What is happening at Skinwalker Ranch?
“Phenomena beyond known causes are happening at the ranch”
The big claim in this hole. What do the records say?
Real money went into watching the ranch: Robert Bigelow’s institute from 1996 and a DIA-funded contractor in 2009–2012. Owners and witnesses report strange events, but no independent record or published data in what was read confirms anything beyond known causes.
- ✓ Confirmed2008–2009Congress funds a Defense Intelligence Agency study of future aerospace threats, and the contract goes to Bigelow’s company
- ✓ Confirmed2009–2012The DoD says the program’s contractor investigated paranormal activity at its owner’s Utah property
- UnverifiedTheoryPhenomena beyond known causes are happening at the ranch
- UnverifiedTheoryThe government’s research at the ranch found real anomalies
- ✓ ConfirmedMar 2024The Pentagon’s UAP office finds no empirical evidence that any UAP investigation has recovered alien craft or beings
3 theories
Tap one to go down its tunnelEach root is a theory: one chamber per step, coloured by its rating; the ringed chamber is its key claim. Tap a root to go down it.
Meters
Theory meters read the headline theory, “Something unexplained is happening there”. Tap a meter for its reasons.
A Utah family’s 1996 story of UFOs and vanished cattle drew a billionaire’s research institute and, later, Pentagon-funded researchers. The money and the investigations are on record. Anything they found is not.
The question What is happening at Skinwalker Ranch, and what have the people who studied it actually shown?
What the records say
Parts of the documented story are still open: 7 of 13 timeline steps are Confirmed (score 88).
3 theories checked: 3 unverified. A theory is rated by its key claim.
The Pentagon’s UAP office finds no empirical evidence that any UAP investigation has recovered alien craft or beings
confirmedConfirmed as a record of what this document says, not that it is true. See the step
Down the rabbit hole
The ground line is the documented timeline. Each tunnel is a theory that branches off it; every chamber is a step, coloured by how well the records support it. The deepest chamber is the theory’s key claim. Tap one to open it.
Main timeline
Oldest first- Oct 1995likely
Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow sets up the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS)
A private institute to study UFOs and other unexplained phenomena, and survival after death. In 1998 Bigelow told the Deseret News he spent more than a million dollars a year on it.
- 30 Jun 1996confirmed
Terry and Gwen Sherman tell the Deseret News of UFOs and dead and missing cattle on their Uintah County ranch
They said that since April 1995 they had seen three kinds of craft and lights coming out of “circular doorways” in midair, found circles of flattened grass, and lost seven cows: four vanished and three were found dead and partly mutilated.
- Jun–Oct 1996likely
The sheriffs had no reports from the Shermans; a neighbour had reported two mutilated cows
In June the Uintah County records clerk and the Duchesne County sheriff said they had no recent reports of UFOs or mutilations. In October the Uintah County sheriff’s office confirmed a neighbour east of the ranch had reported two cows mutilated earlier that year.
- Sep 1996likely
Bigelow buys the 480-acre ranch for about $200,000 and moves NIDS staff in
Two scientists and a veterinarian kept watch around the clock. Terry Sherman stayed on to maintain the ranch and signed a nondisclosure agreement. The Pentagon’s 2024 review says that during the program the property was owned by the head of the contractor that studied it.
T2Deseret News, 20 Oct 1996T2Deseret News, 27 Apr 1997T1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024p. 23involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO) - 27 Apr 1997confirmed
NIDS says its observers have seen nothing of significance
John Alexander, the institute’s director for scientific liaison: “Definitely no craft. No, we haven’t had any dog-zappers. . . . Nobody has landed.”
- 10 Aug 1998confirmed
Bigelow says strange aerial activity and animal deaths have continued, but gives no details
In his first interview on the subject he said it was too early to draw conclusions: “it’s just embarrassing to try to make conclusions at this point.”
- 2008–2009confirmed
Congress funds a Defense Intelligence Agency study of future aerospace threats, and the contract goes to Bigelow’s company
At Senator Harry Reid’s direction, $22 million was appropriated across fiscal years 2008 and 2010, the Pentagon’s 2024 review says. A DIA briefing names the contractor, Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), under contract HHM402-08-C-0072. The program was called AAWSAP.
T1DIA briefing, “Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Contract – Update”, 2009involved party: Defense Intelligence AgencyT1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024p. 22involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO)T2Quartz via Nextgov, 18 Dec 2017 - 2009–2012confirmed
The DoD says the program’s contractor investigated paranormal activity at its owner’s Utah property
The review: AAWSAP “also investigated an alleged hotspot of UAP and paranormal activity at a property in Utah”, including “shadow figures” and “creatures”, and planned to hire psychics. It says the DIA “did not seek, nor specifically authorize, this work”.
