06x11 - Hard To Handle

[bunniefuu]

Hey, guys, there's a low-flying
plane out here.

Oh, look right there.
Man, he's low.

I'm not showing anything.

Whoever it is,
their transmitter is off.

TRAVIS:
What are they doing?

You know, I have these cameras
in here and right outside.

Something happened
where all of them were disabled.

And video recorded
on them was captured

and sent somewhere else.

Something is hacking
this device.

Yeah.

ALEX:
I hit something.

I'm not moving at all,

and it's not even biting,
it's just rotating smoothly.

We had to replace the teeth.
They're all in pretty bad shape.

TRAVIS: What in the
world is inside that mesa

that they can't
drill through easily?

- What the hell is this?
- What is that?

TRAVIS: Space-age
material, right there.

Look at the patterning.
That's manufactured, guys.

TRAVIS: What is that
ceramic doing in there?

NARRATOR: There is
a ranch in Northern Utah.

It is considered the epicenter

of the strangest and most
disturbing occurrences on Earth.

For two decades,

the federal government

investigated the property.

Their findings have
never been made public.

TRAVIS: Right there!
We got something!

NARRATOR: Now a new team

of independent
scientists and researchers

are taking over.

They are uncovering evidence

that the countless stories...

It came right out of the mesa.

Of unidentified
aerial phenomena...

UAP right there!

Bizarre energies...

It looks like there's a heat
source right above 'em.

And portals that lead
to other dimensions...

We're maybe
looking at the anomaly

for the first time, guys.

Might actually be true.

They will stop at
nothing to reveal...

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.

TRAVIS: What's going on?

ERIK: Well, you know,

I've looked at the ceramics

from the mesa
under the microscope.

- Super exciting.
- ERIK: Yeah.

TRAVIS: For over
three years now,

we've been drilling in the
mesa on Skinwalker Ranch,

in an effort to identify
a massive object

and several smaller anomalies

that we believe are
buried inside there.

And last night, after the drill

may have hit one
of these objects

about 470 feet in our borehole,

we made an incredible
discovery in the drilling spoils.

Pieces of ceramics

that appeared to be
highly engineered.

Let me repeat that...
pieces of ceramics

that appeared to be
highly engineered.

I want to show
you a cross section

of one of the parts

and get your assessment

of what in the heck
we're looking at here.

- THOMAS: Oh, wow.
- TRAVIS: Oh, that is fantastic, Erik.

- Look at that.
- KALEB: Wow.

THOMAS: So, this image
here... this isn't a picture?

This is actually
under the microscope?

This is live off of
the microscope.

TRAVIS: We don't know anything

about this ceramic
material for sure yet.

So, before we take
them to a lab for testing,

Erik Bard gathered us
in the command center

to get a closer look.

Yeah, you look at the
crosshatches, right?

The preciseness of
these lines looks like

they were made by
laser etching or centering.

ERIK: So, that is potentially

- machined.
- TRAVIS: Yes.

ERIK: Let me show you

the chemical
analysis of this sample

that we were just looking at.

This is from the
handheld XRF system.

TRAVIS: Erik's XRF, or
X-ray fluorescence machine,

uses X-rays to determine
the elements in an object.

That might help us figure
out what these ceramics

could actually be used for.

So, look at what
we're seeing here.

There's the nickel,

and there is the iron.

TRAVIS: Well, and
the cobalt and strontium

and thorium and all that
is very interesting, too.

Everyday common
ceramics wouldn't be made

- of these kinds of elements.
- ERIK: No.

The fact that we see cobalt

and nickel in this does
hint of magnetic properties.

I have some small magnets,
some rare earth magnets,

that we can use to
take a look at these parts

and see if they
respond in any way.

TRAVIS: Normal ceramics
are usually made of clay,

not metallic elements.

So, if this stuff is
magnetic, it's another clue

of something that was
engineered for a specific purpose.

- ERIK: Moment of truth.
- SAM: Oh, boy.

- TRAVIS: What?
- ROYSTON: Whoa.

Whoa, whoa. Whoa.

- What?
- Can you believe that?

They're even magnetic. Like,
I'm still trying wrap my head...

-Like... -TRAVIS:
Ceramics aren't magnetic.

ERIK: I got to see this again.

- ROBERTS: Do the other pieces do it?
- I don't know.

- ROYSTON: Whoa.
- That's no small effect.

Wait a second.

TRAVIS: What's going on?

