Skinwalker Ranch // 60 // Paranormal

SKINWALKER RANCH

I want to start off by stating that we do not want to disrespect Native people by telling this story. We do not know full details for all of the legends, but we do find the stories incredibly fascinating. Native American writer and historian Adrienne Keene has explained that J.K. Rowling used similar entities as the ones we will discuss today in her Harry Potter series and it affected indigenous people negatively. We will be discussing some legends that I was able to find through my research, but our story is revolving around events that occurred at a ranch.

Skinwalker ranch is recognized as the most scientifically studied paranormal hotspot on the planet. There has been UFO sightings, poltergeist activity, cattle mutilations, odd injuries, transient radiation spikes, crop circles in triangular patterns, and other strange phenomena.

The ranch is a 512-acre parcel of land in the center of Utah's Uintah Basin which is rumored to be cursed by Ute Indians. People that work at the ranch will tell you that you can spend weeks there and nothing bad or unusual will happen, but in an instant, everything can change. The Superintendent, Thomas Winterton says, “ You get that sense you shouldn't be here, sometimes the hair will start standing up on your arms. I've had a feeling of dread or terror come over me and I can't get off the ranch fast enough.”

The Uintah Basin consists of 9,300 square miles of tertiary rock in the shape of a bowl. It's named after the Ute tribe and is surrounded by Ute land. The first European explorers wrote about strange fireballs appearing over their campfire and this was in 1776. In the 1860's, the basin was alloted by Abraham Lincoln as an Indian Reservation. In the early 1900s, many Mormon settlers began moving in. 

The name Skinwalker Ranch alludes to one of the most feared entities in Navajo culture and history: Skinwalkers are malevolent witches who mastered the ability of changing into different creatures. So, it's a witch who has done terrible things to gain the ability to transform or shapeshift into any different type of animal at will. They are most frequently seen as coyotes, wolves, foxes, eagles, owls, or crows. When exposed, a skinwalker is a black shadow, but when they change into a human or animal, they take over the body like a demon and wear their skin. They look unnatural, move at impossible speeds, can walk upright, and typically have glowing eyes. Skinwalkers usually stay in forests during the daytime and they come out at night. The Utes will not enter the area known as Skinwalker Ranch due to the curse. Native American legends claim that the middle of the Uintah Basin is the “Path of the Skinwalker.”

I do want to got more in depth about the Skinwalkers before we dive into the ranch. The Navajo believe that they practice black magic and it's pretty much taboo to even talk about them. In Navajo culture, Skinwalker is translated to Yee Naaldooshii, which means With it, he goes on all fours or he that walks like an animal. The Navajo say a skinwalker can be either gender, a shaman or a witch and the people that choose to become this are pure evil and they chose to use their power to instill fear and inflict pain. They are typically looking for wealth and power. They possess supernatural powers to transform into any animal they desire. If they choose wolf, dog, or coyote, they get increased stamina, nocturnal vision, and enhanced hearing, smell, and endurance. If they choose a cougar, they get greater speed, agility, and stealth. An owl or crow comes with increased vision, sharp claws, and of course flying.

Skinwalkers have the power to steal the body of their victim simply by locking eyes. Once they choose their victim, they have complete control and they can force them to do things they wouldn't typically do. It's possible for the victim to break the trance if their will power is stronger than the attacker. Like I said, the Navajo don't really talk about the Skinwalkers and they certainly don't talk about them at night. They believe that they could appear to you if you discuss them. There is story that says a Skinwalker can break into homes by going through small openings by using corpse powder, which is dried human bones. The Navajo community says Corpse powder is used to cause sickness and death and witches and skinwalkers use it to curse victims.

I'm getting freaked out just talking about the skinwalkers. There are some signs to watch for that may indicate that one is near. If there are dead animal skins or furs surrounding an area, a very heavy dead animal smell, or a metallic smell, there may be skinwalkers in the area. If they choose a victim that's inside of a home, you may hear them banging on walls or windows, there could be scraping noises and they may get on your roof. You are advised to not look out the window because you may accidentally lock eyes.

How does one really become a Skinwalker in the first place? Well, they must murder a close relative. The Skinwalker must have a heart of pure evilness and they only care for themselves. According to Navajo legend, the only way to kill a Skinwalker is with silver bullets or you dip a knife into white ash. You must aim above the neck and hit them in the head while it's in animal form. If you shoot below the neck, the bullet passes through and they are unharmed. If you happen to know their true identity, you must say their name, followed by the sentence, you are a skinwalker. Within three days of this, they will become ill and they die. 

