Brendan Jesus
Before we get into this week’s episode of Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch, I wanted to bring up something that came to light around the morning of October 13th. Users across TikTok reported something odd over the skies of Washington D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina. It should be noted that this story seemingly doesn’t have anything to do with the reported drones over military bases. This incident is far more disturbing and is accompanied by a supposed media blackout.
Also, this is not the same incident as the small airplane that crashed in Savannah, Georgia on October 13th. The TikTok video reported a large swath of smoke over the previously stated states, which users noticed after hearing an incredibly loud BANG. Residents rushed outside to see what the sound was but were met with the harrowing image of one long stream of smoke.
There has been no media follow-up (from what I could find) regarding this story. Residents of all three previously mentioned states reported both the smoke and the loud bang. What size and type of craft would have the ability to create such a highly visible plume of smoke AND a noise loud enough for residents of three states to see? And why has there been little to no media response to this? It seems a bit too fishy to me.
Remember folks, always keep your eyes on the sky. And when the media refuses to talk about something this mysterious, you know that’s not a good sign. Just like this mystery, there’s another mystery we need to get into. And that one is the Mystery…at Blind Frog Ranch.
(I’m getting good with these transitions, huh?)
A Broken Link
We start Episode 4 “What’s Inside The Box?” with Duane Ollinger, Eric Drummond, Chad Ollinger, Charlie Boy, and Jamie Dube at the Water Pit. Duane tells the team that today is the day they get in the box. Now that the rocks have been jackhammered (which I forgot to mention in my coverage of Episode 3 “Diving Blind”), they should have a clear opening. They attach the heavy-duty chain to Duane’s new CAT excavator. In a talking head, Duane says there’s really no playbook for pulling a 500-year-old box out of a cavern.
Duane uses the excavator to start pulling the chain attached to the box. Soon into the pulling, Duane notes that something feels like it’s catching on something. After some more careful maneuvering, the excavator continues yanking the box out. Part of the box starts peaking above the water… but it’s only one part of the box. It’s revealed that a singular log comes up. Everyone is bummed out, but Chad is furious. And then things get tense.
Duane is absolutely fuming. He asks Chad how he could only have tied off the chain to one log. Chad says he only had the ability to wrap the chain around one log and Duane is upset that Chad never decided to mention this. Eric tells everyone to chill out because Duane is going in on Chad. But Duane walks away and mutters, “F*ck this sh*t.”
Later in the day, Duane is doing a talking head near the Water Pit. It’s clear Chad and Duane haven’t really reconciled at this point because Chad interrupts the talking head with the energy of a church mouse. Chad tells Duane that Eric found something and he needs to come check it out. Once Duane is with Eric, something interesting comes to light. As it turns out, Eric missed something.
While looking back at images of the box, after the failed extraction, Eric noticed something he definitely should have before this point. If you remember the images from inside the box, it is filled with rocks of sorts. But now Eric is certain that the rocks in the box are different from the rocks inside the cavern or on the surrounding mountains. These box rocks are igneous rocks, while the surrounding rocks are sedimentary. This means the rocks in the box were purposefully put here and not the result of cavern rocks falling in.
Eric’s new theory is that these rocks could possibly be the treasures themselves. Could they be gold-bearing ore? Now that they’ve realized they can’t get the box out at this time, the next best thing they could do is check out these rocks. To test the contents of these rocks in the box, Eric will need two bags of rock samples. The only problem is those two bags will need to be about 30 pounds a piece. Chad would not be able to fill the bags and swim out with them safely, so their new plan is to have him collect the samples and use a tether to drag the rocks out of the cave with a land vehicle.
Chad mentions that it will start raining in about 45 minutes and if they want to get this done today, they have to move quickly. Once it’s agreed that this is the best direction, Chad quickly suits up and dives on in. Duane directs Chad through the caverns and efficiently leads him to the box. Chad fills up the two sample bags and attaches the tether to them. When he is down there, he makes a note that the box is still perfectly intact (sans the one missing log that snapped off the box). Duane uses the RZR to safely pull the bags out of the cavern.
The Eric Show
Later that night all five men meet at the Miner’s Shack. Duane mentions that years of work have come to this moment. Eric dumps the two bags of rocks on the table. The first note he makes is regarding the mineralization of the rocks.
“Gold rides an iron horse.” – Eric Drummond
Eric regales us with this old prospecting quote. It means gold is typically found alongside iron. Seeing high iron content in rocks is a good sign that gold is nearby. Now that his eyes are physically on these rocks, he doubles down on the fact that these rocks are not from this part of the land. The black marks on the rocks are hydrothermal alterations from an igneous source. (I love it when Eric nerds out about rocks and I wish we had more of this science angle.) It’s clear these rocks were put here by someone for an unknown reason.
