Are skinwalkers actually real, or do the people of the internet just want to scare you by lying?
I believe they are real. Back in the thirties, my grandfather went hunting and encountered a large deer at the foot of a mountain. He claimed the deer was about one hundred feet away. He shot at it and missed, but it leaped towards him instead of the deer running away.
This startled my Grandfather, and they shot at it again. This time, he hit it, and the deer ran up the side of a rocky mountain. My Grandfather followed it with the blood trail. He said that eventually, he saw bloody footprints on the rocks and followed them to the top.
When he got to the top, he said there was a small village of about five or six huts, and he saw a native woman come out from one of them carrying bloody clothes. He said he got chills on his skin and sensed nothing was ordinary about the deer, who had left bloody footprints.
So yes, I believe there are skinwalkers, shifters, ghosts, spirits, reincarnation. I have encountered and seen many strange things that have no explanation. Just because you’ve never seen it does not mean it does not exist. It’s like the fallen tree in the forest.
There doesn’t appear to be any evidence suggesting that the myth about shape-shifting witches who can turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as animals is based on actual events.
Skinwalkers aren’t real, but stories about them predate the internet by A LOT! They’re monsters from Native American lore.
What should a person do if he encounters a skinwalker or wendigo?
I and my family believe we are being stalked, hunted, haunted, and teased by one or more skinwalkers. It has been going on for years.
On and off. We live on a farm, and these entities are making more frequent appearances than ever as of late.
My kids are scared as they’ve seen it several times, as well as my husband and me. We’ve even believed there to be one indoors from time to time.
The glimpses I’ve seen at first glance appear to be a naked human, and it moves with extreme speed, faster than I can keep an eye on. It peeks around corners of the outside of the house at my kids and makes humans and animals cry at night. It’s terrifying.
We’ve found doors unlocked and left open at night, and when we investigate, we glimpse it. Garage doors, too-garage doors that no one ever opens, mind you. There’s no explanation for it.
Living on a farm, we are used to coyotes howling, barking, and different prey animals screaming when attacked.
The screams we’ve heard lately are not the same as coyote attacks. These are screams that sound like human and blood-curdling cries. It is the first time I’ve heard something like it.
I don’t know if something can be done to keep them at bay… I believe many of these evil entities come in and out of our dimension, but I love to keep them out if possible.
What proof is there that skinwalkers are real?
I don’t know that they are. Years ago, I lived on an old farm in Chattanooga, TN. I was in between jobs and somehow ended up there. I occasionally drove the farm pickup to run errands and buy necessities to run the farm. It was an old truck and very unreliable at that. It was a manual and would get stuck in second gear often.
One night, I went into town to pick up some groceries. On my way back, the usual route was closed due to a tractor-trailer accident, so I had to take a detour. It was before Mapquest or any similar gadgets were available. Of course, I got lost and ended up on a dirt road. It was dark. All of a sudden, the clutch in the truck stopped working altogether.
I had no choice but to walk. No cell phone either at that time, if you can imagine. I was familiar with the outskirts and decided my best bet would be a shortcut through the forest. The moon was full, so I used that as a guide. The deeper I got into the forest, the more sad it felt. To make matters worse, I heard something, or someone, moving around nearby.
I stood still, and it stood still. If I walked, it would move. I had to keep my sanity and knew if I let whatever it was get the best of me, I may not survive. Was it a person? An animal? Whatever it was, I decided it was not my time to go.
I ran past it several times; it always seemed to be in front of me but followed me. I could hear cars in the distance and knew if I kept going in that direction, I would eventually get out to safety.
To this day, I have no idea what was around me or why.
In my mind, I consciously decided to overcome my fear and escape the mysterious entity. It was not a choice. Mind over matter. On a final note, this didn’t occur to me until afterward, while I was in the thick of the forest, running for my life, I remembered hearing laughter, more like someone snickering in a low tone.
I probably didn’t listen to it at the time or chose not to because it would, or could have, been the end of me. Our minds are more robust than we realize when placed in a predicament. Either it was a mind trip invented all in my head because of the darkness and the unknown, or something very sinister was with me.
