How Many Acres Is Skinwalker Ranch and Who Owns It?

Skinwalker Ranch is a 512-acre property located southeast of Ballard, Utah. It has been a hotspot of unexplained, strange phenomena for decades.

In the 1970s, UFO reports in the Uintah Basin was publicized. In 1996, claims about the ranch appeared in the Salt Lake City, Deseret News, and Las Vegas Mercury as a series of articles by investigator George Knapp.

Stories about Skinwalker and strange things going on at the property started to emerge. The stories range from UFOs to cattle mutilations.

These early stories detailed the experience of a family, Terry and Gwen Sherman, who witnessed frightening and inexplicable events soon after they purchased and occupied the ranch.

Shortly after settling into their dream country homestead, the pair were alarmed by the sight of a fearsome animal, maybe a coyote or wolf, stalking their farm animals.

The animal soon grabbed a calf in its jaws and Terry fired at it with a handgun and then a rifle. To his surprise, the creature didn't seem hurt and simply escaped away into the bushes.

In the months that followed, visitors to the property reported seeing unidentified creatures wandering in the woods and letting out roars. Soon, animals on the property began to expire in grotesque ways.

Some of the family's dogs were seemingly incinerated in the dark, while cows were discovered dismembered and cored out with the type of surgical procedure that ruled out attacks by coyotes.

Then there were strange lights, hovering and zipping about in the sky, including blue spheres-like objects and large orange circles that flew around the property, as if directed by unseen forces.

A newspaper article about the Sherman family's horrifying experienced garnered the attention of billionaire property magnate Robert Bigelow. He had a passion for the paranormal and space travel.

He was the founder of the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDSci). Bigelow bought the ranch to investigate UFO sightings through NIDSci. However, after a decade of investigation, the team gave up the ghost.

Brandon Fugal is the current owner of Skinwalker Ranch. He is one of the Utah real estate tycoons.

The property was owned by Kenneth and Edith Myers from 1934 to 1994. They later sold the ranch to the Shermans, who intended to settle down and relax in their new country home.

The family experienced a lot of eerie goings-on during their time at the property, including various kinds of flashing lights, creatures matching the description of the skinwalker, and countless cattle mutilations.

Unlike those families in horror movies, they decided to sell the property before it was too late. The Shermans sold the ranch to Bigelow in 1996, just two years after they owned it.

The billionaire was fascinated by the history of the ranch so he bought it to study UFO sightings through NIDSci.

Bigelow and NIDSci experienced much the same as the Shermans yet their equipment would strangely malfunction at critical moments. There were cases of electronic tools physically mangled and shredded.

NIDSci disbanded in 2004 but owned the property until it was sold to Adamantium Real Estate LLC in 2016. In 2020, Utah businessman and real estate mogul, Fugal, announced ownership of the ranch.

He further shared that the History Channel would be filming a reality television show on the ranch titled "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch."

When asked if he purchased the property to make money off the mysterious claims, Fugal denied it and said, "I have yet to put a penny in my pocket personally regarding this endeavor."

He said he never intended to reveal his identity as the owner and kept his identity secret until being persuaded to go public in connection with the History's docuseries and their ongoing research.

The show portrays his attempts to bring scientific techniques to the mysteries and claims surrounding the ranch. He seeks answers to the questions that he and many others have asked over the decades.

Nevertheless, the current research has found more questions than answers. Why have so many occupants claimed unexplained illnesses? Why does equipment seem to malfunction? The search for answers continues.

The Skinwalker Ranch is located in northern Utah in a region known as the Uintah Basin. This infamous ranch sprawls across over 500 acres.

It is also recognized as one of the most scientifically studied paranormal hotspots on the planet. The massive ranch has been monitored for years with armed security and surveillance 24/7/365.

This location was involved with a Pentagon-funded budget project investigating UFOs, strange phenomena, and cattle mutilations. It is also famous as a living laboratory for inspecting other intelligence.

Popularly dubbed as the UFO ranch, the property carries over 50-year history of odd events, including large creatures with piercing red eyes that the occupants say were unharmed when struck by bullets.

The inhabitants of the ranch have perhaps reported slightly different stories, but they have many things in common. Since the 1950s, there have been countless reports of weird phenomena and UFOs in the Uintah Basin.

Some neighbors have claimed of seeing cows that seemed to have been struck by lightning with no trace of scorched earth to be found.

One group shared a story of trying to observe UFOs one night, only to find that their car had been moved in the desert sand without a sign of tire tracks.

Another story profiles a group of History Channel production assistants who have to get coffee for Dragon every day.

But, despite the extensive studies with the involvement of well-known scientists and experts, they've got nothing on the ranch, a location so unnatural that terrified even the most cynical onlookers.

The expert teams are unable to collect proof of anything unusual happening. Skeptical author Robert Sheaffer even said the property is almost illusory.

The Skinwalker Ranch has mostly remained closed to the public but the team is finally opening up a tour in May, 2023.