcher of the anomalous, including Bigfoot, know that there are women out there like Lisa Shiel, like myself, and others, who are supportive of your efforts.

---

Valley of the Skookum
I received my copy of In the Valley of the Skookum: Four Years of Encounters With Bigfoot, by Sali Sheppard-Wolford. (Sheppard-Wolford is Autumn Williams’ mother.) I stayed up until 3:30 am reading it. I couldn't put it down. I didn’t finish it, not for lack of trying, but I’m about a chapter away from the end. There’s much to say about this book, including the orange lights seen by many of the witnesses and my own orange orb sighting. But that’ll have to wait for another day.

---

Linda Martin
By way of Lisa Shiel’s blog, I discovered another female Bigfoot researcher; Linda Martin. I’m not familiar with Martin, and followed the link from Lisa’s blog to Martin’s Bigfoot sightings, where I found she had picked up on my little WTF blurb on Technorati, on accepting anomalous Bigfoot data in Bigfoot research. Martin is open to the possibility of a shape shifting BF, but remains skeptical as well. Can’t ask for more than that.

---

Notes
Lisa Shiel: http://bigfootquest.blogspot.com/2007/04/wild-women-of-woods.html
Linda Martin: http://www.bigfootsightings.org/
Regan Lee, WTF Technorati blurb:http://technorati.com/wtf/bigfoot/2007/03/30/bigfoot-a-shapeshifter-1
Sali Sheppard-Wolford: Valley of the Skookum

Acceptability of Faith, Demands for Proof

Many a chronic skeptic will back down from attacking/debating/arguing with a religious person. The accommodation is one they’d never make for a UFO or Bigfoot witness, or anyone who’s encountered the paranormal. But they’re not as quick to practice their irrational rationalism with a person of faith because, they’ll tell us, it’s a matter of faith. (Also, many a skeptic is a person of faith.) If the religious person admits that they belief because they “have faith,” and acknowledge that there isn’t any way to prove such a thing (which is why it’s called faith) everyone’s pleased with such civilized behavior and there is no need for debate.

The degree of acceptably of one’s faith decreases with the type of religion or spiritual system in question. Mainstream religions are usually fine, unless they verge on the cultish. When one strays from the “norm” by claiming to be pagan, or a non-Western religion or system, the marginlization begins.

Faith is what it is, and there’s nothing wrong with having faith. This isn’t about a judgment on the merits of faith. But one can not prove God exists, or Jesus, or the Virgin Mary, or the Holy Spirit, etc. Someone says they believe in these things, they believe because of their experience, and their faith. But what have they offered us? Nothing tangible. Yet we leave them alone.

But in cases of UFOs and anomalous events, as we know, the expectations -- the demands -- for proof are shrill. They’re relentless, and those who make the demands are consumed with the self-righteousness of any zealot who believes -- who knows -- they are right and on a higher moral road.


Meanwhile, people see Bigfoot or other entities, and immediately have their sanity and character questioned if they share their stories. One could argue that in the case of a single witness, all we have is her word. And yet, why would someone want to lie about a thing like that? (True, people have and do -- in all areas. The point isn’t so much about believing another wholeheartedly without any thinking on your part. It’s more of an approach, a mindset, a way of looking at the world that is the issue here.)

In cases of multiple witnesses, we have a lot more than the lone person relating her story of encountering a God. Yet we demand much more from the Bigfoot witness.

The same for UFOs. Hell, we’re still stuck on the inaccurate semantics surrounding UFOs: the inane question “Do you believe in UFOs?,” the “We don’t know what a UFO is, so how will we know one when we see one?” (also used for Bigfoot) and “UFOs really means extraterrestrials” comments.

Even with photographs, video, film, thousands upon thousands of witnesses, anecdotal evidence, the chronic skeptic still swims around the silly language games while demanding proof, proof, and more proof.

It’s not a surprising reality to know, though it is frustrating, that the anomalous -- where something has been encountered, smelled, seen, touched, heard and felt -- is not only dismissed, but violently discarded. Juxtaposed this with the serene acceptance of staid religious “faith” where nothing has been seen, heard or felt, except by the individual. There are no photos , no radar, no plaster casts or interesting DNA results from hair samples, just a person’s “faith” to get them through. And we nod and gladly accept the latter as rational, and the former as irrational.

By accepting some forms of religious belief as valid and rational, those who reject the anomalous in general have set up a buffer for themselves. A little blankie that comforts; yes, faith is a mystery but there you are. No we can move on. The scientist can go to church and go back into the lab, utterly rejecting ghosts, esp, UFOs, Bigfoot and weird creatures that pop into our reality.

And then there's this; the idea that religious experiences and apparitions are paranormal/Fortean, not "religious" though obviously they're framed in that way.