“The simplest way to imagine this new weapon system is to imagine the space shuttle, put a nuclear weapon in the cargo bay and then don’t bother with the landing gear. (It’s launched) and it glides back to Earth just like the space shuttle, except for when it gets where it’s going, it goes boom.”

Just a few days ago, the Financial Times revealed that China launched a hypersonic missile test in late August that allegedly circled the globe in low-Earth orbit before coming close to its intended target. China immediately denied it, saying it “was not a missile, it was a space vehicle.” Before the cable news shows could get riled up about what Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, described as an armed space shuttle, the Financial Times dropped another bombshell about this hypersonic bomb carrier – there was a second prior test in July.

The spaceplane is a glider so no exhaust.

“On July 27 the Chinese military launched a rocket that used a “fractional orbital bombardment” system to propel a nuclear-capable “hypersonic glide vehicle” around the earth for the first time, according to four people familiar with US intelligence assessments.”

Should we be concerned that China has twice tested a “fractional orbital bombardment” “hypersonic glide vehicle”? An unnamed person told The Financial Times that the first test stunned the Pentagon and US intelligence, while another said the two demonstrated a new weapons capability which the US does not currently possess – one that appears “to defy the laws of physics.”

While the rest of the media is addressing this news as an indication of an “arms race,” let’s look at the potential of this “hypersonic glide vehicle” to be seen by unsuspecting witnesses worldwide as a UFO. Since it’s a glider, there’s no exhaust to be seen. It appears this is a one-orbit vehicle so one would have to be looking at the right spot to see it. There’s nothing so far on its gliding altitude, but it’s obviously high enough to not create a sonic boom as it passes over at five times the speed of sound – unless it is descending towards its target. Despite being a glider, it appears it can be controlled and it can change direction at that high speed. While that’s not as impressive as the maneuvers made by the ‘Tic Tac’ UAPs seen by U.S. military pilots, it could be what one source said was a sign of defying laws of physics. Finally, don’t forget that the U.S. Air Force has its own secret spacecraft – the X-37B space plane that has been in orbit for over 500 days multiple times. Even with the secrecy surrounding it, it has been spotted by amateur astronomers.

It looks like the chances of mistaking China’s “fractional orbital bombardment” “hypersonic glide vehicle” or whatever it is for a UFO are slim. As for it really is? Good luck getting a straight answer on that.

One of the most important revelations in the Rendlesham Forest “UFO landing” of December 1980 concerns the locations of where the monumental events happened. I’m actually not talking about Rendlesham Forest. Rather, I’m talking about the surrounding locales and their mysterious histories. And why do I consider it my duty to bring your attention to those same surroundings? I’ll tell you: it’s vital to note that for decades the entire area around those famous woods acted as a powerful magnet for classified government programs, sensitive military operations, and top secret projects. They were all of a highly important – but down to earth and domestic – nature. On January 28, 1935, the Tizard Committee, established under the directorship of Sir Henry Tizard, convened its first meeting. It ultimately led to the top secret development of a workable radar system of the type that was employed in the Second World War. In an article titled “The Tizard Mission and the Development of the Atomic Bomb,” David Zimmerman says:

“In August 1940 Sir Henry Tizard led a group of British scientists and technical experts to North America. Over the next four months, the members of the Tizard or British Technical Mission undertook one of the greatest transfers of technical and scientific information in history. In over 150 meetings with American military, technical, and scientific experts the mission provided almost all of Great Britain’s military technical secrets to the United States. The United States reciprocated in kind.” Much of that highly classified research was conducted at Bawdsey Manor on the Deben Estuary. It’s just north of the town of Felixstowe, and a mere stone’s throw from what were, for so many years, the military bases of Royal Air Force Bentwaters and Royal Air Force Woodbridge.

