IF you’re looking for a real spine-chilling, heart-racing horror story, this one might be ‘right up your alley’. Not literally though, as it is in Southeast Utah, in the area of Ballard, USA.

For hundreds of years, the place has had its fair share of scary happenings and paranormal activities. The proper name is “Sherman Ranch”, after its owner who bought the property in 1994. Now it seems Mr Sherman was mistaken when he thought that the 480 acres of land would be a great place to live and start a cattle farm. Unfortunately, Mr Sherman had to move out with his family within just a couple of years because of the bizarre and terrifying experiences that they had. Let’s look into the history of the place and go back in time a little bit.

In 1951, a science teacher, Junior Hicks, who taught near the Skinwalker Ranch thought of conducting his own investigation when he and his students saw a UFO or strange lights over the area. Junior Hicks’ research revealed almost 400 first-hand reports by people who had seen or experienced paranormal occurrences in the area of the ranch and around it. But that was not all. His research led him to the legend or myth that was associated with the place.

The Native Indian tribe known as Ute, believed that the place was not only cursed but had many creatures known in folklore as “Skinwalkers”, residing there. So these members of the Ute tribe not only refused to go to the land but also called it “The Path of the Skinwalker”. And, according to the research done by Junior Hicks, this had been their belief for hundreds upon hundreds of years carried down from their tribal elders.

Similarly, the Navajo Tribe, which is also Native Indian, believes that Skinwalkers are witches who are shape-shifters. But according to the Ute tribe, these awful creatures are not alive and thus are of the spirit world, which is the reason for the paranormal activity.

Now, let’s look into the scary stuff that is said to have happened there forcing Mr Sherman and his family to leave the land they had so excitedly bought. When Terry and Gwen Sherman bought the “Skinwalker Ranch”, they had planned to turn it into a cattle ranch and get into the business of raising and rearing cattle. Interestingly, they were curious as to why the plot of land had been laying empty for so long. And it was strange that they could also not trace down its previous owners.

Even more intriguing was the fact that there were quite a few “dead bolts” or locks on many doors and windows of the building or house. To add to the intrigue, there were locks and bolts on some doors of the cabinets in the kitchen as well. But the property had so much potential or possibilities for them that they decided to buy it.

What started almost as soon as they moved in might sound like something out of a paranormal activity movie or book. The first day that the family was bringing in their stuff, a strange and very large wolf appeared. The family patted it and the wolf did not attack them but later attacked a calf and when Mr Sherman shot at it with his shotgun and handgun, the wolf ran away uninjured into the woods.

Terry Sherman followed the wolf’s tracks, which suddenly came to a stop – as if the wolf disappeared while running! There were strange sound and voices coming from all around the house inside and out. To top it all, they witnessed strange orbs of light floating around which they referred to as UFOs.

Sometimes, they also saw horrible looking creatures and dishes and other stuff flying and thrashing into the walls. Additionally, there were cattle mutilations. Out of the 80 cattle that The Sherman family owned, 14 were found killed. The family were not the only people to witness strange orbs of lights, even the nearby farmers could see them hovering around the Skinwalker Ranch. Additionally, there were large holes or crop circles that appeared after the so-called UFO sightings.

Enough was enough, the family decided to sell the ranch and move out.

The National Institute for Discovery Science bought the place just for the purpose of research and study into the paranormal phenomenon. Their investigative team too experienced all these bizarre happenings. Even after seriously conducting an in-depth investigation, they were not able to reach any conclusion as to the paranormal activity at the ranch. To date, it is not open to the public and what’s really happening there is truly an unsolved mystery.