Microwaves, Dead Cows and Light Pillars - "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch."

So, the "History" Channel has now allowed free streaming of the first episode of "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch," in which the new owner of the Ranch, Brandon Fugal, participates to sing the wonders of the  property he has purchased, the Skinwalker Ranch (tm). The show jumps right into presenting its evidence, starting off with a dead cow. The participants were warned not to touch it "until we see if it's radioactive or not."

One theory set forth to explain the supposed "phenomenon" is that the Ranch (and indeed, all of the state of Utah) was downwind from the atomic testing near Las Vegas in the 1950s, and so supposedly there is lots of radioactivity remaining in the landscape. (Except that there obviously isn't, or else the whole state would need to be evacuated.)

Another theory set forth is that because the Ute tribe supposedly used to hold Navajos as slaves, the Navajos cursed the Utes, and loosed Skinwalkers and other shape-shifting supernatural beings upon them. But this does not appear to be historically correct. According to one tribal history, the Utes "Stole women and children from Paiutes and Goshutes and sold them to the Spanish and Mexicans for slaves."

Mr. Fugal thinks that his "light pillar" is something paranormal. In fact, it's a
well-known meteorological phenomenon.

In the above screen shot from the program, we obviously see a photo of a Light Pillar, a well-known if uncommon phenomenon in meteorological optics. It's clear that not only does Fugal know nothing about such optical phenomena, but (like his counterparts in TTSA) he failed to consult anyone who does. This does not inspire confidence in the quality of his "experts," or his "investigations."

Speaking of Fugal's "experts," the one receiving top billing is Travis Taylor, PhD, billed as a "physicist" and "Astrophysicist." However, as Jason Colavito has noted,

We cut back to May 2019 to introduce our investigators, starting with Travis Taylor, who identifies himself as a scientist with decades of scientific and engineering experience. The show omits the fact that he is also a talking head from Ancient Aliens who has spouted inane drivel about aliens’ secret lunar colonies and other nonsense, or that is a former Curse of Oak Island guest looney who imagined the island to be a representation of the constellation Taurus. 

An ad for Ancient Aliens shown during the Skinwalker show. Astrophysicist Travis Taylor
also appears as an "expert" on this show.

Like good little Ghost Hunters,  Taylor and the others use electronic devices to look for spooky stuff. Using a Trifield EMF meter, he not only detects strong microwave energy, but proclaims it to be at "dangerous levels."

Perhaps the most surprising development was Fugal's directive to his staff, "No digging!" He said, "Once we commence digging, it opens up a whole Pandora's Box." Apparently, digging "triggers the phenomenon," and probably releases demons or something from the Underworld. (New people arriving on the ranch also seems to trigger the phenomenon, we are told.) After digging a hole, ranch supervisor Tom Winterton reportedly suffered a strange, unexplained "goose egg" swelling on his head that required hospitalization, although no medical records were released to substantiate this claim. If someone is going to claim medical effects resulting from a 'paranormal' cause (Cash-Landrum, anybody?), it's just hearsay until the full medical records are released. 

More mysterious stuff is promised in subsequent episodes. My first impression after seeing this show is that Fugal is setting up an organization that is in many ways similar to Tom DeLonge's "To The Stars Academy": He gathers a team of supposed "experts" (who seem surprisingly unprepared to carry out serious investigations) to eagerly charge off and investigate supposed "mysteries." But nothing is ever really resolved. Fugal and DeLonge now have dueling "mystery" series on the "History" Channel. May the best man win.