John B. Alexander

“Having twice formally retired, I was hired part-time, and before long an experienced biochemist named Colm Kelleher was brought on as the deputy administrator to run the operation day-to-day. One of my early tasks was to help create a world-class Science Advisory Board (SAB). Bob knew a few of the obvious choices, like Jacques Vallee, Hal Puthoff, and lunar astronaut Edgar Mitchell. But because I came from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), I had other contacts in the scientific community, ones who were not widely known to be interested in these phenomena. What emerged was truly an amazing group, one that could stand up to any scrutiny. They included Gian-Carlo Rota of MIT, who is considered the father of combinatorial mathematics, and O’Dean Judd, a physicist who had been the technical director of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, aka Star Wars) and later became the National Intelligence Officer for Research and Development at the National Intelligence Council. Also on the board was Johndale Solem, a brilliant theoretical physicist from LANL who held the Enrico Fermi chair and had published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers in some 50 different fields. It was Johndale who first proposed the use of nuclear weapons for planetary defense against asteroid impact. For that he was vociferously attacked in The New York Times as just wanting to defend the nuclear weapons budget. Also an initial member of the NIDS SAB was another lunar astronaut, albeit a more skeptical one, Senator Harrison “Jack” Schmitt.

Joining us later was Al Harrison, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, who studied how contact with extraterrestrials would impact society. There were several other scientists, most of whom had been openly involved in the scientific study of anomalous phenomena. While many fields of science were represented, the common factor was that they all were open minded and willing to examine data that didn’t fit preconceived parameters.

The first chairman of the NIDS SAB was Christopher (Kit) Green, MD, Ph.D., a former CIA senior scientist and then a senior executive with General Motors. Later, Kit would head the fMRI research at Wayne State Medical Center, but he was already known for his interest in psi phenomena. With his multidisciplinary background and questioning mind, Kit was the perfect choice to head this group.”

“Bob and I flew to Vernal, Utah, the day he closed the deal with Terry Sherman to buy the ranch. That was the first night I spent alone on the mesa overlooking the grazing land below. But other than an attack of voracious mosquitoes, there was nothing remarkable to report. Later, that was not the case━there were several incidents that would challenge any model of modern science. (For more complete information about this investigation, I highly recommend the book, Hunt for the Skinwalker by Colm Kelleher and George Knapp.)

The term Skinwalker was coined by people not associated with the project. Skinwalker comes from the Navajo tradition and refers to an entity that can change form from a man into any animal, such as a wolf, coyote, fox, or even a bird. They are associated with witches and evil, as opposed to the medicine men who engage in blessings and healings. The term skinwalker was appropriate, as there were credible reports of strange creatures being seen at the ranch. It was reported to us that the local Indians were well aware of unusual happenings in the area, events that occurred long before it became a working ranch. By tradition, it was an area to be avoided, especially at night.

The SAB listened to the remarkable, often fantastic stories that Terry Sherman told us. For the record, we found him to be very credible and a solid citizen who was very perplexed by the events that happened to him and his family. The history of the ranch seemed to support his claims. When Terry and his family moved in, they found heavy metal rings embedded in the walls near the front and rear door of the tiny house. The prior owner indicated that he kept vicious dogs chained near the doors to prevent anyone or anything from approaching the house. Later we learned that he had also experienced a number of incidents that caused him to use that primitive, but effective, measure of security.”

“One of the inexplicable stories that lends credence to the Skinwalker Ranch phenomena happened shortly after the family had first moved in. While on a break from working close to the house, Terry noticed a dog approaching from the west. As the animal walked right up [to] him, Terry realized it was a wolf and not a dog, as he first thought. The wolf was very large, its head coming to the middle of Terry’s chest. He thought it strange that a wolf had been domesticated and was friendly to humans. After petting the animal, Terry returned to work.

Within a few minutes, he heard a commotion in his cattle pen, which was located nearby. There, he found the wolf had reached under the bottom railing, grabbed a 600-pound calf by the snout, and was attempting to pull it out. Picking up a heavy wooden post, Terry smacked the wolf in the ribs as hard as he could. That had no effect. From his truck, Terry quickly retrieved his .44 Magnum. At point-blank range, he fired six rounds into the wolf’s chest, which should have contained the beast’s heart. That action would have killed any natural animal, yet barely fazed this one.