The alternative cover to my book on the Rendlesham Forest affair of 1980

To understand the wider scope of this part of the story, we must address one of the strangest – and one of the most enduring – stories from the Second World War. Arguably, it has become a legend; a most grim and grisly one, too. It concerns a small village in Suffolk called Shingle Street. It is located in between the aforementioned Bawdsey and Orford. As the Guardian newspaper says: “Shingle Street itself has been the subject of fevered speculation ever since it was evacuated in 1940. Conspiracies include rumors of a German landing and a shoreline littered with burning bodies, schemes to protect the coastline with an impenetrable barrage of flames and the testing of experimental chemical bombs. Four dead German airmen were certainly washed up on the beach, and weapons testing did result in the Lifeboat Inn being blown up. As for the rest, the conspiracy theories rumble on.”

The BBC, too, has addressed the matter of what did, or what didn’t, happen at Shingle Street all those decades ago: “A World War II mystery over a ‘failed Nazi invasion’ at a remote beach in Suffolk may have been manufactured by Britain’s head of propaganda, a BBC documentary suggests. The BBC East Inside Out team investigated the events of 1940 at Shingle Street. The program suggested that Sefton Delmer, a former Daily Express journalist who – during the Second World War – organized Britain’s ‘black’ propaganda unit, could have spread rumors of a failed Nazi invasion to boost morale. The rumors may have even been used to cover up the loss of lives on a British naval destroyer. Since 1940 there have been continuing rumors of a sea on fire and a failed invasion attempt at Shingle Street, near Woodbridge, Suffolk [italics mine]. Mike Paintin said that his father, a soldier during World War II, told how he was called out to pick up dead bodies from Shingle Street. ‘My father and the rest of his colleagues were called out to pull bodies from the sea,’ he said. ‘‘The common link was that they were all in German uniforms and were all badly burned.'”

(Nick Redfern)

Then, just a few years later – specifically in 1943 – much of Rendlesham Forest was cleared to allow for the construction of the highly strategic RAF Woodbridge. The forest suffered even more devastation on October 15-16, 1987. That was when a huge amount of damage was caused to the woods: they, and significant other parts of the U.K., were hit by the almost unfathomable power of a massive, destructive cyclone. I was working and living in Harlow, Essex, England at the time, as a van-driver, and got to see the terrible destruction up close. It took years for the forest to recover. We’ll now take a look at a place called Orford Ness and what went happened there in the 1950s. The U.K.’s National Trust state: “The 1950s saw the construction of specialized facilities to exploit new post-war technologies such as nuclear power. AWRE [Atomic Weapons Research Establishment] Orford Ness was one of only a few sites in the U.K., and indeed the world, where purpose-built facilities were created for testing the components of nuclear weapons. At the height of the Cold War AWRE and the Royal Aircraft Establishment used Orford Ness for developmental work on the atomic bomb.”

Moving onto the 1960s, there is the following from the Trust: “In 1968 work started on the top secret Anglo-American System 441A ‘over-the-horizon’ (OTH) backscatter radar project, finally code-named ‘Cobra Mist.’ The Anglo-American project, whose main contractor was the Radio Corporation of America, was set up to carry out several ‘missions.’ including detection and tracking of aircraft, detection of missile and satellite vehicle launchings, fulfilling intelligence requirements and providing a research and development test-bed…” All of this makes me think: if so many secret experiments were undertaken near Rendlesham Forest, then why shouldn’t the famous “UFO landing” of 1980 have been a classified project, too?

Stories of pig-human chimeras – where cells of humans and pigs grow together into one body or organ – and pig-human hybrids made from parts of both species have been becoming more frequent in the U.S. … which leads many to believe that countries without strict regulations are much further along. In April, scientists announced they had successfully grown human muscle tissue in pig embryos that were grown to term – but with cells removed via CRISPR gene editing so no brain cells were merged. This week, doctors in New York City performed another controversial experiment – they attached a kidney grown in a genetically-altered pig to a human and the organ did its job for nearly three days. Is this a sign the day of pig organ farms has arrived?

“It had absolutely normal function. It didn’t have this immediate rejection that we have worried about.”

Dr. Robert Montgomery, spokesperson and leader of the NYU Langone Health surgical team which performed the test, explained that the pig’s cells had been genetically edited to remove a sugar that causes rejection in humans. Outside of that, this was a normal pig’s kidney – not a chimera organ grown from implanting human stem cells in a pig embryo. A controversial experiment of pig-human chimera creation took place earlier this year and resulted in human muscle tissue developing in the pig.

