Skinwalker Ranch
Skinwalker Ranch, also known as Sherman Ranch, is a property located on approximately 488 acres (2.072 km²) southeast of Ballard, Utah that is reputed to be the site of paranormal and UFO-related activities. It sits about 5000 ft. above sea level. Its name is taken from the skin-walker of Navajo legend concerning vengeful Shaman.
Background
UFO reports in the Uintah Basin were publicized during the 1970s. The first claims about the ranch first appeared in 1996 in the Salt Lake City, Utah Deseret News, and later in the alternative weekly Las Vegas Mercury as a series of articles by investigative journalist George Knapp. These early stories detailed the claims of a family that allegedly experienced inexplicable and frightening events after they purchased and occupied the property.
Paranormal Reputation
The ranch, located in west Uintah County bordering the Ute Indian Reservation, was popularly dubbed the UFO ranch due to its ostensible 50-year history of odd events said to have taken place there. Knapp and Kelleher cite the 1974 book The Utah UFO Display: A Scientist's Report by Frank Salisbury and Joseph "Junior" Hicks, which details an earlier investigation into alleged UFO sightings in the Uintah County region, as partial confirmation of their account. According to Kelleher and Knapp, they saw or investigated evidence of close to 100 incidents that include vanishing and mutilated cattle, sightings of unidentified flying objects or orbs, large animals with piercing red eyes that they say were unscathed when struck by bullets, and invisible objects emitting destructive magnetic fields. Among those involved were retired US Army Colonel John B. Alexander who characterized the NIDS effort as an attempt to get hard data using a "standard scientific approach". However, the investigators admitted to "difficulty obtaining evidence consistent with scientific publication."
Cattle mutilations have been part of the folklore of the surrounding area for decades. When NIDS founder billionaire Robert Bigelow purchased the ranch for $200,000, this was reportedly the result of his being convinced by the stories of mutilations that included tales of strange lights and unusual impressions made in grass and soil told by the family of former ranch owner Terry Sherman.
In 1996, skeptic James Randi awarded Bigelow a Pigasus Award for funding the purchase of the ranch and for supporting Harvard University's Professor John Mack's and author Bud Hopkins' investigations. Randi called the effort a "useless study of a supernatural, paranormal or occult".
Adamantium Holdings
In 2016, Bigelow sold Skinwalker Ranch for $4.5 million to “Adamantium Holdings”, a shell corporation of unknown origin. After this purchase, all roads leading to the ranch have been blocked, the perimeter secured and guarded by cameras and barbed wire, and surrounded by signs that aim to prevent people from approaching the ranch. In 2017, the name "Skinwalker Ranch" was filed for trademark through Justia Trademarks. The trademark was issued in 2018.
In March 2020, Brandon Fugal, 46, a Utah real estate tycoon, publicly came out as the owner of the ranch.
Homestead 1
Homestead 2
Near the Mesa/Skinwalker Ridge
Radiation spikes, glowing lights, paranormal activity.
Built in 1905 by John and Emma Myers to raise cattle.
Been abandoned since the 1930's.
In Media
A 2020 television series on History, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, premieres March 31, 2020. Promotional material says it will feature "a team of scientists and experts" using science and technology such as lasers, ground-penetrating radar, and drone thermography as they search the property in an attempt to explain UFO sightings, animal mutilations, and paranormal events. The base scientific team includes Travis Taylor, Erik Bard and Jim Segala.
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Season 1 Episode 1 - Bad Things Happen When You Dig
Summary: For more than 2 centuries, a ranch in Utah has been associated with strange and disturbing occurrences that defy physical reality.
Now, a team of dedicated scientists, researchers and experts are determined to solve the mystery and reveal The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch.
Pilot episode opens with forshadowing scene of an urgent call from Tom Winterton (the Ranch Superintendent) to Dr. Travis Taylor over handheld radio/walkie-talkies. The team discovered a dead cow on the property and begin to analyze it with multiple scientific devices: Geiger Counter, spectrum analyzer and a TriField meter. The devices show readings that could be hazardous for the team should they stick around, so they decide to leave the area to be safe.
