“The High Strange of the Uinta Basin: Skin Walker ranch, dead babies, and UFO’s…wait, there’s more.”

During our stay here in the infamous state of Utah, the wife and I have tried to explore, sight see and dig into weird areas and places that we have researched, or simply just stumbled across.  I will safely say, despite the reputation Utah has for its…. well let’s just say, “religious based authority”, to put it nicely, this is perhaps the strangest state I have ever resided in, and the more we explore and research…. The stranger it gets.  Take for example this article that we will lay out here for you all to ponder.  I never knew the stories behind Skin walker Ranch until I moved here, and even with all the research I’ve done, there seems to always remain a rock that isn’t quite turned over.  So, with the smoke from the summer forest fires blanketing Salt Lake City, the wife decided she was fed up, and we took to the road, heading to Colorado where there were blue skies and a chance to get the dogs, as well as us, out to some fresh air.  It took some convincing, but I managed to talk the wife into making a stop at Skin walker Ranch on the way back through.  So, I packed my equipment, and off we went.  Driving up through Heber city, and coming into two towns that sit in the center of what is called the “Uinta” basin, I was amazed at what we came across. Roosevelt is the first town you will stumble upon, and as you head further east, you will arrive in a town called Vernal. A town, or I guess closer to a city, with new box stores popping up in droves, its evident that the resident’s here make a decent living working in the refinery plants.  This “Basin” is known as the richest part of Utah, due to its oil wells, and natural gas refineries that pock mark the terrain.  It is interesting however, that I stumbled on a few articles discussing an alarming number of still births and birth deformities in the last 5 years in Vernal.  But that story I suppose will wait for another time.  This area is also popular for…. well, Dinosaurs.  Every where you turn there are statues of them, businesses named after them…There’s even a Dinosaur quarry or museum of some sort just out of Vernal, where you can touch and see bones from these creatures that once roamed this area.  Unless of course you’re a devout religious fundamentalist, and believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old and they were planted there by non-God loving heathenist’s…so, there’s that.   We continued our drive into the town known as Dinosaur, CO…go figure.  Well there is absolutely nothing in Dinosaur,  but at least we could say we were in Colorado.  We stopped by a liquor store (when in Rome), and circled backed through Vernal, heading to Roosevelt, and took a detour towards Fort Duchesne, that sits roughly a few miles away from the Skin Walker Ranch. Now, before I talk about the hair standing up on the back of my neck as we neared Skin Walker, lets backtrack and learn some history, shall we?

      There have been many an Urban legend in many towns across the world.  The Uinta basin is no different.  There have been stories of various legends such as “The lost mine of souls”, “Devil’s Stump”, “Voodoo Cabin” …. The list goes on.  But if we back up all the way to the original inhabitants that lived in that area, I feel that would be a good place to begin.  The Ute Tribe have lived in this area for thousands of years, and the belief system that this tribe held, and still proudly holds,  perhaps sheds some light on weird going on’s in that area.  They were believers that the souls were immortal. They believed the creator God known as “Senawahv, fought and won over evil forces, so that meant their view of life and afterlife was essentially optimistic. When talking about myths and legends of this tribe, the term “Wolf” holds quite a meaning. “Wolf” was a cultural hero of the Ute tribe, and usually walked as a man, but had powers to “shapeshift” into a wolf.  His younger brother “Coyote” was known as a trickster of sorts and would fool members of the tribe into seeing strange things, sometimes even tricking someone to their death.  Now I should mention here, a quick theory by the term of a “Tulpa”.  A Tulpa is the concept that a spirit or creature or a form of some sort, is created by the belief in said thing, and the mental powers of the mind….  In other words, if you believe in a creature or thing hard enough, you have the power to manifest it in the real world.  Some people suggest this is where creatures like the Jersey Devil, or bigfoot, or even aliens come into play.  Due to the brainpower of a strong-minded person, or group of people, somehow things show up…weird I know, but I mention this to plant a seed of sorts for the Ute tribe “wolf” connection and the events of Skin walker ranch. The tribe even coined the termed “Skin walker”, as well as other Indian tribes across the region.  The Skin walker was a shapeshifting creature that would show up during horrible events, or to take someone, or “trick” someone into death as mentioned earlier.  Among  strange topics of belief, the Ute tribe and again, other tribes in the area, believed in UFO’s. Of course, that wasn’t the term they used, but etched in the caves and areas where the tribe lived, some drawings are hard not to believe that they actually DID see something such as this. And that leads us to the other weirdness of the basin…UFO’s themselves.