Have you ever encountered a skinwalker or Wendigo?
I encountered two or more skinwalkers. I need solid proof, like a picture or video. But I do have a story. One I remember pretty vividly.
It was August 14th, and a meter shower lasted until the 24th. I was curious to see it, so I went out late at a particular time.
It was precisely 1 a.m. I was outside the front of my house, standing in the middle of the road, staring at the clear night sky, watching some comets pass by me. To note, in front of my house across the road is a suitable five acres of unclaimed desert land (I’m from Arizona, where Navajo skinwalkers seem to originate from) I was standing there again when I heard odd noises.
I’d want to say the crunching of a branch or something like that. This noise came directly from before me, about 100 yards away. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. (it’s important to note that after this whole experience, I did my research, and everything seemed to add up to my story, so I’ll be explaining why I believe it was skinwalkers) now, it was far away, but I read a
The story and this person mentioned that the farther away the sounds or skinwalker might seem, the closer it is. I’m only saying this because not even ten seconds later, I heard bizarre noises coming from the left side of the front of my house. It was close to about 50 feet away.
I was already spooked, as living in Arizona for six years, these noises were unfamiliar and different. And I was always out at night. I could tell when it was just a desert rabbit or a couple of coyotes. As these strange noises occurred, the worst feeling I’ve ever felt in the seventeen years I’ve been alive came over me. It was weird and made me feel very uneasy.
It was that gut feeling like I knew something terrible was going to occur or was already happening—that sense of impending doom. Then, as fast as the noises started, they stopped. But it was a short pause because I heard faint talking coming from where the noises had happened.
it sounded just like some little girl. I couldn’t distinguish a single word; it was quiet, faint, and practically gibberish. But it was feminine, I know that much. It stopped again, and immediately after, clear as day, twice as loud as the talking before, it said my name. I Called out to me. “NOAH.” in the voice of a little girl.
In my general direction. At that very moment, I don’t think I’ve ever been more genuinely terrified. Safe to say, I was super freaked out now. I began to walk toward my front door (note: I read that skinwalkers tend to mimic the voices of people and sound very human-like to lure people. I also read that in most cases with kids, skinwalkers will purposefully lurk around or near houses.
Could something like Skinwalkers exist?
It was that gut feeling that I knew something terrible was going to occur or was already happening—that sense of impending doom. Then, as fast as the noises started, they stopped. But it was a short pause because I heard faint talking from where the noises had happened.
It sounded just like some little girl. I couldn’t distinguish a single word; it was quiet, faint, and practically gibberish. But it was feminine, I know that much. It stopped again, and immediately after, clear as day, twice as loud as the talking before, it said my name. I Called out to me. “NOAH.” in the voice of a little girl.
In my general direction. At that very moment, I don’t think I’ve ever been more genuinely terrified. Safe to say, I was super freaked out now. I began to walk toward my front door (note: I read that skinwalkers tend to mimic the voices of people and sound very human-like to lure people. I also read that in most cases with kids, skinwalkers will purposefully lurk around or near houses.
Hell, I’ve seen the parasite that mind-controls a snail; yeah, this thing below is what they call a “Zombie Snail” because it’s being mind-controlled by a parasite:
Yet if you come and tell me that there’s a “Harmful witch who can turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal, ” I’ll politely, sincerely, firmly ask you to take a hike.
There are thousands if not tens of thousands, of species we haven’t discovered yet, especially the ones roaming the ocean’s depths; some might have evolved, adapted, and transformed in ways beyond our human comprehension. A human mind can’t accept the Paranormal, because it feels childish, unnatural and most important of all: Scientifically incorrect.
What should a person do if he encounters a skinwalker or wendigo?
Don’t whistle at night. Leave the area. Don’t look in the eyes. Leave tobacco. Close the curtains at night and don’t be afraid. Please don’t go looking for them, and stay out of sacred areas.