It’s time we find out what’s inside these rocks and you’re not prepared for the wild turn this takes. Eric grabs a chisel and hammer and breaks into one of the rocks. Instead of finding gold, he finds a long cylindrical piece of metal. And it is NOT naturally occurring. Everyone is silent. His first thought is that this is a piece of silver, so he tests it for silver.
Since silver is incredibly malleable, an easy test will be to hit it with a hammer. Instead of bending and reshaping after being hit, the metal shatters. It’s definitely not silver. Duane says this is a huge left turn. It’s clear this is a processed metal of some sort.
Eric breaks open another rock and reveals ANOTHER long cylindrical piece of metal. Where did these metal plugs come from? Eric puts a chunk of the metal in Duane’s hand and that’s when things get even more wild. Just seconds after it is laid upon Duane’s palm… IT MELTS. Like, literally, this metal melts from just his body temperature. Eric says it’s not mercury, but he’ll need to do more tests to figure out just what the heck this is!
Needless to say, everyone is beyond stunned.
The next day, we rejoin Eric who has been running tests on this mystery metal all night. He has eliminated some possibilities but still does not have definitive answers. His next plan of attack is to check the crystal structures of the melted metal. The first thing he notices is the cubic-shaped crystals that form when the metal re-solidifies. Eric says this crystal formation is something you’d see from a ruby, but this is very clearly not a ruby.
The Bovine Has Moo-ved
Charlie Boy and Jamie are traveling in the Side-by-Side and discussing security measures on the ranch as well as checking trail cams. They are about to pass the location of the two deceased cows from the previous episode when they see something odd. The spot where Duane and Chad noticed the first cow, is empty. The cow is gone! This 900-pound animal corpse could not be easily moved. Charlie Boy and Jamie don’t see any tire tracks or drag marks from the first cow’s location that would indicate someone dragging it away.
What is also odd is the spot the first cow was in has a major burn mark. It almost looks as if the cow was disintegrated in its spot. They call Duane and Chad who arrive fairly quickly. Chad is certain a bear could not have done this and that if it were a bear, the bear would have only taken pieces of the cow. He also asks them if anyone thinks someone is, “f*cking” with them. Interestingly, the second cow is still there. So Charlie Boy sets up a trail cam and points it toward the cow.
The Eric Show Pt. II
That night, Duane and Chad join Eric at the Miner’s Shack. Eric is still testing the mystery metal. At this point, Eric believes that this metal is not mercury, silver, platinum, or gallium (discovered in 1875 and not naturally occurring… remember that because it will surely not come back up later!). Eric was waiting for Duane and Chad to show up so he could run a few more tests, these tests will be measuring the metal’s reactions to reagents. Due to the volatility of the reagents, they take it outside.
First, Eric tests the mystery metal (in liquid form) with sulfuric acid. This is to test the surface tension of it. He sucks up the metal (author’s note: I had to go back and edit this whole paragraph because I wrote a spoiler here instead of writing mystery metal!) and shoots it into a beaker of sulfuric acid. Duane watches the reaction and calls it, “Wild as a hammer.” From there, Eric sprinkles some potassium dichromate, aka Evil Crystals, on the melted metal. The Evil Crystals react with the metal and they fight against each other. It rejects the Evil Crystals. Unfortunately, this doesn’t provide many answers.
Wrap It Up
The next day, all five men are hanging around the Miner’s Shack drinking some beers. They set up a few logs and decide to have some fun. Duane wants them to unwind and the best way he can think of is with some hatchet throwing! Fast forward a few minutes and everyone misses their hatchet throws.
Later that night, Eric is back at work in the Miner’s Shack. He says he’s never had this much difficulty identifying a metal. And then it comes to him. He calls Duane and Chad who quickly come over. Even though he ruled it out, initially, he comes to the conclusion that the metal is gallium. What’s interesting is that gallium wasn’t created until 1875. It’s not naturally occurring and is a byproduct of zinc and aluminum. Duane says this doesn’t rule out the Aztecs because they were masters of their craft in all aspects. Eric is inclined to agree.
Duane wonders if the Aztecs discovered gallium and then decided to hide it in hollowed rocks to make sure no one else could discover their “treasure.” One thing is for sure, they need to get back to searching. Duane says the best way to do this is to drill a new entrance into the underground cavern.
Final Thoughts
Firstly, they suck at hatchet throwing.
Secondly, this whole gallium thing is very strange. The box is definitely 500+ years old, but has a metal inside that is less than 200? Could the Aztecs have discovered this metal and then decided hiding it would be the best option? And what the heck happened to this cow? I don’t believe someone or something vaporized the cow, but it’s odd that it was there one day and literally gone the next.
Each episode proves more and more that there is a Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch.
(Damn I’m really good with these transitions.)
