À la Une : "Le chemin du Skinwalker"

Le loup à l'épreuve des balles

Le jour où les Gormans emménagèrent, ils eurent un premier avant-goût des événements qui allaient suivre. Ils repérèrent un très grand loup au loin dans pâturages. Le loup suivi prudemment son chemin à travers le champ et, à la surprise de tous, se glissa parmi la famille, agissant comme un animal de compagnie. Il avait plu ce jour-là, et la famille se souvient que le loup sentait le chien mouillé alors qu'ils le caressaient.

Au bout de quelques minutes, le loup erra dans le corral et attrapa un veau par le museau, tentant de le tirer à travers les barres du corral. Gorman et son père commençèrent à taper sur le dos du loup avec des bâtons mais celui-ci ne voulait pas lâcher le veau. Gorman prit un .357 Magnum dans sa camionnette et tira sur le loup à bout portant. Le coup n'eut aucune effet notable.

Gorman tira une autre balle dans le loup, qui laissa alors le veau mais continua de regarder la famille comme si de rien n'était. Gorman lui tira dessus 2 fois de plus avec le puissant calibre. Le gros animal recula un peu, mais ne montra aucun signe de détresse, ni même de traces de sang.

Le fermier perplexe alla récupérer un fusil de chasse et tira à nouveau sur le loup, toujours de près. Gorman est non-seulement un tireur expérimenté mais un chasseur de gros gibier très réputé. 5 tirs auraient dû suffire à abattre un wapiti, encore plus un loup. Le 5ème tir fit voler un morceau de poil et de chair du loup, sans que celui-ci en semble dérangé. Après un 6ème tir, le loup trotta comme de rien à travers le champ vers un fourré boueux. Gorman et son père suivirent la bâte sur près de 1 mile, suivant ses traces dans la boue, mais celles-ci s'arrétèrent soudainement, comme si le loup avait disparu dans les airs.

De retour dans la zone du corral, Gorman examina le morceau de chair du loup et dit qu'il sentait et ressemblait à de la chair pourrie. Il interrogea ses voisins, mais aucun ne semblait rien savoir de gros loups apprivoisés dans la région. Quelques semaines plus tard, Mme Gorman rencontra un loup particulièrement gros, son dos étant parallèle au sommet de sa fenêtre lorsqu'il se tenait à côté de sa voiture. Le loup était accompagné d'un animal semblable à un chien qu'elle ne put identifier.

Au fil des 2 années qui suivirent, toute une ménagerie d'animaux étrange fut signalée par les membres de la famille et leurs voisins. Alors qu'ils roulaient dasns la ferme par une après-midi ensoleillée, Gorman et sa femme virent quelque chose attaquer un de leurs chevaux. Ils le décrirent comme bas sur le sol, très musclé, pensant peut-être 100 kg, avec un poil rouge frisé et une queue broussailleuse. Ca ressemblait un peu à une hyène musclée et semblait griffer leur cheval, presque pour jouer. Gorman arriva à moins de 40 pieds de l'animal mais dit qu'il disparut litéralement devant ses yeux. Paf. Parti. Ils examinèrent le cheval et trouvèrent de nombreuses marques de griffures sur ses jambes (quelques mois plus tard, la femme d'un sherif adjoint rapporta avoir vu une bête rougeâtre et musclée semblable courir à travers la propriété).

Un autre visiteur du ranch fit une rencontre plus sinistre dans la ferme centrale, l'endroit même où j'étais installé comme appât. Le visiteur, avec Gorman et son fils, dit avoir vu un grand "quelque chose" diffus se déplacer à travers les arbres. Le visiteur était en train de méditer lorsque cette chose survint. Elle se déplaça rapidement depuis les arbres à travers le pâturage, parcourant 100 yards en quelques secondes, et lorsqu'elle atteint l'homme, elle laissa sortir un rugissement féroce, comme celui d'un grand ours, un rugissement assez puissant pour être entendu à des centaines de yards. Mais ce n'était pas un ours. C'était, selon les Gormans, pratiquement invisible, comme l'être camouflé du film Predator. Le visiteur était si terrifié qu'il attrapa Gorman et ne voulu plus le lâcher. Il quitta le ranch et ne revint jamais.

D'autres être et créatures furent aussi vus, dont des oiseaux exotiques multicolores qui ne venaient certainement pas de la région et ne purent être identifiés. Il y eu de nombreuses rencontres avec des bêtes sombres de 9 pieds de haut qui ressemblaient à des Bigfoot ou Sasquatch (plus sur ces incidents par la suite).