How would you know if a fox or coyote is a skin-walker? Usually, if you see a coyote or a fox, you would assume they are natural. Are there any differences between, say, natural coyotes and skin-walker coyotes?
Kill it. If you get charged with cruelty to animals, it is a fox. If you get accused of murder, it was a skinwalker.
What are skinwalkers, and are they real?
In Navaja culture, a skinwalker (in English) or yee naaldlooshii (in Navajo) is an evil witch who can transform, possess, or disguise herself as an animal. The nomenclature is used exclusively for wicked witches, never being used to refer to healers.
Animals associated with witchcraft often include cheaters like the coyote, but they can consist of other creatures, usually those associated with death or foreboding. They can also own animals or living people and make use of their bodies simply by looking into the eyes of their victims. Skinwalkers can be men or women.
The stories of skinwalkers told among Navajo children can be complete adventures of life and death, which end in skinwalkers or Navajos killing each other, or stories of partial encounters that end in deadlocks. The encounters can be composed of stories of Navaja victory, with skinwalkers approaching a hogan (traditional Navaja dwelling) and leaving, frightened.
Non-native interpretations of skinwalker stories often take the form of partial encounter stories on the road, where the protagonist temporarily finds himself in danger but then escapes the skinwalker in a way not traditionally seen in the stories. Navajos that take place away from home. Sometimes Navajo children take European folk stories and substitute generic killer skinwalkers like Gancho.
It’s real? Some people think it’s real, and some think it’s pure fantasy; who am I to tell you what’s natural or not correct? The story is quite interesting, however.
What do you know about skinwalkers?
Skinwalkers (Or skinwalkers) are creatures from Navajo folklore.
The Navajos were a Native American culture that lived in the American southwest around modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.
The Navajo people are reluctant to share skinwalker lore with outsiders, so we know very little about them.
A skinwalker was a witch able to transform into various animals. These “evil witches,” which are not limited to just skinwalkers, serve as an opposing force to the good medicine men who use magick to benefit the people.
Skinwalkers are most commonly male and can walk around in the bodies of people and animals by locking their eyes with them.
Traditionally, skinwalker stories are told to Navajo children as part of a parable to symbolize life and death.
To become a skinwalker, evil deeds must be performed by the most robust and potent medicine man in the tribe, including killing a close family member. It would give the medicine man the power to become a skinwalker.
According to the Navajo, skinwalkers are usually seen as coyotes, owls, foxes, wolves, or crowscrows.
If you share your encounter with a skinwalker, it will come and see retribution against you, which is likely part of the reason the Navajo do not share many stories about them.
Okay, I should stop. It’s night, and I’m in a pretty rural wilderness area right now, and I think I just saw something…
What should a person do if he encounters a skinwalker or wendigo?
A skinwalker or wendigo is an evil entity that is believed to be able to possess an animal or person they please. They are known to mimic the voice of a loved one of the people they hunt. I am not saying they are real or fake, but I believe in them, as I have had my fair share of encounters with them.
From experience, I can say that if you come across a skinwalker, don’t try and stand your ground, and don’t run away from it as it can take the form of an animal, and their instincts to kill will kick in to give chase.
If you are to cross paths with a skinwalker, you are to walk away slowly, not turn back, to let it know that you are aware of its presence. You will know if a skinwalker is near you because you will smell rotting flesh. It is also said that the farther they sound, the closer they are.
So if you hear a branch snap in the distance, smell rotting flesh, then hear another branch snap, walk away slowly but in the opposite direction of the sound. That is all I have to say about this, but if you want to know more, you can ask everyone who can help.
Is the dark web as disturbing as people say it is, or is it just a lie to scare curious people who want to access it?
It is both. Most of the “bad” reports about the Dark Web are based on shitty reporting, either not researched or over-sensationalized.
There is, however, harmful content on the dark web, like drug-selling sites and child pornography.
However, most of the dark web is entirely ok; it is a communication tool that can be used commonly.
Are wendigos and skinwalkers real?
ABSOLUTELY!! They originate from Native American spiritual beliefs. Now, I’m not saying U have to believe someone else’s beliefs, but you should respect that they strongly consider them.
