Skinwalker Ranch: Where a Rumour Entered the Defence Budget

In 1994, the Sherman family moved to a ranch in Utah's Uintah Basin. They described a large wolf attacking their livestock without falling after several shots, animals disappearing and lights appearing above the property. At first, these were only stories from a family living in a remote place. There was no laboratory, military aircraft or government budget attached to them.

By the late 1990s, a wealthy investor had acquired the land to investigate unusual events. Research teams recorded reports of lights, animals, sounds, a feeling of being watched and equipment behaving strangely. The stories appeared in books, spread through television and became attached to the name Skinwalker Ranch. A local account can be dismissed. It is harder to dismiss when a programme run by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) uses public money to study the same location.