ERIK: Now, it feels like the
magnet is repelling the ceramic.

There's more going on here.

Yeah, I want you to feel this.

Watch.

TRAVIS: Well, it's
pushing against it right now.

You're right, Erik.

The ceramic has changed

to having a repulsive
magnetic field.

How does that happen?

There are no naturally-occurring
magnetic materials

that can both attract
and repel magnets.

The fact that this ceramic
is doing both is crazy,

and I'm not sure
what to make of it...

other than it was
engineered for some purpose.

This actually has very
similar elemental makeup

that you might see
from superconductors.

A superconductor is a
revolutionary material

that scientists are
still researching

and developing today.

It can transfer massive
amounts of energy

with no resistance
or energy loss.

This is really
complicated science.

The superconductors interact
with magnets in strange ways,

just like we're seeing
with this ceramic.

What's amazing
about superconductors

is that because they can
repel normal magnetic fields,

they're used
today for propulsion

in high-tech vehicles like
magnetic levitation trains.

But some scientists
have suggested

that superconductors
could one day be used

in the construction of
things like spacecraft.

So, if this ceramic
is a superconductor,

what the hell is
inside the mesa?

So, when you flip
it over, does it...

does it attract?

Nope. Still pushing away.

But this shouldn't be
possible at room temperature.

No, it should not.

TRAVIS: Normally,
superconductors need to be cooled

way down, like to liquid
nitrogen temperatures,

so that it repels
any magnetic field.

But it's not supposed to do that

until you hit to liquid
nitrogen temperature.

It was insane

that the ceramic kept
repelling the magnet,

like a superconductor would.

But here's the real mystery.

In order for superconductors
to transfer energy

without losing any or
to repel magnetic fields,

they have to be
kept extremely cold.

It's like trying to skate on
ice as opposed to water.

If they warm up, they stop
being superconductors.

That means it's...

That might be a
room-temperature superconductor.

There's no such thing

as a room-temperature
superconductor.

If this is a room-temperature
superconductor,

it's a breakthrough that we've
been looking for decades.

ERIK: Oh, huge. Yeah.

TRAVIS: We have a
ton of more testing to do.

But right now, it seems like

there could be
something in the mesa

that's way beyond our
present scientific capabilities.

- Well, who made it?
- Well, who or what made it?

- [others chuckling]
- And when was it made?

ERIK: And the question to follow

yours is, what the
hell did we drill into?

We got to do a lot more testing.

- We've got to let Brandon know about this.
- For sure.

TRAVIS: All right,
well, let's do that.

Let's get right on with it.

KYLE: Hey, Allan, go
ahead and start turning it

and pulling it out
nice and slow.



TRAVIS: After we called Brandon

to tell him about the
ceramic materials,

he said he'd arrange for us
to have them further analyzed

as soon as possible at
Utah Valley University.

All right, pulling.

Copy that.

TRAVIS: So, in the meantime,
we headed back to the mesa

where the drillers had
gotten to nearly 500 feet

inside of Borehole 2.

After we drill the last
hundred feet or so

and pop out of the
top of the mesa,

we'll have two identical
boreholes positioned

on either side of the
massive object buried in there.

Then we can insert scanning
devices into both boreholes

to help us learn more about
what these things could be.

KYLE: All right,
rotate a little bit slower

and keep pulling.

Holy crap, dude. Look at that.

Tooth is almost completely gone.

Oh, my gosh.

- The guys are gonna want to see this.
- Yeah.

Hey, guys, this is
Thomas. Do you copy?

KALEB: Yeah, go ahead, Tom.

THOMAS: Hey, they
just pulled this bit out

to do a battery change,

and you're gonna
want to look at this.

There's something
pretty incredible here.

- Oh, here we go.
- TRAVIS: Yup.

We had no idea what
to expect at the drill site.

We've had so many

crazy malfunctions happen

that seem to be related to
whatever's buried in there.

So, what the heck
have we got going on?

Well, the first and obvious
thing is the teeth here.

I mean, how many
sets of teeth is this now?

KYLE: This will
be the third set.

And it's half of the
whole tooth is missing.

How about that?

KYLE: And if you
want to look at this,

it's completely,
like, welded shut.

TRAVIS: It's fused...

- It's friction-welded.
- Mm-hmm. -ERIK: Crazy.

So, something welded
the... the bit to the rod.

KYLE: Got it hot enough,
yeah, but the weird thing is,

is the beacon stayed at


TRAVIS: Oh, it's 2,000
degrees Fahrenheit to get that hot

and weld that steel.