I find it disrespectful that we call them “cryptids,” as if they’re just some dark fantasy/fiction. Cause just like every other religion / spiritual practice that has Angels/demons/god (s) and the devil(s), etc.… Native American beliefs have these figures, too.
It’s even said that saying their names 1+ to 3+ times (sk*nw*lk*rs & w*nd*g*s) will summon them to you / your area.
So I believe them. All I ask is that even if you’re questioning / curious about learning about other religions / spiritual practices, please respect that natives strongly believe in these powerful entities.
What is your opinion about Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch? Has it done more damage than good?
Here is why the show is full of BS. Radio and other device batteries go flat, yet the camera keeps rolling!!! The rented drone can’t fly, yet they clearly show an overhead from a drone. They state they have put up cameras that cover the range, yet the attack on alpacas needed to be better captured. The attack scene shown has also been blurred….intentionally, IMO. Oh, and if you are worried about radiation, put in a red suit and dig the frigging place up…that will answer what is below the ground once and for all.
Do Skinwalkers, Bigfoot, Rake, and other urban legends exist?
There’s a bit of semantics at play in your question. Are you asking whether these creatures are only urban legends, and so do these urban legends exist?
Or are you asking whether these creatures exist?
Well, I can’t answer for the existence of skinwalkers or rakes, but I can answer about bigfoot.
Yes. Bigfoots exist. They were seen by members of my family, who lived in an area habituated by the creatures.
In my tribe, we have (I don’t speak the language, by the way) a name for the beast. It is a noun and not a vague description using adjectival- or verbal-qualified words. In other words, if you said you saw one of these by name, you have identified it, could locate it, and would place it if need be, and it would always be the same thing. The noun does not have to be qualified.
Further, I trust my family’s interpretation of the facts surrounding these creatures living in the area.
As a result of my family having them around, my grandfather—whom I never knew—instituted rules that governed his family’s behavior because the creatures were everywhere; when I took a course in corporate training in college, a behavior change was the definition of learning.
So my grandfather learned that these creatures were dangerous, that they were active in the area, and that specific procedures were needed to live to avoid being confronted and possibly harmed by these creatures. The rules worked. A man not complying with similar rules to keep him from harm from these things was found dead in the area, his body showing the marks of blunt-force trauma. His body was also found surrounded by large, human-like prints and on-site evidence he may have been trying to escape, according to accounts of the search party that found him.
They said his body was pulled up into a kneeling position as if he were trying to pray, cover himself from repeated blows, or possibly both. This man’s life might have been saved had he followed the rules of not going out alone at night and carrying firearms for protection, as my grandfather insisted for his own family.
To me, we have proof that these creatures were not simply visions, subjects of stories, or superstitions in the behavior of my grandfather and his family.
What is a Navajo skinwalker?
A Navajo skinwalker, a “yee naaldlooshii” in the Navajo language, is a witch or shapeshifter in Navajo folklore and tradition. Skinwalkers are believed to be able to transform into animals or disguise themselves as other people by wearing the skin of the creature they want to mimic. The most common animal forms associated with skinwalkers are coyotes, wolves, foxes, eagles, owls, and crows, though they are not limited to these animals.
According to Navajo beliefs, skinwalkers are typically individuals who have chosen to use their spiritual and supernatural powers for evil purposes. They are said to have once been healers or spiritual leaders who eventually became corrupted and chose a darker path.
To become a skinwalker, one is believed to commit a terrible act, such as killing a close family member, which grants them access to evil powers.
Skinwalkers are feared for their ability to harm or manipulate others, often using curses or other forms of dark magic. They are also said to be able to control the minds of animals or people, move at incredible speeds, and possess extraordinary strength and agility.
In Navajo culture, the topic of skinwalkers is often considered taboo, as discussing them is thought to attract their attention and potentially bring harm.
Due to the secretive nature of this belief and the reluctance to discuss it openly, much of the information surrounding skinwalkers comes from anecdotes and personal accounts rather than structured documentation.