Comme si ces expériences visuelles ne suffisaient pas, la famille dit que ses autres sens furent aussi soumis à des événements étranges du même type. Ils étaient souvent submergés de fortes odeurs de musc. Les pâturages s'éclairaient inexplicablement la nuit, comme un stade de football. Ils disent avoir vu comme des arbres de lumière semblant émerger du sol. Ils (comme d'autres) disent avoir entendu comme une lourde machinerie qui fonctionnerait sous terre. Et ils ont entendu des voix. Tom, son fils et son neveu se souviennent avoir entendu une forte conversation désincarnée dans une langue inintelligible. Les voix masculines désincarnées parlaient dans ce que les témoins décriront comme un ton moqueur et sonnaient comme provenant de 20 pieds ou plus au-dessus de leurs têtes, sans qu'il puissent voir quoi que ce soit. Les chiens accompagnant les 3 témoins grognaient et aboyaient vers les voix, puis détalèrent paniqués.

Il y eu des manifestations physiques qui ne s'expliquent pas facilement. En examinant son troupeau dans la 3ᵉ ferme, Gorman remarqua que quelqu'un avait creusé dans son pâturage. Des centaines de kilos de terre avaient été sortis de terre. Les bords du trou avait l'air de cercles concentriques parfait, comme si quelqu'un avait appliqué un gigantesque emporte-pièce sur le pâturage. Plusieurs marques de trous plus petits furent aussi trouvées.

Les Gormans rapportent aussi des phénomènes semblables aux crop circles. Une formation trouvée dans leur pâturage consistait en 3 cercles d'herbe applatie. Chaque cercle faisait à peu près 8 pieds de diamètre, et ils étaient arrangés selon un schéma triangulaire, chaque cercle se trouvant à environ 30 pieds des autres. Gardez à l'esprit qu'il n'y a qu'une seule route menant au ranch. Quiconque venant ou partant serait presque certainement remarqué par les Gormans ou leurs voisins.

Ovnis et autres bizzareries aériennes

Au Printemps l'année suivante, les Gormans commençèrent à voir des choses étranges dans le ciel. Alors qu'ils inspectent leur bétail, Gorman et son neveu repèrent ce qu'ils pensent être un camping-car garé sur leur propriété. Ils l'approchent, pensant que le conducteur doit avoir un problème mécanique. Alors qu'ils se rapprochent, le camping-car s'éloigne lentement d'eux. Ils se rapprochent, et il s'éloigne encore. Ils montent sur une barrière pour mieux voir, et réalisent alors que ce n'est pas un Winnebago. L'appareil s'élève au-dessus de la cîme des arbres et s'envole lentement, sans faire aucun son. Ce n'était certainement pas un hélicoptère. Les témoins le voyaient clairement et disent que l'objet avait la forme d'un réfrigérateur, avec une seule lumière à l'avant et une rogue à l'arrière.

Rapidement, tout le monde dans la famille commence à voir des véhicules aériens bizarres. Mme Gorman dit que quelque chose ressemblant à un avion furtif, mais entouré de lumières clignotantes disco, avait survolé silencieusement à environ 20 pieds au-dessus de son véhicule avant de partir d'un coup. Chaque membre de la famille fait des observations répétées d'un nuage qui restait d'habitude juste à l'extérieur de la propriété. Le nuage était caractérisé comme ayant à l'intérieur de lui des lumières clignotantes d'arbre de Noël ou des mini-explosions silencieuses. Parmi les autres appareils aériens vus par les Gormans, leurs voisins et d'autres témoins se trouveront aussi des soucoupes volantes classiques, des sombreros volants, des arbres de lumière semblables à des ampoules fluorescentes et un appareil en forme de cigare aussi long que plusieurs terrains de football.

De loin les objets les plus courants qu'ils ont vus étaient des sphères flottantes de différentes tailles et couleurs. En 1995 et l'année suivante, les Gormans et d'autres rapportèrent 12 incidents distincts d'observation de grand cercles oranges volant au-dessus des arbres de la ferme centrale. Tom Gorman dit que des trous s'ouvraient parfois dans les sphères oranges et que d'autres sphères plus petites en sortaient (un fermier voisin à raconté à l'auteur ses propres rencontres avec ce qu'il a appelé le ballon de basket orange volant).

Début 1996, les observations de sphères bleues sur le ranch étaient devenues courantes. Ces orbs were était décrits comme étant de la taille d'une balle de softball, faits de verre et remplis de liquides bleus bouillonnants semblant y tourner. M. et Mme Gorman disent qu'en 1996, ils avaient regardé un des orbs bleus tourner de manière répétée autour de la tête de l'un de leurs chevaux. Le cheval était entouré d'une lumière bleue intense, et il y avait un son comme de l'électricité statique dans l'air, but this wasn't ball lightning. The orb seemed to be intelligently controlled. When Gorman approached the horse with a flashlight, the orb darted off, maneuvering through tree branches with speed and dexterity.