T1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024p. 23involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO) - 2012confirmed
The program ends
The DoD review says it was terminated in 2012 “due to DIA and DoD concerns about the project”. A Pentagon spokesman told the New York Times in 2017 that “there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding.”
T1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024p. 23involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO)T2Quartz via Nextgov, 18 Dec 2017 - 2016likely
Bigelow sells the ranch to Utah real-estate investor Brandon Fugal
Fugal kept his ownership secret until March 2020 and has not said what he paid. He told Vice no data from Bigelow’s research came with the sale.
- 16 Dec 2017likely
The New York Times and Politico reveal the Pentagon program, and the Pentagon confirms it existed
Until then its existence “had never been publicly acknowledged”. The reports said Bigelow had approached Reid in 2007 about a DIA official’s interest in visiting the ranch.
- Mar 2020likely
History channel’s series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch begins, with Fugal named as the owner
Vice reported the premiere for 31 March. Utah Business wrote later that year that the series had been renewed for a second season.
- Mar 2024confirmed
The Pentagon’s UAP office finds no empirical evidence that any UAP investigation has recovered alien craft or beings
Its historical review says the program’s papers “were never thoroughly peer reviewed”, and traces modern claims of a hidden UFO programme largely to people tied to AAWSAP and to the contractor’s paranormal research.
T1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024pp. 23, 35–36involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO)
Branches
Go down oneA branch is only as strong as its weakest step so far. The count is how many sources back each step.
Something unexplained is happening there
Are UFOs, creatures or other phenomena beyond known causes really happening at the ranch?
The Deseret News’s report of the Shermans’ account, the first time they spoke publicly.
- 4,506,389 YouTube views of “Skinwalker Ranch - The Full Story | Documentary” (Fire of Learning) as of 1 Nov 2026 T3YouTube: Fire of Learning, “Skinwalker Ranch - The Full Story”
- 2,179,745 YouTube views of “‘There’s A UFO Under the Ranch!’ - Skinwalker Owner Breaks Silence” (Jesse Michels) as of 1 Nov 2026 T3YouTube: Jesse Michels, interview with Brandon Fugal
A billionaire and the Pentagon both paid to study it
Vice calls it “one of the most scientifically studied paranormal hotspots on the planet”.
The premise: confirmedTrue that both paid: NIDS staffed the ranch from 1996, and the DoD confirms a DIA-funded contractor worked there. Paying to watch a place is not a finding; the DoD says it has found no substantive case work from the program beyond reviews of old cases, interviews and the paranormal work.
T1DIA briefing, “Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Contract – Update”, 2009involved party: Defense Intelligence AgencyT1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024p. 23involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO)T2Deseret News, 20 Oct 1996Many ordinary people have seen things there
Fugal: “a shockingly high number of people who I consider ‘normal’ have had UFO sightings on the property”.
The premise: confirmedTrue that sightings are reported, by the Shermans in 1996 and by people Fugal does not name. In 1997 NIDS’s own observers said they had seen nothing of significance.
Injuries and equipment failures are caught on camera
Utah Business describes episodes in which a ranch worker develops a lump on his head and a scientist develops burns after work on the ranch.
The premise: unverifiedThey appear in an entertainment series made with the owner’s team. Utah Business also notes heavy oil-and-gas air pollution in the basin as a possible ordinary factor in health effects. No independent medical record was found.
- confirmed
The Shermans describe craft, lights from midair “doorways” and mutilated cattle
Carried over from the main timeline (step 2).
StartStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step - confirmed
After months on site, NIDS says it has seen nothing of significance
Alexander in April 1997: “There has not been anything of significance. . . . We don’t have anything to work with.”
= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step - confirmed
Bigelow says the activity continued but will not describe it
Carried over from the main timeline (step 6).
= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step - confirmed
Owner Brandon Fugal says his team has evidence of anomalies
He told Vice in 2020: “we have evidence for anomalous injuries, footage of anomalous aerial phenomena, transient EMF and a whole array of other bizarre things.”
= HoldsStrength so far:confirmed· 1 source on this step - unverified
Key claim: phenomena beyond known causes are happening at the ranch
Its support is the accounts of owners and witnesses. NIDS promised journal results in 1996 and Fugal promised peer-reviewed reports in 2020; none was found in the records read. The DoD’s 2024 review found no empirical evidence for alien craft, but it is a party.
T2Deseret News, 20 Oct 1996T2Vice, 10 Mar 2020T1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024pp. 35–36involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO)▼ WeakerStrength so far:unverified· 3 sources on this step
Bullshit meter
- Key claim: phenomena beyond known causes are happening at the ranch. Unverified.
- Key claim contradicted by tier 1? Not by an independent record. Nothing independent has confirmed an anomaly there, and nothing independent has ruled one out; the DoD review that found no empirical evidence is a party to the story.