What is your opinion about Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch? Has it done more damage than good?
I’ve watched nearly all of the first two seasons of Skinwalker now, the first in one long, hopeful binge, and the second over the past couple months, with steadily growing disillusionment.
How did I go from hope to disillusionment? Initially, the team seemed to be generating “real” evidence and picking up leads that must surely lead to some world-changing discovery that not even the US government could hide.
I hoped they would do the obvious things to jump on the leads and run them to ground.
[Note, Feb 5, 2022]: This review is only of the televised serial drama, and not of the investigative team, for whom I have considerable respect. The research team and the television team have differing goals and the show reflects those of the History Channel, not of the researchers. Another source, not affiliated with Brandon’s team, is the recently released book “Skinwalkers At The Pentagon”, a Department of Defense-cleared publication detailing the Federal government’s AAWSAP program, a well-funded research effort at the ranch for several years ending around 2010. I found it informative but also disturbing, because it documents a frightening and firm linkage between UAPs and paranormal phenomena.
As an iHeart Radio interviewer put it: “Government investigators found that simply visiting the Ranch could spur UFO sightings, poltergeist activity, frightening visits from Shadow Beings and cryptids, and most chillingly, the encounters would follow them and spread like a contagion to family members and even their neighborhoods.” THC may be wise to have mostly omitted this part from the show until we know more. SATP is not affiliated with THC or the current researchers. – JKY]
Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch is a collage-of-clips show that dramatises the attempts of a mixed bag of scientists, security folk, ranch hands, and the odd alpaca to find the reasons behind the bizarre phenomena long reported at the Ranch. Unfortunately, the show’s investigative team are made to appear to the viewing public less like scientists and more, in metaphorical terms, like little people in silly hats. Fun Fact: in the film “Time Bandits”, the Supreme Being’s helpers (pictured) used portals through time and space, note the map in the foreground. Could Skinwalker be on the map?
Potential discoveries like:
- An underground alien base (mentioned in nearly every episode as “rumoured”, accessed by tunnels that nobody has actually suggested searching for);
- An alien “glow-emitter” or other device responsible for a glow known to occasionally light up the entire mesa;
- One or several buried alien spacecraft, indicated as one possible explanation for underground profiles revealed by non-invasive subsurface investigations; astrophysicist Travis Taylor, who does a plurality of the talking for the group, suggested ships and no other explanations have been put forth;
- A ship-sized portal high over Skinwalker Ranch, offering two-way travel to some other dimension, universe, or other worlds, and whose approximate location was determined by triangulation of EM signals;
- A means of communicating with extradimensional beings who several times appeared to be just a shift of the camera away, and were chased on foot a couple times, but were never actually captured on camera;
- An entity-sized portal or portals, more like a doorway, at Homestead 2, indicated (apparently) by sudden dramatic temperature changes that happened as a rabbi chanted a particular holy chant;
- An underground transformer (suggested, again, by Taylor, to explain observed EM phenomena late in season two);
- And other potential devices, generators, apparatuses, or contraptions generating the inexplicably high levels of this or that (“ionizing radiation”, gamma radiation, and lots of other stuff) seen on various instruments every single episode;
- And some device like a broad-spectrum radio (maybe?) responsible for two incidents of elevated levels of EM energy across a large portion of the spectrum, which Travis described in one case as an ‘attack’ and noted several times he would not know how to reproduce. No further discussion of a pregnant topic – would anyone else know how to reproduce the results? From where were these signals being broadcast? From how far away could they be detected? What would it take to determine the location of the broadcast? We don’t know.
Any one of these things being discovered – an underground base, spacecraft, or buried device – would grab world headlines, possibly on more than one world.
As a viewer, I felt sure that this bunch would triangulate key emissions, or hire a high-tech consultant to do so, to determine locations of the emission sources. Then they would bring in an excavation contractor, and quickly break the case wide open. And again, if there was telltale glitching, don’t give up and never bring it up again. Geez, guys, fish or cut bait!
