Brendan Jesus
We’re nearing the end of Season 5 of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, and it’s been a hell of a ride. We’ve drilled into the Mesa, flown some drones, drilled into the Mesa, found evidence of an extinct species, drilled into the Mesa, fired some rockets, and even drilled into the Mesa! Every step forward this season has been met with two steps back. The curse of Oak Island seems to have invaded Skinwalker Ranch. That’s not to say this season hasn’t been entertaining.
Season 5 has done a solid job of keeping the tension built, but at some point there needs to be a payoff. I get that science doesn’t always have a payoff, or that it sometimes takes a while to get to the payoff. The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch has not paid off. With two episodes left, one must wonder if they have something big in store for the final two episodes. Episode 12 “Drone-Ageddon” continues to build intrigue and questions, and has me askings, “At what point do we just call it a day and tear the Mesa apart?”
I was reading something (which I can’t find at this moment) that points at former ranch owner Robert Bigelow implying they built a base within the Mesa. If that’s true, then ‘tearing the Mesa apart’ wouldn’t be in the best interest. Does Brandon Fugal know something we don’t?
Before we get into this episode I just wanted to say something off-topic, but still in the scope of this show. Lue Elizondo’s new book Imminent has been a hot-button issue within the field of Ufology. Mainly in the sense that people are [basically] calling him a grifter. To be clear, I am not saying he’s a grifter. But the first four chapters of Imminent were put up as a preview and…well. Simply put, from reading the first four chapters, don’t buy it. As a lark, Jeremy McGowan decided to put together a collection of his articles into a collection as an eBook, just to show that anyone can do what Lue is doing. The only difference is…Jeremy’s book (articles) has evidence. It’s not just Jeremy saying “Trust me, bro.” Jeremy has been clear that he doesn’t want people to buy his book, but if you’re on the fence between his and Lue’s, I say go with Jeremy’s because at least he’s open that the proceeds are going toward funding the purchase of scotch and motorcycle parts.
Anyways, here’s The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch Season 5 Episode 12 “Drone-Ageddon.”
This Is Not A Drill Pt. 7
Mesa Drill Site. 10:38 A.M.
Thomas Winterton is at the Mesa drill site with Mark Construction Inc. Dr. Travis Taylor and Erik Bard come over to get the lowdown before drilling commences. Mark Construction Inc. brought a new beacon with them that goes deeper and has a stronger signal than the one they were using before. (Why didn’t you do that when you lost signal to the beacon five different times?) They put the new beacon in the drill head, get it calibrated, and the drilling is ready to start.
Erik Bard, Kaleb Bench, Dragon, and Travis are stationed under a canopy a few hundred feet away, monitoring their equipment. The drilling starts off smoothly, and the beacon and beacon receiver are working very well. For the first time in this whole drilling subplot, the drill head makes it past the 200-foot mark. Huzzah!
The drilling continues throughout the day. A few hours later, something happens. The screen on the drill freezes and the drill stops spinning. A cracking sound can be heard. The drill head is currently 480 feet inside the Mesa…and the rod just broke. Thomas radios over to Travis and the team and tells them to meet at the spoils pit. They meet up and the bad news is revealed. Mark Construction Inc. says they can put a bit on the rod that should be able to catch the end of the broken piece to pull it out. The only thing is, they’re unsure how long this will take.
The Sky’s The Limit
Front gate of Skinwalker Ranch. 5:38 P.M.
A convoy of cars shows up at the front gate, Sky Elements is back for a new experiment. Rather than flying the drones in one location, the team decides to try something different. Travis says the plan will be to have 600 drones piloted by Preston at the Triangle and 400 drones piloted by Casey at the East Field. The two swarms of drones will go up at the same time, creating two preprogrammed cylindrical formations. They plan to shoot rockets up through the center of these two cylindrical drone swarms. While all of this goes on, Caleb McEwen will fly his FPV drone throughout the area (it’s not stated if this is the same one from Episode 11 “Bad to the Drone” or if this is a new one). Jim Royston and Sam Deriso, of OmniTeq, will have a LIDAR drone flying back and forth between the Triangle and the East Field. There will also be infrared and thermal cameras around the area, as well as multiple spectrum analyzers around the ranch.
