Heading south next weekend to return my 91-year-old dad to the custody and care of my brother. Bob splits his time between Southern California and Central Oregon — and it’s time for him to fly south for the winter.
I’ve picked out a set of podcasts to keep me company on the long, lonesome highway. I’m taking a road trip into the paranormal frontier.
I’ve long been intrigued by the Dyatlov Pass Incident. From Atlas Obscura:
IN JANUARY OF 1959, 23-YEAR-OLD Igor Dyatlov led a group of eight young Soviet hikers, comprising seven men and two women and mostly university students, into the Ural Mountains, attempting to reach Mt. Ortorten from the small settlement of Vizhai. It took more than three months to locate all nine of their bodies.
Setting off to meet a strange doom…
They were found about six miles away from their destination, in a forest almost a mile away from their campsite, without their skis, shoes, or coats in approximately -30 degrees Fahrenheit weather. Two of them had fractured skulls, two more had major chest fractures, and one hiker was missing her tongue. Soviet investigators listed the cause of death as “a compelling natural force,” and abruptly closed the case not even a month later.
There are all kinds of anomalies associated with the incident, which I’ll explore in a later post. Suffice it to say that… this is weird.
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Speaking of weird…
The second set of podcasts relate to the odd goings-on at Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. The name of the place itself courts dangerous weirdness. Skinwalkers are Navajo witches. From Legends of America:
In the Navajo culture, a skinwalker is a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal.
This witch is called “yee naaldlooshii” by the Navajo, which translates to “with it, he goes on all fours.” It is just one of several types of Navajo witches and is considered the most volatile and dangerous.
Skinwalker Ranch is supposedly the hottest of paranormal hotspots. From Wired Magazine:
In 1994, a Mormon family bought a 480-acre plot in in Utah’s Uintah Basin, thinking they’d get back to the land. But this particular land was weird. It came with too-large-thrice-over wolves that refused to die by bullet, cattle with their reproductive organs sucked clean out, and a multitude of UFOs, as they told the Deseret News in 1996. It was driving them bonkers.
Robert Bigelow saw their story. Today, the Nevada businessman is known for founding Bigelow Aerospace, which spun off a business to sell its expandable space habitats … But in 1995, he had also founded something called the National Institute for Discovery Science, an organization built to research paranormal phenomena. Soon after reading the newspaper story, he took Skinwalker off the family’s hands, and his institute set up shop…
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There’s nothing like the Wind River Tunnels on the stretch of highway I travel. The Wind River Canyon is supposed to be haunted…
The Tunnels are the setting for a tasty novella by Craig Johnson in his beloved Longmire series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqd_VYI_LB8
I’m going with Shakespeare’s tormented prince on this one:
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Anyway, I can’t think of a better way to roll out the miles through some beautiful country than to venture into a frontier of strange tales of the unexplained. I will report back… if I can.
Matthew says
Like you I don’t jump at paranormal explanations, but there are definitely things that are we unable to explain. Real life ghost stories are common enough that I think there is something going on there. Maybe not the spirits of the dead but something.
I remember hearing about those Soviet hikers and it definitely comes across like a plot to an episode of the X-files.
JimC says
Yes, it does.
Rick Schwertfeger says
Love it! My wife Marcia and I saw UFO’s on Halloween Night – not kidding – 1984 in Windsor, Vermont. You said they are real. Well, there is no question about the stable lights, light pattern, and then silent, rapid movement away that we saw in the dark skies above that small town. Whatever they were, they certainly were real!
Looking forward to your report…if you can.
RLT says
Just finished “The Blessing Way,” the first of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn books. Navajo witches feature prominently. Navajo Wolves, specifically; as the podcast says, there are ‘several types of Navajo witches.’ My understanding is that Skinwalkers are relevant to one of the later books in the series—and in the PBS movie starring Wes Studi. Apparently there are three of those films, actually. Have yet to figure out a way to get ahold of them, though…
.lane batot says
Gosh, have you not INDULGED yerself in that marvelous TV series “Ancient Aliens”??? Though I don’t have cable TV, they can be had(all TWELVE seasons of it!) fairly cheapo on DVD’s. I am just about to finish Season 11, Volume 2! Even if someone had no particular interest or belief in UFO’s, if you are interested in HUMAN HISTORY, it is an amazingly fascinating show, and you learn SO MUCH about human history! After watching the series, unless you are totally an imbecile, there are only TWO conclusions you can come to–either, yes, there ARE Aliens and they have had a major influence on our development as a species; or number two: our notions on our own history are very skewed and incorrect, and we had very advanced technology long before whatis generally taught about humankind. It may have been another show I watched(not sure), but I think there was an “Ancient Aliens” episode about the very incident in Russia mentioned on this post!….to be continued…
.lane batot says
…..and Jim–there you are living in Oregon, PRIME Bigfoot habitat, and despite all these posts on ghosts, the paranormal, beasts of Gevudan and werewolves, wilderness and native legends over the years, NOT ONCE have you even mentioned those big hairy guys!(and girls! Patterson’s Bigfoot WAS supposed to be a female!) I just gotta shake my head(sadly) at THAT! It is AN INCREDIBLE phenomenon, whether you believe in the OTHER bipedal primates or not, and it has spread to the entire country, and is even getting appropriated by the WORLD(of course, the yetis and almas have also been around forever)–I had a very well known primatologist E-mail me about Bigfoot being seen on the British Isles of late!!! At least you guys in the Pacific Northwest have an ACTUAL tradition of them there(going back to the Native traditions), and the Pacific Northwest is about the only plausible place such a critter could actually exist on this continent, and have any chance at avoiding detection(well, PROVABLE detection…in my humble opinion)–IF Bigfoot were JUST a typical(if incredibly elusive!) flesh-and-blood critter, that is. I finally broke down and read up on some of the PARANORMAL(including Alien/UFO connections) Bigfoot beliefs, and, far-fetched as a lot of it sounds, at least it explains, quite neatly and logically(as logical as the paranormal can get, anyway) a lot of the anomalies and seeming impossibilities regarding the Bigfoot phenomenon. Though MOSTLY an Unbeliever(and a former hoaxer, to boot), I am still FASCINATED with the whole phenomenon, and have been rather disappointed it has NEVER been a subject discussed on “Frontier Partisans” before! The Sasquatch’s time is overdue here! I WOULD be curious as to YOUR take(or possible experiences?) with the critter? So far there has only been…….silence.
