Skinwalker Ranch

In the mid 1990's, a rancher and his family decided to purchase a 480 acre piece of isolated property in the Uinta Mountains region of Northeastern Utah with the intent to raise cattle. Soon after, the family began experiencing various forms of paranormal activity on the property and in their home. This is the true story of the Skinwalker Ranch. The name Skinwalkers comes from the Navaho's belief about shape-shifting witches who come from the 'other side'.

The Sherman family spent nearly two years at the Skinwalker ranch before the stress from their experiences caused them to put the property up for sale. In that time their cattle were being mutilated, their dogs were found incinerated, and the family reported seeing strange objects with lights hovering over their property. The Shermans were also terrified by the ongoing poltergeist-like activities happening inside their home. Doors often slammed shut, objects would disappear and later reappear, and strange sounds were heard coming from beneath their property that resembled movement of heavy machinery. The family even claimed to have encountered a number of strange creatures on their property on several occasions. Creatures resembling Bigfoot, the alien from the movie Predator, and wolf-like animals were all reported with great detail. Mr. Sherman even recalled shooting at a large wolf-like animal while it was trying to attack one of the calves just days after moving to the ranch. According to Mr. Sherman, the bullets had no effect and the animal ran off. Two years of this and the family called it quits.

The property sold and was purchased by The National Institute for Discovery Science when they caught wind of the strange and terrifying paranormal events unfolding at the ranch. NIDS, which funds studies into the paranormal, set up a team of scientists and sent them to the ranch to study the phenomena reported there. According to researchers George Knapp and Colm Kelleher, along with other scientists there, they witnessed beings coming through 'portals' on the property and numerous other bizarre phenomena. In 2005, Hunt for the Skinwalker was published detailing their findings at the ranch.

More recently, a Utah based radio talk show host named Steven Rinehart claimed to have visited the ranch in 2006. He took photographs of the ranch and pictures of strange footprints he found in the snow there. I read that his pictures are online along with directions to the ranch, but I found neither.

Now, a number of explanations have been given by skeptics on this issue. Some of the skeptics claim that this is the site of a U.S. military testing area and all the activities there are a result of that. The skeptics have also stated that peoples imaginations with the Skinwalker Ranch have been vivid ones turning the ordinary into something out of this world. Also a mass hallucination by the family and researches was another explanation given.

In the end, I think that it is up to the individuals who read the book and have researched the Skinwalker Ranch to determine what they believe based on the information provided.

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