As early as 1911, there was a newspaper article titled Rumblings Heard In Uintah Basin. People had seen unexplained phenomena and by 1979, there were many UFO sightings documented in the basin. There is a also a phenomenon described as a hole in the sky. People say a giant hole opens up and they are able to see another sky inside, but it's a different time of day on the other end. Ranch workers have described this as a vortex and occasionally see UFOs flying in and out of the hole. The sky inside the vortex is described as being bright orange. It seems that every creature has found a home at the ranch. Bigfoot has been spotted walking around the ranch and then he disappears as he's walking.

The earliest attempts to document the strange activity occurring at the ranch began in 1951 by a local science teacher named Joseph Junior Hicks. He witnessed a large object in the sky during broad daylight and the UFO sighting was also witnessed by the students in his elementary class. Junior decided to document the account and also wrote about 400 other paranormal events that happened in the area and some dated back more than five decades. He wrote, “The UFO activity really started getting intense in the early '50s. There were cases where the whole school and all the teachers saw these things hovering over the town in broad daylight. In the '60s and '70s, we probably had more UFO sightings than any place in the world.”

As Junior was researching the UFO sightings, he found out about the legends of Ute Indians. He explained, “The Utes take this very seriously. They think the Skinwalkers are powerful spirits that are here because of a curse that was put on them generations ago by the Navajos. And the center of the whole legend is this ranch. The Utes say the ranch is the path of the skinwalker. Tribe members are strictly forbidden from setting foot on the property. It's been that way for a long time.”

From the late 70's to early 90's, there isn't much that is known about the ranch or it's owners, but it seemed to have sat vacant for quite some time.

In 1992, the Sherman family purchased the ranch. It was their dream home and they wanted to build their cattle ranch business. Terry, his wife, and their two children were excited for their new adventure. What a lovely place to raise their teenage son and 9-year old daughter. Terry had a reputation for his unique and scientific approach when it came to cattle breeding. He and his wife were baffled that such an amazing piece of land was being sold so cheap and had been vacant for 7 years. The land bordered the Uintah and Ouray Ute Indian Reservation and was protected by a long red rock ridge. When the Sherman's got to the home, they noticed deadbolts on the doors, windows, and cabinets. The doors actually had deadbolts on both sides too. At both ends of the home, they found large iron stakes that were tied to heavy chains. Sure, this may be strange, but what could they do? The Sherman's owned the house now.

It didn't take long for things to get strange for the new family at the ranch. One day, shortly after settling in, Terry and Gwen Sherman saw an animal, but they couldn't see exactly what it was. Maybe a wolf or a coyote? The animal walked directly toward them and they were able to pet it. It sort of acted like a dog, but looked like a wolf. The wolf ended up heading towards the livestock pen. Suddenly, it grabbed a calf in its jaws and attempted to pull it through the corral bars. Terry quickly fired six shots at the animal with his handgun and then three shots with a rifle. He did hit it, but the creature didn't seem hurt and just headed towards the bushes casually. The Sherman's followed the tracks and they quickly disappeared.

Wolf sightings kept happening on the ranch. On one occasion, Gwen was driving up to the farm and spotted a wolf that was three times larger than a normal wolf. She ended up telling the police about this sighting and they were surprised because they didn't have any wolves in Utah. The police showed her photos of different wolfs and she pointed to the one called a Dire wolf and said this resembles the one she saw.

The Native Americans have stories about skinwalkers that would turn into different creatures and one is a wolf-like beast that resembles a large, extinct dire wolf that used to prowl North America. The Dire Wolf has been extinct for over 10,000 years. 

Legends say the skinwalkers are on the land of the ranch due to a hostile relationship between two Native American peoples, the Navajo and the Utes. Historian Sondra Jones, author of Being and Becoming Ute, “The Navajo were more aggressive people, they took slaves, they had Ute slaves.” The legend says that a territorial dispute led the Navajo to curse the land and unleash the skinwalkers. 

There's another Native American legend that claims that the spirits of children who were drowned in water tend to lurk in lakes in an attempt to lure unsuspecting victims to their deaths. The spirits are called water babies and they use the cries of young children to lure people into lakes. Many people have claimed to hear the cries at night from the ranch near the creek.

For weeks, after the wolf incident, visitors of the ranch reported seeing unidentifiable beasts moving in the woods and they were hearing loud roars. They also saw lights hovering around the ranch and moving through the sky. It was described as “large orange circles and blue spheres.” There was also a big problem with the animals on the ranch. They began dying in horrific ways. Dogs were incinerated in the night and cows were being dismembered and hollowed out with a surgical precision that pretty much ruled out coyotes and wolfs.

The animals at the ranch were being killed during the day and there was no blood found on or near the animals. They were literally drained of blood. The Sherman's ended up losing 25% of their herd. They also reported a UFO sighting and said it was roughly the size of two football fields in length. It obviously wasn't good that Terry was losing such a large percentage of his herd, but he knew he couldn't afford to lose his bulls. One day, he ran into town for awhile to complete some errands. When he returned, all four of his bulls were missing. He searched the grounds and was unable to locate them. He decided to peek over the rails of a locked and unused trailer. All four bulls were in the locked trailer, standing completely still in a catatonic state.