The Gormans say the blue spheres seemed to generate severe psychological effects on the family. Family members felt waves of fear roll over them, far in excess of what might be normal, whenever the blue orbs appeared. It was the appearance of one blue orb in particular that finally convinced the Gormans to sell the ranch.

One evening in le mois suivant, Gorman was outside with three of his dogs when he noticed a blue orb darting around in the field near the ranch house. Gorman urged his dogs to go after the ball. The dogs chased and snapped at the orb, but it dodged and maneuvered enough to stay just beyond the reach of their snapping jaws. The ball led the dogs out across the pasture and into the thick brush that borders the field. Gorman says he heard the dogs make three terrible yelps, then they were silent. He called for them, but they didn't respond.

The next morning, Gorman went to look for the dogs. What he found were three round spots of dried and brittle vegetation. In the middle of each circle was a black, greasy lump. Gorman surmised that his dogs had been incinerated by something. One thing for sure, the dogs were never seen again. The disappearance of their dogs prompted the Gormans to think about getting out.

Mutilations et autres mystères animaux

Tom Gorman wasn't some country-bumpkin farmer trying to get by. He had college degrees and advanced training in animal husbandry, was considered an expert in artificial insemination and had plans for raising hybrid, high-end stock at the picturesque ranch. His herd, which ranged from 60-80 head, consisted of expensive, top-of-the-line heifers and four 2,000-pound show-class bulls.

From the day he moved his herd onto the ranch, though, his hopes--and his animals--seemed to be under assault. The balls of light that were seen so often on the property seemed to take special interest in the cattle and were often seen buzzing around the heads of the animals. Sometimes, the cattle would react violently, the herd splitting suddenly as if some invisible force was plowing through their middle. It soon got worse.

Although the Gormans kept close watch on their stock, something began exacting a terrible toll. One cow was found dead in a field. A strange, crisp hole had been cut in one of its eyes. There were no tracks or blood, and Gorman wondered what could do such a thing. He noticed a strong musk odor around the carcass, a smell he would come to know all too well.

Other cattle were carved up, as if with pinking shears. Cattle mutilations have been reported throughout North America for several decades. In typical cases, the ears, eyes, udders and sex organs are removed with surgical precision. Gorman's animals were subjected to all of the above.

As an experienced hunter and rancher, Gorman was more than familiar with the capabilities of natural predators. This wasn't being done by coyotes or mountain lions. The butchery was simply too clean. And no blood was ever left at the scene of the attacks. His other animals also suffered. His favorite horse had its legs slashed, as if by sharp instruments or claws. (The musk odor was still in the air when he discovered the damaged horse.) His dogs seemed to develop paranoia. They stayed inside their doghouses for days at a time, too fearful to emerge for food. Six of the family's cats vanished in one night.

Soon, cattle started disappearing altogether. One of the animals vanished from a snow-covered field. Gorman saw the hoofprints lead into the field, but the tracks simply stopped, as if the animal had been plucked from the sky. A 1,200-pound cow leaves tracks in snow, Gorman told himself, so what happened to this one?

In all, 14 of Gorman's prized animals were either sliced up or vanished. In one instance, a cow was found mutilated just five minutes after Gorman's son had checked on it. Something cut a hole, six inches wide and 18 inches deep, in the animal's rectum. The cored-out section extended into the cow's body cavity, yet there was no blood on the cow or on the snow-covered ground.

The loss of 14 expensive animals from an 80-head herd is extreme by any standards. (There were other losses as well, but from explainable causes.) It meant that Gorman was close to financial collapse. One April afternoon, Gorman and his wife took a quick drive to town for supplies. As they passed the corral that contained their four bulls, they commented to each other that they would really be in trouble if something should happen to one of the bulls.

When they returned to the ranch less than an hour later, all four of the bulls were gone. The Gormans began a frantic search for the missing behemoths but couldn't find a trace. As a last resort, Gorman decided to peek into a metal trailer that is situated inside the corral. He thought it highly unlikely that the bulls would be inside because, from the corral, there is only one door into the trailer and it was secured with thick metal wire, wire that clearly was still in place.

Gorman was shocked to see that all four of his bulls were inside the trailer, squeezed like so many oversized sardines into the tiny enclosure, crammed in against the sides of the trailer and against each other. When he yelled to his wife that he had found them, the bulls seemingly woke up, as if from a dream state, and started kicking the hell out of the trailer and each other.

There is simply no way that anyone could coax those four bulls into that trailer, says Colm Kelleher, a microbiologist who would come to know the Gormans well. It would be tough enough to get one of them into the trailer, but all four? Virtually impossible. The only door leading from the corral into the trailer was still securely fastened with wire. And there were cobwebs on the inside of the door, proving that it had not been opened. It's almost as if someone overheard the ranchers' worries about their bulls, then decided to mess with them.

