The curious tale of Utah’s Skinwalker Ranch

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In northern Utah, in the Uintah Basin near the town of Fort Duchesne, there exists a ranch so strange, the National Institute for Discovery Science purchased it so they could conduct research into the dozens of accounts of paranormal activity alleged to have been taking place on the 480 acre ranch for hundreds of years.

The legend of the Navajo Skinwalker. Courtesy Nativeamericanencyclopedia.com

At first glance one would think that this story was just yet another bit of fiction concocted by big foot believers, but extensive research has uncovered some curious phenomenon indeed.  Naturally, the ranch has it’s naysayers, most claiming the stories to be nothing but a collection of hoaxes.  When polled you might not be surprised to find that about half think the attack on the WTC was devised by George Bush, and the moon landing was filmed on a back lot at Universal Studios.  So, draw your own conclusions.  If nothing else the story makes for an intriguing Sunday morning read.  Enjoy.

Junior Hicks Investigates Skinwalker Ranch

The earliest attempts to document the paranormal accounts that occur at Skinwalker Ranch began in 1951 by a local science teacher named Junior Hicks. After spotting a large object cross the sky during broad daylight (which was also witnessed by all of this students), Junior recognized that something strange was indeed going on around the Uintah Basin. Junior began documenting unusual accounts which resulted in a record of over 400 different paranormal events in the area of Skinwalker Ranch. It is estimated that over half the population in the area have witnessed unusual paranormal activity in the area.

“The UFO activity really started getting intense in the early ’50s,” Hicks says. “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.”

In addition to his own sightings, Junior researched historical Indian lore after learning that the local Ute tribe will not enter the Skinwalker Ranch property. He discovered that the Ute Indians, who have lived in the area for thousands of years, believed the land to be cursed and plagued with mythical creatures called “skinwalkers”. The Ute Indians referred to the 400 acre plot of land as the “path of the skinwalker” and had referenced the land as such for hundreds of years.

“The Utes take this very seriously,” Hicks says. “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 1990’s, not much is known about the ranch nor its owners. What is known is that the ranch sat inexplicably vacant for many of those years.

The Shermans Move In

Terry Sherman and his wife Gwen Sherman purchased Skinwalker ranch in 1994 intending to start a cattle ranch business. The land had been effectively abandoned by the previous owners (tracking owners prior to 1960 has proven impossible) and the couple were curious why such prime property was not being utilized. The Sherman’s, Terry, his wife, and their two children, remained for only two years before fleeing in May of 1996.

Note: Terry and Gwen are their real names – the pseudonyms Tom Sherman or Tom Gillman have been used in other Skinwalker Ranch articles.

Terry Sherman was an accomplished rancher when they began seeking property in Utah to expand a striving business. His reputation for his unique and scientific approach to cattle breeding preceded him.

When they arrived at Skinwalker Ranch, which had been vacant for several years, they were curious as to the purpose of all of the deadbolts that had been placed on windows and doors. There were deadbolts on both sides of the doors. Even the kitchen cabinets had deadbolt locks on them. At both ends of the house, they found large iron stakes tied to heavy chains and were curious whether the chains were in place as a barrier or as a means to chain down a large animal.

Shermans experience strange phenomena

During their two years they experienced mysterious voices coming from the air, cattle mutilations (in just two years, Terry Sherman lost 14 from his 80 head heard), exotic multi-colored birds, objects flying around their home and property, UFO’s, strange beastly creatures, and more.

On the first day that the Shermans moved their furnishings onto the property, they had their first foreshadowing of the events that would follow. They spotted an extremely large wolf in the nearby pasture. The wolf cautiously made its way across the field, and, to the surprise of everyone, sidled up to the family like a long-lost family pet (it even let the family pet it). It had rained that day, and the family remembers the wolf smelled like a wet dog.

After a few minutes, the wolf casually strolled over to the corral and grabbed a young calf by its snout, attempting to pull it through the corral bars. Sherman and his son rush to the calf’s aid and began beating on the wolf’s back with an axe handle but it wouldn’t release the calf. Sherman’s son grabbed a .357 Magnum from his truck and shot the wolf at point-blank range. The slug had no noticeable effect. The animal did not make a sound nor did it bleed.

Sherman quickly shot the wolf again, which then let go of the calf but stood looking at the family as if nothing had happened. Sherman shot it two more times with the powerful handgun. The big animal backed off a bit, but still showed no signs of distress.