Unfortunately, that did not happen.
In fact, the show’s producers appear to have every incentive NOT to put a single mystery to bed, but to keep them all lurching around the hallways of folklore like so many monsters looking for a child’s closet in which to roost.
A hotbed of reported paranormal activity, Skinwalker Ranch was picked up by Robert Bigelow for $200,000 in 1996 and sold to the present owners for $4.6 million in 2016. That’s some impressive appreciation, clearly associated with a perceived investment opportunity. This show, so far, appears to be that opportunity. But buried alien technology would be worth a lot more.
As a consequence, the show, while colourful, has no attention span. The lines of investigation from one episode to the next are all over the place – there is no dogged pursuit of a near-miss from the previous episode. On the contrary, the team zig-zags continually, as if to keep as many question marks in the air as possible, like a juggler with an attentive audience.
“Secret of Skinwalker Ranch” is, tragically in my opinion, following stride for stride in the cursed footsteps of another History Channel show: “The Curse of Oak Island”, an interminable meander across season after season of woo-woo treasure hunting in which the treasure will never materialise.
The only ‘secret’ that Skinwalker reveals is the same as the only ‘treasure’ Oak Island ever delivers: a credulous audience hooked on the premise that the next episode may solve everything.
What is the problem with the approach taken by SOSR? Lack of rigor and follow-through. Here are a few examples.
- If batteries go dead, they don’t go recharge them and try again. Instead, they throw up their hands, everyone says “Well THAT was weird!”, and they don’t bring it up again.
- If a Lidar scan inexplicably drops data, they don’t get the Lidar guy back and run a second scan (and a third and fourth, if necessary), they just say “Well THAT was weird!” and they don’t bring it up again.
- They bring alpacas onto the ranch, and these gentle beasts are almost immediately viciously attacked and wounded by some kind of canine-like creatures, but we are never told whether these were coyotes or wolves; instead, it is implied that the attackers were extra-dimensional beings (or “skinwalkers”?) and may have dropped from the sky. This, despite the fact that the ranch caretakers apparently witnessed the attack and chased the canine-ish attackers out of the alpaca pen. There are supposedly cameras all over the ranch and the staff ought to know whether or not coyotes are active in the area, and a pack should have been visible to various cameras as they moved to and from the attack site. Was there non-alpaca DNA in the wounds? Apparently nobody thought to check any of these things; there was zero rational discussion on any of these points, just plenty of spooky implications left hanging in the air. (Some viewers think the attack was staged, in which case animal cruelty charges would definitely be in order.)
- When one iPhone goes crazy (twice that I remember), they don’t contact Apple or some cell technology expert, have them examine the handset and the video recording of what the phone was doing, and get some analytical insight. Either there are ‘natural causes’ or there aren’t. If there aren’t, then here’s an opportunity to document some technical specs (capabilities, speed, bandwidth, etc.) of the alien tech being used. But it’s just chalked up as more weirdness and they move on.
- A cow dropped dead in the first season, and many months later, in the second season, the team observes that the corpse has not attracted scavengers. You would think tissue samples etc. would be sent off to labs to determine what chemical change has happened that is repelling everything. As far as I remember, no attempt was made, only the fact noted, drawing the usual “well, THAT’S weird!” response. Considering cattle mutilations have been observed for decades, and by the thousands, the weirdest thing in this case is that the team appeared to know next to nothing about the phenomenon, and did not anticipate the apparent sterility of the corpse. This, despite their having brought in dozens of cattle to stock the ranch in obvious hopes of stimulating some kind of observable attacks and/or mutilations.
As noted, the themes of the episodes are, to coin a phrase, non-consecutive. (Or to tell it like it is, the show bounces off the walls.) Typically, every episode is structured around a significant experiment or data-gathering effort, with a secondary tale, bit of folklore, etc.
However, the experiments seem to be selected mainly for their entertainment value. Are they visually arresting and dramatic? Do they light up, or at least look pretty? How will they play on camera?