One of the most common things witnessed on the ranch has been floating spheres. The Sherman's and other witnesses have reported 12 separate incidents of spotting large orange circles flying around. Terry Sherman says that occasionally, a hole would open inside the orange sphere and other smaller spheres would fly out. A neighboring rancher actually confirmed seeing the same thing and referred to them as a flying orange basketballs. People have also witnessed blue orbs on the property, but the blue orbs are bad. They are also basketball sized, but seem to be intelligently controlled and can make really quick turns as they zip around the property. 

In May of 1996, Terry Sherman was outside with three of his dogs. He noticed a blue orb was darting around the field and he told the dogs to go after the ball. The dogs began chasing the light around, but it was able to easily dodge them. The dogs followed the light through the pasture and into the thick field. Terry heard the dogs yelp and then there was silence. He decided to wait until morning to go looking for the dogs and he found three round spots of dried vegetation. In the middle of the circle was a black, greasy lump. It looked like the dogs had been incinerated,

The Sherman's heard voices talking to them, saw their entire pasture illuminated at night, smelled strange odors in their home, and even heard machinery underground. Even shopping trips got weird. Gwen went to the grocery store and unpacked everything when she arrived home. After filling the cabinets and fridge, she folded the bags on the counter and went to the bathroom. Upon returning, Gwen saw the bags back on the counter filled with unloaded groceries. I'd be pissed, I hate putting groceries away. They also said that large farm equipment that they worked with on the land would end up in trees.

After two years on the ranch, Gwen and Terry were ready to call it quits. It was getting dangerous and they were finding it difficult to even sleep at night anymore. When they did fall asleep, they were both having violent nightmares and eventually discovered that some of their family members were having identical dreams. The two children were suffering at school and their grades were dropping, Gwen lost her job at the local bank due to repeated absences, and Terry had lost a good chunk of his herd. Things had gotten so bad that the family began sleeping together on the floor in their front room. A newspaper article went out discussing the oddities at the ranch and luckily for the Sherman's, a billionaire, Robert Bigelow was instantly intrigued. He had always had a passion for space travel and paranormal. He founded the National Institute for Discovery Science also known as NIDS and he just knew he needed to be part of this.

Robert Bigelow purchased the ranch and his team set up monitoring equipment, observation posts and round the clock surveillance. Many of the professionals involved in the studies have refused to ever step foot on the ranch again. The activity ended up triggering a lot of conspiracy theories among UFO watchers. Robert ended up doing an interview where he had to let everyone know that he wasn't working with the CIA and he hadn't had prior contact with aliens in Utah.

The activity on the ranch didn't slow down when Robert moved in. His team witnessed the same lights in the sky that the Sherman's had reported, but the equipment would mysteriously malfunction at the most critical moments. They even had problems where the equipment would be shredded or wires were ripped out. Most of the information from Robert Bigelow and his team remains classified or confidential. 

Scientists have researched the cattle mutilations over the years and it's been reported that a sharp instrument was used. The dismemberment would take quite some time to complete, but they can't explain how that's possible. On one occasion, the cattle was seen alive and researchers remained within 300 yards of the animal at all times. The animal was somehow mutilated without any of them seeing or hearing anything and there wasn't any blood.

CURRENT OWNER

In 2016, Brandon Fugal, a prominent businessman and real estate developer purchased the ranch. He increased the security and hired a team of researchers to study the anomalies, and launched the History Channel series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch to document everything. Brandon says, “What we are witnessing could be evidence that we live in a multi-dimensional universe. That we are not alone. That we may be interacting with other entities, other intelligence.”

I did watch the History channel series and it was absolutely fascinating, I highly recommend watching it if you have any interest in the things we are discussing today, I did get a lot of information from it for the podcast. It basically goes way more in depth about the scientific measurements and different methods of research that's been used. 

At the ranch, the team has tons of equipment for research, such as: thermographic imaging cameras, night vision equipment, weather data, aircraft monitoring, and a device that measures vibrations in the ground and it records sounds below the frequency range of human hearing. 

Most of the unusual things tend to happen around the old homesteads and people believe they are haunted. Homestead number 2 seems to cause the most issues and interferes with electronics. The structures are over 100 years old and seem to be a hotbed for strange activity. It may sound odd, but the land seems to behave badly when people dig up the earth or make changes. 

Thomas Winterton, the ranch superintendent was warned not to dig on the land, but he didn't believe in the paranormal and apparently paid the price. He ended up digging a hole and three days later he had a large lump on his head. He went to the hospital and the lump was now covering his whole head and his scalp separated from his skull. The doctors couldn't figure out what caused it and they pretty much said it seemed medically impossible that it happened. During filming for the TV show, Thomas started to get some swelling in the same spot and this time, there wasn't any digging involved.