At that juncture, the wolf let go of the calf and began wandering off, but not in any hurry. Next Terry picked up a loaded rifle he used for elk hunting. He fired at the retreating animal and saw chunks of flesh fly off the animal’s body. Eventually the wolf disappeared from sight. Terry then went over to the location where he saw the flesh fall on the ground. Lying there were remnants from the animal. Most surprising, Terry noted, was that although they had just been ejected from the moving body, what he picked up smelled as if putrefied. In most cases putrefaction does not occur until several days after death. Whatever Terry shot did not behave like any known animal. Whether it was a skinwalker or not is impossible to say. It is safe to say that six rounds from a .44 Magnum at range, even if the path of the bullets missed vital organs, should have brought the intruder down. It didn’t.”

“It was another event that caused Terry to sell the ranch to Bob. On several occasions, Terry and the rest of the family reported seeing balls of light, sometimes called orbs, dancing a few feet above the ground. Like most ranchers, the Shermans kept dogs that were both pets and work animals. One night Terry saw his dogs jumping up and snapping at the orbs. There appeared to be some interactions, almost teasing, between the dogs and the orbs as they moved off the eastern edge of his property.

Unlike all previous nights, the dogs failed to return to the house. The following day Terry went looking for them. Beyond the fence, he came upon what he believed was the remains of his dogs. On the ground, he found three greasy spots. That was all that remained of the pets. That scared him as he was concerned that his teenage sons might also attempt to engage the orbs. They decided to vacate the ranch before any harm could come to the family.”

“From a scientific perspective, one of the most interesting events that took place was the mutilation of a calf. The incident was important, as it provided a lot of physical evidence that cannot be explained. It was calving season at the ranch. One bright sunny midmorning, Terry went out to examine the herd and found a newborn standing next to its mother. As is the custom, the calf was given a tag to identify it with the mother. He also weighed the calf and noted that. Crossing the flat, open field, he found a second newborn and proceeded to tag and weigh that one as well. The procedure took about 45 minutes.

As he drove back to where he had found the first calf, a distance of only about 300 meters, he was shocked to find the mother going berserk. There, on the ground was the dead body of the calf he had tagged and weighed just a few minutes earlier. The calf showed signs of extensive mutilation. The ear that had been tagged was sliced off with surgical precision and was missing. The calf was both eviscerated and exsanguinated. The bones were intact, save for a femur that had been removed and was lying a short distance from the rest of the body. What remained of the calf now weighed 20 pounds less than before.

The body was immediately covered, and NIDS’ own veterinarian, George Onet, flown to the scene within a few hours. Extensive testing was conducted. The cut for the missing ear was indicative of a very sharp instrument. The same was true of the strange marks found on the femur. SAB members were consulted on this case, but they could provide no rational explanation for what had happened. The missing blood was problematic. Did it seep into the ground? That possibility was eliminated as there was a test conducted in which blood was obtained from a local slaughterhouse and intentionally poured onto the ground at a nearby location. Even weeks later, the spot where the blood was intentionally deposited was clearly identifiable.

Also considered was predation. There are a few mountain lions in the area to the north, but this was not how they kill. Bears, wolves, and other large animals were categorically excluded, as was the possibility of human intervention. This was an open field and within Terry’s line of sight at all times. The probability that someone would risk such an attack, including extensive surgery, in broad daylight is so remote as to be eliminated.

As unlikely as it seems, the conclusion of the investigation, with concurrence of the SAB, was that the evisceration and exsanguination had occurred at another location and the body returned to where it was found. That defies all known scientific theories. It points to something that has the capability of interdimensional transport and interaction with our physical world. It may be considered bizarre, but when all of the facts are considered, it becomes the most parsimonious explanation.”

“Another example that points to an interdimensional interaction took place in August 1997. Two of our trained researchers were located at an observation point on the escarpment that runs along the north side of the ranch. That area provides an overlook from which you can see most of the ranch and is near where I spent my first night. At about 2:30 AM, just as they prepared to call it a night, they spotted a dim light near the vicinity of the dirt road below them. Shortly, its intensity increased, revealing an expanding circle of yellow light. It seemed to hover about three feet above the ground. When it reached an estimated four feet in diameter and appeared tunnel-like, a dark object appeared. Using the third-generation night vision equipment that NIDS had procured, they saw a humanoid-looking creature emerge from the illuminated tunnel. They estimated that the entity was about six feet in height and probably weighed around 400 pounds. It pulled itself out of the tunnel of light and landed on the road, or so they thought. In a short period of time, the creature headed eastward down the road into the darkness. The tunnel of light then receded into itself and disappeared.

Given the size of the entity they had seen, the researchers prudently waited before descending to the road. As with reports of many Bigfoot or Sasquatch sightings, they noticed a distinct pungent odor in the area, but no other trace of the creature. A daylight search was even more perplexing. The dirt road is dusty and anything moving on it leaves prints. Obviously, any animal the size that they reported should have left footprints behind. None were ever found. This interaction too is prototypical of a Skinwalker, albeit one of unknown/extradimensional origin.”