This week’s experiment is controversial for two reasons – the kidney is from a genetically-altered pig bred solely for organ donation and the recipient was a brain-dead woman whose family agreed to allow her body to be used after it was deemed that her organs were not suitable for donations per her wish. The woman’s body was kept alive on a ventilator while the kidney was attached outside of her body. According to the team, it began functioning immediately, making urine and the waste product creatinine, and continued for 54 hours until the experiment was ended.

“This allowed us to answer a really important question: Is there something that’s going to happen when we move this from a primate to a human that is going to be disastrous?”

Make that three controversial reasons – Dr. Montgomery tells The New York Times that the goal is still to use primates as organ donors rather than pigs since their bodies are closer to humans. Besides the standard objections by animal rights proponents to using animals for human experiments, primates kick it to the next level by looking so much like us – we humans are conditioned to accept pigs as dispensable … but killing chimps is still too emotional for most people. That may change as the population continues to age and the demand for kidneys, hearts and other organs increases. NPR interviewed Karen Maschke, a research scholar at the Hastings Center, who will help develop ethics and policy recommendations for the first clinical trials of pig organ implants under a grant from the National Institutes of Health, asks the critical question:

“The other issue is going to be: Should we be doing this just because we can?”

Should we?

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Over the last couple of days I’ve written articles on two of the most controversial creatures of Cryptozoology: mysterious apes and equally mysterious flying winged-monsters. The ones I chose to pick were the lesser-known ones. There is, however, another category of beast that’s worth looking at. That’s the lake-monsters of our world. So, with that said, you can guess what today’s feature is about. That’s right: the lesser-known (far less, in fact!) creatures of our lakes. Forget Nessie. Forget Ogopogo. And, forget Champ, too. Here are the ones you probably haven’t heard of. But, that are definitely worth addressing – as you’ll see right now. Although far less well known than its counterpart in Loch Ness, Scotland, the mysterious beast of Lake Storjson, Sweden, has been seen on far more than a few occasions. The late cryptozoologist, Mark Chorvinsky, said to me in an email, more than a few years ago number of years ago: “Fisheries officer Ragnar Björks, 73, was out checking fishing permits on Sweden’s Lake Storsjön when he had the fright of his life. From the placid waters a huge tail suddenly broke the surface near Björk’s 12 foot row boat. The colossal creature attached to the tail appeared to be 18 feet long, grey-brown on top with a yellow underbelly. When Björks was alongside the monster, he struck at it with his oar, hitting it on the back. Angered, the creature slapped the water with its tail and the rowboat was thrown nine to twelve feet into the air. ‘At first I didn’t believe that there was any monster in the Storsjön…but now I am convinced.’

Chorvinsky said to me: “Does Nessie have a relative in Lake Storsjön in the mountains of Northern Sweden? A large unknown creature has been seen in the lake for over 350 years. Since 1987 the Society for Investigating the Great Lake has collected some 400 reports of “Storsjöodjuret,” as the Swedes call the monster. There is no clear picture of the beastie. Some witnesses describe a large neck undulating back and forth that looks like a horse’s mane; others observed a large wormlike creature with recognizable ears. Reports of the creature”s size range from 10 to 42 feet in length. Like the Loch Ness Monster, one of the numerous theories is that during the Ice Age 15,000 years ago, the monster may have become trapped in the Swedish Lake.”

Make mention of Scottish lake monsters to most people and it will inevitably conjure up imagery of the world’s most famous unknown water beast, the Loch Ness Monster. It’s a little known fact, however, that there are more than a few Scottish lakes with legends of diabolical creatures attached to them. While many of the stories are decidedly fragmentary in nature, one of them is not. Welcome to the world of Morag, the resident beasty of Loch Morar. It’s a creature that very much resembles the Nessies of Loch Ness. Indeed, and in all likely, they are the same type of creature. After all, what are the chances of there being more than one type of monster in Scotland’s lakes! At just over eleven and a half miles in length, it has the distinction of being the deepest body of freshwater in the British Isles, with a depth of just over 1,000 feet. Unlike Loch Ness, the water of which is almost black, Loch Morar can boast of having practically clear water. It takes its name from the village of Morar, which is situated close by and specifically at the western side of the loch, and which was the site of the Battle of Morar – a violent, death-filled confrontation between the Mackenzie and MacDonell clans.

