Not sure what we did to please the Gods, but on top of the new season of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, we have a new season of Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch!! This came as a complete surprise to me. I was at the bar last Friday, destroying my girlfriend in a game of pool (kidding, I lost horribly), and I noticed Duane Ollinger on the television. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a lower third bumper that read, “New Episode 6/25!”

So, here we are! I emailed my wonderful contact at Discovery and begged for some screeners. We have a jam-packed article for you today, which means we will forgo any elaborate opener and get right into it. It’s time to join our favorite spelunkers and dig deeper into the Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch. 

Picking Back Up

Season 4 ended with Chad Ollinger and Wendell Nope looking for the acoustic beacon in a cave under Calamity Lake. Season 5, Episode 1, “The Flooded Tunnels,” picks right back up with the two men deep underground. Josh Feldman and Ryan Skinner patiently wait in a boat on the surface.

Chad emerged from the water into a cave that’s nearly 20 feet wide with a vaulted ceiling over 15 feet tall. They scan their surroundings and take in the natural beauty before Wendell tells Chad they must turn back. On their way back, Chad feels a slight undercurrent below him. He looks down and surveys the ground, where he notices what looks like a cave opening. 

Something strikes Chad’s attention near this potential cave opening–an arrowhead. On top of the arrowhead, Chad sees multiple fragments of something (we’ll learn more about that later). Once surfaced, Chad shows Josh what he found. Josh confirms Chad found an arrowhead (and again, more on that later). 

The Whole Gang Is Back!

The next day at the Hideout, we join Duane Ollinger, Chad, Charlie Boy, Eric Drummond, Josh, and James Keenan. Chad shows them the video from within the Calamity Lake cave. Duane is very pleased with what Chad found. James sees the fragments Chad caught on camera and immediately knows what they are: pottery shards. He also takes a gander at Chad’s arrowhead and says that because they have the neck (base) of the arrowhead, they should be able to date it approximately. 

Based on the corner notches and its size, the arrowhead is somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years old. Another interesting observation is why it’s broken. From what James can tell, it looks as if it was cut incorrectly and discarded because of it. This heavily implies, based on how deep it was in the cave, that it was made within the confines of the now-flooded cavern. 

Finds like this are exactly what Duane is looking for. 

James is fairly confident that they’ve stumbled upon one of the entrances to Chicomoztoc (you can read more about that in Season 4 Episode 1 “Death Rumble”). At this point, Chad reveals that the possible secondary entrance is filled with too much rubble to get in, so they’ll have to find a new entrance. Hmm, where have we heard that before?  

Eric Drummond is back from bebopping around Peebles, Ohio, where he was looking into how the meteor at the Serpent Mound Disturbance was measured (you can read more about that in Season 4 Episode 6 “Disaster at the Bead Site”). If you remember, it’s widely believed at this point that a meteor exists at the Energy Zone. 

Eric discusses what he learned, and it’s a lot, so strap in. The Adena people built a sacred site and burial mound at the Serpent Mound Disturbance because of what it was. Did the ancient people of Blind Frog Ranch do the same? Was the Keyhole Cavern created because of the meteorite? At the Serpent Mound Disturbance, scientists used a special drilling rig with a core bit on it to pull up continuous core. This is how they mapped out the size and position of it while it was still underground. Eric would like to do the same here on Blind Frog Ranch. Once they find the edge of the meteor, they could possibly find a way into the Keyhole Cavern. 

Duane tells Chad to find a new cave entrance and Eric to get to digging. 

In The Zone

Eric and Duane pull up to the Energy Zone and meet back up with drill operator Denzel Roberts, who’s back to do some digging. They discuss what will be done. The borehole from Season 4 will be used as a starting point, with pilot holes drilled out in 20-foot increments. Each hole will have its core tested for iron. Less (or no) iron means they’ve reached the fragmented edge of the meteor. 

On The Hunt

Chad and Josh go to track the path between the Calamity Lake cavern and the Keyhole Cavern. They start from where the acoustic beacon ended and follow the beacon’s path straight east toward Blind Frog Ranch/Keyhole Cavern. This time, they’re going to walk it. 