UFO’ have been spotted in the basin since the 1940’s.  There have been papers published and newspaper articles written in depth about the “hotspot” in the state of Utah, where massive sightings of UFO’s are spotted, and have been spotted continuously right up to present time.  I actually caught a feed on a few websites I follow, that track UFO anomaly, and two weeks ago there was a sighting near the town of Myton, where several witnesses were said to have witnessed a flying object.  This seems to go hand in hand with legends told, and drawings by the Ute people of such phenomena, that the term “The Bermuda Triangle of Utah”, has unofficially been the Uinta basin name. . One theory is that they are attracted by “Gilsonite”, a mineral that is found in very few places in the world.  Several encounters reported that people would see things or creatures, “harvesting” near their ship.  There have been interviews done with residents living in Roosevelt, Fort Duchesne, Vernal area that throughout the years, UFO’s were seen hovering over schools, seen in the vast area in between populations, as well as hikers having  filmed disc like objects hovering and reversing near the Uinta mountains.  There are several organizations that research these events from not only Utah, but Colorado, Wyoming, and Nevada. One such organization we will mention further in the article. Now something should be stated here, that whether you believe in aliens or not, you can still safely, (my opinion) believe that UFO’s do exist.  They don’t have to be from another planet.  But again, for those of you who know us here at Strange uncles Podcast, we don’t trust the Government as far as we can throw it…just saying.  So, with some background covered in the weird vein of still born infants, legends, shapeshifters, and UFO’s, that leads us into the topic at hand, and why we decided to venture out to the Uinta basin to begin with…

     Bought for what seemed like a dirt-cheap price, a couple purchased the 500 plus acres of property from previous owners that bought the acreage and “homesteaded” the land in the 50’s.  Right from day one when Terry and Gwynn arrived in 94’, it was a little bit ominous of sorts.  Trash everywhere, and the structures themselves had not been upkept, they had odd feelings as they walked into the house with their children in tow.  Door dead bolts on both sides of the said doors, bars on every window, giant chains screwed into both ends of the house on the outside, as if dogs were chained up to spot anything that might be coming out of the dark or upon the ranch. To pour more salt in the wound, there were strange clauses in the house agreement, like, “No digging on the property without the prior owner’s approval.  Now before this timeframe when Terry and Gwynn purchased the property in 1994, there is history documented for this area, as well as Fort Duchesne.   We discussed the Ute tribe and their legends, but there was a fort built in the 1860’s, about two miles from the location where the future ranch would reside.  It is said that the Buffalo soldiers built homes on cemeteries that the Ute had there, disturbing the peace, which in turn started sightings of creatures in the shadows just outside of town, flying objects…. you know, your everyday encounters.  It was also said that a couple of the Buffalo soldiers were Masons, and dabbled into a bit of mysticism, and strange drawings would be found on rock faces near where the ranch would be built. Of course, UFO’s continued through the timeline, as well as continued viewing of odd creatures, noises that could not be explained, ya da ya da ya da.  Now, with some more History explained to help lay some story foundation of sorts, let’s get back to 1994.  In a few short years, Terry, along with his wife and kids, would continue to see a continuous buildup of strange events.  Lights in the sky that couldn’t be explained, strange shadowy creatures hiding in the trees, people parked in vans, watching the ranch with binoculars…and wait for it…Giant wolves, Giant wolf creatures were a common thing that was seen at the ranch.  Terry had numerous accounts of shooting them at point blank range, only to have them snarl at him, and wander into the trees. He even went as far as to look for the slug from the bullet, but never came across a single one.   Remember the topic of the “Talpa” mentioned earlier in this story?  Maybe a coincidence, maybe not, but remembering the Ute Indian belief, is it possible that what terry saw is a link or a Mind creation for these creatures?  Ponder that for a moment….

      Anyhoo, this is a good place to mention the cattle mutilations.  Not just mutilations, but cows splayed out, cut open with almost perfect precision.  And the cherry to add to the top of the proverbial sundae…There was absolutely no blood found.  Zero, zilch.  Not even a drop found in the grass near the mutilated carcasses. And it seemed that these mutilations would occur around the same time as the lights in the sky. In 1996, Word of weird happenings reached an organization by the name of “The National Institute for the Discovery of Science”.  Ran by a man by the name of Robert Bigelow, he purchased the ranch for a mere 200,000, which Terry and Gwynn were glad to accept.  Bigelow had his team moved to the ranch to research all these anomalies that were happening. Terry agreed to stay on to help show the research team what was going on, and through the next 10 years or so, recordings and reports were done under close secrecy to the public.  In 2004 the NIDS shuts down and was replaced by the name “Bigelow Aerospace Space Studies”.  Not a clear reason why, but rumor has it that it was easier to continue government funding under this name. Along with this, in 2012, a secret government agency was revealed, by the name of “Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program”.  Government funds (or Taxpayers funds more than likely), were used to study unidentified flying objects out of, and nearby the skin walker ranch.  In that same year, a MASS report from hundreds of eyewitnesses, said that all the power in Fort Duchesne was knocked out, and a massive glowing disc was seen rising and leaving the skin walker ranch.  In 2016, the ranch was purchased buy an undisclosed person for 4.5 million dollars, and currently operates under the corporation “Adamantium Holdings.  And to wrap this all up, it was reported that Senator Harry Reid himself, worked close with Bigelow space back in the day, and a sum of around 22 million dollars were sunk into the secret government project mentioned above, where they not only researched the phenomena involved, but also delved into what they called “exotic Alloys”.  Woo….  A lot to suck in.  So with history fairly updated to the present, let’s jump back in into our encounter. As we drove up to the gate where the cement blockades were installed, as well as a camera, lights, and signs stating absolutely no trespassing or law enforcement will be called, I will safely say, I was a bit on edge. I gathered my equipment, and suggested to Josefina that maybe she turn around to point back out to the road we came in on, just so we had a quicker escape in case shit hit the fan.  And of course, she stayed in the car.  At least one of us were smart enough to do so.  As I walked up to the first cement blockade, trying to stay as close to the fence as possible, I kept my eye on the camera to see if it followed my movements.  It stayed stationary, so this turned into the fist somewhat positive sign. I snuck passed the first blockade, that had clear warnings posted that if the blockade was crossed, I would be officially trespassing. Babbling something into the recorder as I approached the second blockade, I heard whistling, clear as a bell.  I stopped talking, and stood motionless to see if my mic could pick up the same thing my ear balls were hearing.  Nothing. I took a few more steps, and it happened again, but again, nothing on the recording when I played it back later. I could see some structures past the 12 foot black Iron Gate, and felt…well I will admit, odd.  Knowing the history of the area, and all the things reported to be seen, I’m not sure if my paranoia got the best of me or it actually was a feeling, knowing that this land is truly haunted by creatures and things from another time or realm.  As I continued to walk, wondering why we were even the fuck out here, I caught a flash way down the road, like a sun glare caught by a windshield, and trying to make out the image as best as I could, I noticed what seemed like a car, or truck…heading my way. I found that as a cue to get the hell out of the area.  Fast walking back to the car, (car still running might I add, good thinking honey), again, whistling?!  Coming from all directions it seemed, as I jumped into the passenger seat and looked behind me to see the vehicle get larger as it came closer to the gate I was just standing in front of.  As the wife and I drove back out to the main road, we both were a little on edge.  Of course, it didn’t help wondering why a black car with tinted windows followed us for about 80 miles.  So for those of you reading our blog, if this is the last article posted and the podcast ends abruptly, you will know why.   So no matter whether you believe any of this history, legends, facts…whatever they may be, even if you strip all of the strange stuff away, the Uinta basin is still a wonder in its own.  And might I add, a pretty unnerving experience, but an experience that I wouldn’t take back for the world.  Unless I get killed… than I would second guess what I just said….Just saying.

Close the gates….