Image: MJ Banias
Image: MJ Banias
Top: A zoomed out view of Skinwalker Ranch's location in Eastern Utah. Bottom: A zoomed in view. The red line shows Skinwalker Ranch's gates and fences.
The author and William
The command center. Image: MJ Banias
Thomas Winterton at left and Erik Bard at right in the command center. Image: MJ Banias
A radio signal screen in the command center. Image: MJ Banias
An old "bait pen," used to mount cameras and sensors. Previous owners put animals in these pens to see if anything happened to them. The current owner doesn't do this anymore. Image: MJ Banias
Arnold, Winterton, and I are touring the property in a black Jeep. The melting snow has turned the usually red dusty trails into a rough brown muck. As our vehicle is getting knocked around by the bumpy road, the two men explain that the ranch was in a state of disrepair in 2016, and significant time and money was spent into upgrading the facilities. Winterton says the septic tank was improperly installed, and the toilets barely worked. He did many of the repairs himself. The surveillance and data collection platforms have also been modernized and improved."I take my truck up the road, and as I start to get closer, I start to get really scared. Just this feeling that takes over. Then I hear this voice, as clear as you and me talking right now, that says, ‘Stop, turn around.’"
A homestead on Skinwalker Ranch. Image: MJ Banias
A homestead. Image: MJ Banias
The author sitting inside Homestead 3. Image: MJ Banias