“While that report relies on eyewitness testimony, other incidents provided substantial physical evidence and were equally disconcerting. For the next several years the ranch was instrumented and time-lapse video recordings of the area were made 24/7. In select areas cameras were mounted, taking a photo every one and one-third seconds, or about 45 frames per minute. The cameras were elevated about 20 feet off the ground on substantial poles. They faced west with most of the ranch property in view. The video cameras were situated in such a way that two of them were observing two other cameras. There were wires running down the poles, under the ground, and into a trailer home that contained the recording equipment. The wires were firmly affixed to the poles with a lot of duct tape. As the wires neared the ground, they were protected by PVC tubing that was secured to the poles by plastic U-clamps. Inside the trailer the recordings were made with the date-time stamp always imprinted. This system functioned smoothly for many months without a single interruption.

One day the wires were found pulled loose at the top of pole mounted camera #2. Significant damage had been done. All of the duct tape, about half a roll, had been pulled loose and was gone. Anyone who has worked with duct tape knows how hard it is to remove. In addition, a three-foot-long length of wires was also gone. The protective PVC had been pulled loose from the pole and the U-clamps were missing.

It was fairly easy to determine the exact time of the incident. When reviewing the video feed from camera #2, the pictures stopped abruptly. The next step was to examine the video recording of camera #1, which had a view of camera #2. What it didn’t show was startling. Though it had recorded continuously, it did not show any of the disturbance at camera #2. Even stranger still, at the time that camera #2 stopped sending pictures, the cattle were gazing peacefully around the pole. That is very significant, as whenever anyone approached this herd, the cattle tended to scatter and move away. Dogs and predators would elicit the same reaction. We also eliminated the possibility that a person had approached from behind the pole in a manner that camera #1 would not have spotted them. First, the cattle would have scattered. Second, there was no video of a person climbing the pole, and doing all of the other damage that occurred. It would have been impossible to have caused that amount of damage in the one and a third seconds between frames. When the cut ends of the wires were sent for analysis, it was concluded that the instrument used was probably rusty, but not specifically identified.”

“Again, the SAB was presented with the evidence. Given the totality of the circumstances, there is no credible scientific explanation that can accommodate the data. Worth noting is that one of our staff seemed to be more sensitive to these events. An astrophysicist, Eric Davis, reported that at times he had mental contact with an unknown source. During one incident, he sensed something moving through the tree branches near where the old ranch house had been located. The description best fit the invisible alien in the movie Predator. As readers may recall, all you could see was a disturbance in the visual pattern, but no distinct object. Eric, who has published some notable articles in antiproton annihilation propulsion, told us that the entity had told him that, “We are watching you.” It is not clear why he experienced interactions when others did not. That is part of the conundrum we found at Skinwalker Ranch.”

“There were several attempts made to capture data on these phenomena. All of them were evaded, as if some intelligence was determining what would be presented. I had previously given a name to these phenomena; I call it Precognitive Sentient Phenomena (PSP). PSP is not limited to Skinwalker Ranch, but it certainly played out there. The wording is precise. Precognitive means that the controlling factor knows before the vents takes place exactly how the observers will respond. If there will be research done on solid evidence, it can predict what will be done and interject aspects that defy logic. Sentient means that whatever is controlling the interaction is intelligent. Also, that intelligence is firmly in charge of both how the event is observed, and what the response will be. Phenomena means that the event generally will be inexplicable.

The subject of the Trickster is well established in paranormal research. Whatever is generating these incidents does so in a manner that does not remain consistent over time. From a scientific perspective, that makes studying any aspect of it almost impossible. In vain we make attempts to isolate characteristics of the phenomena in order to research them effectively. But what happens is that these phenomena constantly morph over time.

Among other attempts at obtaining useful information on the phenomena, biosensors were established, namely dogs. There were many stories about interactions between dogs and the phenomena, and not all had ended as gruesomely as what happened to Terry’s pets. Still it is known that dogs can sense things that are well beyond human capability. In order to have control of the situation, pens were constructed in an area in which activity had been reported. Towers were put in above the pens and various toys placed there. On occasion, the items would be moved about, but true to form, nothing was caught on camera.”

“The Skinwalker Ranch was not the sole focus of NIDS. One investigation I found interesting occurred when Colm and I visited the Lee family who had reported many strange happenings at their home in Black Forest, Colorado. Here again there was a mixture of unusual events coupled with tales that could not possibly have happened. Television programs had featured their home, and with that notoriety came considerable conflict in the neighborhood, to the point that law enforcement was often called. That actually happened on a night we were visiting. That was unfortunate as it was difficult to determine if the events centered on the immediate area, or the family.

