The Pentagon has released a fresh collection of declassified UFO files, including a 2010 investigation into reports of strange creatures near a Utah ranch.
The report records residents’ alleged encounters with ‘skinwalkers,’ from a dog-like animal with a human-shaped nose to towering shadows and unexplained lights.
In Navajo tradition, a skinwalker is considered a malevolent witch believed to possess the ability to assume an animal form.
During an encounter in January 2010, one man described seeing a hunched figure that he estimated stood about six feet tall and weighed roughly 250 pounds.
According to the report, ‘The head was described as looking like a German shepherd dog without the pointed nose. The nose was described to be more similar to a human nose.’
The testimony also describes loud howling outside homes. One witness said the cries attributed to a supposed skinwalker prompted nearby coyotes to howl in response.
Other newly declassified accounts describe a portal appearing near a lake, which one witness called ‘a doorway to another world.’
Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) collected the accounts after its personnel visited the Fort Duchesne area in March and April 2010.
Although many identifying details are heavily redacted, the map places the investigation near Skinwalker Ranch, a 512-acre property in Utah’s Uintah Basin known for reports of paranormal activity
The 2010 report records residents’ claims of encounters with ‘skinwalkers,’ including a dog-like figure with a human-looking nose, towering shadows and unexplained lights. Above, a creature spotted in Texas that locals believed was a skinwalker
Despite extensive redactions, the report’s map locates the investigation around Skinwalker Ranch, the 512-acre Utah property in the Uintah Basin associated with alleged paranormal activity.
The man who reported the January sighting said light shining on the figure revealed short black-and-gray fur, pointed ears and a short tail.
Investigators recorded his description of the creature’s movement: ‘It ran like it was leaping.’
He also claimed that its howl served as a warning that it was passing through the area.
The same witness said he had another encounter two nights before his March 24 interview.
He told investigators that he was inside his home at about 8pm when a large shadow sped past the front of the building.
His dogs began barking and pursued what he believed was a skinwalker, which he said repeatedly collided with a barbed-wire fence.
The witness said the figure moved ‘like a track star’ before escaping toward an abandoned farmhouse across the road.
The witness said the creature crashed into his fence in January, leaving fur that investigators later tested
He stayed inside for the approximately 30-minute incident, observing events from his doorway.
Investigators searched the fence and recovered fur caught on a barb, which they submitted for laboratory analysis.
The findings pointed to an ordinary explanation for the material collected.
Two unidentified fence samples shared the same canine DNA sequence as a control sample taken from a dog on the property.
BAASS said the matching results, similar appearance of the hairs and freely roaming dogs strongly suggested they came from the same animal, although the DNA match alone was not definitive.
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A woman also recalled seeing what she believed was a ‘portal’ roughly 20 years before her 2010 interview.
She described a clear, stationary formation about 30 to 40 feet high that rippled like water and resembled a heat shimmer, which she observed from approximately 100 feet away.
The woman said it gave her a peaceful feeling and remained visible when she left.
She told investigators she came to interpret it as a doorway to another world after reading a ‘Skinwalker’ book.
Other interviews concerned different figures, which were not all explicitly identified as skinwalkers.
Witnesses describing the towering shadows said they had heard a ‘growling roar’ outside their home around 11pm on March 22, 2010.
The sound occurred twice, lasting roughly five to 10 seconds each time, according to their account.
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BAASS said the matching results, similar appearance of the hairs and freely roaming dogs strongly suggested they came from the same animal, although the DNA match alone was not definitive
Another man recalled a three-foot-long, hairy arm reaching through his bedroom window in winter 2003.
He described four long fingers, no visible thumb and dog-like nails, saying the arm withdrew when he shouted.
A young woman described a hunched, female-looking figure with shoulder-length black hair and ragged clothing jumping between rooftops around 2009.
She said her mother also saw it and called 911, prompting a police response.
The witness identified the figure as what she said was known in Ute culture as the ‘Basket Lady.’
A separate woman reported an eight-foot, hairless creature crouched on a horse shelter in September 2009 before leaping away.
She acknowledged seeing it only briefly from behind. Her four-year-old daughter reportedly compared it to a kangaroo.
The report also records accounts of mysterious balls of light.
One witness described a blue orb hovering near Bottle Hollow Lake before moving toward Skinwalker Ridge.
Another woman recalled seeing a small aqua-blue light hovering in a tree outside her home in February 2010.
It disappeared ‘in the blink of an eye,’ she said.
She described it as dim and said it did not illuminate the tree.
Another account described floating lights that appeared to move behind objects when a witness’s presence was noticed, a behavior he interpreted as an attempt to hide.
Investigators installed motion-triggered cameras and continued gathering testimony, but the report does not establish that the figures were supernatural or determine what caused the lights.