(Nick Redfern)

As for the monster, Morag (or, more likely, the Morags), the tales are many. What makes them so different to the ones coming out of Loch Ness, however, is not the descriptions of the creatures, but that such reports are often hard to uncover. Unlike Loch Ness, Loch Morar is an isolated, seldom visited loch. It is bereft of much in the way of a large population, and not particularly easy to access. The result is that tourists to Scotland very rarely visit it. The same goes for native Scots, too! For that reason, just like Las Vegas, what happens at Loch Morar is very often destined to stay there. Nevertheless, there are enough classic cases on record to strongly suggest strange things lurk in Loch Morar. Now, onto England’s Bownessie.

A resident of Lake Windermere, England, Bownessie was hardly ever heard of before 2006. In terms of the publicity stakes, however, it has certainly done a great job in catching up. As for Lake Windermere itself, Britannica.com state the following: “The lake is 10.5 miles (17 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and has an area of 6 square miles (16 square km). It lies in two basins separated by a group of islands opposite the town of Bowness on the eastern shore and is drained by the River Leven. Part of Lake District National Park, Windermere is a popular tourist center with facilities for yachting and steamers operating in the summer.”  As the above data demonstrates, Lake Windermere is much smaller than Loch Ness; yet, that has not stopped a mysterious creature from appearing in its depths, which extend to 219-feet at their deepest. Now, with that all said, let us take a look at the saga of Bownessie and how and why it has become a monster of the modern era. One of the first people to have encountered Bownessie was a journalist named Steve Burnip, who saw the creature in 2006. He said of his close encounter of the monstrous type: “I saw a straight line of broken water with three humps. It was about twenty feet long and it went in a straight line up the lake. I nudged my wife and watched open-mouthed as it gradually faded from sight. The water was not choppy, so I know it wasn’t the wind, and I know what the wake from motor boats looks like and it wasn’t that either.”

(Nick Redfern)

Now, let’s take a look at Big Wally – the lake-monster with the least hair-raising name of all! On November 5, 1885, the Wallowa Chieftain newspaper ran an article on its resident monster, which has been given the distinctly non-monstrous name of “Big Wally.” It is said to dwell in Wallowa Lake, Oregon, an approximately fifty-one square-mile body of water with a depth of around 300 feet. The article states: “A prospector, who refuses to give his name to the public, was coming down from the south end of the lake on last Friday evening in a skiff shortly after dusk, when about midway of the lake he saw an animal about fifty yards to the right of the boat, rear its head and neck up out of the water ten or twelve feet, but on setting him it immediately dived. He ceased rowing and gazed around in astonishment, for the strange apparition which he had just seen, when it raised about the same distance to the left, this lime giving a low bellow something like that of a cow. It also brought its body to the surface, which the prospector avers was one hundred feet in length. The monster glided along in sight for several hundred yards. It was too dark to see the animal distinctly, but it seemed to have a large, flat head, something like that of a hippopotamus, and its neck, which was about ten feet in length, was as large around as a man’s body.”

The story continues: “Now this story may have been coined in the imagination of the narrator, but he was very earnest in his recital. However, it is a known fact that there is a tradition among the Indians that the lake has a big sea cow in it, which on one occasion, many years ago, came up one evening and swallowed a young warrior and his dusky bride as they were gliding over the surface of the lake in a canoe. And to this day an Indian of the tribes who formerly frequented its shores cannot be induced to go upon its waters. The lake has been sounded to the depth of 270 feet, and it is a bare probability that some monster does inhabit its unexplored depths.”