Thus, with a number of ways available to test the electrical conductivity of the soil, the team chooses to discharge an eight-foot-tall Tesla coil right off the set of the original Frankenstein movie. Seriously? They might as well have played the theme music on a Theremin.
And that, I suppose, was the last straw for me as far as my illusion that this group would take the shortest route to victory.
Their work seems calculated to produce as much anticipation as possible; revelation is strictly on the back burner.
Examples? Like regrets, I have a few:
They could have dug energetically and proved (or disproved) for a certainty whether there are buried spacecraft under the Ranch. They did not; there was some drilling, but no explanation given (that I can recall) for what was causing the distinctive profiles under the surface.
What about the glowing mesa? No effort was mentioned to locate hidden machinery under the surface. Oh, there was a kind of pit that appeared to lead deeper, but I believe someone’s phone battery died, and Travis got dizzy, and nobody seems to care about the glow any more.
In season one, they sent up a balloon to try and obtain information on their hypothesized spaceship-height portal. The balloon stopped transmitting, and they never found it. Did it crash? Disappear into a portal? Another question mark deliberately left hanging in the air, a la Oak Island. They should have sent up a second, then a third and fourth if necessary, and if they lost four in a row, then they should have called the frigging National Guard and CNN. But of course they didn’t; it joined the “Well THAT was weird!” collection and there’s been little if any mention since of the alleged (or rumoured?) aerial portal. (The second season finale addresses this topic and I hope to update this post.)
The anomalous EM readings – radiation levels higher than expected, etc. – might have inspired a real team to call in subject matter experts from Cal Tech, national avionics contractors, or the US Army’s White Sands Missile Range. (I mention White Sands because I worked there on detached duty in the mid-2000’s as the project engineer on an electromagnetic weapons lab facility. There are bona fide experts in this field, but they are not consulting on SOSR.)
In fact, a real effort to resolve the largest questions around Skinwalker Ranch would have dictated a team with a lot more engineering and electronics expertise, and a Native American shaman to serve as Ranch chaplain.
Yes, I’m serious; if you have read anything about Skinwalker in past decades, as I did long before anyone thought of making a TV show about it, then you know that many of the well-attested phenomena involve voices, laughter, mischievous or terrifying intrusions, poltergeist-like activity, and obviously the titular Skinwalkers themselves. These are, I gather, native priests or witches who are said to be able to transform spontaneously between human and wolf-like morphology.
If you’re going to tackle a place with this kind of history, why the hell would you not have a a shaman on staff? Or better yet, two shamans, a Catholic priest qualified to perform exorcisms, a rabbi, a psychiatrist, and a Wiccan? (Now imagine them all walking into a bar – that alone would make the series worth watching.)
How did this location wind up being a place to investigate both high-tech UAP activity and associated portals/traversable wormholes, and also paranormal activity?
Assuming all the reports are true, I would suggest the paranormal has always been a cover for a technological operation.
Possibly Skinwalker Ranch really is a portal for alien space activity, and has been for centuries, guarded by an autonomous resident AI that used the scariest folklore of the local indigenous peoples to keep humans from probing into their activities. How? Psychic projections, mind control, use of synthetic or cloned beasts – or a mixture of all three.
The skinwalkers and related phenomena are, in a word, psychic teargas. Their purpose? To keep a crowd from forming.
And they were successful, at least until we developed electricity, radio, and the History Channel. Now, the AI is kind of stuck and realises that the old horror tactics that worked for the Navaho and ranchers are only going to draw down major global attention to this site.
Have “skinwalkers” or other creatures actually hurt anybody? Giving people PTSD from shock, and causing long-term trauma, doesn’t count. The accounts I have read describe horrifying encounters, but no tribes slaughtered, or ranchers found ripped to pieces. The horror and the reputation have been plenty – they would certainly be more than enough to keep me from wanting to go anywhere near the place.
But the team working the past two years with camera crews has not documented or reported any sightings or encounters, just referenced older stories, including claimed eyewitnesses to high strangeness.
