# Skinwalker Ranch > A ranch of about 480 acres in Utah's Uintah Basin where the Sherman family reported lights, craft and cattle deaths in 1995–96, and where two… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:18+00:00 --- **MYS** 0D013ZMR6K9V·Mystery · site # Skinwalker Ranch **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=skinwalker-ranch) Skinwalker Ranch ![Maybe we should slow down...](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/skinwalker-ranch-lead) Paul from USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 Where Near Ballard, Uintah County, Utah⁠[[3]] Area About 480 acres in 1996 (later given as 512)⁠[[1]] Reporting family Terry and Gwen Sherman, owners 1994–1996⁠[[3]] First press account Deseret News, 30 June 1996⁠[[3]] Owners since Robert Bigelow (1996–2016), Brandon Fugal (2016– )⁠[[10]] Government link DIA's AAWSAP contract with Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, 2008–2012⁠[[8]] Status Partly explained Questions 2 of 12 answered People [**Robert Bigelow** Developer; founder of NIDS and Bigelow Aerospace; owner 1996–2016](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0141BE6CFZ/robert-bigelow)[**Gwen Sherman** Rancher; owner 1994–1996](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0140VT0XZQ/gwen-sherman)[**Terry Sherman** Rancher; owner 1994–1996, later caretaker](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0140M06VH7/terry-sherman)[**Harry Reid** US Senator who secured AAWSAP funding](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0142AP7K0E/harry-reid)[**James T. Lacatski** DIA analyst who ran AAWSAP](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D01422W31V3/james-t-lacatski) All 9 people › [**Colm Kelleher** Biochemist; NIDS deputy administrator and ranch investigator; AAWSAP](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0141K85C5R/colm-kelleher)[**George Knapp** KLAS-TV journalist; co-author of both books](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0141V21P6Q/george-knapp)[**Brandon Fugal** Property developer; owner since 2016](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D0142JG03AT/brandon-fugal)[**Zack Van Eyck** Deseret News reporter who broke the story](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/people/FIG0D01413M6G7P/zack-van-eyck) Catalog key**MYS** 0D013ZMR6K9V Skinwalker Ranch is a cattle ranch of about 480 acres (later accounts say 512) near Ballard in the Uintah Basin of northeastern Utah, bordering the Uintah and Ouray Reservation⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. Terry and Gwen Sherman bought it in 1994 and in June 1996 told the Deseret News that they had seen unexplained lights and craft, some emerging from "doorways" in midair, and had lost seven cows, three of them found partly mutilated⁠[[3]]. The story the ranch is best known for, a large wolf that took rifle rounds at close range and walked away, is not in that account; it first appears in print in a 2005 book⁠[[4]]⁠[[5]]. Within months the Las Vegas developer Robert Bigelow bought the ranch for his National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), which stationed observers there until it closed in 2004⁠[[1]]⁠[[6]]. The ranch would have remained a regional UFO story but for what came next. NIDS's lead investigator Colm Kelleher and the journalist George Knapp wrote a 2005 book describing what the staff said they saw⁠[[4]]. A Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, James Lacatski, read it, visited the ranch in 2007, and with Senator Harry Reid's help secured a $22 million contract for Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), which ran from September 2008 until DIA ended it in 2012⁠[[7]]⁠[[8]]. A later book by Lacatski, Kelleher and Knapp says the ranch was the program's main field site and that effects followed investigators home⁠[[9]]. In 2024 the Pentagon's own review confirmed that the contractor had investigated alleged paranormal activity at the ranch, and said DIA had neither sought nor authorised it⁠[[8]]. Since 2016 the ranch has belonged to the Utah property developer Brandon Fugal, who announced his ownership in 2020 and has made it the subject of a History Channel series, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, running since 2020⁠[[10]]⁠[[2]]. The series presents instrument readings and experiences as discoveries; none has been published for independent review, and this record treats the series as a source of claims, not of evidence. The sceptical case is simple. The Myers family, who owned the ranch from the 1930s to 1994, are reported to have experienced nothing unusual in sixty years; NIDS, with years of access and money, produced no evidence it could publish; the extraordinary claims trace mostly to one family who sold the property to a buyer looking for exactly such a place⁠[[11]]⁠[[5]]⁠[[12]]. The case for something anomalous rests on the number and consistency of first-hand reports from people who, on the face of it, had little to gain from them. Neither side has what the other would need. Of the 12 questions on this site, 2 are answered. The most likely answer to “Are the ranch's reports distinctive within the Uintah Basin's own record of sightings and animal deaths?”, not yet confirmed: the ranch's lights, craft and cattle deaths belong to a Basin-wide pattern of reports going back to the…. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Are the ranch's reports distinctive within the Uintah Basin's own record of sightings and animal deaths?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014EHA6BJY/are-the-ranchs-reports-distinctive-within-the-uintah-basins)Most likely: the ranch's lights, craft and cattle deaths belong to a Basin-wide pattern of reports going back to the… [**Did anything happen at the ranch between 1994 and 2010 that ordinary causes cannot explain?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0147PJ363M/did-anything-happen-at-the-ranch-between-1994-and-2010-that)Most likely: the reports grew from ordinary events and misperception in a place with a reputation, amplified by the people… [**How reliable are the Sherman family's 1994–96 accounts, and how did they reach print?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DA8480K/how-reliable-are-the-sherman-familys-199496-accounts-and-how)Most likely: the core of the accounts was reported in good faith, but the story grew as researchers, the press and the… [**What did NIDS record at the ranch between 1996 and 2004, and was any of it published as data?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DSW7T1N/what-did-nids-record-at-the-ranch-between-1996-and-2004-and)Most likely: what NIDS recorded at the ranch amounts to its staff's testimony; its instruments caught nothing it would… [**What did the DIA's AAWSAP program actually do at the ranch, and what does it hold?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0148661Q58/what-did-the-dias-aawsap-program-actually-do-at-the-ranch)Most likely: aAWSAP was mainly a paper study whose ranch component was small, informal or carried by the contractor… [**What happened to the Shermans' cattle?