Fluff meter: possibly planted
- Can’t be traced to an original record. Present: no published data or independent record shows an anomaly; the accounts are the witnesses’ and owners’ own.
- First appeared from new or anonymous accounts. Absent: it comes from the named owners, the Shermans.
- Coordinated identical wording. Not measured.
- Cited source doesn’t exist. Not measured.
- Later contradicted. Present in part: in 1997 NIDS’s own observers said “Definitely no craft” after months on site.
● present · ○ absent · – not measured. Lists signals only. It never accuses anyone.
Personal interest meter
- Brandon Fugal, owns the ranch and appears in the History series filmed there; he told Vice: “I have yet to personally take a penny related to my involvement with the show.” T2Vice, 10 Mar 2020
- Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), held the DIA contract under which, the DoD says, paranormal research was done at the Utah property its head owned. T1DIA briefing, “Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Contract – Update”, 2009involved party: Defense Intelligence Agency
“Has a documented interest” only, each one sourced. Never an implication of guilt.
Correlation meter
- AARO’s 2024 historical report, also a main record in the Nimitz ‘Tic Tac’ and Roswell cases. T1AARO historical review, Vol. I, 2024pp. 22–23involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO)
- BAASS and AAWSAP, the same DIA-funded contractor also investigated the 2004 Nimitz ‘Tic Tac’ incident, Reason reports; see the Nimitz case. T3Reason, Dec 2022 (Mick West)
- The Shermans’ 1996 account, main timeline step 2, and the origin of the phenomena and cattle branches. T2Deseret News, 30 Jun 1996
Links to other cases appear once those cases exist.
Who worked on this
This case was assembled by the site from public records. Contributions are not open yet. Nothing here is invented, so the counts are zero.
This is the first published version of the case.
Sources
- T2Zack Van Eyck, “Frequent fliers?”, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 30 Jun 1996. www.deseret.com
- T2Zack Van Eyck, “Millionaire leads quest for UFO data”, Deseret News, 20 Oct 1996. www.deseret.com
- T2Lezlee E. Whiting, “Universe reports on strange Utah occurrences”, Deseret News, 12 Dec 1996. www.deseret.com
- T2Zack Van Eyck, “No UFOs or ETs have dropped in at spooky ranch”, Deseret News, 27 Apr 1997. www.deseret.com
- T2Zack Van Eyck, “Private UFO study takes a public turn”, Deseret News, 10 Aug 1998 (an interview with Robert Bigelow). www.deseret.com
- T1involved party: Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Intelligence Agency, “Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Contract – Update” (Contract_Status_Briefing), an undated 2009 briefing (it cites reports received by 30 June 2009 and FY10 funds), released under FOIA. The copy read is The Black Vault’s PDF of the DIA release; the DIA reading room refused scripted access.. documents2.theblackvault.com
- T1involved party: US Department of Defense (AARO) Department of Defense All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, “Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Volume I”, February 2024 (cleared for open publication 6 Mar 2024). The report does not name the contractor or its head.. media.defense.gov · copy read: documents2.theblackvault.com
- T2April Siese (Quartz), “The Pentagon Has Confirmed its $22M Program to Investigate UFOs”, republished by Nextgov, 18 Dec 2017. A summary of the New York Times and Politico reports, which could not be opened.. www.nextgov.com
- T2MJ Banias, “The Owner of Skinwalker Ranch Reveals Himself” (interview with Brandon Fugal), Vice, 10 Mar 2020. www.vice.com
- T2Elle Griffin, “Why a millionaire real estate mogul bought Skinwalker Ranch”, Utah Business, 15 Dec 2020 (interviews Fugal and his security chief Bryant Arnold, and Dr Brian Moench of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment). www.utahbusiness.com
- T3Mick West, “The Military-UFO Complex”, Reason, December 2022 issue, online 15 Nov 2022. Commentary by a sceptic; parts rest on James Lacatski’s own account.. reason.com
- T3John Greenewald Jr., “The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) Documentation”, The Black Vault, first published April 2022 and updated since. A FOIA archive’s own account of its requests and the DIA’s replies.. www.theblackvault.com
- T3“Skinwalker Ranch - The Full Story | Documentary”, Fire of Learning channel, YouTube, uploaded 13 Oct 2022. www.youtube.com
- T3“‘There’s A UFO Under the Ranch!’ - Skinwalker Owner Breaks Silence”, Jesse Michels (American Alchemy) channel, YouTube, uploaded 26 Jul 2026. www.youtube.com
- T3“The UFO Lie: Shocking truth of Pentagon AAWSAP program | The Basement Office”, New York Post channel, YouTube, uploaded 12 May 2022. www.youtube.com