Brendan Jesus
It feels like just yesterday we were starting Season 5 of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch and going on this journey of the weird, bizarre, and unexplained together. Throughout this journey, I have made great friends like Jeremy McGowan and Grant Lavac, among others. Typically, we go through last week’s goings on in Ufology but I want to get right into the jam-packed Season 6 premiere of Skinwalker Ranch.
That being said, it wouldn’t be one of my articles if I didn’t join in the communal lol’ing at Lue Elizondo. The now-shamed $200+ per ticket headliner Elizondo has finally been outed for his exaggerated attempts to feign legitimacy. Elizondo, supposedly, shared “CONCRETE PROOF” of a UAP to politicians (I can’t remember if it was a Congressperson or a Senator). But it turns out the photo he shared was nothing more than a bad resolution, black and white photo of irrigation circles. Literally hours after he shared this image publicly, it was debunked. Could that be the reason Elizondo supposedly pulled out of a SCIF that was supposed to have David Grusch in attendance? Who knows.
What I do know is, we’re about to take a trip out to Utah and the ranch we all know in love. Will any rockets be fired in the Season 6 premiere? How many drones will they fly? Did Brandon Fugal get lip fillers? Where the hell is Dragon? And does Dr. Travis Taylor ask us if we had a ticket to the gun show? Fellow hunters, it’s time to see if we learn anything about The Secret…of Skinwalker Ranch.
It’s Drill O’Clock
We join Dr. Travis Taylor, Erik Bard, Thomas Winterton, and Kaleb Bench at the Mesa Drill Site. The men are on location with archaeologist Chris Roberts. Huddled over a small table, the crew examines a piece of something pulled from the Mesa. It looks like a few broken chunks of a ceramic material. Chris says the pieces we’re looking at were pulled out of the Mesa from about 470 feet in and 100 feet deep.
Thomas recounts how the drillers from Mark Construction mentioned how the drillhead hit something different from mud and rock. Travis makes note of an odd, crosshatched pattern in the ceramic-like material. That’s when Chris drops something heavy; this material was manufactured. “There’s a manufactured material INSIDE the Mesa,” Travis exclaims.
In a talking head, Travis discusses how they’ve been trying to figure out the mystery within the Mesa for the past five years. (Have they though? Sure, the Mesa has always been of interest, but, correct me if I’m wrong, hasn’t the Mesa been a focus point in Season 5?) In case you forgot, the team wants to find what’s in the Mesa after GPR revealed a 400-foot-long object buried deep within. They also extracted a metallic material from within the Mesa that shares properties with the materials used by NASA for spacecraft.
Before moving on, Erik decides to test the ceramic-like material for radiation. His control test of natural air reads 35 (units?) on the Geiger counter. Erik points the Geiger counter toward the material, and it immediately goes off the charts. This material shows a count of 105 (units?).
Prepare To Be Edged With Information That Won’t Make Sense Until The Finale (Probably)
Travis, Erik, and Mormon Millionaire Brandon Fugal meet with Dr. Brian Patchett, a physicist at Utah Valley University. Dr. Patchett will use a scanning electron microscope to examine the ceramic-like material. You can clearly see the crosshatch pattern, which prompts Travis to say, “Doesn’t look like Mother Nature.”
Dr. Patchett zooms in on the material and notices that it starts to deteriorate quickly. Hoping not to destroy the material, and to see what happens, they turn off the microscope. Then they turn it back on and zoom out. The material has completely regenerated.
Three Months Earlier
The always-armed Kaleb Bench stands on the helipad as Brandon Fugal is flown in on Cameron Fugal’s helicopter. They head inside the Skinwalker Ranch Command Center and are greeted by Travis, Erik, Thomas, Jim Royston (CEO of Omniteq), and Ranch Manager Jim Morse. There’s no Dragon in sight.
We learn that Jim Royston has been working hard in the off-season. Jim has been mastering his new ARC system. ARC is basically a military-grade, forward operating base. Its main function is to collect and assemble data. Jim and Sam Deriso have placed sensor boxes all over the ranch (Guard Shack, Eagles Nest, Homesteads One and Two, South Tower, and The Triangle). All of the data from these sensors is fed to the ARC so that Erik and Sam have one singular location for that specific data.
During this meeting, Thomas mentions that the team from Mark Construction has breached through the top of the Mesa and that the team will be back soon to start on the second borehole.
