Secrets Behind a Barn Door

Cooper Burkhalter

Final Paper

ENG 1113-23

Fall 2024

Secrets Behind a Barn Door

          Moo! Cows making sounds at a farm is something that is seen as a common occurrence, but not in this case. Unusual things are happening here, and the owners are about to find these to be common very soon. Nighttime is considered a danger in the northeast region of Utah. Just a few questions should be asked about this ranch in Utah, what are the most common or rare things that are happening here, when did these seemingly scary things start happening, and what causes these frightening changes to happen on this ranch.

          Skinwalker Ranch is a piece of land in Utah Currently owned by Brandon Fugal. Brandon has used the land for many things, but most of them disrupt the Navajo and Utes’ native land. He has a show about the land where they do nothing to find the native “curse” put on the land while searching for mysteries. He often exploits the land for money and fame which is very wrong for a person who owns historical native land. Many people have raised questions about the show and if they are truly staying ethical to the land by asking, “In the show why does all the emptment seem to shut off when it would be needed at the most valued time,” (Higgins). Brandon is very money-first and questions later because of his past in being a real-estate and being rich prior buying the land is a showing of his unethical acts of miss treating native land. 

          The show is more centered to be a UFO hunting show because of how many times it is mentioned in the episodes, but they often lose focus about what is important and harm the land in many ways. The native people of the land could easily put blame on Brandon for the things that happen on that land because he is harming the environment around the land with his big experiments. He has made the land more of a tourist attraction which brings him more money, but the history of the land is fighting back. Native people in the area could tell you that what he is doing in the area is not what they fought for when the Utes and Navajo battled for land.

          It has been stated that, ‘in the war Navajo and Utes were on this land where the Navajo unleashed a creature named the Skinwalker,” does this explain the happening on this land? No, Brandon is trying to find other explanations on what is wrong with this land. He believes that is something to do with aliens, but native people would not agree with this conclusion. His solution to finding this evidence is “To fire rockets into the air with hopes that the rockets will trigger UFO activity” which is crazy because of all the harm he does to everything around him by firing these rockets (Christian Research Institute). Brandon is the evil here and that shows by his carelessness for the land and the people around him that he lies to. He believes that the evil is within the land or some alien object when truly it is him because of what he does not only when the camera is on but also what he has been doing the whole time that he has owned the land. 

          Native land is being disrupted by the show and by people who own the land. Brandon Fugal is the mastermind behind evil, lies, corruption, and most importantly the harm. People have stated, “will the answer come in the sixth season,” or, “I believe what Brandon Fugal says 100% he does not mess around,” which he does have fans, but the fans do not know what happens when the camera shuts off (Christian Research Institute). People should see that they cannot blame the happenings of the world on different creatures or aliens and blame these things on what you do.

          First of all, what does the current owner think about what's going on? Brandon Fugal is the owner of Skinwalker ranch, and he has shown many different beliefs about what he thinks is happening on this 512 acre piece of land in Utah. His biggest belief is that it might be aliens that are affecting this land, but history tells a different story. It has been stated that, “The property lies on land traditionally inhabited by the Ute Tribe,” which was also a native war ground (Higgins). Native land is a thing that a normal person might not understand because the things that native tribes have experienced on the land is something that would not be believed by an everyday person. While aliens could be a possibility, there is many possibilities that could be happening instead.

          Next, how could the old native war affect the Skinwalker Ranch. The Navajo tribe and the Utes tribe were in an intense war when it is rumored that, “members of the Navajo decided to unleash skin-walkers upon their enemies, and those skin-walkers still stalk the land today,” (Higgins). This is what makes the native land seem like an easy answer because something had to actually be there for a story to be told about it. Native tribes used to make stories about good and harmful things that happened around them, and it was rare for them to make a story about the thing that they released themselves without it being true in some way. Could the reason people find the mysterious things to happen be because of something that the native tribes had experienced or seen, or could it be true that aliens are what affects the land? Brandon Fugal, the owner, has been quick to blame things other than the native past of the land, and often disrupts the land and the things around it while he searches for his answers. People often agree, but those people seem to be those that he works with before talking on the subject. He seems to be more corrupt than former owners and wants the money or fame that goes along with him owning the land.

          Thirdly, Experiments done on the land to find what is making the land cursed. It is stated that, “Their number one go-to is to fire rockets into the air with hopes that the rockets will trigger UAP activity,” which could harm the land and many other things (Christian Research Institute). This is something that is disrupting the land and animals on or around it which is why the native theory could be more accurate than some of the others. People often close off other theories and jump to conclusions by watching these shows and not truly paying attention to things that could be happening other than what the people in camera say. Brandon Fugal could be looking in the wrong place and could need to start looking underground is another argument that could be made by the people who watch the show. Aliens have been a common theme in the show with one of the people on the show working for NASA in the past as well as in the United States Department of Defense the argument could be made that he knows more than the rest of them because of his former work, and they usually make people in that field of work more prominent in the show. In the first two episodes of The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch they bring in a company that looks for alien proof because when working in the navy they saw on a radar to be a jet, but it was like a jet they had never seen before. Other than working on the naval ship what makes them a source that needs to be heard from? These people could easily be lying about these findings and be trying to make more money by using the research team at Skinwalker Ranch, or they could be using the show to find more popularity to gain more profits in the future of the company even after failing to find these things to be true about the ranch.  

          Lastly, why are the other theories wrong and what is correct? Aliens and UFOs are something that is brought up a lot in this argument, but they have no reason to want anything on this piece of land in Utah which is the biggest reason this theory is not correct. That would mean that everyone on the ranch who is on the show, The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch, is just trying to make more money and the person who is making the most is the owner of the land, Brandon Fugal. People do things for money all the time and this would be no exception to that. Another theory is that nothing is happening, but the Skinwalker ranch and its land has always been a weird place that has odd occurrences which makes it even more strange if nothing is causing these things to happen. People could find this conclusion to be even scarier to all other potential conclusions because that would mean that anything odd could move to their local area. Which means animals running wild in all cities and other places, the weird things on Skinwalker Ranch all have animals doing unusual things not just the random sickness that some people mention. Native American theories are the ones to have the most truth about their creation and what might be causing these things to happen because the war that happened on this land was truly a horror to be witnessed for these tribes. People in these tribes would agree with this conclusion because not only is it what they are taught about, but they also have more knowledge about what happens on the land around them.
         Many questions could be asked about Skinwalker Ranch. When people ask what, when, and how these things happen, everyone comes up short of answers. Native culture and beliefs have been disrupted for a local cash grab. People believe that Skinwalker Ranch falls along the same fictional category of aliens and UFO’s. Natives used this as a war effort to take over new land and the threat of being captured by one was greater than containing the spirit. Many people see this as a morbid fairy tale and choose not to believe it, but many Native Americans today still believe in Skinwalkers and choose to respect the story told through ancestors.

 

 

Works Cited

Christian Research Institute. “Strange Happenings in Utah: The Phenomenon of Skinwalker Ranch.” Christian Research Institute, 10 Oct. 2024, www.equip.org/articles/strange-happenings-in-utah-the-phenomenon-of-skinwalker-ranch/. 

Higgins, Brian. “What Is Skinwalker Ranch, and What’s Really Going on There?” Utah.Com, 12 June 2024, www.utah.com/articles/post/what-is-skinwalker-ranch-and-whats-really-going-on-there/.

Janos, Adam. “How Skinwalker Ranch Became a Hotbed of Paranormal Activity.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/news/skinwalker-ranch-paranormal-ufos-mutilation. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.