The Lees did have some pretty strong video and photographic evidence to support some of the claims. The misty shadows that appeared inside their home were only mildly interesting scientifically, but they were of considerable concern to the family. More interesting to me were the tapes made by their external surveillance cameras, which were triggered by motion detectors. Being in a forested area, it was not uncommon for wild animals to transit the yard and be photographed. But there were other incidents captured on video that were harder to explain. Specifically, there were many instances in which orbs of light clearly would be seen moving about. The scientific issue of interest here is not whether the orbs were some kind of visual illusion, but what was it about the event that was sufficiently physical in form to cause the video cameras to activate?

At times, they have reported unexplained violent incidents in the home apparently caused by unseen, nonhuman entities. As I recall, Steve Lee had scratches appear on his body. In addition, members of television crews filming at the location also reported physical encounters with an invisible force, including having a camera mounted on a tripod tipped over. Family members also reported malodorous incidents on several occasions.”

“At NIDS I was involved in several UFO studies as well. At least two involved very high-profile cases and personalities. The research into Phillip Corso was a highlight, but it proved to be an extreme challenge. In my book UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies and Realities, I devoted an entire chapter to him entitled “The Corso Conundrum.” Thanks to George Knapp, we knew about Phil long before his book The Day After Roswell came out. George Knapp was to be the co-author but was not able to participate when the contract was finally signed. In any case, George, Hal Puthoff, and I went to Ft. Pierce, Florida, where Corso lived with his son. We then brought him to Las Vegas where we interviewed him for several days. At that time, Jacques Vallee joined us. Most impressive was the absolute consistency of his interviews.

Following those discussions, I went to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and spent a week checking his background. The results were mixed. In general, he was assigned as he had told us. There was some significant problems though, ones that were never explained. Phil told us that General Trudeau had created a position for him and called it the Foreign Technology Division (FTD). It was from this office he claims to have maintained contact with the material from Roswell and provided pieces to civilian industry when it was perceived they could benefit from it. The recipients, Phil stated, did not know the origin of the material and assumed it to be Soviet.

We determined that the FTD was organized at that time when Trudeau, a three-star general, was the U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development, and Acquisition. Corso was assigned to that organization and claimed to be the director. The problem was that both the Pentagon phonebook and the Army organizational chart showed that a Colonel T. H. Spengler was the director. When I asked Phil about the discrepancy, he said he did not know Spengler, who was a full colonel while Phil was only a lieutenant colonel. We do know that Phil had a special relationship with Lieutenant General Arthur Trudeau, who had a legendary reputation in the Army. A futuristic thinker and battlefield commander in Korea, Trudeau had led the fight for Pork Chop Hill.

Among things that Phil correctly told us about was Project Horizon, a plan made under Trudeau to fight from the moon. As I confirmed with Edgar Mitchell, it was the Army, with assistance of German scientists, that was largely responsible for putting us on the Moon. When it came to Phil’s technology claims, things fell apart pretty quickly. According to the story he told us, and is repeated in his book, there were several key technologies that came from ET material found at Roswell. These included integrated circuitry, night vision, and fiber optics, among others. The problem was that the evolutionary history of each of those technologies was well-known. At no point was there a big leap indicative of some outside assistance or intervention.

The night vision claim was of particular interest to me as Lou Cameron was a personal friend and the director who literally built the U.S. Army Night Vision Laboratory (NVL), as it was then known. Lou was very open-minded and had attended several spoon-bending parties. Though he was retired, I did contact him and confirmed what I suspected. There were no alien eyeballs involved in the development of night vision technology. Several of the claims in the book are specifically refuted in the established history of NVL.

Other Corso claims were even more egregious, and my mention of them has brought me into conflict with many of his supporters. Paul Hellyer, the former Canadian Minister of National Defence, is one of those and we have metaphorically crossed swords on this topic. At the top of the list is the specious notion that the Cold War was a cover to prepare us to fight ET. Corso’s errors ran from miniscule to this whopper, and I sent Phil a seven-page letter (included as an addendum to my UFO book) detailing the ones I found. While I considered Phil a friend, I could never rectify the incongruence in his statements or his rationale for them.”