They start their trek and quickly come upon a large limestone rock formation. Josh says caves are typically formed in limestone, and this could be a good find. He also tells Chad to keep an eye out for a ventilation shaft of sorts. While atop this limestone formation, Chad notices an odd carved rock that is being propped up by smaller rocks–it looks like it’s pointing somewhere. 

Josh hands Chad a monocular, and Chad makes an astounding discovery. Due east, a gigantic turtle-looking rock stands out. 

(There’s another scene at the Energy Zone between finding the turtle rock and them making it to the turtle rock. But, for clarity, I will finish them getting to the turtle rock before we go back to the Energy Zone.)

Josh states that turtles were important symbols to the Aztec people; it’s a symbol of resilience and survival. Once at the turtle rock, we can see how realistic it looks. There have been times throughout this show where they say something looks like something, and I’ve casually accepted it. This rock looks like a legitimate turtle. 

A brief narration informs us that records show turtles have been used as markers before. The head of the turtle was used to point toward treasure. Once the treasure was gone, the turtle’s head was removed. At this point, the sun is going down, and the two men decide to come back first thing in the morning. 

Back In The Zone

The drilling picks back up over at the Energy Zone. Eric runs a metal detector over the first core sample. It beeps wildly, and an iron nugget is pulled out of the sample. A second hole is drilled, which contains significantly less iron. And then…the third hole is drilled.

Core sample number 3 contains no iron, but Eric immediately notices something that doesn’t look right within the sample. He tells everyone to back up and grabs his Geiger Counter. As soon as he turns it on, it beeps like crazy. Eric tells everyone to evacuate… It’s highly radioactive Uranium. 

Will the Energy Zone be completely abandoned at this point?

You Thought It Was Over

Finding the Uranium in the ground would typically be a natural ending spot for a Blind Frog episode. It’s the culmination of a day’s work that ends with a great stinger. Hell, I thought it was over. That’s when the titlecard pops up: “After striking Uranium, the team receives a frightening alert”.

Charlie Boy and Duane are racing to the ranch at 1 AM. Charlie Boy is on the phone with the police and says there is an intruder on the property. We learn that the front gate’s lock was cut. Charlie Boy calls Chad, who says he’ll be there, but he’s 30 minutes away. The camera that Charlie Boy placed at the Miner’s Shack gives an alert.

The live feed is pulled up, and we see a large black vehicle parked outside of the Miner’s Shack. A large, dumpy man gets out of the car, wearing a facemask and a bulletproof vest. The man grabs a shovel out of the backseat and walks to the passenger’s side of the vehicle. He does some digging near the car and pulls out…a 4-foot-long metal cylinder from the ground. 

Episode 2: “The Gold Ledger”

The Man In The Mask

Charlie Boy and Duane finally make it to Blind Frog Ranch. They see that the front gate lock has been bolt-cut. As they make their way onto the property, Charlie Boy’s live-camera feed is cut. The two continue their drive and eventually see a set of headlights in the distance. The headlights are approached, and Charlie Boy loads his gun. 

Charlie Boy gets out of the car and slowly approaches the headlights. But uh oh, it’s a decoy. Two headlights are placed on top of two roadblocks. They’ve been duped. The men get back in the car and continue back toward the Miner’s Shack. Chad is now on scene and meets up with them on the road.

Duane tells Chad to check the South End while they head to the Shack. As they split off, Charlie Boy gets a notification from the back gate. The man has escaped. 

A deputy eventually arrives and meets Duane and Charlie Boy at the Miner’s Shack. The cop has an awful attitude off the bat and immediately fails a First Amendment audit. He tells them not to film him and is nothing but snarky the whole time. Eventually, the cop says a BOLO will be placed on the vehicle. 

Great. Thanks officer. 

The next day, we join Duane, Charlie Boy, Eric, Chad, Josh, and James at the Hideout. Duane fills them in on the trespasser and shows them the video of the mysterious object being pulled from the ground. Eric wants to take soil samples from the hole, which could potentially reveal clues about what was buried in the ground. 

Chad fills the rest of them in on the turtle rock found by him and Josh. James thinks it’s most likely an Aztec stone marker, which goes hand in hand with some of what Josh said about it. 