ERIK: I'm looking at that metal,

and it doesn't look to
me like it ever got that hot.

- Yeah. You usually see black and blue...
- KYLE: Yes.

Kind of rings and things
where the weld structure is.

You'll see all the different
oxidation states, you'll see

- color affected. Yeah.
- TRAVIS: Now, I don't see that.

That means it's in something

that was sucking
all the heat away.

The only thing that I know of

that could do that would
be a ceramic material.

Maybe it's hitting more
of the ceramic stuff

that we found in the spoils.

What the hell is in this mesa?

TRAVIS: Could what
happened to this drill bit

be another clue about
what's buried in the mesa?

We don't know yet,

but it makes us
all the more eager

to get the ceramic material

that we found tested
in a university lab.

You have another bit that
you can swap out of this

and the housing, or
you got to order one?

Uh, we're gonna
have to order one.

THOMAS: So, we're down
for day or so till you can get it.

KYLE: Yup, we can
get it overnighted.

- TRAVIS: Wow.
- THOMAS: All right.

TRAVIS: Crazy operation.

THOMAS: All right.
Let's do it, guys.

- We're down to, what, last 85 feet?
- 85.

Home stretch is here.

TRAVIS: The next day, the
drillers received their new bit,

so we were hoping
that they'd finally be able

to finish Borehole 2

and cut through to
the top of the mesa.

KYLE: Allan, go ahead and
give me a little bit of water

and start pushing in.

ALLAN: Water's on.

KYLE: All right, go
ahead and start pushing.

THOMAS: Hell yeah. I'm hoping

that's the last time
I see that drill bit

- till it comes out the top.
- Me as well.

I'm right there with you.

Hey, guys.

ERIK: I think
everyone on the team,

certainly the
drillers are anxious

to get this second
borehole ex*cuted.

Of course, there
is some anticipation

of perhaps running into
more of this very hard material

because we're seeing
the erosion of teeth.

But we're also curious as
to whether we'll find more

of this ceramic material
coming back out of the spoils.

It's an exciting time.

THOMAS: I'll leave you to it.

I'm gonna head
down to the spoils.

- I'll let you take care of this.
- KYLE: Sounds good.

- I'll make my way up there.
- Okay.

THOMAS: After seeing
our tungsten carbide

drill teeth chewed away

and finding this
ceramic material,

you better believe that we
were extremely interested to see

what was coming
out of the spoils pit

as the drillers continued
drilling into Borehole 2.

This is a culmination
of everything

- basically 500 feet and below.
- Okay.

- So no telling, you know, what we'll find in here.
- Yeah.

- What's that one right down there?
- This one?

- No, right there.
- Th... Ooh.

Let you look at that.

- ROBERTS: Got one.
- THOMAS: What?

- [laughs] Yeah.
- That-that is a...

- That's a piece of ceramic?
- Yeah. That's a piece.

Look at that texture
on that side, too.

Oh, that's interesting. Yeah.

Oh, look at the other side.

It's, like, glazed.

ROBERTS: Oh, does
it have the glaze on it?

THOMAS: It's a color variation.

ROBERTS: It's got, yeah, it is.

Definitely got a color.
I'm not seeing a sheen

like the first one we found
had that crosshatch glaze on it.

- Yeah.
- This one looks

like it's either worn
off or didn't have it,

but this one has a...
definitely a texture that way.

Uh-huh.

Lines and then this side,
completely different texture.

THOMAS: Oh, my gosh.

TRAVIS: We're not sure if
Chris had found another piece

of ceramic that had
been damaged by the drill,

or a different sort of
ceramic material altogether.

It was another mystery,

but also another clue
that we need to get tested.

Wow. Well, that's exciting that
we found another piece of that.

- Found another... Yeah.
- So hopefully,

as you sift, you can
find some more of that.

- Yeah, I'll keep looking.
- Okay.

I'm gonna go check back in with
the guys and see how it's going.

- Holler if you need any help or if you find any more.
- Okay.

- I'll let you know what I find.
- Awesome. Thank you, Chris.

Yup.

THOMAS: We inherited a
lot of stories and legends

from the Bigelow era

about this mesa.

Spacecraft going in it,

tunnels, caverns,
underground bases.

As we get closer to getting
both boreholes completed,

I feel like it's just
one step closer

to actually getting
into this mesa

and finding out what
kind of mysteries lie inside.