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0147YC7V7H/what-happened-to-the-shermans-cattle)Most likely: predators, disease and scavenging, read as mutilation [All 12 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=skinwalker-ranch) ## The site The ranch lies in the Uintah Basin, a high desert bowl ringed by the Uinta Mountains to the north and the Book Cliffs to the south, between the towns of Ballard and Fort Duchesne⁠[[1]]. The Basin had its own UFO literature before the ranch: the Utah State University plant physiologist Frank Salisbury collected local sighting reports gathered by the Roosevelt science teacher Joseph "Junior" Hicks in The Utah UFO Display (1974, revised 2010), which records hundreds of Basin sightings from the 1950s onward with no connection to the ranch⁠[[13]]. The name "Skinwalker" is a borrowing from Navajo tradition applied to the ranch by Knapp and Kelleher; the local Ute community has its own lore about the land, which the book reports second-hand⁠[[4]]. Ownership is a matter of record. Kenneth and Edith Myers held the property from the 1930s until 1994; the Shermans bought it in 1994; Bigelow bought it in September 1996, with press reports putting the price near $200,000; Bigelow sold to Fugal's Adamantium Real Estate in 2016⁠[[14]]⁠[[2]]⁠[[10]]. After 2016 the ranch was fenced, gated, and placed under camera surveillance; the name was trademarked in 2020⁠[[2]]. **Map of the site** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/map) [Site plan][Site][Region] [+][−] 1 **Homestead 2** Ranch building Within 1 km 2 **The Triangle** Area of reported activity Within 1 km 3 **Homestead One** Ranch house Within 1 km 4 **Dry Gulch Creek** Stream Mapped MappedWithin 1 kmBase map © OpenStreetMap contributors ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What was found No physical evidence from the ranch has been published for examination. The Shermans' claims of cattle deaths were made to the press, not to a vet or the sheriff, and later to NIDS⁠[[3]]. NIDS said it examined carcasses and found unexplained features, but reported this only in its own book; the website on which it published necropsies from Nebraska, Montana, Oregon, New Mexico and elsewhere in the Basin carries none from the ranch⁠[[4]]⁠[[15]]. The local vet who assisted with its necropsies said in 1996 that its one case so far was not a mutilation⁠[[16]]. The book describes dogs that ran into the dark and were found as "greasy spots," a bull found squeezed into a trailer, and marks in soil and grass; none is documented in a form a third party can check⁠[[4]]. [![First page of The AAWSAP solicitation and statement of work (HHM40208R0211)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/a7a763cef61df8c4a2a4161e5dcaccd7a1e59fdc294b05ad1de2862924f17aa0/p1)8 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D0164FW782N/the-aawsap-solicitation-and-statement-of-work-hhm40208r0211) The AAWSAP solicitation and statement of work (HHM40208R0211)Defense Intelligence Agency, 2008. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D0164FW782N/the-aawsap-solicitation-and-statement-of-work-hhm40208r0211) The released AAWSAP records consist of the 2008 solicitation and statement of work, the contract and its amendments, briefings to the Director of National Intelligence and to Senator Reid, the 2009 attempt to make the program a special access program, and 37 of the 38 "Defense Intelligence Reference Documents" that the contract produced, on subjects from warp drives to invisibility cloaking⁠[[7]]. A further 1,574 pages released to The Sun in April 2022 include a 2010 report on "anomalous acute and subacute field effects on human and biological tissues" compiled from the UFO literature⁠[[17]]. None of these documents mentions the ranch, and a FOIA request for Lacatski's 2007 letter to Bigelow returned no records⁠[[7]]. The first government statement about the ranch work came in March 2024, when the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office reported that the contractor had investigated "an alleged hotspot of UAP and paranormal activity at a property in Utah" owned by its head, including "shadow figures" and "creatures," citing a 2009 review of a contractor report⁠[[8]]. What field data the government holds, if any, is known only through the three authors of the 2021 book⁠[[9]]. ## What is known The sequence of events is well documented; the events themselves are not. The Shermans' account appeared in the Deseret News on 30 June 1996 in a long feature by Zack Van Eyck, which reported their sightings of lights and of a ship "the size of several football fields," and the deaths and disappearance of seven cows; the family had told neither the sheriff nor any official⁠[[3]]. Van Eyck and the Las Vegas Sun reported Bigelow's purchase in October 1996⁠[[14]]⁠[[1]]. Terry Sherman stayed on as caretaker under a nondisclosure agreement, and from then on new Sherman stories reached print through others: about ten cows and three vanished dogs by October 1996, the wolf by 2005⁠[[14]]⁠[[11]]⁠[[5]]. Sherman later told Frank Salisbury that much in the 2005 book only resembled his experiences⁠[[5]]. NIDS was founded by Bigelow in 1995 and disbanded in October 2004⁠[[6]]. Its ranch work was never published in a peer-reviewed venue. In April 1997 NIDS's John Alexander said there had been "some minor observations, but nothing you would stand behind"⁠[[18]]; in 1998 Bigelow said strange activity had continued but that "it's just embarrassing to try to make conclusions at this point"⁠[[19]]. The 2005 book is the only extended account of the NIDS period; it renames the Shermans "the Gormans" and describes the staff's own experiences, including a large animal emerging from what one observer described as a tunnel of light in August 1997, and a humanoid figure seen in a tree in the same year⁠[[4]]. [![First page of The AAWSAP contract order (September 2008) and its 2009 modification](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/29b9946dabd93f5e29bf5fa16127253c3a1478d2af8be2d1ef8703bf29f3ccc9/p1)9 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D0164ZG36AF/the-aawsap-contract-order-september-2008-and-its-2009) The AAWSAP contract order (September 2008) and its 2009 modificationDefense Intelligence Agency, 2008. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D0164ZG36AF/the-aawsap-contract-order-september-2008-and-its-2009) The DIA contract is a matter of record. The solicitation went out on 22 August 2008, the contract was signed on 2 September 2008, and funding ran for two fiscal years at about $22 million in total, the money having been added to the defence budget by Senators Reid, Stevens and Inouye⁠[[7]]⁠[[20]]. DIA ended the program in 2012⁠[[8]]. Senator Reid confirmed the program and its origins in interviews from 2017 onward⁠[[20]]. Lacatski's own visit, in July 2007, is described in the 2021 book: he reports seeing a yellowish tubular shape appear in the ranch house kitchen⁠[[9]]. The claim was first published fourteen years after the event. ## The explanations Four readings cover the ground. The first is that the reports are substantially true and describe an intelligence or phenomenon that acts on people and animals at the site; this is the position of the two books, which further argue that the phenomenon is "precognitive" and adapts to observation, which would explain why instruments never catch it⁠[[4]]⁠[[9]]. The reading has the obvious weakness that it is built to be untestable. The second is that the Shermans invented or embellished their story, consciously or not, and that the story then selected for witnesses and investigators disposed to see more. Robert Sheaffer notes that the family who owned the ranch for sixty years deny anything happened there, that NIDS's own investigators conceded very little physical evidence, and that many of the most extraordinary claims trace to Terry Sherman alone⁠[[11]]. Barry Greenwood, reviewing the 2021 book in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, made a similar point from inside ufology: the stories are "not well-documented," and the ranch "is always in the business of selling belief and hope"⁠[[12]]. The sceptical reading does not require fraud; it needs only ordinary misperception in a place with a reputation, which is what the Basin's older UFO literature suggests⁠[[13]]. The third is a mixed account: real but mundane events (predator kills, cattle theft, aircraft from the Hill Air Force Range and oilfield traffic, meteors) read through expectation. NIDS's own hotline experience is relevant: of more than 5,000 reports received after 1999, officials said most were missile launches and meteors⁠[[6]]. The fourth is that the ranch is a vehicle for other purposes: Bigelow's wider interest in survival after death and in the UFO question, and since 2016 a television property and a trademarked brand⁠[[21]]⁠[[2]]. This does not say the witnesses lied; it says the incentives have never pointed toward disconfirmation. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1974 | Frank B. Salisbury⁠[13] | The Uintah Basin produced hundreds of reported UFO sightings from the 1950s onward, collected by the Roosevelt teacher Junior Hicks. | Accepted | The reports are documented and predate the ranch by decades, though what lay behind each is not known⁠[13]⁠[22]. | | 1980 | Kenneth M. Rommel Jr.⁠[25] | The New Mexico cattle mutilations were the work of ordinary predators and scavengers, not of people or anything unknown. | Accepted | Later historical study reached the same conclusion for the 1970s wave as a whole, though a few laboratory reports dissent⁠[23]⁠[24]. | | 1996 | Terry and Gwen Sherman (reported by Zack Van Eyck)⁠[3] | The family saw lights and craft over the ranch, some emerging from doorways in midair, and lost seven cows, three of them found mutilated. | Still possible | Nothing outside the family corroborates it and nothing shows it false; the deaths were never reported to a vet or the sheriff⁠[3]⁠[11]. | | 1997 | John Alexander (NIDS, reported by Zack Van Eyck)⁠[18] | Seven months of NIDS observation at the ranch produced some minor observations, but nothing NIDS would stand behind. | Accepted | NIDS never published ranch data, and its own investigators later wrote that they obtained very little physical evidence⁠[11]⁠[15]. | | 1999 | Colm A. Kelleher, George E. Onet and Eric W. Davis (NIDS)⁠[26] | The eye and ear of a cow found dead in the Uintah Basin were removed with a sharp instrument, with no sign of heat or cautery. | Accepted | A necropsy and laboratory report by NIDS's own pathologists; it points to human cutting in that case, not to an unknown agent⁠[26]. | | 2005 | Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp⁠[4] | The ranch is the focus of a real phenomenon that acts on people, animals and instruments and seems to anticipate and evade observation. | Disputed | The book concedes very little physical evidence, and nearly thirty years of privately funded study have produced none that others can check⁠[11]⁠[12]. | | 2011 | Michael J. Goleman⁠[23] | Most cattle mutilations of the 1970s were scavengers taking soft tissue first, read as human work by officials and amplified by the press. | Accepted | It agrees with the official inquiries of the period⁠[25]⁠[27]. | | 2018 | Peter A. McCue, from Frank Salisbury's interviews⁠[5] | The previous owner's brother said nothing strange happened in the Myers years, and Terry Sherman said much of the 2005 book only resembled his experiences. | Most likely | Consistent with the dated print record, in which the wolf and other episodes first appear years after 1996, but both statements are second-hand⁠[3]⁠[4]. | | 2020 | Robert Sheaffer⁠[11] | The prior owners deny anything happened in sixty years, NIDS found nothing, and the simplest reading is that the ranch's story was made up or grew around one family. | Most likely | The usual sceptical reading and consistent with the record, but untestable until the NIDS and AAWSAP files are released⁠[12]⁠[8]. | | 2020 | Brandon Fugal (interviewed by KSL TV)⁠[30] | The owner's team has recorded phenomena at the ranch that defy all natural explanation. | Disputed | No raw data or methods have been released, and mundane causes have been offered for individual effects shown in the series⁠[28]⁠[29]. | | 2021 | James T. Lacatski, Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp⁠[9] | The ranch was the main field site of the DIA's AAWSAP program, where investigators recorded anomalous effects, some of which followed them home. | Still possible | The Pentagon has since confirmed ranch work under the contract, but no field data has been released and DIA says it never sought that work⁠[8]⁠[12]. | | 2023 | Barry Greenwood⁠[12] | The ranch stories in the 2021 book are not well documented, and no peer-reviewed medical work supports the claimed effects on people. | Most likely | No document or data released since has supplied the missing record⁠[8]⁠[7]. | | 2023 | Tony Murfin⁠[28] | The drone failures shown in the television series could be caused by the team's own 1.6 GHz transmissions jamming the drones' GPS receivers. | Most likely | A known interference mechanism, but the drone logs that would test it were apparently never downloaded⁠[28]. | | 2024 | All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office⁠[8] | The AAWSAP contractor investigated alleged UAP and paranormal activity at a Utah property owned by its head, work DIA did not seek or authorise. | Accepted | An official Defense Department finding resting on a 2009 review of the contractor's report, though that report has not been released⁠[8]. | ## What would settle it The site is privately held and the owner controls access, so the question will not be settled by outsiders walking the ground. Three things would move it. First, any instrumented record from NIDS or AAWSAP, with timestamps and metadata, released to independent analysts; the authors of the 2021 book say such records exist⁠[[9]]. Second, the DIA's own files on the ranch: AARO's 2024 report cites a 2009 contractor report on the work, which has not been released⁠[[8]]⁠[[7]]. Third, a necropsy report on a single mutilated animal by a veterinary pathologist with no connection to the owners, published with photographs. Absent these, the ranch remains a well-recorded collection of claims, and the best available account is the sceptical one: a site with a reputation, a family who reported much, and investigators who reported more. ## Questions 2 of 12 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 12](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=skinwalker-ranch) **0** [Are the ranch's reports distinctive within the Uintah Basin's own record of sightings and animal deaths?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014EHA6BJY/are-the-ranchs-reports-distinctive-within-the-uintah-basins) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the ranch's lights, craft and cattle deaths belong to a Basin-wide pattern of reports going back to the… **0** [Did anything happen at the ranch between 1994 and 2010 that ordinary causes cannot explain?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0147PJ363M/did-anything-happen-at-the-ranch-between-1994-and-2010-that) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the reports grew from ordinary events and misperception in a place with a reputation, amplified by the people… **0** [How reliable are the Sherman family's 1994–96 accounts, and how did they reach print?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DA8480K/how-reliable-are-the-sherman-familys-199496-accounts-and-how) 1 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the core of the accounts was reported in good faith, but the story grew as researchers, the press and the… **0** [What did NIDS record at the ranch between 1996 and 2004, and was any of it published as data?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DSW7T1N/what-did-nids-record-at-the-ranch-between-1996-and-2004-and) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: what NIDS recorded at the ranch amounts to its staff's testimony; its instruments caught nothing it would… **0** [What did the DIA's AAWSAP program actually do at the ranch, and what does it hold?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0148661Q58/what-did-the-dias-aawsap-program-actually-do-at-the-ranch) 1 of 2 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: aAWSAP was mainly a paper study whose ranch component was small, informal or carried by the contractor… **0** [What happened to the Shermans' cattle?