Thus my suspicion that the mad, cursed magical native priests who transform into giant, red-eyed wolf-like creatures with contorted human-ish faces and bring pain and terror…
…were a blind designed, essentially, for crowd control. I would have “moved along”, wouldn’t you?
But for reasons I’ve stated, they are probably not going to be a reasonable tool for protecting alien secrets now, in this rapidly moving technological age of humans.
You asked:
What is your opinion about Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch? Has it done more damage than good?
My answer:
Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch is a fluffy bit of mystery entertainment in the vein of other History Channel shows like Oak Island and Ancient Aliens. It is not hard science – at least, not science the way its done at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
In fact, during those exciting times when the entire Skinwalker staff goes running pell-mell through the woods chasing something with their flashlights bobbing, it’s even less like science, and more like watching a gang of boys at summer camp playing Capture the Flag.
I do not begrudge the Skinwalker team’s telegraphing their boyish enthusiasm for their task; we should be reminded at all times that humanity’s future will be filled with wonder, mystic crystal revelation, and the mind’s true liberation, that sort of thing. I just want them to try really hard to focus on just one thing, any one thing at all, long enough to put it to bed, there’s dears. Pictured is Kevin (Craig Warnock), young hero of the movie “Time Bandits”.
I grant that the show’s producers are probably far more concerned with putting together a salable product from a collage of real and staged moments than with accurately documenting the aims and methods of the team actually studying the phenomenon.
But all we viewers can go by is what comes up on the TV screen, and this is how it appears to me. Half the dialogue is “Wow, THAT was weird!” or “Okay, let’s go get this done!” (The incisive analysis, discussion of alternatives, and master plan update must happen during the commercials.)
I will also note that the team itself does not appear to have the right mix of subject matter experts for the issues at hand, nor do they make any consistent attempts to call in such expertise at need, for example from regional universities and state agencies.
Are skinwalkers actually real, or just want to scare you by lying?
Unless, of course, the universities and agencies are reluctant to have their good names associated with the pseudoscience and sensationalism prevalent on shows of this kind. And therein lies what we might call damage that the show may be doing.
In my opinion, the show is doing good by educating a wider public about the issues posed to our society by the phenomena said to occur at Skinwalker Ranch, issues that ought to be aired and pursued, along with the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) issue in general.
But at the same time, the credibility level of the show is in the neighbourhood of “Ancient Aliens”, or at least in the same zip code. This is a real downer for people like me, who came in believing a credible effort would be made.
Every new episode of SOSR that fails to provide real answers further damages the show’s credibility and drops the profile of the UAP issue back toward what it was when the US Air Force was still paying personnel to lie through their teeth to discredit actual sightings and the Tic Tac was just a kind of candy.
I want to close, however, by expressing my sincere hope that if the show is renewed for future seasons, the team will take back their investigation from the show’s producers. A showboat is a slow boat. And what the world needs from the Skinwalker investigators is a bit of water skiing.
The success of SOSR is our success as well, so please read my criticism as constructive rather than personal. Best of luck to the team, and may they catch whatever it is they are chasing!
Have you ever encountered a skinwalker or Wendigo?
I have not met a mythical creature.
But I have seen people with a windigo spirit possessing them.
The windigo is a cannibal spirit. It always craves more. It will hoard food and other possessions until they rot rather than share with others who would share with it. Not only will it steal from the village, but also its own family. It may murder strangers out of greed and paranoia.
Are there windigos in the business owners and CEOs who try to save a few bucks by dodging safety regulations and end up killing their workers?
Are there windigos in the people who already have billions of dollars in assets yet support the politicians who vote to cut taxes rather than let a young widow with children or a disabled person have enough assistance to live?
Are there windigos in the business people and politicians who lie about the poisons in the smoke, wastewater, and lead pipes? At the same time, children develop cancers and learning disabilities that will blight their lives.
Are there windigos in the politicians so imbued with their bizarre ideology that they are willing to tear down humanity’s will to help each other?
Laser Cutting: Benefits And Misconceptions
Are skinwalkers actually real, or do the people of the internet just want to scare you by lying?