ERIK: I understand
we're getting awfully close.

Yup. We're about 60
feet away from poking out.

Okay. What is your rate

- of progress now?
- ALLAN: I'm able to drill

about a foot to a foot
and a half a minute.

- Okay.
- It's very soft.

I'm moving really
good through it.

We got 35 feet in two hours,

so, it's pretty good numbers.

ROYSTON: Wow.

TRAVIS: It was
such a relief to hear

that the drillers were making
quick progress in Borehole 2.

It made us think they
were finally drilling

between the strange
objects in there

and just cutting through
the natural sandstone.

THOMAS: So that rate,
we could be out of the top

here in an hour or two.

- I'm hoping around there.
- Awesome.

Knock on wood.

THOMAS: Well, I say

we get to it. Let's see

if we can get through that top.

Awesome. Well,
we'll get to going.

- Okay.
- All right, guys. Good luck.

KYLE: Hey, Allan, let me know

when you're getting
on that last rod.



TRAVIS: The drillers
continued making great progress

for the next hour.

Everybody figured, we
were past the objects

and home free to
finish Borehole 2.

So, Thomas was
up on top of the mesa

waiting for the drill bit to
break through the surface.

How's it going?

Yeah. What's going on?

ALLAN: At this point,
we're 540 feet into the mesa.

We're 35 feet from the top,

but I am hitting a substance

that has stopped
me dead in my tracks.

- [mechanical creaking]
- I'm wondering,

what did we just stumble into?

I honestly have no clue
what's going on in that mesa.

Copy that.

- That's with the brand-new bit.
- Mm-hmm.

At this point, what
we're drilling through is...

I have no answer for.

[rhythmic whirring]

THOMAS: I can
hear that pretty good.

KYLE: Yup. You can hear it, huh?

[loud, mechanical
whooshing and clanging]

THOMAS: It's hitting
something really hard.

I want to record the sound.

[rhythmic pulsing]

KYLE: Yeah, it sounds
different than any sandstone

and stuff we've
been through before.

KYLE: I wonder if it's the
same substance as before.

It's making me
think a little bit

of metals coming
off of those teeth.

THOMAS: It's been pretty
smooth sailing on the drilling

up until we got up to about


The drillers hit
something extremely hard.

It's apparent by all the
noise coming from the drill.

I can tell that this is even
harder than sandstone.

[whooshing and pulsing]

ALLAN: Hey, Kyle.
You got a copy?

Yeah, I got a copy.

The way this is
feeling, I feel like

I'm just gliding across
something, a smooth surface.

I think we need to pull out

and check these teeth again.

I think that's a good idea.

I'll meet you down
by the spoils pit.

Sounds like a plan.

[bleep]

It seems like

every time we start
making progress

on this drilling,

we have to stop
down for something,

and it's just driving me crazy.

Allan says it feels like he's
hitting a smooth surface,

so we really need
to check the drill bit.

This is disheartening
because we're only 35 feet

from breaking through the
top. So, it makes me wonder

if it was hitting more
ceramic material.

KALEB: Moment of truth, I guess.

THOMAS: All righty.

Hold that.

KYLE: Go ahead and slow rotate.

THOMAS: The
fact that he sat there

and drilled for 30 minutes...

ERIK: Wait a minute.

- THOMAS: Oh, my gosh.
- KALEB: Yup. Look at that thing.

THOMAS: Half that tooth is gone.

THOMAS: You see that tooth?

ALLAN: Yeah.

THOMAS: You ever drill
through something that will, uh,

plow through a tooth like that?

No.

Oh. Look at that stud right
there, right in the middle...

between those two teeth.
That thing's worn down, too.

According to all of our previous

ground-penetrating radar scans,

there's one massive object

and a bunch of smaller
ones buried in the mesa.

So, did the drill hit one
of the smaller objects

just 35 feet from
the top? And if so,

are they all covered with
that ceramic material?

JARED: If it keeps
hitting right here,

it's going weld back up
again, and we're gonna be...

Back in the same boat.

JARED: Big trouble for sure.

ERIK: We know from the
ground-penetrating radar data

that we have
something in that mesa.

So, it is essential

that we get this second
hole through the mesa.

KYLE: Yeah, it will
take a couple days

to get that drill
replacement in.

ERIK: You know what I
liked about this conversation...

I haven't anyone say
anything about giving up.

- That's right.
- No, I'm not going to.

- We're too close to the top.
- ERIK: That's perfect.