It’s unlikely that this was a hoax – on, or by, the newspaper – as other reports have since surfaced. In 1978, a couple by the name of Bryant saw Big Wally on not just one occasion but two! On the first occasion, they saw three hump-like protrusions break the surface of the lake, albeit briefly. Some months later, the Bryant’s watched an approximately twenty-foot-long, snake-like animal circle a certain portion of the lake for several minutes. Three years later, Bert Repplinger and Joe Babic were amazed by the brief sight of a three-foot-long head and neck that broke the surface of Lake Wallowa. While the number of sightings of Big Wally is scarcely anywhere near the likes of some of its far more famous cousins, the fact that occasional reports continue to surface is a fairly good indication that the lake is home to something unusual. Exactly what it may be, however, remains unknown.

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During nearly all of its 53-year life, Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), was the world’s largest single-aperture telescope and the go-to telescope for searching for signs of intelligent life. After two cable breaks in 2020, Arecibo collapsed before it could be given a proper sendoff, but it still remains a sentimental favorite among radio telescope fans. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China is working hard to change that. Just days after it was announced that FAST was responsible for picking up over 1,600 fast radio bursts from a single source in a 47-day period, a respected scientist says FAST is the key to finding self-replicating probes from other civilizations … and is probably pointed at them right now.

“In this paper we have extended our previous work (Osmanov 2019) and considered spectral characteristics of interstellar non-relativistic Type-II and Type-III Von-Neumann probes. It has been shown that by means of the proton capture, required for replication, strong bremsstrahlung emission will be generated. We have found that for both types of civilizations the probes might be visible mainly in the infrared spectral band, but as it has been found the probes might be visible in the ultraviolet as well. For both cases it was shown that differential power has dips for equally spaced frequencies, which might be a significant fingerprint to identify such exotic interstellar objects.”

Here they come!

In his preprint paper, Dr. Zaza Osmanov, Professor of Physics at the Free University of Tbilisi (Georgia), explains that he chose to search for von Neumann probes – self-replicating spacecraft first conceived by mathematician John von Neumann – because they appear to be the most efficient method of exploring the galaxy without the need for mortal living creatures onboard. Banking on the odds that there are civilizations that have been around far longer than Earthlings and are far more advanced, Osmanov speculates that their power usage would also be more advanced. The Kardashev scale is popular way to estimate a civilization’s overall energy usage on a planetary or star scale (Type II civilization can use and control the energy of its planetary system; Type III civilization can control energy of its entire galaxy), and Osmanov thinks it can be tuned for focus on the energy output of a swarm of self-replicating Von Neumann probes traveling around the galaxy.

Image of the fully constructed FAST telescope.

Credit: FAST

“Like all imperfect systems, those self-replicating machines would emit some form of radiation, which, after some simplifying assumptions, Dr. Osmanov calculates should be visible in the radio spectrum. Specifically, it would fall right in the middle of the spectrum that FAST is designed to pick up.”

Universe Today explains that according to Dr. Osmanov, the key is not picking up the energy output of the von Neumann swarm but calculating how far away from us it is – key information if it’s headed our way to conquer our almost-intelligent civilization so their advanced civilization can abandon their collapsing planet and take over … or some such scenario. Since Type III civilizations use more power, their von Neumann machines will be more powerful and thus able to be seen farther away. Osmanov says FAST could be tuned to spot von Neumann swarms within about 16,000 light-years for Type II civilizations, and within 400 million light-years for a Type III civilization – that would be from a nearby galaxy.

Too late — they’re here!

The most exciting part of Osmanov’s theory is that FAST is capable of seeing the radio emissions of von Neumann swarms right now – assuming they exist. All he has to do now is get his peers to review the paper and get time on FAST to look for them. And if he can do that, FAST may soon make us forget Arecibo.

Astronomers have witnessed a white dwarf abruptly “switching on and off” in a first-of-its-kind discovery. The research team, which was led by Durham University, UK, made the observation by using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

© Reuters white-dwarf-file.jpeg

When a star burns off all of its hydrogen, what remains is a white dwarf that is typically the size of a planet such as Earth. The space material surrounding a white dwarf is what affects its brightness as when it feeds, it becomes brighter. And the one that the astronomers observed was feeding off of a companion star that is orbiting it (this process is also called accreting).

