In the United States, in the state of Utah, there is a place where all possible paranormal phenomena have occurred: UFO sightings, ghosts, mysterious orbs, Bigfoot, and the creatures that give the ranch its name, the skinwalkers. Skinwalker Ranch has been the subject of study and even inspiration for books, series, and movies, and those who have lived there claim that everything said about it is real.
The ranch covers an area of almost two kilometers, and the history begins in 1994 when the Sherman family bought it at an attractive price. The previous owners made some requests in the contract clauses that prevented the buyers from excavating certain areas of the land without specifying the reasons. Even so, it was an opportunity they could not pass up. The Shermans moved to Skinwalker Ranch hoping to start a new life, but almost immediately, very strange things began to happen.
The Sherman family saw strange creatures roaming the ranch’s grounds, their livestock began to disappear, there were strange ghostly figures inside their home, and they heard strange noises, as if there were some kind of underground machinery on the site. It took almost two years before the Sherman family decided that life on the ranch was unsustainable and put it up for sale in 1996.
By then, the strange events at Skinwalker Ranch were already public knowledge. The Shermans had publicly spoken about the stress caused by the ranch’s strange paranormal events, especially the mysterious deaths of several of their animals: part of their livestock and pets were found mutilated and without organs, as if some predator had cleanly devoured them. Journalist George Knapp wrote about it for the first time in ’96, which attracted attention to the place.
An institute dedicated to paranormal research, the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), bought Skinwalker Ranch to carry out their studies. It was a multidisciplinary group led by investor Robert Bigelow and made up of experts in various fields. Although their specialty was ufology, they studied all types of paranormal events.
Among the documented events were the mysterious disappearances of livestock, which were later found mutilated in the forest, orbs hovering over the area, and creatures resembling giant wolves that were practically immune to bullets. In the Sherman’s home, strange sounds of machinery and voices were heard, in addition to the family observing poltergeist phenomena and ghostly shadows that would hover at the foot of their beds.
Possible Explanations for the Events at Skinwalker Ranch
There are multiple theories about what happens at the Utah ranch, ranging from the most skeptical to those that contemplate supernatural events. Some say that the Sherman family invented everything to attract attention to the ranch and thus benefit economically. However, the opposite actually happened: the Shermans went through multiple economic difficulties after the loss of their livestock. Additionally, there are the NIDS investigations that support what they said.
On the other hand, some believe that the events at Skinwalker Ranch are the result of a Navajo curse that would have sent the skinwalkers to “punish” the Ute in the area. Another theory talks about a portal to other dimensions, from which strange creatures from parallel realities come and go. Whatever it is, the ranch is one of the most paranormal places in the world, and its events escape the understanding of even the most experienced investigators.