- Heck no.
- ALLAN: Home stretch, man.

THOMAS: All right. Well,

um, we'll get out of your way.

Thank you.

ROYSTON: Good luck, guys.

- BRIAN: Hey, guys.
- ERIK: Dr. Patchett.

- BRIAN: Good to see you.
- ERIK: Good to see you.

- Doctor.
- Hey.

TRAVIS: The next day,

ranch owner Brandon
Fugal arranged for us

to meet with physicist
Dr. Brian Patchett

at Utah Valley University

to examine samples of
the strange ceramic material

that we found in the mesa.

- So, this is the lab.
- Yes, sir.

Erik, I'll have you set your
samples down right here.

If you guys want to
have a seat at the SEM,

we can talk about how,
hopefully, we can help you out.

TRAVIS: For our first test, we
wanted to look at the ceramics

through an SEM or "scanning
electron microscope."

It's a device that bombards
objects with electrons

in order to obtain
magnified images of them

up to a million times
their actual size.

Yeah, we're anxious to better
understand the composition

of the material

that we brought to you today.

Well, it does sound like an
interesting set of specimens,

so, I'm very interested
to load it up and...

and see for myself
what you've brought in.

All right.

TRAVIS: We couldn't
wait to see the surface

of this material in
much more detail

than our microscope on
the ranch could give us.

- ERIK: So, I've got several samples mounted.
- BRIAN: Sure.

- So I'm going to bring these over.
- Okay.

ERIK: They go
inside the instrument.

All right, I'll close this up.

-I am so anxious to
see... -And now we will

vacuum this down.

There we go.

ERIK: All right.

Look at that
surface right there.

Oh, you can see the
crosshatch pattern in it.

That doesn't look
like Mother Nature.

BRIAN: No, it doesn't.

- Now, if I zoom into the surface...
- Yes.

This looks like something here.

Yeah. It's raised.

ERIK: Are we looking

at a tool-marked surface?

BRIAN: It looks
like the geometric

- patterns of it do resemble tooling.
- ERIK: Yeah.

TRAVIS: This almost looks

like a circuit component.

BRANDON: Oh, my gosh.

TRAVIS: We couldn't be
sure, but under the SEM,

it really looked like
there might be etching

on the surface of
that piece of ceramic.

But if so, who or what could
have created these patterns?

I'm gonna
reposition this a little.

Zoom in a little bit.

ERIK: I can see
some clearly-defined,

- like, holes right now.
- Oh, yeah.

Are those holes getting bigger?

- ERIK: Yes. I think so.
- BRIAN: Yeah, yeah.

What?

TRAVIS: It is. It's opening up!

BRIAN: Yeah.

ERIK: What in the
world is going on?

TRAVIS: Holy crap. Look at that!

BRIAN: My initial thoughts
were that we were just looking

at some simple ceramic.

However, we were able

to see pits beginning
to appear on the surface.

It piqued my interest. I knew

we weren't looking at
just a rock from the ground.

This was something
that had a unique property

that I hadn't witnessed before.

TRAVIS: What if it's the electron
beam from the microscope

that's causing this?

Let's turn it off to see if
it goes back to normal.

BRIAN: Yeah. We can do that.

TRAVIS: We were stunned
to see the surface of a solid,

ceramic material suddenly
become porous with big holes.

All I could think was that maybe

the electron beam from
the SEM was damaging it.

BRIAN: Let's see what happens.

BRIAN: Okay.

TRAVIS: All right, here we go.

ERIK: So, that does
not look as porous...

- TRAVIS: No.
- ERIK: as it was.

BRIAN: Not nearly.

I have the old screen grab.

BRANDON: Look at that.

BRIAN: This is healing.

I've never seen anything

that is capable of doing this.

This stuff is fixing itself.

Yes. It's healing.
That's exactly right!

Unbelievable.

BRIAN: This
stuff is fixing itself.

TRAVIS: Yes, it's
healing. That's exactly right!

It seems to be putting
itself back together

when the E-beam is turned off.

TRAVIS: Is that not just crazy?

TRAVIS: Of all the
unbelievable things

we've seen on Skinwalker Ranch,

this ceramic material that
came from more than 470 feet

inside the mesa
just raised the bar.

While being exposed
to a beam of electrons

in a high-powered microscope,

a bunch of holes suddenly
opened on its surface.

But when we turned the beam off,

it morphed back
to its original state.

What is this stuff?