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0147YC7V7H/what-happened-to-the-shermans-cattle) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: predators, disease and scavenging, read as mutilation ## Evidence 84 findings [Did anything happen at the ranch between 1994 and 2010 that ordinary causes cannot explain?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0147PJ363M/did-anything-happen-at-the-ranch-between-1994-and-2010-that)15 findings [A real phenomenon, not yet understood, acts on people, animals and instruments at the site.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0148NT5RGE/a-real-phenomenon-not-yet-understood-acts-on-people-animals)Disputed +[Many first-hand reports from the Shermans, NIDS staff and Lacatski over fifteen years describe similar classes of event.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0148XM300Z/many-first-hand-reports-from-the-shermans-nids-staff-and)Suggestive −[Seven months after NIDS arrived its spokesman said there had been minor observations but nothing he would stand behind.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01495E55PK/seven-months-after-nids-arrived-its-spokesman-said-there-had)Supported −[The NIDS investigators' own book concedes they obtained very little physical evidence and none that could count as conclusive proof.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0149D80M7P/the-nids-investigators-own-book-concedes-they-obtained-very)Supported −[The brother of the previous owner said nothing strange happened while the Myers family lived there.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0149N25PXN/the-brother-of-the-previous-owner-said-nothing-strange)Suggestive −[The released AAWSAP contract documents and reports do not mention the ranch, and DIA's search for Lacatski's letter to Bigelow found no records.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014GZE0SCH/the-released-aawsap-contract-documents-and-reports-do-not)Supported [The reports grew from ordinary events and misperception in a place with a reputation, amplified by the people…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0149WW7ANF/the-reports-grew-from-ordinary-events-and-misperception-in-a)Most likely +[The Basin had a large UFO sighting literature from the 1950s onward, long before the ranch.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014A4P379E/the-basin-had-a-large-ufo-sighting-literature-from-the-1950s)Established +[NIDS's own hotline found most of more than 5,000 reports were missile launches and meteors.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014ACG16HG/nidss-own-hotline-found-most-of-more-than-5-000-reports-were)Supported +[The NIDS-period accounts were first published in 2005, up to nine years after the events; Lacatski's in 2021, fourteen years after.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014AMA1NAB/the-nids-period-accounts-were-first-published-in-2005-up-to)Established +[Several of the most dramatic Sherman episodes, including the wolf, are absent from the 1996 press accounts and appear only later.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014AW42CKX/several-of-the-most-dramatic-sherman-episodes-including-the)Established +[The sale to Bigelow followed within months of the press account, to a buyer seeking such a site.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014B3Y5P8S/the-sale-to-bigelow-followed-within-months-of-the-press)Supported −[The witnesses include trained scientists and a DIA analyst who report seeing things at close range.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014JP45VCZ/the-witnesses-include-trained-scientists-and-a-dia-analyst)Suggestive [The founding accounts were invented or deliberately embellished for gain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014BBR7Q9Y/the-founding-accounts-were-invented-or-deliberately)Still possible +[The Shermans sold within months of going public and Terry Sherman was retained as caretaker.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014BKJ6GJQ/the-shermans-sold-within-months-of-going-public-and-terry)Suggestive −[The 1996 account was given to a newspaper, with names, before any buyer appeared.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014BVC07P6/the-1996-account-was-given-to-a-newspaper-with-names-before)Suggestive −[The Shermans said they lost money on the sale to Bigelow.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014KNC1EZW/the-shermans-said-they-lost-money-on-the-sale-to-bigelow)Suggestive [A skinwalker of Navajo tradition, a portal to another dimension, or a precognitive non-human intelligence is…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014KX65G2E/a-skinwalker-of-navajo-tradition-a-portal-to-another)Disputed +[The Fugal-era principal investigator lists portals and a sentient, precognitive, non-human intelligence among the team's theories.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014M503QBV/the-fugal-era-principal-investigator-lists-portals-and-a)Speculative [What happened to the Shermans' cattle?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0147YC7V7H/what-happened-to-the-shermans-cattle)7 findings [Predators, disease and scavenging, read as mutilation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014CB02BG8/predators-disease-and-scavenging-read-as-mutilation)Most likely +[The missing parts the family described (an eye, the rectum) are the soft tissues scavengers take first.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014CJT2DE1/the-missing-parts-the-family-described-an-eye-the-rectum-are)Supported +[The Roosevelt vet who assisted NIDS with necropsies said its one case so far was not a mutilation, and put most mutilation claims down to scavengers and imagination.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014YD476K9/the-roosevelt-vet-who-assisted-nids-with-necropsies-said-its)Suggestive +[The county sheriff's office said mutilation reports usually arrive one to three weeks after the animal is found.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014YMY098N/the-county-sheriffs-office-said-mutilation-reports-usually)Suggestive [People killed, cut or stole the animals (theft, cult activity, harassment).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014CTM0VRP/people-killed-cut-or-stole-the-animals-theft-cult-activity)Still possible +[Four of the seven cows vanished without trace, which theft explains and scavenging does not.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014Z4J6QC6/four-of-the-seven-cows-vanished-without-trace-which-theft)Suggestive +[NIDS's 1998 necropsy of a Basin cow found its eye and ear cut with a sharp instrument.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014ZCC5H22/nidss-1998-necropsy-of-a-basin-cow-found-its-eye-and-ear-cut)Suggestive [The deaths were caused by the same unknown phenomenon that produced the sightings.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014D2E4NSK/the-deaths-were-caused-by-the-same-unknown-phenomenon-that)Disputed +[NIDS reports examining carcasses with unusual features.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014DA830NJ/nids-reports-examining-carcasses-with-unusual-features)Speculative −[The one full NIDS necropsy from the Basin found no sign of heat or cautery in the cuts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01503T0PN7/the-one-full-nids-necropsy-from-the-basin-found-no-sign-of)Suggestive [What did the DIA's AAWSAP program actually do at the ranch, and what does it hold?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0148661Q58/what-did-the-dias-aawsap-program-actually-do-at-the-ranch)7 findings [The ranch was AAWSAP's principal field site and the government holds field data and reports on it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014DSW1PK6/the-ranch-was-aawsaps-principal-field-site-and-the)Most likely +[Three participants, including the program manager, say so in print after prepublication review.