The mystified rancher retrieved a hunting rifle from his truck and shot the wolf again, once more at close range. Five slugs should have been enough to bring down an elk, let alone a wolf. The fifth shot caused a chunk of hair and flesh to fly off the wolf, but it still didn’t seem fazed. After a sixth shot, the wolf slowly trotted across the field into a muddy thicket. Sherman and his father tracked the beast for about a mile, following its paw prints through the mud, but the tracks suddenly ended, as if the wolf had simply vanished into thin air.

Several more wolf sights occurred during their stay at Skinwalker Ranch. In one notable instance, Sherman’s wife spotted a large wolf as she drove in her Chevette through the gated entry to the farm. She noted that the wolf was three times larger than a standard wolf, his head reaching above the roof of the Chevy Chevette she was driving. The family recalled many instances where unusually large wolf like creatures were seen on the Ranch.

As their stay at the Skinwalker Ranch continued, the Sherman’s saw and experienced more remarkable encounters. Sometimes in the middle of the night, their entire pasture would light up as if lit by football stadium lights. They would smell strong musk like odors emanating throughout the house. Bright shafts of light would beam from the ground towards the sky. They would often hear what sounded like large, earth moving machinery coming from inside the ground. While they worked in the middle of the pasture they would hear mysterious voices conversing with each other, which sounded like it was coming from above their heads. Crop circles, circular ice patterns, and large holes in the ground would appear overnight.

In another notable instance, Mrs. Sherman returned from the grocery store with several bags of groceries. She unpacked the goods placing each item in the cabinet or refrigerator. She folded the bags on the counter and then made a quick trip to the bathroom. When she returned, she was astounded to see the bags back on the counter filled with the groceries she had unloaded only moments before.

During their stay, cattle mutilations, which were detrimental to Sherman’s business, were common events. Whereas a normal rancher might lose 1% of his heard in a bad year, Terry Sherman had already lost 20% of his herd in just 20 months. One day, as the Shermans were driving off the property to run an errand in town, he commented about his four bulls noting out loud that “they would sure be in big trouble if they ever lost one of those bulls”. When they returned from town, all four bulls were missing. They searched the grounds to no avail. On a whim, Terry peeks over the rails into an unused locked trailer. All four bulls were stuffed into the trailer like sardines. The trailer was locked and as Terry noted, had cobwebs on the locks. Terry knew that it would have been nearly impossible to coach even one of the large, aggressive bulls into the small container. It was almost as if someone had heard Terry’s earlier comment and played a cruel trick on him.

Read much more about the Skinwalker Ranch at Altered Dimensions.

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About Post Author

Devon Lee Cane

I'm a man with a keen interest in the world, and writing for MadMike'sAmerica allows me to express those interests.
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Marsha Woerner
11 years ago

A more realistic view:
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4321

Reply to  Marsha Woerner
11 years ago

Very interesting Martha. Thanks.

AnonymousNot
11 years ago

I spent some time with this story after a friend told me about it. True there are few pictures worth their salt but the tale is compelling. Of course H.G. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury are my heroes so what can I say?

Admin
11 years ago

LOL…Oh yeah. Now that’s realistic James 🙂 🙂

Reply to  Professor Mike
11 years ago

Well, it’s better than 99.99% of all the UFO “pictures” I have ever seen. I admit the sound is a bit hokey, but I only spent maybe ten minutes making this. I have had a few conspiracy theorists asking me if the government had tried to confiscate my original video. 😀

I tell them it’s Brazil and here, they accept UFOs as being normal.

Reply to  James Smith
11 years ago

It’s better than most UFO pictures, except perhaps those on Close Encounters of the Third Kind 🙂

Reply to  Professor Mike
11 years ago

You are right again. I forgot about that. Do you think maybe their budget was better than mine?

Reply to  James Smith
11 years ago

LOL. Hmmm. I don’t know. What do you think? 🙂

Reply to  Professor Mike
11 years ago

My budget was $0.00. Maybe they had a little more?

Reply to  James Smith
11 years ago

I expect so 🙂 I just watched that movie last week for the 30th time I suppose. Curiously it never gets old.

11 years ago

Does anyone else think it is strange that not a single clear picture of any of this has ever been seen” If it were me observing such events so frequently, I would never go anywhere without a camera.

I d have a video of a UFA taken out my own window here in João Pessoa, Brazil at:

http://s1181.beta.photobucket.com/user/slrman/media/UFO.mp4.html?sort=3&o=30

It’s better than 99% of any of the “genuine” UFO videos you’ll ever see.

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