In the realm of paranormal investigations there are some places that just seem to be a magnet for the supernatural. Areas like; the Bridgewater Triangle in Massachusetts or Boston "Helltown" Ohio. One such place where the unexplained seems to have settled is the Sherman Ranch in Ballard Utah. It may be more popularly known as Skinwalker Ranch thanks to popular local lore that the nearby Ute Indians placed a curse on the land during the 1800's. While those who lived in the region had known about the strange happenings around the ranch it was not until the Sherman family purchased it in 1994 that it's reputation spread.
The supernatural elements of Skinwalker Ranch did not wait long before exposing themselves to the new family. In their initial tour of the property, the family did notice each door and window had multiple locks and chains as if to keep something out, but they brushed it off. On the first day the Sherman family began the moving in process, family patriarch Terry Sherman saw a massive wolf-like animal approach them. While it appeared cautiously benign at first, the beast snapped in an instant and viciously attacked one of their calves. Using a high powered rifle, Terry was forced to shoot the wolf multiple times, though the animal was somehow unhurt by the bullets. Eventually this mysterious creature ran off never to be seen again. Unfortunately for the Sherman clan, this would prove to merely be an introduction for the terror and mysteries they would endure.
Terry's wife Gwen would experience a nonstop barrage of supernatural occurrences in the homestead. What began as objects around the house moving around on their own soon increased until featureless shadow entities began to make their presence known. While shocking at first, it became strangely normal for Terry and his sons to see mysterious lights in the skies over the ranch. The prized cattle the family were raising began to vanish seemingly into thin air, and Terry knew the UFOs were somehow connected. When the cows were found, they would be found mutilated with a surgical precision. It seemed just as the Sherman's had thought they had seen it all a new paranormal element would pop up. Cryptozoological creatures, of course including what appeared to be Skinwalkers, were seen around the properties. A large but unseen force would move about in the cattle pasture. Large orange rings would appear in the night sky, and through them the Sherman's would see other places and UFOs travelling in and out of them.
At their wits end the Sherman family moved out of the ranch, but their story caught the attention of billionaire hotel magnate Robert Bigelow. While it may seem like an unexpected purchase, Bigelow had a fascination with science, he was even the founder of the space technology company Bigelow Aerospace. In 1995, Bigelow assembled, the National Institute of Discovery Science (NIDS), a team of twenty five scientists and researchers from a variety of backgrounds to explore the realm of paranormal phenomena. Led by biochemist Dr. Colm Kelleher the team had looked into things like cattle mutilations and "black triangle" UFOs. But the Skinwalker Ranch looked to be the perfect place for them to carry out their biggest research yet, and in 1996 they went to the ranch and set up shop. Now the question arose, as to what the paranormal phenomena would do when people were actively searching it out.
Their first order of business was to find something which could be source of mass hallucinations. They checked the water supply for poison, spores in air, and possible spots of high electromagnetic energy. Everything came up normal. One of the most infamous events witnessed by the NIDS team was when the Sherman's four prized bulls mysteriously vanished from their coral. When they were discovered, the massive animals were in a trance and somehow in a small nearby trailer. There was no evidence to show the bulls entering, in fact the cobwebs at the trailer's entrance were still there. They also found the metal fence of the coral was now magnetized. One night while on a stakeout, Dr. Kelleher would see a large creature watching them from the trees, and while they could not identify it, the colleague with nightvision goggles witnessed it's mouth moving as if to say "we are watching you". On another night, one of the scientists saw firsthand a portal open and one of the mysterious shadow figures come through onto the ranch. The NIDS team witnessed many of the paranormal events the Shermans had. But it seemed as though the supernatural beings were trying their best to not be investigated and maintained being one step ahead of the researchers.
Real estate dealer Brandon Fugal current owner of the 500+ acres of terror and mystery have shut down access to the lands to outsiders and even posted guards at the gates to keep out rubberneckers. That has not stopped the curious who set up at the border of Skinwalker Ranch to watch the strange lights in the skies overhead. Fugal has invested in state of the art technology to monitor the property in the hopes of capturing proof of the paranormal on the land. Hopefully this will lead to something that could be called definitive proof that something weird is happening here.
