History
History’s latest reality series is The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, which aims to get to the bottom of the strange, possibly paranormal occurrences that have been documented at a 500-acre ranch for decades. Skinwalker Ranch, which was purchased by a then-anonymous buyer three years ago, is considered a hotspot for UFO activity — and its location forms a triangle of UFO hotspots in the southwestern United States.
Skinwalker Ranch is Not That Far Away From Roswell, New Mexico, or Area 51
Skinwalker Ranch is located in Fort Duchesne, Utah, which was a U.S. Army base from 1886 to 1912. It is now the headquarters of the Ute Native American tribe. It is located in the northeast corner of Utah, about two and a half hours ESE of Salt Lake City.
On a map of the United States, Skinwalker Ranch forms a triangle with two other well-known UFO hotspots: Roswell, New Mexico, and Area 51, which is located in southern Nevada near Groom Lake, outside Crystal Springs. Skinwalker Ranch is about 770 miles northwest of Roswell and about 500 miles northeast of Groom Lake. The three locations form a triangle around the Navajo Nation land that straddles New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
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Roswell, New Mexico, is the site of what conspiracy theorists thought was a UFO crash in 1947. The U.S. military maintained for years that it was a weather balloon that crashed and not an extraterrestrial spacecraft. Then in 1990, the military disclosed that it was actually a nuclear test surveillance balloon that crashed.
Similarly, Area 51 is a classified United States Air Force (USAF) location that has always sent conspiracy theorists abuzz with talk of UFOs. The theory is that the alien materially that crashed near Roswell has been stored and examined at Area 51. But the government maintains that the area is mostly used to test military aircraft and its stealth capabilities.
The Skinwalker Ranch Investigators Get Some Strange Readings
Regardless of whether Skinwalker Ranch is at all connected to either other location or aliens, the investigators on The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch get some very strange readings on the episode that aired Tuesday, April 7, titled “Night Visions.”
When the team set up their infrared camera at night and point a laser at the mesa on the property, it first appears as two distinct spots of color on the side of the mesa, then it goes out completely, and then a beam of light of unknown origin appears to shine right out of the mesa itself.
“Until I came to the ranch, I didn’t really believe the stories I’d heard about strange lights coming off the mesa,” says engineer Dr. Travis Taylor. “Now I’m seeing this thing glow at night with my own eyes. This isn’t just a story, this isn’t some special effect or a hoax, this mesa is really glowing.”
Before they can investigate further, the ranch’s superintendent, Thomas Winterton, starts having a terrible headache, reminiscent of a previous time when he was digging on the ranch and got sick when fluid separated the fatty tissue from his skull. This time around, the team is getting microwave spikes to dangerous levels, so they decide to take Winterton to the hospital and that’s where the episode leaves off.
Next week’s episode, titled “Looking Down,” promises that “a life-threatening incident forces the team to re-assess their methods of investigation; disturbing new evidence at homestead one has Tom and Travis on edge.”
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HISTORY.
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