Turtle Time

Chad and Josh head back to the turtle rock, 1.3 miles west of Blind Frog Ranch. They continue heading east, which is the direction the turtle’s head points. As the men walk up a felled tree, Chad sees something below. Under the felled tree is an area that looks oddly backfilled. Could this be a collapsed cave entrance or vent shaft? 

Chad notices another odd-looking rock in this little crevice. On the side of the wall is a nearly-perfect bear rock. Josh makes a note that this is the third marker they’ve found on their path. 

The narrator provides us with some insight into what this bear rock might signify. Indigenous tribes have seen the bear as a symbol of courage and strength. To the Aztecs, bears were associated with a powerful God, Tetzcat Lipoca, whose presence was seen as a destructive force. When used as a marker, it was a sign of a death trap. 

Chad pulls out his endoscope camera to see if they can look into this backfilled opening. The opening goes pretty deep and eventually opens up slightly. Josh says there’s a lot of rubble in there and it needs to be dug out. Chad marks the location on his GPS so they can make their way back with better tools. 

Chad and Josh head back to the Hideout and show their findings to the rest of the team. Eric is excited about this find and wants to go out there with Chad and bring his magnetometer. 

Later, Chad and Eric make it to the bear rock. Chad starts by removing the stones from the backfilled opening while Eric takes soil samples. Once enough rocks are removed, Chad goes into the incredibly tight hole. Eric hands Chad his magnetometer and then uses a metal detector while Chad looks for potential void spots. 

While Chad is unlucky with procuring any void spots, he does find an interesting rock with odd markings. Chad hands the rock to Eric, who makes note of the same-sized rectangular markings on it. There are three rows of markings, with the first row having 17 marks, the second with 12, and the third with 6. 

I’ve already submitted this article for review, but I had a brain blast. Remember Season 2 Episode 8 “Darkness, Danger and Death”? Duane, Eric, and Chad are down the hole, while Jamie Dube keeps an eye on their oxygen uptop. Well, if you remember, while underground, they come across tally marks etched into the wall. Those tally marks are in three rows. The first row has 17 tallies, the second row has 12 tallies, and the third row has six tallies. Coincidence?

Eric and Chad make their way to Josh and James, who are at the Bead Site: Vent Holes (wow, haven’t seen this spot in a while!). They show Josh and James the artifact. James thinks it’s an indigenous tablet, while Josh thinks it is a tally board used to keep track of something. 

The size of the markings looks very similar to a gold bar found in Season 4, which leads some of them to believe that the markings on the artifact could have been traced with said ingots. Chad wonders if it could be a receipt of some sort. 

Later that day, Chad and Josh head back to the trail and continue heading east. They come upon their fourth trail marker when they see a gigantic cairn. While inspecting the cairn, Chad finds an arrowhead. And then a second. Then Josh finds a third. And a fourth! 

Final Thoughts

WOW. What a season opener! I had no clue that Uranium deposits existed in Utah, but apparently, Utah has the most Uranium deposits out of all 50 states. Who would have known? This is a fun development, even though it means they’ll probably stop drilling for the meteor altogether at this point, which is a shame because I’ve been enjoying that storyline. 

The whole masked intruder thing is still just weird to me. 

Do we think that finding the turtle and bear rock, which led to the artifact, was luck or good hunting? I think it is a mixture of both. Josh is a well-rounded treasure hunter, and it’s fun to see his skill set put to great use with this. If it hasn’t been clear, I’m slightly skeptical of James Keenan and don’t think his inclusion on the team has necessarily proved worthwhile. Josh, on the other hand, is not only excellent on camera, but he also provides results. 

Nevertheless, I’m having a blast with this season so far, and I can’t wait to see if they do end up going back to drilling around the meteor or if they’ll abandon it altogether. All I do know is we’re one step closer to getting to the Mystery…at Blind Frog Ranch. 

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Catch Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch Season 5 on Discovery or with a Max subscription.

What Did They Find During Cave Dive? | Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch | Discovery

The team inspects items found during an underwater cave dive. What could this evidence suggest about it’s previous inhabitants? Mystery at #BlindFrogRanch on Wednesdays at 10p on Discovery Subscribe to Discovery: http://bit.ly/SubscribeDiscovery Follow Us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@Discovery We’re on Instagram!