The Synchronicity Of Bigfoot And UFO's

Synchronicity refers to the "coincidental occurrence of events... that seem related." In addition, synchronicities do not adhere to traditional notions about cause and effect. If I drop an egg and it breaks on the floor, I know I caused the egg to break. One could argue that gravity, or the force of the impact, caused the egg to break - but my clumsiness would remain the root cause for the effect of the egg shattering.

Now imagine I've just set an egg on the counter when a glowing orb flies through the kitchen. I watch the orb flit out the window, out of sight, then I look down to discover the egg has broken. Nothing touched the egg, it hasn't moved, and nothing fell on it. But the egg broke precisely when the orb flew through the kitchen. The events seem related; however, I cannot prove the orb caused the egg to break.

I could formulate a dozen explanations for what happened to the egg, explanations which deny the orb affected the egg. The explanations might sound reasonable. But I'm left with one big problem: no egg before or since has ever broken when lying undisturbed on the counter. In situations like this, rational explanations begin to strain the boundaries of the definition for rational.

Similar problems occur with the synchronicity of Bigfoot and UFOs. Cases have occurred where witnesses saw a Bigfoot inside or in front of a UFO. What about the cases where the two phenomena seem related but have no direct cause-and-effect relationship?

If I see a Bigfoot stepping out of a flying saucer, I know the two are related. I saw it firsthand. The Bigfoot came out of the UFO, therefore the Bigfoot and the UFO share some kind of relationship, though I may have no idea about the nature of that relationship.

What if I see a UFO hovering over the woods, and when I go into the woods to investigate I see a Bigfoot? I never observed the Bigfoot coming out of the UFO. I can prove no direct connection between the two. If this happened once, or even twice, I could dismiss it as coincidence. If I encounter such coincidences 10, 20, 30 times...what then? At what point does coincidence become absurdity?

More and more witnesses report encounters with both Bigfoot and UFOsthough the encounters occur separately. The witnesses don't connect the two. They report whatever strange things have happened to them, wanting someone to listen, someone who won't ridicule them. If a Bigfoot witness starts talking about the UFO she saw on another occasion, a lot of Bigfoot researchers will laugh, walk away, or simply tune out.

However, if we ignore synchronicities we may miss a vital piece of the puzzle. Ignoring evidence because it disturbs you, or it doesn't fit your preconceptions, invalidates your research. No one can trust the research of people who only accept the data that pleases them.

Definition taken from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition.

Lisa A. Shiel is the author of Backyard Bigfoot: The True Story of Stick Signs, UFOs, & the Sasquatch, a ForeWord Magazine 2006 Book of the Year finalist. Critics have praised Backyard Bigfoot, saying [it] is as informative as it is entertaining (Midwest Book Review), [it is] one of the best types of investigative reporting I've seen (Reader Views), and you may agree or not with her conclusions but you will be entertained by the discussions (The Mining Journal, Marquette).

As a recognized Bigfoot expert, Lisa has been interviewed by big-city newspapers, drive-time talk radio hosts, local and national magazines, and TV reporters. In 2005, she founded the Michigan Upper Peninsula Bigfoot Organization (MUPBO) to explore all aspects of the Bigfoot phenomenon, from sightings to evolution to UFOs. Lisa has a master's degree in Library Science. She currently pens a blog, Bigfoot Quest,