JimC says
Now you’re asking me to spill family secrets!
.lane batot says
Whatever else is a Blog for?
wayne says
RLT,
I bought my 3 dvd set of the Tony Hillerman PBS series from Amazon. The series stars Wes Studi and Adam Beach with an impressive supporting cast that includes Graham Green and Keith Carradine. ‘Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
wayne says
Big Foot? I’m a skeptic mostly on the grounds that a big enough breeding population to be viable would be impossible to hide. On the other hand, we need things that go bump in the night. We had a good sized black bear with her 2 year old cub on our porch last night. I scared em off with a few .22 rounds in the ground for noise because they can’t be around with our 2 Labs. Nevertheless, it’s good to know they’re out there living in their woods.
I wish the money and energy spent on bigfoot was being spent on preserving our primate relatives. Who needs bigfoot if you still have gorillas and orangutans?
.lane batot says
Couldn’t agree more, on all accounts of your comment. I CANNOT believe that anything that large has eluded being shot over CENTURIES, not to mention at least proven in some way over millenia. IF it REALLY WERE just a flesh-and-blood critter, that is. I regularly tilt windmills with the ENORMOUS Bigfoot cultists that are now out there, and I am considered an outrageous BLASPHEMER for my blunt doubts, and pointing out what SHOULD be obvious anomalies to anyone with any basic woods skills. Yea, RUDIMENTARY woods skills and knowledge! And FAR WORSE, is that(during my high risk teen-age years), I did indeed perpetrate quite a few Bigfoot sightings with a horribly hand-stitched gorilla suit(and second-hand costume gorilla mask, rubber feet and hands), and faked a lot of tracks, completely convincing many of the critters’ existence(and got to hear their greatly elaborated accounts of the encounters, which I very well knew were not accurate, having been there!). Yet something deep, deep down still faintly wishes there WERE actually such critters, somewhere, somehow! I DO believe that perhaps there WERE, in our prehistoric past, that perhaps we as a species had to compete savagely with, hence the DEEPLY SEATED instincts that still cause humans to react so strongly with even the hint of such a beastie still lurking out there, somewhere……Now the PARANORMAL theories on Bigfeets–that’s a whole ‘nuther kettle of fish! HOTLY denied by the Bigfeets-As-Just-Critters Believers! But some of the paranormal believers state Sasquatch is–#1–vastly superior to us mere humans intellectually(they are not just “animals” despite their animal-like–to us–appearance) who have CHOSEN to lead a wild, material-less existence, and that they are psychic and can communicate telepathically, as well as having abilities at invisibility and dimension hopping! Not to mention a close connection with Extra Terrestrials, who often help transport Bigfeets from place to place(hence their increasing appearances in places ill-suited to hide and support family groups of giant, unproven bipedal primates). ALL THAT certainly would explain most of the Bigfeets’ anomalies! That is, IF you can learn to swallow all that with our tiny, human monkey brains. My experiences discussing the fascinating phenomenon(fascinating even if it is just a product of persistent human imagination!), with both main beliefs(and everything in between), is that the phenom has become almost RELIGIOUS(or a religious substitute) in nature, and one must tread carefully when discussing it, not to raise some Believers’ ire at your own skepticism!….And yes, other actual proven, existing and highly endangered species of primates ARE every bit as fascinating, and needing support and protection. Having lived for a few months in the forest with wild chimpanzees and baboons, and knowing their physical needs and behavior, is why I personally am so skeptical of these Sasquatches popping up everywhere in American suburbia, and yet none get shot, hit by cars, or even clearly photographed–EVER! Hoaxes aside, that is…..And there are LOTS of hoaxes…..
John Cornelius says
Speaking of UFO’s, etc.
Arthur C. Clarke’s view was:
“The best proof that there’s intelligent life in outer space is the fact that it hasn’t come here…the fact that we have not yet found the slightest evidence for life — much less intelligence — beyond this Earth does not surprise or disappoint me in the least. Our technology must still be laughably primitive; we may well be like jungle savages listening for the throbbing of tom-toms, while the ether around them carries more words per second than they could utter in a lifetime”
“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
Kevin says
Just read Dead Mountain by Eichar; who has a plausible (likely) explanation for the Dyatlov Pass incident. Disappointingly simple explanation for those of us who like “ things that go bump in the night stories”. SYOTT Khfish
JimC says
Is he an infrasound guy?
Infrasound or some kind of military testing gone awry seem to be the most plausible explanations.