The Mad Gasser of Mattoon document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) One very interesting point is that many of the stories of encounters with skinwalkers come from people who are not Navajo, even people who have never heard of the skinwalkers and, upon looking for information about what theyve experienced, come to the conclusion that they have witnessed one of these creatures. It fell backwards and ran away into the night. 1. That was when things got very strange indeed. When they tried to get scientific evidence for the weirdness via an array of expensive audio and video recorders, this equipment was mysteriously vandalized., Unfortunately, despite millions of dollars, a crack team of scientists, and a lot of strange events, it doesn't seem like Bigelow's company ever uncovered the verifiable proof that the businessman had wanted. It had just rained earlier in the day and the road was kind of slick so we were taking it pretty slow. This dude, if you've never heard of him before, is recognized for having founded Bigelow Aerospace, a million dollar technology company that creates space station modules and he's also known for being really, really into studying UFOs, E.T.s, and paranormal stuff through his other organization, the National Institute for Discovery Science. Sell it to an anonymous company, of course! NASA's Photos From Mars: Don't Tell Me the Red Planet Wasn't Once a Thriving World! Are these really witches and medicine men who have turned to the dark side, fallen from grace, and become shape-shifting revenants? The elderly woman was 100 % Navajo, and the little girl remembers her shouting at her brother to get away from it!. It's all too easy to look at another culture's folkloric traditions the same way you'd regard, say, a monster from Greek myth or a demon from medieval literature creatures for which vibrant belief has long subsided and whose attributes are readily cataloged and canonized in Western tomes. It had been dark outside for about an hour and my aunt and my uncles were getting ready for bed. More recently, History announced the production of a new reality show called The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, according to Deadline. With this, the thing looked up at him. It looks twisted and distorted and almost in pain. My grandfather ran into the house and over to the stove and grabbed a hand-full of ashes and rubbed over the gun and placed a ash covered bullet into the chamber. My mom went and got my dad and they both started shouted in Navajo all sorts of words telling the thing to go away and saying it's not welcome here. Skinwalkers can also read people's minds, control animals of the night, like owls, call up spirits of the dead, and are almost impossible to catch and get rid of. The entity, which looked like a wolf-like human and had glowing yellow eyes, made eye contact with the student and smiled, showing off its sharp, canine-like teeth. Sitting where I had been parked was a dog-like thing with an odd face staring me down. He was not moving and suddenly, he hit one of the dogs with a long 2" diameter pole. This dog apparently had yellow eyes. Skinwalker refers to a Native American legend which was brought to life by author Tony Hillerman. This is the main lore, although there are variations, but it is hard to get complete details as this is a legend very much kept within the tribe, almost never spoken of to outsiders and rarely discussed even among the Navajo, as it is considered taboo to do so and can even draw the attention of the creatures. This most often results in the newly minted Skinwalker being banished from the tribe, after which they wander the wilderness, stalking and tormenting anyone they come across, feeding off of the fear they conjure in those who look upon them. Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling garnered criticism in 2016 for inclusion of an altered version of the skinwalkers in her online series "History of Magic in North America." What's decidedly not normal is that the person who purchased the house from them, according to Wired, was a big shot Nevada businessman named Robert Bigelow. They walk in the skins of animals. Nevada has Area 51, and New Mexico has that whole "weather balloon" incident they don't like talking about. This time he had a friend in the car who also saw it and began freaking out. The 512-acre farm is known for a long history of cattle mutilations, unusual UFO sightings, strange creatures and other colorful Skinwalker tales. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In the present day, of course, Skinwalker Ranch isn't necessarily known for witches. My oldest uncle ran toward the truck with the gun. Finally they managed to get to sleep, but the witness woke up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse outside, with his brother joining him. Its face didnt have a long snout.