Le NIDS à la rescousse

Kelleher didn't realize it back in mai 1996, but the Gorman ranch was to soon become his home away from home. Kelleher is the deputy administrator of NIDS, the National Institute for Discovery Science, a Las Vegas-based research organization founded by local businessman Robert Bigelow. Bigelow's long-standing interest in paranormal topics, including UFOs, animal mutilations and human consciousness, prompted him to assemble an impressive team of physicists, engineers, psychologists and other doctorate-level professionals for the purpose of investigating subjects that are largely shunned by mainstream science.

By the middle of mai 1996, the Gormans were ready to cash in their chips. Those who know Tom Gorman say he blamed himself for the weird string of events that had ruined his ranching operation. He didn't want to give up but felt cursed, and was ready to bail for the sake of his family. In an uncharacteristic moment, he told parts of his story to a news reporter. A respected journalist from Salt Lake City heard about it, came to the ranch and talked to the family. Pictures were taken, and a wire service picked up the story. That's how Bob Bigelow first learned about the ranch.

Bigelow and his team flew to Utah and introduced themselves to the Gormans. NIDS staffers checked out the story, interviewed neighbors and evaluated the Gorman's seemingly incredible tales. Bigelow offered to buy the ranch outright with the idea of transforming it into an interactive paranormal laboratory, an ongoing experiment that might shed some light on questions that have been viewed with scientific skepticism. Amazingly, he talked the Gormans into staying at the ranch as caretakers.

By that point, the family was a wreck. The UFOs, balls of light, cattle mutilations, animal disappearances, Bigfoot sightings and Skinwalker legends were bad enough, but there had also been an ongoing series of more personal events. Things had occurred within their home that had made a normal life impossible. They saw apparitions in the house, blinding lights, dark creatures peering in the windows. Furnishings, tools and everyday items moved around, disappeared or turned up in unusual places.

No one could sleep. When they did manage to grab a few hours, they were plagued by violent nightmares, often discovering later that different family members had experienced identical dreams. The two kids, honor students before arriving at the ranch, saw their grades plummet. Mrs. Gorman lost her job at a local bank because of her repeated absences and disturbing water-cooler tales. Hoping for safety in numbers, the Gormans slept each night on the floor of their front room.

The folks from NIDS offered moral, emotional and financial support to the Gormans. What's more, they had a plan. The ranch presented what appeared to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to legitimately study a full menu of paranormal activities. They endeavored to seal off the ranch, pack it with high-tech monitoring equipment, staff it round-the-clock with trained observers, and see what happens.

Some residents sarcastically wondered what the hucksters from Las Vegas really had in mind. A scam of some sort was one oft-mentioned possibility. UFO buffs whined that Bob Bigelow was a "shadowy" guy who may or may not have CIA connections and that he was out to somehow corner the market on E.T. They demanded that whatever happened at the ranch should be made immediately available for their evaluation. And paranormal debunkers predicted the NIDS team would come up empty-handed because unexplained events inevitably wither under careful scrutiny.

As it turned out, all three groups were wrong. NIDS did seal off the ranch from outside observers but not for any monetary gain. Neither the CIA nor any other government agency had any input or access to the things that have occurred under the NIDS watch. And the phenomena itself did not wither or evaporate.

For the past six years, events at the ranch have been under constant scrutiny. Witnesses, including highly accomplished scientists and law enforcement personnel, have documented a mind-boggling array of unusual activity. But there has been a near-total blackout on the release of any information about the site.

By agreement with Bigelow, this reporter was granted the first outside access to the ranch and to the scientists and ex-lawmen who've been studying it. Interviews were conducted with ranch personnel, as well as with community members who had reported unusual events. And several nights were spent out on the ranch itself, watching for odd lights or other manifestations.

No one who has studied this can say with any certainty what's going on here. The NIDS researchers are not making any claims about E.T.s or ghosts or Skinwalkers. They are merely collecting data and trying to make some sense of it. That is small comfort to me as I sit in the darkness on my little plastic chair, waiting for something to happen. The mind certainly can play tricks in such an environment, but could so many witnesses be completely wrong?

Next week: We'll examine a long litany of bizarre activity that occurred while the NIDS team was stationed at the ranch, including the shooting and tracking of an unknown creature, the destruction of electronic equipment by something unseen, the unexplained creation of "ice circles" and the opening of what some say is a portal to another dimension.

Warning to paranormal enthusiasts: Do not travel to the ranch. You are not welcome there. It is private property and the people who live on or near it don't want to be hassled by curiosity seekers or the media. What's more, the level of unexplained phenomena has taken a steady nosedive over the past several months, so chances are you wouldn't see anything even if you could get on the property.