What they noticed was that it lost its brightness in a span of just 30 minutes. This process has only ever been witnessed occurring for numerous days to even months which means that this newest discovery was by far the quickest “switching on and off” of a white dwarf that has ever been observed.

The white dwarf is like a light switch turning on and off.

This unique phenomenon was observed in the white dwarf binary system called TW Pictoris that is located approximately 1,400 light-years away from Earth.

Dr. Simone Scaringi from the Center for Extragalactic Astronomy at Durham University, UK, went into further details about this phenomenon, “The brightness variations seen in accreting white dwarfs are generally relatively slow, occurring on timescales of days to months.” “To see the brightness of TW Pictoris plummet in 30 minutes is in itself extraordinary as it has never been seen in other accreting white dwarfs and is totally unexpected from our understanding of how these systems are supposed to feed through the accretion disk. It appears to be switching on and off.”

She went on to explain, “This really is a previously unrecognized phenomenon and because we can draw comparisons with similar behavior in the much smaller neutron stars it could be an important step in helping us to better understand the process of how other accreting objects feed on the material that surrounds them and the important role of magnetic fields in this process.”

It is believed that the reasoning behind the white dwarf abruptly turning on and off has something to do with its surface magnetic field being reconfigured. When it is “switched on”, it appears bright and that’s when it feeds off of the accretion disk. But when it turns “off” and loses its brightness, its magnetic field is spinning so fast that a centrifugal barrier doesn’t allow the fuel of the accretion disk to come onto the white dwarf. Then the process suddenly turns back “on” and it is bright again.

An artist’s impression of a white dwarf

The study was published in Nature Astronomy where it can be read in full.

You may have seen the new book from James T. Lacatski D. Eng., Colm A Kelleher Ph.D., and, George Knapp. Its title: Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insiders’ Account of the Secret Government UFO Program. The description for this independently published book reads as follows: “Skinwalkers at the Pentagon unmasks the massive scope of the Pentagon’s landmark UFO study that ran from the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, or AAWSAP investigated the ‘Tic Tac’ and other ‘nuts and bolts’ UFO events, analyzed intrusions of UFOs onto US military bases, as well as probed the plethora of bizarre phenomena that government investigators encountered on Skinwalker Ranch. Written by two program insiders and a respected journalist, Skinwalkers at the Pentagon comes to a conclusion that has never before been revealed! Encountering UFOs often led to the ‘attachment’ of strange phenomena to military personnel who visited the Ranch and brought ‘something’ home to their families, resulting in frightening eruptions of paranormal events in their households that terrorized and sometimes injured their children. By the end of the two-year program, more than 100 separate technical reports, some of which ran to hundreds of pages, were delivered to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Among them was a 149-page report on the Soviet (and now Russian) UAP investigation/analysis capability. Another details the design and build of a functional prototype for an autonomous Unidentified Aerial Phenomena surveillance platform.”

There’s no doubt that’s a wild body of material. I’ll be reviewing Skinwalkers at the Pentagon very soon. So, I thought that while, right now, there’s a deep interest in this creepy phenomenon – not to forget the government connections to the phenomenon –  I would share with you the background on this undeniably dangerous beast. In the Middle Ages, the most feared of all the many and varied shapeshifters was the werewolf, and particularly so throughout much of Europe. Today, however, a very good, solid case can be made that the Skinwalker is one of the most dangerous transformer of all. It is a creature that dominates the culture and the folklore of certain Native Americans – and to the extent that some will not even utter its name, for fear of it creating a backlash against the person who dared to speak the deadly S–word. But what, exactly, are these things that instill such fear in countless numbers of people? Let us take a look. The answers are many, but you might not be happy with what you are about to learn.