On Skinwalker Ridge, there's a hole that people can fit into. It blasts cold air up and people that have gone inside have experienced nausea and vertigo. They also say their phone batteries drain when they go near it. At night, the mesa seems to glow.

In one of the homesteads, strange noises have been reported. Caretakers have moved in and they are hearing vibrations in the ground and they have heard knocking sounds coming from the basement. The research team discovered a room behind a brick wall. It has been completely covered up and there's no doors or windows. When a camera was slid in the room, it looks like there was some ash, like a fire had been started in the room. The team decided to knock the wall down and the concrete was very thick. The room is small like a cellar, but it was really clean.....except for a small pile of animal bone fragments that was inside.

Since the cattle mutilations was such a big topic on this ranch, it needs to be studied. The team brought in cattle and the caretakers were going to study their behaviors and look after them. When the cows start acting agitated and group together, something strange tends to happen, such as orbs seen in the sky.

The current owner of the ranch, Brandon Fugal, has had his own strange experiences. Next to one of the homesteads, there is a big hole in the ground with a cover on it. No one is quite sure what it's for, but it could possible be a tunnel. One day, Brandon was escorting a group of visitors around the land. They walked into the homestead and Brandon says he noticed that one of the group members was no longer with them. He walked outside and found the man standing fully upright, with his eyes closed. Brandon kept yelling his name to get his attention and the man's eyes popped open. They guy said he was paralyzed and went to sleep for about ten minutes. This all happened after they tried to open the hole. On the TV series, one of the team members opened up the hole and peeked inside. He instantly got a headache and a skin rash. When he went to the doctor, they said he had radiation burn. 

THEORIES

The government made contact with extraterrestrials and is covering everything up.

It's a hoax and the Shermans, Brandon Fugal, and Robert Bigelow are lying.

The ranch home is a portal that allows for interdimensional travel.

A shaman has been trapped in an alternate timeline and has been described as a silent Native American that peeks through the portal to another dimension. This shaman is referred to as the dark one and is believed to have opened the portal.

The orange lights that have been seen in the sky are actually a portal that allows beings to pass in and out of our world from another dimension and the blue portals allow vehicles or UFO to pass through. A portal could explain how extinct wolves have shown up and and it also explains how animals just disappear.

This could be a great spot for aliens to study us. The land has hundreds of miles of open space and they would pretty much be left alone. Some people believe that there is a UFO or saucer shaped item under or near homestead 2.

Robert Bigelow, the ranch owner prior to Brandon, theorized that all the strange phenomenon happening could be a result of an interdimensional or transdimensional portal that is located on the ranch somewhere. Many people over the years, including people from Robert Bigelow's team, have stated that they have seen portals or windows in the homesteads. When people have seen them, they say they can see other skylines or other landscapes on the other side.

On the show I watched, they talked to Larry from the Ute tribe to get their perspective. They believe the land is like a funnel. The land is shaped like a bowl and it acts as a portal to another world and he confirmed the Skinwalker legends that have been passed down many generations.

Time Dilation: This is the difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks. It's either due to relative velocity between them or difference in gravitational potential between their locations. After compensating for varying signal delays due to the changing distance between an observer and a moving clock, the observer will measure the moving clock as ticking slower than a clock that is at rest in the observer's own reference frame. Let's break this down. The faster you move through space, the slower you move through time. The greater the mass of an object, the more gravity warps space time meaning the clock on Earth would tick faster than a clock on Jupiter. If you take a source that produces more energy and gravitational pull than the rotations of Jupiter, space time would be warped. It's believed that a wormhole has been created and connects two regions within the universe that are both at different time periods. Basically, time travel. Perhaps the wormhole is connected to the past or the future, another world, or another planet.

Resources:
Paranormal Ranch | Skinwalker Ranch Official | United States (skinwalker-ranch.com)

Why a millionaire real-estate mogul bought Skinwalker Ranch - Utah Business

The Bizarre History of Skinwalker Ranch | Sky HISTORY TV Channel

10 Bizarre Things That Have Happened on the Skinwalker Ranch | Futurism (vocal.media)

Skinwalkers: What Are They? - Scarenormal

Skinwalker Ranch & the 1878 Navajo Witch Purge – Historical Paranormal Events (home.blog)

Stories and Theories About "The Skinwalker Ranch" (ranker.com)

What Are Skinwalkers? The Real Story Of The Navajo Legend (allthatsinteresting.com)

Skinwalker Ranch - few will argue that this plot of land is the strangest place on Earth - Altered Dimensions Paranormal

Stories and Theories About "The Skinwalker Ranch" (ranker.com)

Anomalous Time-Dilation: Skinwalker Ranch Portal Theory - The Unidentified (the-unidentified.net)

Watched: History Channel series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranc