Skinwalker Ranch

The Skinwalker Ranch, a ranch property popularized by numerous books and a TV series, The Secrets of Skinwalker Ranch, is thought to be both the location of a portal or portals to alternate planes or dimensions and a center of paranormal and supernatural activity associated with indigenous lore.

My first experience with the ranch came in 2012. As an independent editor and ghostwriter, I received a manuscript from an individual who had experienced a strange series of events while driving through the area. That individual will remain anonymous due to a non-disclosure agreement we signed at the time. While on the road south of the ranch, his companion and he were allegedly accosted by three alien beings who materialized alongside the road from animated orbs or spheres of light. Later, when the two of them returned to their home in the north, this individual continued to experience paranormal events, including the presence of some entity which entered his home. Due to these experiences, he did some research and learned of the proximity of the ranch to the area in which he and his companion encountered the alien beings. Obsessed with his discovery, he started to visit the property, making multiple attempts to circumvent the guards hired by the then owner, Robert Bigelow, he of Budget Suites fame, to get on the actual ranch property itself. After years of trying to do so, he eventually managed to get to the Old Homestead, the area upon the property most associated with its strangeness.

To flesh out the narrative, I requested from this individual materials he had supporting his claims. While much of what he provided to me left me skeptical as to the whole truth of the matter, I worked to add fifteen to twenty thousand words to the manuscript and polish what I could of the original matter. A sometimes difficult individual to work with, we parted less amicably then I would have preferred. I took my fee and wished him luck, believing that when all was said and done, he’d sell a copy to family members and perhaps some friends. A year later, I went on to Amazon and was amazed to find that the narrative had sold thousands of copies and was higher up than most titles on the Amazon rankings. Despite the less than rosy relationship we shared, I reached out to him to express interest in writing a follow-up title.

Back when we parted, this individual told me that he had received a pile of documents from the guards that were working on the property for Bigelow. He told me that he had made friends with a few of them, one of whom was providing him with inside information, including the copy of actual logs completed by the guards on a routine basis and forwarded to Bigelow at his space agency, Bigelow Aerospace, which was established in 1998. He agreed, as it would boost his internet presence and his desire to be recognized as an expert on the property. Included in the documents he sent me were months of these logs, a report from Remote Viewers, a report filed by two investigators hired by Bigelow to interview locals and verify sightings, and multiple transcripts of the individual’s online and email conversations with many of these locals, and to my surprise, the wife of the couple who bought the ranch, ultimately selling it to Bigelow.

It took me a couple of months to organize the material and write the book. The individual and I agreed upon a 50-50 split of the Amazon royalties, the title published independently via KDP. Though I was not in agreement, and less experienced at the process than I am now, the title was made free for the first week, the thought being, on his part, not mine, that doing so would drive sales to his first title, which, of course, would do me no good financially. Over 4000 free copies were uploaded to Kindles that week. 4000 sales we were not going to make.

Regardless, the title sold well. We were both making our fair share of royalties, especially for an indie title, the vast majority of which barely sell a handful of copies. Within the first half-year, or so, I pitched to this individual two new ideas and started on the writing of the two books. Just as I was nearing the finish line on both, my “partner” stopped sending me my share of the royalties. With Amazon, each account can have only one name appended to it, and it is to that person’s bank account that those royalties are directed. I had to rely on him to send my share electronically to my account, which he was doing faithfully to that point and in accord with our written and signed contractual agreement.

Around Christmas or New Year, and about a year after the title was published, the payments stopped. Allegedly, my “partner” had run into financial troubles following the loss of his business, a sort of restaurant/bar/nightclub. When I reached out to him, he made some pretense of the unfairness of the agreement, as ultimately he would be responsible for the income tax on those royalties, and therefore my share was actually greater than his. He did have a point. To resolve the issue, I told him that I would self-publish the two books that I had written for him and he could assume sole rights of the title in question. He was not interested in this arrangement due to his desire to have more titles to his credit, thereby boosting his reputation as an expert on the topic. We agreed, then, that I would give him the sole rights to all three titles for $5000. Given what indie titles produce in the way of royalties, the sum was more than I could expect were I to have published those two titles, instead. And I saw no other resolution to the issue. He accepted and sent me the electronic deposit.

In the interim, one of those property guards, I’ll call him Riley, reached out to me via email. Prior to, I had no familiarity with the man, and was taken by surprise. From what he told me, my email address was appended to a message that he and the individual here of topic had shared. He was aware of my role in the publishing of those other titles, no doubt part of whatever dialogue he and the individual shared. Riley proposed to me a deal. He would tell me his story for a stated sum of compensation which he would require up front, meaning he was to have no part of the potential royalties.

Based on the success of the other titles, which though not producing six-figure royalties, when combined were producing five-figures, I thought the risk worth taking. I agreed to the sum, which I won’t state here. My one condition was that I wanted to hear part of what he had to tell first, not wanting to pay that much for a narrative that lacked interest or credibility. Needless to say, neither was the case. Riley’s story is told in the narrative Lost on Skinwalker Ranch. The narrative has sold near on 6500 copies to date.

I suspect that Riley was suffering some sort of illness, perhaps a form of cancer. I do know that following our interaction, he went down to South America. He told me he was interested in experiencing the effects of Ayahuasca, a potent brew and psychedelic resulting in hallucinogenic episodes purported to elevate one to out-of-body trips. Riley wanted me to believe he was looking for a means to return to the place he found himself in on the ranch. Perhaps so. But I believe, too, that he was seeking an alternative treatment to a stage of illness beyond the reaches of conventional science and medicine.

Since the publishing of Lost on Skinwalker Ranch, I was contacted by other individuals interested in telling their stories, some related to the Ranch and the surrounding area, and others to the indigenous lore yet strong in the Great Basin area. Three of these titles are Skinwalker Ranch: In the Shadow of the Ridge, The Muledeer Chronicles and The Airfield. Also included in these titles is The Ranch, a speculative narrative of historical fiction derived from actual events purported to have been experienced by the family last living on the ranch. While the chronology and extraneous details are mine, the actual events are all documented in various newspaper articles, pod casts, radio programs and multiple books on the subject.

All titles are available on Amazon, including a compilation of the first four titles, among them Lost on Skinwalker Ranch, titled the Skinwalker Chronicles. All titles are by Erick T. Rhetts.