In 1994, Tom & Ellen Gorman (some references says the owner are Terry & Gwen Sherman) had just bought a 480 acres homestead in the Beehive State, later known as the Skinwalker Ranch. Tom hoped the small town transition to New Mexico would have a positive impact for him and his family.
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In fact the local Native Americans refuse to set foot on the homestead, for fear of negative reprisals from unknown forces.
It was soon theorized that this hidden region of Utah might harbor a gap between dimensions, a kind of portal through which all kinds of puzzling things and unexplained phenomenas. For the Gormans, however, the ranch soon became a nightmare.
Trouble began for the Gormans almost immediately after moving to the ranch. Ellen Gorman questioned her own sanity, as she would set down cooking utensils in the kitchen of her new home, step outside for a breath of fresh air, and return to find the items missing.
Displaced objects became commonplace around the Gorman household, as Tom’s 70-pound post digger vanished, only to reappear later lodged high within a tree.
In June 1996, They’d seen mysterious crop circles, and UFOs, and the systematic and repeated cattle mutilation—in an oddly surgical and bloodless manner.
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Strange headlights began appearing on the property in the middle of the night. During one such incident, annoyed that anyone might trespass upon his land, Tom Gorman approached the source of the illuminations — what appeared to be an RV-type vehicle. As he neared, the machine receded into the darkness, gliding over fence lines and 50-foot tree lines before noiselessly disappearing into the night.
With an increase in bizarre activity around the Skinwalker Ranch, so too came an expansion of Tom’s curiosity. On more than one occasion, he found himself creeping stealthily about his property, stalking some type of anomaly.
One frigid evening, Tom inadvertently discovered a massive triangle aircraft hovering silently above the ranch, as if searching for something.
Although initially pegging the strange vehicle as a cross between an F-117A Stealth Fighter and a B-2 Stealth Bomber, Tom quickly realized the awesome machine was noiselessly floating no more than 20 feet off the ground.
He had the sensation that whatever the craft might be, it was somehow defying gravity. An then the silent craft floated away, vanishing into the darkness.
A separate incident made Tom witness to a large rift in the sky over his property. These apparent rips in the atmosphere were common; all four members of the family viewed them at one time or another.
Even more unsettling was the time Tom observed a large, black, triangular object emerging from one of the rifts. To the rancher, it appeared he was getting a rare glimpse at something from an alternate dimension entering his own space and time.
This type of speculation was painful for a devoutly religious family to consider, but what else could explain such bizarre anomalies?
At the end of June 1996 a stranger came to the Gorman property. A tall, blond man who had heard tales of the area’s mysterious attributes appeared one day, asking if he could meditate on the land. Although Tom was hesitant, the stranger’s near pleading led Gorman to acquiesce.
Tom took the visitor to a clearing a mile from the house, and the man began his introspection. Off in the distance, the rancher became aware of an eerie cowbell resonating. The sound puzzled Tom, since none of his animals wore the crude devices.
Behind a nearby copse of trees, Gorman could see something moving at a high rate of speed.
Something looks like a wolf, only much bigger. The blond visitor took no notice, as a monstrous wraith, mired in what appeared to be heat waves, broke from the woods and raced toward him.
Before Tom could warn his peaceful visitor, the enormous beast towered over the blond man, bellowing forth a thunderous roar that shook the ground.
Jarring from his reverie, the man scrambled backward in terror. The huge anomaly returned to the cover of trees in mere seconds. It took Tom several minutes to calm his hysterical visitor. Needless to say, the man vowed never to return to the Skinwalker Ranch.
The sight of the creature looming above the meditating man also proved the forces at work may no longer be hesitant to harm humans.
Repeated sightings of humanlike creatures have led some to invoke the name “Skinwalker,” a shape-shifting character from Navajo tribal folklore.
Navajo tribal hierarchy includes an individual known as the medicine man, highly renowned for his knowledge of positive healing.
An evil counterpart, called the Skinwalker, also holds place within Navajo tradition. Pure malevolence, with strong ties to the underworld, the Skinwalker is the antithesis of the medicine man.
Among the Navajo, skinwalkers are like werewolves: evil witches who can transform themselves into the creatures of their choosing.
A familiar trait of this immoral half-man, half-spirit is its ability to transform into any animal. Hence, its name. Whether or not the folklore of such a creature is true, the rash of unexplainable activity on the Skinwalker Ranch is difficult to deny.
Tom’s worst misgivings were justified after a group of blue, fear-inducing orbs appeared on the property one evening. Curious to see what might transpire, Tom unleashed three of his dogs on the whirring objects.
Within moments, the rancher realized he had made a grave mistake. The spook lights proceeded to lead the canines behind a growth of trees and systematically incinerate the animals.
It was at this point Tom realized he would be putting his family in tremendous danger should they remain on the property.
Within hours, the Gormans had vacated the ranch. Circulating via nationwide newspaper, the family’s tribulations grabbed the interest of a collaboration of expert investigators, known as the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS).
Backed by Las Vegas real estate mogul, Robert Bigelow, this investigators team had kept a watchful eye on local news coverage of the Skinwalker Ranch, realizing the important scientific opportunity presented to them in obtaining the Gorman property.
Tom Gorman sold the Skinwalker Ranch to NIDS. The group purchased the land for a mere $200,000 and began studying the strange enigmas occurring on the property.
NIDS was an anomaly itself, being the first well-funded accumulation of top scientific minds focused on the sole purpose of paranormal investigation
Armed with a pair of Ph.D. accredited scientists and a group of top-tier technologists from multiple disciplines, the organization headed out to the ranch to see what they could find.
In the meantime, the Gorman family relocated to a more diminutive farmstead 25 miles away.
Tom Gorman signed on as ranch manager of the Skinwalker in order to hopefully clarify some of the mystery surrounding the property.
Immediately upon venturing onto the land, the team felt collectively uneasy, as if they were being watched.
NIDS began their tour of the ranch with an investigation of four distinct cattle mutilations that had taken place prior to their arrival.
Cattle mutilations have been reported across the United States since the 1960s, particularly in Western states. In “classic” mutilation cases, the anus is cored out and the cow’s udders and genitalia are removed, all with laser-like precision and no visible sign of blood.
The Gormans, who keep close watch on their cattle, believe they may have interrupted the mutilators before they were able to finish.
On the Western portion of the land, Tom led the team to a pair of mysterious, circular cavities in the ground. Gorman claimed these types of holes were often remnants left behind by inexplicable, nocturnal aircraft.
Tom theorized that whatever ethereal presence was occupying the property had to be of greater intelligence than he was.
References:
- Paranormal Underground Magazine Vol.3, Issue 10, October 2010: High Strangeness at The Skinwalker Ranch written by Paul Bottini
- https://www.skinwalkerranch.com/
- https://www.history.com/news/skinwalker-ranch-paranormal-ufos-mutilation
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinwalker_Ranch
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7qxyx/brandon-fugal-owner-of-skinwalker-ranch
- https://exonews.org/tag/tom-gorman/
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