The show then jumps back to where the team is assembled and introductions are made. Brandon Fugal then proceeds to show a presentation giving the team background information on the ranch and the strange phenomenon that has been observed on the property since 1911. Travis is then escorted to the ranch via private helicopter.
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Season 1 Episode 2 - Night Visions
Summary: Peril strikes during a daring investigation as the team embarks on their quest to understand what may lie beneath Skinwalker Ranch.
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Season 1 Episode 3 - Looking Down
Summary: A life-threatening incident forces the team to re-assess their methods of investigation, and disturbing new evidence at homestead one has Tom and Travis on edge.
Previous episode ended with Tom in the hospital from a reoccurrence of symptoms from a past injury (head swelling). There was mention of the possibility of his injury being due to a direct radiation beam. The team, joined by Brandon, equip themselves with bio-metric trackers, to alert the team of stress indicators and such.
Thermographic images of the property taken by drone and nothing significant found. They physically move over to the area dubbed Homestead 2, even though the drone could reach that area easily while the team stayed put at the helo pad. Oddly, the drone operator could not establish a connection between the drone and the remote control. Noted a 5Ghz signal picked up near Homestead 2. This ended the drone reconnaissance.
RF (using TriField meters) spikes seem to be coming from above the ranch in the sky. The team triangulated and calculated the point of origin to be about 5600ft above the ranch, a little over 1 mile above the ground. The team then decided to launch weather baloons, with instruments attached to them. The second balloon was untethered and had a GPS tracker attached to it. The balloon stops updating its location once it hits the 5000ft mark. Coincidentally, the same elevation that the team triangulated the origin of the RF signals. As the team reviews the video recording of the TriField meter from the first balloon (that was tethered) they can clearly see the meter spike to .5 milliwatts per meter squared (mWm²). This is like standing next to a microwave that is running.
Episode ends with the team looking inside of a concealed concrete room that was found in the basement of Homestead 1 with a video camera. The team finds some strange items at the bottom of the room and what appears to be bones and ash.
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Season 1 Episode 4 - High Strangeness
Summary: It's an historic moment when the entire team witnesses, and documents, two UFO sightings directly over Skinwalker Ranch.
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Season 1 Episode 5 - Dangerous Curves
Summary: When advanced testing shows evidence of strange anomalies under the ranch, Brandon finally gives the team permission to dig.
Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Season 1 Episode 6 - Poking the Nest
Summary: The ranch reacts in dangerous ways when the team begins to dig.
The team decides, before they begin to dig, to setup more security cameras in order to record any potential incidences that occur during the dig. The team notices that the cattle are acting strange and decide to keep a close eye on them. Also before the dig, the team decides to do a radiation sweep of Homestead two. This is a precaution stemming from the radiation burns and dosimeter warnings that Travis experienced after inspecting an old well at Homestead two. The devices used in this radiation sweep only registered background radiation.
July 26, 2019, the ranch is delivered a pack of new animals - two Alpaca's. This was to introduce a different type of animal to the ranch and see what happens, how they react to the ranch. A local Uintah spiritual leader performs a blessing on the drill site. The plan is to dig where the team found the large underground anomaly using the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) using a hollow drill bit. This will allow the team to bring up samples and scan them with geiger counters and other scientific devices. At a depth of about 17ft the entire drilling rig starts shaking and it seems like the drill bit has hit something solid. This part of the episode was portrayed as being much more dramatic during the commercials. Nothing exciting here, just a drill bit hitting silt stone. The team then decides to move to another area for drilling where they suspect to find high levels of gamma/ionizing radiation in the soil samples.
Before drilling the second hole, the team notices the utility poles nearby moving/shaking a bit. Again, this was much more dramatic in the commercials. Nothing exciting found in the second drill site.
July 28, 2019, the team wakes up to the sound of one of the Alpaca's being attacked by a pack of animals described as looking like dogs that varied in size and were very aggressive. In typical fashion, the camera that was recording the pen where the Alpaca's were, was not online when the attack happened. Only one camera caught the attack. The footage was poor quality and the view was obstructed. You can see that some large animal was in the pen with them and you can see the animal attack one of the Alpaca's. The eyewitness reports do not match up with the video footage as there was no visible clues of a whole pack of animals in the pen, just a single animal.