Both teams go off on their own to get things set up for the night’s experiment.
It’s now nighttime, and things are getting ready to kick off. That’s when Travis sees a UAP, one that’s similar to the white sky orb from Episode 11, floating in the sky. It flies west to east. Erik doesn’t have anything on his ADSB, so it’s not a commercial aircraft of some sort. As the UAP disappears, 168 of Preston’s drones go down. That is quickly followed by 200 of Casey’s drones going down. So let’s put this in perspective. Sky Elements is a professional company that specifically does drone shows. This is their whole thing. In both experiments we see a UAP appear and then the drones immediately begin acting up. Could these UAPs be affecting the drones somehow?
Sky Elements does some work on the drones and it seems a good majority of them are back up and running. Since things seem to be good to go, Dragon and Kaleb prepare their respective rockets, and it’s almost go-time.
The drones go up. Seeing these colors against the dark Mesa background is really pretty to watch. I can’t imagine how gorgeous this would look in person. As the drones hit the 30-foot mark in the sky chaos ensues. Multiple drones start to fall on Preston and Thomas, at the Triangle. It is raining drones. One after another. The drones that haven’t fallen from the sky continue to make their cylindrical formation. It’s complete chaos.
Dragon, over at the East Field, is immediately concerned by this. Travis, also at the East Field, says screw it we’re still firing the rocket. The rocket is hot, and Dragon ignites it. Suddenly, the igniter blows. AND IMMEDIATELY the drones in the East Field begin raining down on Travis and Dragon. The experiment has fallen into complete chaos.
Seeing that Dragon’s rocket didn’t launch, Kaleb decides to launch his. BUT THEN HIS rocket malfunctions too! This is legitimately the tensest five minutes in The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch history. Travis wants to shoot another rocket up and promises Dragon that he’ll keep an eye out for falling drones. Dragon runs over to the launch pad and fires off a second rocket. It fires but immediately breaks into two pieces in the air.
Eventually, all the drones make it to the ground, be it a phenomenon or their preprogrammed path.
The Evidence
Two days later. Skinwalker Ranch Command Center. 1:47 P.M.
Travis, Erik, Kaleb, Thomas, and Dragon are joined by Preston and Caleb, of Sky Elements, to discuss the evidence they gathered. We start by seeing some rather startling information from Preston. He took logs of the GPS data from the launch of the drones. The GPS seems to have been spoofed, as he stated. As the drones (in the Triangle) rise up to the 30-foot mark, half of the drone GPS data shows them teleporting to the ‘in’ spot at the East Field of the Mesa. This is astounding. What is it about the ‘in’ and ‘out’ spots at the Mesa? This also corresponds to the exact location of where The Blob is located.
Erik pulls up a video from the East Field camera, which is pointing to the west of the drone spiral. It’s a video of when Dragon lit the second rocket. As the rocket goes up, its path is cloaked by something for roughly five feet. This just happens to be the same exact spot of the photogrammetry spire found in 2021. And it perfectly aligns with the portal petroglyph on the Mesa.
Erik pulls up another video, this one is from the Triangle and takes place at the exact same time as the previous video. Caleb’s FPV drone flies around and then seemingly disappears briefly over where Dragon’s launch pad is. A split second later, the drone emerged from whatever was blocking it. Just a few seconds later we see an orb coming out of the ‘out’ spot in the Mesa, before quickly turning around and going right back into the Mesa.
Final Thoughts
Compelling stuff! This is very compelling. What could be blocking these lights in the middle of the air? And we still don’t know what The Blob is. It seems more clear than ever that whatever is driving these anomalies must reside in the Mesa…right? Even though I’ve been critical of the 1.6 GHz signal, all signs point to it coming from the Mesa. There’s a mysterious dome-shaped object deep inside there. Could Jeremy’s theory be right? Will we ever find out what is inside of the Mesa?
With two episodes left, it seems more clear than ever that revelations will be drawn out to ensure viewership. Each experiment fails but still manages to produce a modicum of data. I hope we get some real answers soon.