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014E1P4QZ9/three-participants-including-the-program-manager-say-so-in)Suggestive +[AARO reports that AAWSAP investigated an alleged hotspot of paranormal activity at a Utah property owned by the head of the contractor, including shadow figures and creatures.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014E9G2E0W/aaro-reports-that-aawsap-investigated-an-alleged-hotspot-of)Supported +[Senator Reid confirmed the program and Bigelow's role.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014EHA6XF1/senator-reid-confirmed-the-program-and-bigelows-role)Supported −[AARO found no substantive case work beyond reviews and interviews, and calls the Utah work unrelated to the contract's purpose.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01594W4EZ4/aaro-found-no-substantive-case-work-beyond-reviews-and)Supported [AAWSAP was mainly a paper study whose ranch component was small, informal or carried by the contractor…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014ES46GCA/aawsap-was-mainly-a-paper-study-whose-ranch-component-was)Most likely +[The released contract documents, briefings and all 37 released reports concern aerospace and physics topics, not the ranch.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014F0Y7YSB/the-released-contract-documents-briefings-and-all-37)Established +[The 2022 release of 1,574 pages likewise does not mention the ranch.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014F8R42CF/the-2022-release-of-1-574-pages-likewise-does-not-mention)Supported +[AARO says DIA did not seek or authorise the Utah work, which the contractor did with the support of the DIA program manager, and that the contract's deliverables were unreviewed exploratory papers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015A442RHW/aaro-says-dia-did-not-seek-or-authorise-the-utah-work-which)Supported [Has the Fugal era produced anything that can be checked?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D0148E05JSP/has-the-fugal-era-produced-anything-that-can-be-checked)6 findings [The series' instrument anomalies reflect real, unexplained physical effects at the site.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014FRC6H8A/the-series-instrument-anomalies-reflect-real-unexplained)Disputed +[The owner says round-the-clock cameras and radiation, radio, infrasound and seismic sensors have recorded phenomena that defy natural explanation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014G06507W/the-owner-says-round-the-clock-cameras-and-radiation-radio)Speculative −[No raw data, methods or peer-reviewed report from the series has been published.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014N480MB1/no-raw-data-methods-or-peer-reviewed-report-from-the-series)Established −[As of 2026 the producers still claim significant evidence and have released none.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014NC23M58/as-of-2026-the-producers-still-claim-significant-evidence)Supported [The anomalies are artefacts of equipment, environment and production.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014G8011MZ/the-anomalies-are-artefacts-of-equipment-environment-and)Most likely +[The televised drone failures fit GPS jamming by the team's own 1.6 GHz signal; the drone logs that would test this were apparently never downloaded.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014GFT6J60/the-televised-drone-failures-fit-gps-jamming-by-the-teams)Suggestive +[The series' lead scientist also served as chief scientist of the 2021 Pentagon UAP task force, which Greenwood calls a conflict of interest.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014P3G7SBR/the-series-lead-scientist-also-served-as-chief-scientist-of)Suggestive +[The ranch's name and image have been trademarked and the series is a commercial property, which shapes what is shown.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014PBA7ZAQ/the-ranchs-name-and-image-have-been-trademarked-and-the)Suggestive [How reliable are the Sherman family's 1994–96 accounts, and how did they reach print?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DA8480K/how-reliable-are-the-sherman-familys-199496-accounts-and-how)8 findings [The Shermans honestly reported experiences they could not explain, and the June 1996 article is a fair record…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014PTY1CFM/the-shermans-honestly-reported-experiences-they-could-not)Still possible +[The family gave the account under their own names to a newspaper before any buyer appeared, and said they just wanted it to stop.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014Q2R0GGH/the-family-gave-the-account-under-their-own-names-to-a)Suggestive +[The family said they had videotaped two sightings.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014QAJ07H5/the-family-said-they-had-videotaped-two-sightings)Speculative −[The Shermans had not reported the cattle deaths or sightings to officials, and the county sheriff had no reports of either.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014QJC69FJ/the-shermans-had-not-reported-the-cattle-deaths-or-sightings)Supported [The core of the accounts was reported in good faith, but the story grew as researchers, the press and the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014QT643Y7/the-core-of-the-accounts-was-reported-in-good-faith-but-the)Most likely +[The wolf, the vanished dogs and the humanoid figure are absent from the June 1996 account and appear later, two of them through a third party.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014R2046MB/the-wolf-the-vanished-dogs-and-the-humanoid-figure-are)Established +[Terry Sherman told Frank Salisbury that much in Hunt for the Skinwalker only resembled his experiences and that much of it was based on hearsay.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014R9T5ZC7/terry-sherman-told-frank-salisbury-that-much-in-hunt-for-the)Suggestive −[Salisbury, who interviewed the family, nonetheless accepted that genuinely anomalous events occurred while they lived there.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014RHM5S8J/salisbury-who-interviewed-the-family-nonetheless-accepted)Suggestive [The accounts were largely made up before the sale.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014RSE5JFG/the-accounts-were-largely-made-up-before-the-sale)Still possible +[Many of the most bizarre incidents in the 2005 book were witnessed only by Terry Sherman, who stayed on as caretaker.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014S180GGQ/many-of-the-most-bizarre-incidents-in-the-2005-book-were)Suggestive −[The family said they lost money on the sale.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014S922PGA/the-family-said-they-lost-money-on-the-sale)Suggestive [Did the published Sherman story change between the 1996 press reports and the 2005 book?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DJ2367B/did-the-published-sherman-story-change-between-the-1996)5 findings [Yes; the wolf, the vanished dogs and other episodes first appear in later accounts, several of them…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014SRP5ZX9/yes-the-wolf-the-vanished-dogs-and-other-episodes-first)Most likely +[The June 1996 article reports lights, three kinds of craft, orange 'doorways', flattened circles and seven lost cows (four vanished, three partly mutilated); its dogs bark and run to the house. It has no wolf.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014T0G70NN/the-june-1996-article-reports-lights-three-kinds-of-craft)Established +[By October 1996 the losses had become about ten cows, three dogs had vanished after chasing a ball of light, and Terry Sherman had seen a humanoid leave a craft, all relayed by the researcher Ryan Layton while Sherman was under a nondisclosure agreement.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014T8A05HN/by-october-1996-the-losses-had-become-about-ten-cows-three)Established +[In April 1997 a magazine article added blood-covered sheets and scoop marks on the family's thumbs.