Page 14 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - May/June 2022 Edition

14 Skinwalker Ranch & the Paranormal

How Skinwalker Ranch

Became a Hotbed of

Paranormal Activity

Continued from Page 13

Cursed water, cursed lights

While skinwalkers don’t feature in Ute religion,
there are still aspects of the ranch that make
sense within the context of Ute lore.

Other strange sightings have occurred directly
next door, at Bottle Hollow—a 420-acre man-
made reservoir on Ute land abutting the ranch,
which was filled with fresh water in 1970 by
federal government mandate. In 1998, a police
officer saw a large light plunge into the reservoir
and then reemerge, flying off into the night sky.
One night in 2002, four young (non-Indian) men
standing on the reservoir’s shoreline saw a blue-
white ball enter the artificial lake. keep his identity secret. "I acquired the property UFOs, the Pentagon and a
from billionaire Robert Bigelow for the purpose
According to the Hunt for the Skinwalker, the of conducting scientific research to determine if Move to the Mainstream
glowing ball dove into the water just a few feet there was any validity to the extraordinary
from the shore, then emerged seconds later in a claims of paranormal activity," he said.
new form: a shimmering, maneuverable belt- The idea of UFO sightings was largely seen as
shaped shaft of light. “After performing a brief "Although I acquired the ranch as a skeptic, I
quackery for decades. People who claimed to
writhing aerial dance, the belt of light zipped eventually had my own undeniable Close have had encounters with them were often
away at a high rate of speed, hugging the ground Encounter—a UFO sighting in broad daylight
dismissed and ridiculed.
before disappearing below the top of Skinwalker with multiple witnesses."
Ridge.” This has slowly started to shift, however, with
Skeptics of Skinwalker Ranch are many. One of
the release of Pentagon documents about UFO
The appearance of the supernatural around the most prominent, Robert Sheaffer, previously sightings that show there was an effort to keep
Bottle Hollow makes sense with the context of pointed out that the claims of paranormal
track and record unexplained events. UFO—
Ute belief. According to Jones, amongst the Utes activity began just before a family that owned
unidentified flying object—does not mean
“springs and certain waterways were reservoirs the ranch was preparing to sell it to Bigelow— aliens.
of negative power… There were evil spirits or the founder of the National Institute for
evil sprites that would rise up out of the water Discovery Science (NIDSci), a privately The U.S government also set up the
and drag you in.” [] financed research organization that disbanded in
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task
2004.
Force in 2020 as part of the Office of Naval
Skinwalker Ranch: The Intelligence to standardize and collect
Bigelow had bought it to investigate UFO information about UAP sightings. It said the task
UFO Hotspot in Utah That sightings at the ranch through NIDSci, but after force would be examining unauthorized aircraft
a decade of observations the team gave up the
Has Men Obsessed where "the observer cannot immediately
ghost.
identify what he or she is observing."

By Hannah Osborne The name Skinwalker comes from the Navajo "The Department of Defense established the
tribe, describing a type of shaman that practices
UAPTF to improve its understanding of, and
bad or black magic. The ranch has captured
gain insight into, the nature and origins of
popular imagination. The HISTORY Channel is
Skinwalker Ranch is a 512-acre property tucked UAPs," it said. "The mission of the task force is
about to air its third season of a series about the
away in the northeast corner of Utah that, to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could
paranormal activity at the ranch.
apparently, UFOs—and the men studying potentially pose a threat to U.S. national
them—just can't get enough of. security."
Asked whether he purchased Skinwalker Ranch
to make money off the paranormal claims, Fugal
In the 1960s and 70s, there was a flurry of UFO In June 2021, NASA chief Bill Nelson told CNN
said no. "I have yet to put a penny in my pocket
sightings in the Uintah Basin. Then, in the mid he did not think UFO sightings were a case of
personally regarding this endeavor," he said. "In
90s, stories about Skinwalker and strange optical illusions. He said that while he does not
addition, I never intended to reveal my identity
goings-on at the ranch started to emerge. The think UFOs are aliens visiting Earth—"I think I
as the owner, requiring strict confidentiality
stories range from cattle mutilations to UFOs. would know"—the sightings reported by Navy
agreements and liability waivers. I kept my
pilots are a mystery.
identity as the owner secret until being
"Skinwalker Ranch is the most scientifically
persuaded to go public in connection with the
studied paranormal hotspot on the planet, with "We don't know if it's extraterrestrial. We don't
The HISTORY Channel docuseries and our
the highest frequency of documented UFO know if it's an enemy. We don't know if it's an
ongoing investigation." []
sightings, bizarre cattle mutilations, optical phenomenon," Nelson said. "We don't
electromagnetic anomalies and unexplained think [it's an optical phenomenon] because of
THE ‘X’ ZONE RADIO/TV
phenomena," Brandon Fugal, who bought the the characteristics that those Navy jet pilots
with
ranch in 2016. described [...] And so the bottom line is, we want
ROB McCONNELL to know." []
Fugal, a real estate tycoon, initially bought the Past Episodes Are Available At
property through a shell company, wanting to www.XZBN.net