“Another famous UFO case that NIDS played a role in investigating was that of Rendlesham Forest, also known as the Bentwaters Air Force Base case. This remains one of the best cases, and even today more information is being revealed about the incident. The biggest mistake, in my view, is to look at the case as a single incident, or one that occurred twice. To be sure there were a couple of nights in which extremely dramatic events happened, but that is only part of the story.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to interview several of the key participants and find most of them to be very credible. Even though there were more than 60 witnesses with varying degrees of involvement, the case goes far beyond personal accounts. What has been striking from the first reports was the amount of physical evidence that supported the validity of the case. While skeptics have attempted to knock it down, their explanations never fit the data and they tend to discount critical pieces such as the radiation levels that were recorded.

From a NIDS perspective I got involved when we were contacted by a woman who had lived on the base at the time of those first reports. She had been the wife of one of the base staff officers. As a practical matter, they had a radio that was tuned to the Security Police frequencies so that they could be aware of any significant incidents on the base. According to her, the strange incidents continued well after those that have been publicized. While official interest waned, apparently, some of the family members picked up the trail and would follow up when something unusual was reported. She provided me with a film she had taken several weeks after the late December 1980 encounters. She said there had been several additional sightings, but nothing as dramatic as what Colonel Chuck Halt and Jim Penniston have claimed. Unfortunately, there were no reference points in the video frames by which additional analysis might be made. This does, however, point to what I believe is an important issue from a scientific perspective. That is, like events at Skinwalker Ranch, whatever happened at Rendlesham Forest had gone on for a long time and tended to display poly-phenomenal characteristics.”

“Another case I handled at NIDS demonstrated the capability to do high-quality photo analysis. In 2000, I was contacted by Peter Gersten about a photo that was posted on the CAUS website showing a man in uniform sitting on a horse. At a distance behind him appeared to be a UFO.

Soon I located Jack LeMonde in Santa Monica. Twice wounded fighting with the U.S. Marines in the South Pacific, in 1945 he was recuperating at his home in Burbank, California. The photo of him had been taken on a morning in June of that year near the Pickwick Riding stables. At that time, Burbank as a relatively rural area and equestrian activities were quite common. That is not at all what the topography is like today. The LeMonde family had a great interest in photography and invested in very good equipment. The camera was a German Voightlander equipped with a Carl Zeiss f3.5 lens (possibly f4.5) with a focal length of approximately 10 centimeters. It is the excellent quality of the optics that made this remarkable photo possible.

When the film was developed, they noticed the unusual object above the horse’s neck. It was thought to be either an airplane in the distance or a speck of dust that had gotten on the negative. Remember, in 1945 the words “flying saucer” did not exist, and so it was just filed away with other family photos. Fifty years later the family decided to have copies made of their old photos for posterity.

NIDS engaged a person who had been a technical photo analyst for the Air Force and was then in private practice. Working from the print I delivered, he digitized and analyzed it. The original photo was a 2¼ by 3¼ inches contact print. All aspects of the lighting angles and intensity appear to be congruent. Taken to the gain level under a microscope, there is no indication of a supporting structure of any kind. The clarity of the object suggests this is not something that had been thrown into the air. At the shutter speed listed, a thrown object would be slightly blurred. A fair amount of structure could be seen on the object. All indications are that the photograph was initially developed at about the time reported (1945).

While we believed the photo to be authentic, several people suggested to NIDS that the object in the LeMonde photograph was actually a streetlight fixture of some kind. That seemingly simple answer was rejected for several reasons. Each response indicated that the light was suspended on a wire. As stated in the article that I wrote for NIDS, microscopic examination of the photo down to the grain level failed to reveal any suspending or supporting mechanisms. Further, behind the horse’s neck, close to the saddle can be seen the curved arches of a sign that is over a drive-in movie theater. That provides a reference for height. The object in question is well in the background behind the marquee. The distance suggests that the object is much larger than a street light and substantially higher. Were it small and in the foreground, the supporting mechanism would be observable. It is not.

In checking on street lighting in Burbank in 1945 it was determined that the lights described by those who “instantly recognized” the object in the photo were not in use in that community. Rather, the existing streetlights were placed atop granitized concrete posts. No such post is visible. Also, the lamp itself was a total different variety.

Actually, when LeMonde first gave me the picture, he stated that he estimated the height of the object to be between 750-850 feet above the ground. That figure was derived based on the photographic angle, as he originally believed the object was over two miles away. I was not as convinced that the object was that far away or that it was over 700 feet high. However, it was well above normal streetlight heights. (LeMonde later believed the object was probably about a mile away.) It is a solid object and not a streetlight.

This is another example of a case with hard evidence that has been ignored by traditional science. While it represents a small piece in a much bigger puzzle, it points to the need for a better collection and analysis system. The LeMonde photo is also indicative of our lack of recognition of phenomena until some precipitating event captures the public’s imagination and we acknowledge what has always been present. For a few years, NIDS provided a platform for such research. More needs to be done.”

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