For certain Native American people, the Skinwalker – tales of which date back centuries – is a definitive witch, a crone-like thing that has the ability to change its form, and radically so, too. And it is not just one specific type of beast into which the witch can change, but multiple ones. While a shapeshifting Native American witch can take on, quite literally, hundreds of forms, the most often reported guises are bears, coyotes, various types of birds, and – at the top of the list – wolves or wolf-like animals. This latter issue, of course, emphasizes that the Skinwalker is not that dissimilar at all to the traditional European werewolf, despite being separated by distances of thousands of miles. There can be no doubt that, in recent times, at least, interest in the Skinwalker mystery soared in 2005. That was when Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp penned their best-selling book, Hunt for the Skinwalker. It was a book which detailed strange and terrifying activity on a remote ranch in Utah – activity which suggested manipulative Skinwalkers had descended on the ranch and who quickly began wreaking havoc – maybe, simply, because they could. As well as experiencing countless UFO encounters, and sightings of large and hairy Bigfoot-type beasts, the family also had confrontations with a huge, malevolent wolf; a monster-size animal upon which bullets had absolutely no effect at all. As George Knapp noted in Hunt for the Skinwalker, with regard to the many and varied phenomena that caused chaos and mayhem on the ranch:  “…reality isn’t what it used to be.” For the Native Americans, however, reality hasn’t been what it appears to be for a very long time.

The process by which a witch can become a Skinwalker is a highly complex one, and one which involves several different processes. For example, witches who are both learned and skilled in magical arts can transform themselves into a wide variety of creatures, and all by focusing on its image in their minds – very often in the confines of their teepee. In most cases, however, a witch will secure the hide of the animal they wish to become and wrap it around their shoulders and back. By effectively wearing the hide, the witch – slowly and step by step – becomes the very beast it specifically seeks to emulate. And, so Native American teachings maintain, that includes adopting its keen senses of smell and sight, its agility and speed, and even its complete, physical form. Perhaps the most sinister aspect of the Skinwalker is that it has the ability to supernaturally infect people with deadly diseases and life-threatening illnesses. Strangely, on more than a few occasions, those who have found themselves in the direct, close presence of a Skinwalker have –in mere days – succumbed to very rare medical conditions. Precisely how the Skinwalker can perform such a hostile thing remains unknown. It is, however, worth noting that the Skinwalker is said to have an expert knowledge of medicine, both ancient and modern. No wonder Native Americans avoid them at all costs. And it is not just people who can fall victim to this dangerous beast. Animals – very often, farm animals – have also become the targets of these multi-formed creatures.

For example, cattle-mutilations, that reached their peak in the 1970s – but which are still occasionally reported to this very day – are believed by some, certain Native Americans to be the work of crazed Skinwalkers. The approach of the creatures is to remove organs and blood from cattle, specifically to use it in yet further rites and rituals designed to enhance its paranormal powers to even greater degrees. This may not be quite as strange, or as unlikely, as it might seem: between 1975 and 1978, police officers investigating dozens of cattle mutilation events in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona found that many such attacks had specifically occurred on Native American reservations – something which is most assuredly food for thought. Of course, there is one critical issue we have yet to touch upon: namely, why would anyone even want to become a Skinwalker in the first place? The answer, as you may have already deduced, is not a good one. Adopting the guise of an animal can, quite literally, allow a person to get away with murder. After all, if the target of the Skinwalker is violently slaughtered by a rampaging bear or a savage wolf, who would even – or ever – dream of the possibility that the beast was actually a transformed human? Almost certainly not many, to be sure!

As for why the Skinwalker issue is steeped in so much mystery – despite it being the subject of a bestselling book – it is chiefly because Native Americans fear that if they speak openly on the matter, it may well lead those same Skinwalkers to target them. I found this out for myself, to a graphic level, in August of 2010. I was out in the Californian desert, specifically in Joshua Tree, where a spate of very savage attacks on animals occurred, amid claims that a shapeshifting Skinwalker was the culprit. Vital organs were removed from the animals, as was blood, in massive amounts. My reason for being there was no coincidence: I had been hired by the VH1 channel to be filmed for a documentary on the phenomenon for the now-long-defunct show, Real and Chance: The Legend Hunters. On the second day of shooting, the film crew and I headed out to a local animal sanctuary – a place that specialized in caring for, and rehabilitating, wolves. I quickly learned just how much the Skinwalker phenomenon was feared in and around Joshua Tree. And, in all likelihood, it still is. I also saw for myself a deep reluctance on the part of the staff of the sanctuary to ever utter that dreaded word. By now, you know the word I mean.

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