This is about my time spent on the Gorman Ranch (also known as Skinwalker Ranch) in the Uinta Basin, Utah, from 2003 to 2005. I worked with a team from an independent company that was assisting the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), who had already been investigating the ranch for some time.

Before getting into my experiences, I should provide some background for those unfamiliar with the history. Many names are not real, as most of those involved wanted to remain anonymous.

In the mid-1990s (I believe 1994–1997), the Gorman family purchased a large ranch in the Uinta Basin to raise their prized cattle. They had moved from out of state—possibly New Mexico—and brought their herd with them. From day one, they experienced strange events that eventually led them to sell the property.

On their first day, while unloading cattle into a pen, they saw a large wolf in the distance. Wolves aren’t common in that region, which made it unusual. Stranger still, the wolf approached them calmly and acted tame, even allowing them to pet it. Suddenly, it lunged at a calf that had stuck its head through the bars of the pen. Tom Gorman grabbed his rifle and fired at the wolf. The wolf released the calf but stood there staring at the family before running off. Tom and his son tried to track it but lost it in the trees. They reported no blood and no sign that the wolf had been injured.

And that was just their first day.

At the time, I was in high school and unaware of any of this. A friend of mine had a mother who ran a paranormal investigation group. I had always been interested in the topic but remained skeptical. I had seen UFOs before but never assumed they were extraterrestrial.

During my senior year, I began working with my friend’s mother and her group, mostly investigating ghost sightings and reportedly haunted locations. I never experienced anything dramatic, but I learned how to stay objective in unusual situations.

Years later, after staying in contact through college, I attended a large convention in the Washington, D.C. area with the group. That’s where I met a man who would later hire me to join his team on the ranch.

From 2003 to 2005, I spent periods ranging from a week to a month at a time on the ranch and surrounding areas, with breaks in between.

By the early 2000s, much of the intense activity reported in the 1990s had died down. There were no more missing animals, no strange creatures, and no dramatic events. NIDS continued monitoring the ranch, but aside from the occasional UFO sighting or distant light, not much happened. When I arrived in August 2003, it felt like any other ranch. We monitored equipment for magnetic anomalies, answered phones, fed cattle and dogs, and passed the time. On one visit, I thought I saw strange lights in the sky, only to discover it was an airplane.

After several trips with little activity, I started questioning whether I wanted to continue. The travel was tiring, and I hadn’t signed up to be what felt like a glorified ranch hand.

For clarity, I wasn’t a member of NIDS. I worked alongside them. As activity declined, NIDS reduced its on-site presence and brought in outside teams. Much of what occurred in the mid-2000s wasn’t widely reported because, frankly, not much happened.

That changed on May 23, 2004—my first significant experience.

It was just after dinner, and we were sitting in the NIDS trailer when the dogs outside began barking wildly. I’d never heard them react like that before. I looked out the window and saw light shining near the dog pen.

Two of us went outside and saw a glowing ball of light zip past the pen and across the field toward a line of trees. After traveling a few hundred yards, it curved sharply, changed direction, and then simply vanished—gone in an instant. The entire event lasted about 45 seconds, but it was the first thing I had witnessed that felt truly unexplainable.

A few days later, we received a call from a nearby resident reporting a UFO heading toward the ranch. Shortly afterward, we observed a silent black triangular object with a single white light in its center flying over the property. It didn’t pass directly overhead but crossed the ranch before disappearing into the distance. It wasn’t as dramatic as the orb, but it reinforced that something unusual was happening.

I wouldn’t see anything else until early 2005.

On February 12, 2005, I experienced one of the most eventful days of my time there. That afternoon, while walking back along the creek, I noticed a perfect circle cut out of the ice. Not cracked—removed. There were no footprints nearby and no visible disturbance. I reported it, and one of the NIDS members documented it.

Later that day, after the team returned from inspecting the circle, we saw a solid black orb high in the gray February sky. It performed what looked like aerial somersaults before stopping and fading away after several minutes.

That evening, when it was time to feed the dogs, the keys to the pen were missing. I was certain I had left them on the desk. We searched everywhere—inside the desk, under furniture, in my pockets. Nothing. I retraced my steps and found nothing. When I returned to the trailer, the keys were sitting exactly where I had originally placed them, in plain view. Everyone was baffled.

As for evidence, NIDS had installed cameras on poles overlooking the field. At one point, wires were torn out of the cameras, yet the camera facing them recorded nothing unusual. The feed cut out, and there was no visible cause on tape.

Photographs of lights or UFOs typically showed only blurs. Reports of portals or creatures were accompanied by inconclusive images—dim lights, nothing definitive. Even when a black triangle was photographed, nothing substantial appeared in the image.

Since I wasn’t a NIDS member, I don’t know what ultimately happened to the documentation. Most of what I saw personally were blurry images viewed on a camera screen. I wasn’t privy to how notes or materials were handled.

By mid-September 2005, I had my final experience.

One night, while sitting in the trailer with another NIDS investigator, the atmosphere suddenly felt charged—like static in the air. The dogs began yelping and whining as if frightened. I heard a faint buzzing. We went outside. He stared up at the sky, saying he could hear something. At first, I saw nothing. Then I noticed a patch of sky that appeared darker than the rest, as if something was there.

After a minute or two, there was a bright flash. The charged feeling disappeared. Whatever had been in the sky was gone.

My colleague then told me he had heard voices—that “they” had spoken to him. He said they knew what we were doing there, that roles were reversed, and that we couldn’t stop them from doing what they intended. He described it calmly but with a look that unsettled me deeply.

I can’t explain what happened. I only know what I experienced and observed. That event was enough for me. When that trip ended, I decided not to return.

Some of the physicists involved speculated that the phenomena might not be extraterrestrial but interdimensional—two universes overlapping, occasionally breaching. One described it by placing two sheets of paper together and punching a hole through one, representing a temporary crossing point.

I don’t claim to know the answer. I’ve heard speculation ranging from advanced aircraft to interdimensional theories. There were also reports of Bigfoot sightings and poltergeist-like activity in the area.

All I can say is that during my time there, I experienced events I still can’t fully explain. Whether those explanations are extraordinary or simply beyond my understanding, I honestly don’t know.

But I do know this: whatever is happening there, it left an impression on me that I won’t forget.