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014TG43HYC/in-april-1997-a-magazine-article-added-blood-covered-sheets)Supported +[Hunt for the Skinwalker opens with the wolf that took rifle rounds and walked away.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014TQY7ESQ/hunt-for-the-skinwalker-opens-with-the-wolf-that-took-rifle)Supported [No; the 2005 book retells what the family reported in 1996.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014TZR4ZPT/no-the-2005-book-retells-what-the-family-reported-in-1996)Disputed −[The wolf episode is in the book but in none of the 1996 accounts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014V7J6HZB/the-wolf-episode-is-in-the-book-but-in-none-of-the-1996)Established [What did NIDS record at the ranch between 1996 and 2004, and was any of it published as data?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014DSW7T1N/what-did-nids-record-at-the-ranch-between-1996-and-2004-and)6 findings [NIDS recorded anomalous events on its instruments but never published the records.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014VQ67DDZ/nids-recorded-anomalous-events-on-its-instruments-but-never)Disputed +[In 1998 Bigelow said strange airborne activity and unusual animal deaths had continued, but that it would be embarrassing to draw conclusions.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014VZ07BKW/in-1998-bigelow-said-strange-airborne-activity-and-unusual)Suggestive +[The 2005 book describes staff sightings, some through night-vision equipment.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014W6T0Z7H/the-2005-book-describes-staff-sightings-some-through-night)Speculative −[The same book concedes very little physical evidence and none that could count as conclusive proof.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014WEM1ZNF/the-same-book-concedes-very-little-physical-evidence-and)Supported [What NIDS recorded at the ranch amounts to its staff's testimony; its instruments caught nothing it would…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D014WPE1HEY/what-nids-recorded-at-the-ranch-amounts-to-its-staffs)Most likely +[In April 1997 NIDS's spokesman said there had been minor observations, nothing he would stand behind, and that it had nothing to work with.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014WY826T3/in-april-1997-nidss-spokesman-said-there-had-been-minor)Supported +[NIDS's published animal-pathology index of 2004 lists case reports from Nebraska, Montana, Oregon, New Mexico and Utah, and none from the ranch.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014X627D5D/nidss-published-animal-pathology-index-of-2004-lists-case)Established +[When NIDS had a carcass it published a full necropsy with laboratory work, as for a Basin cow in 1998.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D014XDW5Z0A/when-nids-had-a-carcass-it-published-a-full-necropsy-with)Supported [Do the wounds called "mutilations" need any cause beyond scavengers, decomposition or people with knives?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014E9G5Z6R/do-the-wounds-called-mutilations-need-any-cause-beyond)8 findings [Scavengers, insects and bloating after a natural death produce the classic picture of missing soft tissue,…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0150KE1ED0/scavengers-insects-and-bloating-after-a-natural-death)Most likely +[Rommel's New Mexico inquiry concluded that the most credible sources attributed the damage to normal predator and scavenger activity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0150V84321/rommels-new-mexico-inquiry-concluded-that-the-most-credible)Established +[The FBI closed its inquiry in 1980 having found no case of mutilation by other than common predators.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0151326SJR/the-fbi-closed-its-inquiry-in-1980-having-found-no-case-of)Established +[Arkansas sheriff's officers watched a dead heifer in a ravine and recorded scavengers producing the reported conditions.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0151AW4YKP/arkansas-sheriffs-officers-watched-a-dead-heifer-in-a-ravine)Supported +[The historian of the wave finds most cases were scavengers, misdescribed by officials unfamiliar with scavenging and multiplied by press coverage.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0151JP7NJF/the-historian-of-the-wave-finds-most-cases-were-scavengers)Supported [Some carcasses were cut by people, after death or killing, for whatever motive.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0151TG68F3/some-carcasses-were-cut-by-people-after-death-or-killing-for)Most likely +[Pathologists found the 1998 Basin cow's eye and ear were removed with a sharp instrument, and a formaldehyde-containing gel had been applied.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01522A5022/pathologists-found-the-1998-basin-cows-eye-and-ear-were)Supported −[Despite many cases and official inquiries, no one has been arrested for a mutilation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0152A41QT1/despite-many-cases-and-official-inquiries-no-one-has-been)Suggestive [Some wounds were made by an unknown agent using heat or energy, beyond what scavengers or ordinary tools do.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0152HY1NVQ/some-wounds-were-made-by-an-unknown-agent-using-heat-or)Disputed +[A Colorado pathologist and a 1991 Oregon State laboratory report found lesions consistent with heat or electrosurgery.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0152SR3D9N/a-colorado-pathologist-and-a-1991-oregon-state-laboratory)Speculative −[NIDS's own pathologist noted the same changes could come from drying and oxidation of exposed tissue.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01531J7TTK/nidss-own-pathologist-noted-the-same-changes-could-come-from)Suggestive [Are the ranch's reports distinctive within the Uintah Basin's own record of sightings and animal deaths?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014EHA6BJY/are-the-ranchs-reports-distinctive-within-the-uintah-basins)9 findings [The ranch's lights, craft and cattle deaths belong to a Basin-wide pattern of reports going back to the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0153H63188/the-ranchs-lights-craft-and-cattle-deaths-belong-to-a-basin)Most likely +[Hicks, who heard the Shermans' accounts, said the Basin's UFO activity was not unusual; the same article carries other Basin residents' earlier sightings, one from 1964.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0153S023A9/hicks-who-heard-the-shermans-accounts-said-the-basins-ufo)Supported +[Salisbury's book compiled the Basin sightings gathered by Hicks and was published in 1974, twenty years before the Shermans arrived.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01540T67ZR/salisburys-book-compiled-the-basin-sightings-gathered-by)Established +[The sheriff confirmed that a neighbour's two cows were mutilated in 1996.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01548M4009/the-sheriff-confirmed-that-a-neighbours-two-cows-were)Supported +[One NIDS investigator had examined 16 mutilation cases in the Basin by 1998.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0154GE7V8Q/one-nids-investigator-had-examined-16-mutilation-cases-in)Supported +[A Basin vet of forty years recalled one horse mutilation north of Ballard decades earlier, at a time of many local UFO reports.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0154R86Q7A/a-basin-vet-of-forty-years-recalled-one-horse-mutilation)Suggestive −[Creatures, the wolf and the 'tunnel of light' are reported from the ranch, not from the Basin's earlier record as the press summarised it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0155024Q00/creatures-the-wolf-and-the-tunnel-of-light-are-reported-from)Speculative [The ranch is a local concentration of anomalous events, distinct from the Basin's general record.