Brendan Jesus
Welcome back, fellow treasure hunters! I don’t have any interesting Ufological news for you today. The only mildly interesting thing that happened is Ross Coulthart revamping the theory that the Tic Tac video is Lockheed Martin technology. This theory has bounced around here and there before, but it seems there’s little to nothing that proves this theory correct. As usual, that statement has thrown UFOTwitter into a tizzy.
That’s all!
Now, it’s time for us to head back to one of our two favorite ranches in Utah. Will we get back to the digging? Will there be more government involvement? Or, will we learn something that could reshape the history of the ranch as we know it? Let’s see if we get any closer to getting ot he bottom of the Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch.
That’s A Big Rock!
After a quick hiatus episode that took everyone’s focus away from their exploration, we’re now back at it. Chad Ollinger and Josh Feldman head back to the large rock cairn they found at the end of Season 5 Episode 2 “The Gold Ledger”. Josh seems to think that part of the rock is missing. Maybe it has fallen off, or maybe it was chiseled off. What’s clear is that the rubble from where the rock fell apart is nowhere to be seen.
Chad finds another arrowhead on the ground. This arrowhead is unlike the others they found; this one is made of obsidian. Josh says the strangest thing here is that obsidian isn’t found naturally in Utah. The two also find an unfinished/broken arrowhead on the ground. It’s weird to find arrowheads at this location, as it’s not a good hunting spot. Does that mean these arrowheads imply someone was guarding something?
Chad seems to think this rock could have been used as a defensive position. And that makes sense. The rock is uphill, so whoever is using it would have the high ground against potential invaders. They think the best course of action for now is to have someone come to the ranch in the hopes of getting the arrowheads dated.
What’s That Yellow Powder?
We head to the Hideout, where Duane Ollinger, Eric Drummond, Charlie Boy, Chad, Josh, and James Keenan are. Eric has continued reviewing the samples taken from the Energy Zone. They are very clearly radioactive. He says that digging through Uranium is tricky, and the only proper way to do so is to use vent shafts to make sure no one has direct interactions with it.
James wonders if the Uranium is what drove the Aztecs to settle in this spot. He also asks if the Keyhole Cavern was created specifically because of the meteorite. We learn that it was common for ancient civilizations to build their communities around meteor impact sites.
Meteorites used to be used to create prized possessions. Apparently, King Tut’s knife was made out of a meteorite.
Josh asks why there is Uranium at the exact spot of the meteorite impact. Eric responds by saying it’s technically not Uranium in the way most people are familiar with it. It’s a yellowish powder called Carnotite, which is a uranium-bearing ore. When the meteor landed, it created fractures in the earth, which, when filled with water, left Uranium (Carnotite) deposits behind.
Eric thinks the next logical step is to look at previous samples he’s taken from around the ranch to see if Carnotite is found anywhere else. Duane says the Uranium is a blessing because it provides more information.
Chad fills the team in on the rock cairn and arrowheads, which we’ll now refer to as The Armory. Josh wants an expert to come and look at the arrowheads. James says he can call his friend Chris Bartel.
USAF SSgt Chris Bartel (Ancient Civilizations Expert) comes to the ranch later on. He joins the crew at the Hideout. Chris used to oversee security at Skinwalker Ranch. His first confirmation is that the one arrowhead is definitely made out of obsidian. Moreover, it’s museum-level quality. He confirms that the Aztecs used/traded obsidian.
The narrator tells us that the richest deposits of obsidian were in Mexico, which is where the Aztecs built their empire.
Chris continues. Obsidian was frequently used for ceremonial purposes, and this arrowhead probably comes from the Archaic Period (this period spanned from 8000 to 1000 BC in North America. The Archaic Period was characterized by the shift toward a wider range of food sources and advanced tools).
They show Chris the smaller arrowhead. Chris is certain it’s a northern side-notch bird point, which was used to hunt small game. Interestingly, when placed side-by-side, the obsidian arrowhead and the northern side are completely identical in design.
Digging Time
Josh and James head out to The Armory. They begin setting up a perimeter and search grid. Josh starts to use his metal detector while James sets up a provinian screen for a more refined search. Quickly, Josh gets a hit on his metal detector. He unearths something that’s definitely metal. James seems to believe this is a fired musket ball. Could this be from early colonizers?
Chad and Charlie Boy join Josh and James at The Armory. Josh shows them the newly found musket ball. Josh gets another hit on his metal detector; this time, he finds a fully intact musket ball. Could this have been the sight of a mighty battle? Natives versus colonizers (or Mormons)?
*Geiger Counter Noises*
Eric is at the Miner’s Shack looking at some previous core samples. He’s set up outside with a fabricated rock crusher. A piece of the core sample from the South Gate is placed in, and Eric crushes it. Once dust, he puts it under a microscope and finds the typical hematite and malachite, but no Uranium. The second sample yields some gold flakes, but nothing more.
That’s when Eric decides to test a sample from the Open Pit Mine (seen in Season 4 Episode 5 “Sacrificial Altar”). He crushes the sample and sees the dreaded yellow powder. A quick use of the Geiger Counter reveals it’s radioactive. Does this mean there’s another potential meteor impact site near the Open Pit Mine?
Later in the day, Eric and Chad head back toward the Open Pit Mine. They’re looking for either a cave entrance or anything that could lead us to believe there was a meteor impact. A quick look in the outcropping near the creek bottom reveals little.
Eric eventually gets a hit on his metal detector for iron. He takes a few scoops of dirt and eventually pulls up an object. It’s definitely made of iron, and it definitely looks like a meteor fragment. They keep walking a bit more when Eric finds the holy grail…a piece of shatter cone.
The Doctor Is In
Dr. Roger Blomquist (Historian) comes to The Hideout and meets with Chad, Charlie Boy, James, and Josh. (We first met Dr. Blomquist in Season 4 Episode 4 “The Skull”.) He’s here to do a secondary look over the arrowheads and a first look at these newly discovered musket balls. Dr. Blomquist notices a sprue mark on the intact ball, which implies it was crafted alongside multiple other musket balls.
Dr. Blomquist seems to think the balls could have been dropped due to something quick and violent happening. He says that the lack of rifling on the perfectly round musket ball implies it was used for muskets and not the younger, spiral-barreled rifles. This means it was used by the early Spanish or Mormons.
The musket balls are made of pure lead, and while not hard to come across, you didn’t leave musket ammo behind. Dr. Blomquist thinks there could have been a hasty retreat by whoever dropped them. But, to Dr. Blomquist’s best idea, this is a Spanish musket ball. James asks if this could be the Spanish vs Native Americans. Chad follows up that question by asking if someone was trying to guard the entrance into the Keyhole Cavern.
What is clear…is that there’s something worth defending and dying for here.
Final Thoughts
I love this new revelation of a potential battle taking place on the ranch. While I think it already has a certain historical value to the property, if a bloody battle took place there, well, that changes the game completely. Would that imply that someone was defending something? Or could it have been a regular battle over territory? Only time will tell. Hopefully.
Also, I was so happy to see Eric and Chad head back over to the Open Pit Mines! They basically abandoned it after two episodes. It’s such a unique and fun location, and I hope we get much more of it in future episodes. The idea that there could be another meteor impact on the ranch is also incredibly intriguing. But, if they can’t even get to the first one they found, do we really think they’ll be able to make it into a second one?
Who knows. All I know is that the Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch keeps getting weirder!