Travis then moves the conversation onto what this episode will solely focus on, which is the cone-shaped barrier over The Triangle. We get some flashback footage to 2021 and see Jeremy McGowan and O.S.I.R.I.S.! Then, Travis goes on a monologue about wormholes, terrestrial laser scans, and Technologist Pete Kelsey’s cone data. (I still can’t get over how funny the term Technologist is.)
Erik pulls up a new image based on Pete’s terrestrial laser scanner data. He compiled every single data point and overlaid it over The Triangle. What we once thought was a cone-shaped anomaly is actually a dome-shaped anomaly.
Later that day, Pete shows up with FARO’s Irene Radcliffe, an expert in 3D visual composition. Irene is here to help out with what Travis describes as their most “complicated” and “ambitious” experiments yet. So, what’s the plan?
Cameron Fugal will fly Pete in the helicopter through various altitudes (between 100 and 3,000 feet) around The Dome. They’ll fly east to west, and west to east, multiple times throughout these altitudes. Pete will be using a LIDAR scanner while Cameron will emit a 1.2 GHz radio signal. Erik says this signal will be useful as a baseline signal to separate the helicopter from other existing signals. (Does this mark the end of the mysterious 1.6 GHz signal?)
Irene will be operating two terrestrial LIDAR scanners on the ground inside and around The Triangle. Kaleb and Travis will be in the East Field, right outside The Dome. Thomas will be tracking the helicopter’s speed with radar, as Travis and Erik are curious if The Dome will have any effect on the helicopter’s speed. And, finally, Jim Royston will be operating a LIDAR drone throughout this entire experiment.
Erik, Brandon, and Sam Deriso will monitor ALL data in real-time from the ARC.
Lift Off!
Cameron takes flight, and the experiment begins. Immediately, Erik notices inconsistent GPS data from the helicopter as it flies over The Triangle. Jim Royston’s drone loses GPS connection, too. That’s when Erik notices a disturbing pattern in the GPD; every time Cameron flies over The Triangle, his GPS malfunctions.
Suddenly, Travis starts getting a second 1.2 GHz signal on the spectrum analyzer. This should not be happening. Could The Dome be mimicking Cameron’s signal? If so, could that be an explanation of the anomalous 1.6 GHz signal? It’s well known that many communication-based items, lav mics and walkie-talkies, utilize a signal around 1.6 GHz. This could mean that the signal is bouncing around within the dome OR that something that exists within the dome is creating a secondary signal as a form of communication.
Cameron takes the helicopter to 400 feet, and Erik still notices wonky GPS data as it goes over The Triangle. Things ramp up to a 10 when Pete snaps back and tells Cameron he just saw something small and white zip by. We know from previous episodes that Cameron’s helicopter experiments have resulted in team members seeing similar UAPs.
Jim Royston notices something odd. Whenever Cameron and the helicopter are inside The Dome, his drone has GPS issues. When the helicopter is outside of The Dome, he has no issues. Travis also notices that whenever the helicopter is outside of The Dome, he does not see the second 1.2 GHz signal. Interesting.
The Data
Two days later, Brandon and Cameron join (via video) Travis, Erik, Thomas, Kaleb, Jim Royston, Pete, and Sam (who are in the Skinwalker Ranch Command Center). Erik tells everyone he was able to find video evidence of Pete’s UAP experience. The video shows a bright white orb that’s floating, what looks like, 20-ish feet off the ground. This UAP has no visual markers that imply it’s a bird.
Pete then pulls up the LIDAR data he has from being in the helicopter with Cameron. The Dome is thought to be a half hemisphere above the ranch, but this new data shows something different. Pete’s new data shows a crater-like object below the ranch. So, does this mean it’s not a dome but…a SPHERE?!
Final Thoughts
What an incredible first episode back! As a believer with a skeptic mindset, I was so burnt out by how Season 5 was handled. Part of me lost so much interest in this show, I wondered if I would continue watching. But something in me wanted to give it one more shot. I’m glad I listened to myself because this episode was a blast.
The continual GPS disruption directly over The Triangle is fascinating, but what gets me more intrigued is how The Dome The Sphere could either be bouncing signals back, mimicking the signals, and/or communicating back to the team. Needless to say, I’m sold. Brandon…you got me back and at full attention!