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D01557W2J7Q/the-ranch-is-a-local-concentration-of-anomalous-events)Disputed +[Hunt for the Skinwalker says the greatest concentration of high strangeness in the Basin has always been in the area of the ranch.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0155FP52PN/hunt-for-the-skinwalker-says-the-greatest-concentration-of)Speculative −[Salisbury, who compiled the Basin's record and interviewed the families, doubted the claim.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0155QG2G86/salisbury-who-compiled-the-basins-record-and-interviewed-the)Suggestive −[The previous owner's brother said nothing strange happened during the Myers family's tenure.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0155ZA6RJ6/the-previous-owners-brother-said-nothing-strange-happened)Suggestive [Did anything unusual happen at the ranch while the Myers family owned it, from the 1930s to 1994?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014ES40PZ2/did-anything-unusual-happen-at-the-ranch-while-the-myers)4 findings [Nothing unusual was reported in the Myers years.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0156EY2B1G/nothing-unusual-was-reported-in-the-myers-years)Most likely +[Dr Garth Myers, brother of the owner Kenneth Myers, told Salisbury that nothing strange happened while the family lived there.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0156PR3KZF/dr-garth-myers-brother-of-the-owner-kenneth-myers-told)Suggestive +[The family that owned the ranch for sixty years denies any phenomena occurred there.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0156YJ0GWZ/the-family-that-owned-the-ranch-for-sixty-years-denies-any)Suggestive +[Garth Myers's account suggests the family did not keep the large chained guard dogs the 2005 book describes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D01576C6W2B/garth-myerss-account-suggests-the-family-did-not-keep-the)Suggestive [The Myers family experienced or knew of strange events but did not speak of them.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D0157E668G3/the-myers-family-experienced-or-knew-of-strange-events-but)Still possible +[Junior Hicks heard second-hand that Edith Myers had UFO stories, and a neighbour reported a sighting while she lived next door.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D0157P05125/junior-hicks-heard-second-hand-that-edith-myers-had-ufo)Speculative [Do the government records released since 2017 confirm that AAWSAP worked at the ranch?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014F8R1WYD/do-the-government-records-released-since-2017-confirm-that)5 findings [Yes; an official Defense Department report confirms that the contractor investigated alleged paranormal…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D015AKR78G5/yes-an-official-defense-department-report-confirms-that-the)Most likely +[AARO says AAWSAP investigated an alleged hotspot of UAP and paranormal activity at a Utah property then owned by the head of the contractor, and planned to hire psychics there.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015AVJ5P45/aaro-says-aawsap-investigated-an-alleged-hotspot-of-uap-and)Established +[Bigelow, head of the contractor, owned the ranch from 1996 to 2016.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015B3C363F/bigelow-head-of-the-contractor-owned-the-ranch-from-1996-to)Established −[The contract, briefings and reference reports released between 2018 and 2022 do not mention the ranch.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015BB66DWG/the-contract-briefings-and-reference-reports-released)Supported [No; the government record contains nothing on the ranch, and the claim rests on the participants alone.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D015BK07NRB/no-the-government-record-contains-nothing-on-the-ranch-and)Disputed +[DIA's FOIA search for Lacatski's 2007 letter to Bigelow returned no records.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015BTT08Y8/dias-foia-search-for-lacatskis-2007-letter-to-bigelow)Supported −[AARO's report describes the Utah work.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015C2M61SB/aaros-report-describes-the-utah-work)Established [Does the government hold field data from AAWSAP's ranch work, and has any been released?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/questions/QST0D014FGJ373Y/does-the-government-hold-field-data-from-aawsaps-ranch-work)4 findings [Yes; DIA or another agency holds contractor field reports or sensor data from the ranch that have not been…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D015CJ86R0R/yes-dia-or-another-agency-holds-contractor-field-reports-or)Still possible +[AARO's account of the Utah work cites a review, dated 30 July 2009, of a report from the contractor.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015CT201P3/aaros-account-of-the-utah-work-cites-a-review-dated-30-july)Supported +[The program manager and co-authors say field reports exist.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015D1W57AB/the-program-manager-and-co-authors-say-field-reports-exist)Suggestive [No; any field data stayed with Bigelow's company, and the government holds at most summaries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/answers/ANS0D015D9P1ZES/no-any-field-data-stayed-with-bigelows-company-and-the)Still possible +[AARO found no substantive case work beyond reviews of old cases and interviews.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015DHG0B1Z/aaro-found-no-substantive-case-work-beyond-reviews-of-old)Suggestive +[DIA found no record of Lacatski's 2007 letter to Bigelow.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/evidence/EVD0D015DSA7MRK/dia-found-no-record-of-lacatskis-2007-letter-to-bigelow)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 21](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts) Document1 step from object [The Shermans' videotapes of two sightings](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015S0P77HA/the-shermans-videotapes-of-two-sightings) unknown Document1 step from object [Carcasses of the Shermans' cattle, 1994-96](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015S8G3A0C/carcasses-of-the-shermans-cattle-1994-96) not kept Document1 step from object [NIDS field records and samples from the ranch, 1996-2004](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015SGA1NV6/nids-field-records-and-samples-from-the-ranch-1996-2004) unknown (NIDS disbanded in 2004; its records are presumed to have stayed with Robert Bigelow) Document1 step from object [NIDS report on a cow found dead in north-east Utah, 16 October 1998](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015SR44P4F/nids-report-on-a-cow-found-dead-in-north-east-utah-16) National Institute for Discovery Science · publisher Scan1 step from object [Released AAWSAP contract documents and reports](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015T7R0VXY/released-aawsap-contract-documents-and-reports) Defense Intelligence Agency (FOIA release), hosted by The Black Vault · not stated (written under the contract; photographs marked as copyright) Document1 step from object [The July 2009 review of the contractor's report](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015TZ639X0/the-july-2009-review-of-the-contractors-report) U.S. Department of Defense (not released) Document1 step from object [AAWSAP case files and instrument data from the ranch](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015V700J03/aawsap-case-files-and-instrument-data-from-the-ranch) unknown (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies or the Defense Intelligence Agency) Document1 step from object [Fugal-era camera and sensor records](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts/ART0D015VET0SN0/fugal-era-camera-and-sensor-records) the owner (Adamantium Real Estate) and the series' production [See all 21 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch/artifacts) ## See also [ **US government UAP disclosures** US government reports, files and testimony on unidentified anomalous phenomena. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/uap-us-government) [ **America's missing scientists, 2021–2026** Deaths and disappearances among US aerospace, nuclear and fringe-physics workers, 2021–2026, and whether any are connected. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/missing-scientists) [ **Lost Dutchman's gold mine** A gold mine Jacob Waltz is said to have described before he died in Arizona in 1891. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine) [ **Oak Island money pit** A shaft on an island in Nova Scotia that searchers have dug since the early 1800s. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island) ## References 1. 1.[Las Vegas Sun staff 1996. Nevada Millionaire Buys 'UFO Ranch' in Utah. Las Vegas Sun.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013VZJ2AKB/nevada-millionaire-buys-ufo-ranch-in-utah)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D013VZJ2AKB 1. 2.[Wikipedia contributors 2026. Skinwalker Ranch. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013YXA0K24/skinwalker-ranch)cited 7 times here**SRC** 0D013YXA0K24 1. 3.[Van Eyck, Z. 1996. Frequent Fliers?. Deseret News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013VQR6BWM/frequent-fliers)cited 25 times here**SRC** 0D013VQR6BWM 1. 4.[Kelleher, C., Knapp, G. 2005. Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah. Paraview Pocket Books / Simon & Schuster.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013WF67AF3/hunt-for-the-skinwalker-science-confronts-the-unexplained-at)cited 23 times here**SRC** 0D013WF67AF3 1. 5.[McCue, P. 2018. Skinwalker Ranch (letter). Fortean Times (letters).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D01404C5B67/skinwalker-ranch-letter)cited 12 times here**SRC** 0D01404C5B67 1. 6.[Wikipedia contributors 2026. National Institute for Discovery Science. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013Z5427Y5/national-institute-for-discovery-science)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D013Z5427Y5 1. 7.[Greenewald, J. 2022. The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) Documentation. The Black Vault.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013WYT5ED3/the-advanced-aerospace-weapon-system-applications-program)cited 21 times here**SRC** 0D013WYT5ED3 1. 8.[All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, U. 2024. Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Volume I. U.S. Department of Defense.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0140M03414/report-on-the-historical-record-of-u-s-government)cited 22 times here**SRC** 0D0140M03414 1. 9.[Lacatski, J., Kelleher, C., Knapp, G. 2021. Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insiders' Account of the Secret Government UFO Program. RTMA LLC (self-published).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013WQ00XEQ/skinwalkers-at-the-pentagon-an-insiders-account-of-the)cited 14 times here**SRC** 0D013WQ00XEQ 1. 10.[Banias, M. 2020. This Is the Real Estate Magnate Who Bought Skinwalker Ranch. Vice.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013Y5W2ZAY/this-is-the-real-estate-magnate-who-bought-skinwalker-ranch)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D013Y5W2ZAY 1. 11.[Sheaffer, R. 2020. Claims About a Government 'UFO Program': How Much Is True?. Skeptic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013XEE32AG/claims-about-a-government-ufo-program-how-much-is-true)cited 13 times here**SRC** 0D013XEE32AG 1. 12.[Greenwood, B. 2023. Skinwalkers at the Pentagon (book review). Journal of Scientific Exploration.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013XP87ZGT/skinwalkers-at-the-pentagon-book-review)[doi](https://doi.org/10.31275/20232857)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D013XP87ZGT 1. 13.[Salisbury, F. 1974. The Utah UFO Display: A Scientist's Report. Devin-Adair.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013YNG0QWW/the-utah-ufo-display-a-scientists-report)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D013YNG0QWW 1. 14.[Van Eyck, Z. 1996. Millionaire Leads Quest for UFO Data. Deseret News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013ZCY5XRV/millionaire-leads-quest-for-ufo-data)cited 10 times here**SRC** 0D013ZCY5XRV 1. 15.[National Institute for Discovery Science 2004. Animal Pathology Research (resource index). nidsci.org (Internet Archive capture, 9 May 2004).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D01413M6CP0/animal-pathology-research-resource-index)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D01413M6CP0 1. 16.[Whiting, L. 1996. 'Universe' Reports on Strange Utah Occurrences. Deseret News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013ZMR307R/universe-reports-on-strange-utah-occurrences)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D013ZMR307R 1. 17.[Specktor, B. 2022. UFOs left 'radiation burns' and 'unaccounted for pregnancies,' new Pentagon report claims. Live Science.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013X6M3R54/ufos-left-radiation-burns-and-unaccounted-for-pregnancies)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D013X6M3R54 1. 18.[Van Eyck, Z. 1997. No UFOs or ETs Have Dropped In at Spooky Ranch. Deseret News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013ZWJ05GV/no-ufos-or-ets-have-dropped-in-at-spooky-ranch)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D013ZWJ05GV 1. 19.[Van Eyck, Z. 1998. Private UFO study takes a public turn. Deseret News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013W7C3E68/private-ufo-study-takes-a-public-turn)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D013W7C3E68 1. 20.[Benson, E. 2018. Harry Reid on What the Government Knows About UFOs. New York Magazine (Intelligencer).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013XY24Y5A/harry-reid-on-what-the-government-knows-about-ufos)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D013XY24Y5A 1. 21.[Blumenthal, R. 2021. Can Robert Bigelow (and the Rest of Us) Survive Death?. The New York Times.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D013YDP6292/can-robert-bigelow-and-the-rest-of-us-survive-death)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D013YDP6292 1. 22.[Salisbury, F. 2010. The Utah UFO Display: A Scientist Brings Reason and Logic to Over 400 Sightings in Utah's Uintah Basin. Cedar Fort (Bonneville Books).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0140C67R28/the-utah-ufo-display-a-scientist-brings-reason-and-logic-to)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D0140C67R28 1. 23.[Goleman, M. 2011. Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s. Agricultural History.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D01422W50YM/wave-of-mutilation-the-cattle-mutilation-phenomenon-of-the)[doi](https://doi.org/10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D01422W50YM 1. 24.[Onet, G. 2000. Animal Mutilations: What We Know. National Institute for Discovery Science.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0141BE3VB1/animal-mutilations-what-we-know)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D0141BE3VB1 1. 25.[Rommel, K. 1980. Operation Animal Mutilation: Report of the District Attorney, First Judicial District, State of New Mexico. First Judicial District Attorney, New Mexico.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0141K85Q30/operation-animal-mutilation-report-of-the-district-attorney)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D0141K85Q30 1. 26.[Kelleher, C., Onet, G., Davis, E. 1999. Final Report: Investigation of the Unexplained Death of a Cow in N.E. Utah on October 16, 1998. 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