Zoom further out

and let's see if we see
the crosshatches on it.

Okay. I can do that.

We'll close that.

ERIK: Yeah, there we go.

TRAVIS: Yup, the surface
is closed and smooth.

That's crazy.

We seem to be opening up voids

by illuminating this surface
with the electron beam.

And then when we turn the beam
off and then vented the chamber,

it goes back to its
original appearance.

I think that's what
we've just seen.

I think that is what
we've just seen.

So this is an active surface.

Yes.

What does that mean?

Like I said before,

I've worked a lot

with highly-engineered
ceramic materials

for the space industry

because of their heat-absorbing

and energy-conducting
properties.

But neither I nor the other
two scientists in the lab

have ever seen a
ceramic do this kind of stuff.

Well, can we do an
elemental analysis of it?

Sure.

Well, right now,
what is happening is

we're bombarding
the surface with X-rays

and determining
the energy levels

of the electrons
in the material itself

to help define what
elements are present.

TRAVIS: Okay.

When we did our own similar
scans back at the ranch,

we were surprised to
see elements like nickel,

cobalt and thorium,

which you don't
usually see in ceramics.

So, we wanted to
confirm the content

with this lab's much more
sophisticated equipment.

This is the analysis of
the exterior of the sample.

ERIK: So, this is
just the elemental

makeup of this sample on
the surface versus the interior?

Yeah.

TRAVIS: So this shows

some more elements than
what we saw on the ranch.

We got, uh... carbon, oxygen

- are the two most prevalent.
- BRIAN: Mm-hmm.

And then you've got the
next most prevalent, silicon,

and then the next one is
magnesium or aluminum.

They're real close
to each other.

And then calcium and then iron.

The amount of carbon
is really interesting.

I was not expecting that.

- I wasn't, either.
- Quite a bit.

TRAVIS: And you know

that's one of main
ingredients of stealth material.

I've actually made it before.

I covered a pickup
truck with it once

and made it invisible
to police radar.

We used charcoal,
which is your carbon,

an aluminum binding agent,

and, basically, spray glue.

And so, that's one of
the main ingredients

used for radar cloaking
technology by the military.

Since World w*r II,
our military has been

developing stealth material
to make our fighter jets

and other craft invisible
to radar detection...

and even to the naked
eye, in some cases.

Could this be same
type of material?

And could that be what
this material was used for?

BRANDON: So, what
does that mean as far as

what is in the mesa?

Uh... I don't know.

Can we do an
elemental interior scan?

BRIAN: Definitely.

TRAVIS: Now that we
know what the exterior

of this material is made of,

we need to know
if those elements

will remain consistent
inside of it, too,

or maybe we'll find
even more surprises.

ERIK: All right.

BRIAN: All right. So, this
is a purely interior scan.

We've got oxygen, silicon,

there is some magnesium,

there's a calcium line,
we've got potassium,

some iron.

TRAVIS: A lot of
aluminum this time.

No carbon this time,

so the interior doesn't
have carbon in it.

I mean, the interior is
clearly a different material

- than the exterior.
- Uh-huh.

TRAVIS: This material
is a lot like a sponge,

or maybe an umbrella...

one material on the
outside for protection,

with another one on the inside
for some different purpose.

How do you make this material
that's hard on the outside,

but sponge-like on the inside?

- Yeah, I get it. Yeah.
- TRAVIS: And to what end?

TRAVIS: It could
be, the exterior hull

or protective layer of
something you know, to...

to protect it from a
harsh environment.

- ERIK: Yeah.
- TRAVIS: I mean, I keep coming back to:

this is a lot like the ceramic
tiles for the space shuttle.

I don't know yet
what we've got here.

But I can't help
making comparisons

between this ceramic material

and the ceramic tiles
on the space shuttle

for a couple of reasons.

Space shuttle tiles are
designed to protect the shuttle

from extreme heat... up to


when they reenter
the Earth's atmosphere.

They're made of
coated silica ceramics

that are very light, but able to
absorb extreme amounts of heat.

There are similar elements
in the makeup of the ceramics

that came out of the mesa,

but their interior is different,

and the way they responded

to the scanning
electron microscope

was completely unexpected.

What that means,
we just don't know yet.

BRIAN: Well, I have
never seen anything

with this content
that behaves this way

that was a
naturally-occurring material.

- There's no way that's natural.
- ERIK: I would agree.

This is definitely
something engineered.

TRAVIS: So that
means somebody built it.

- ERIK: For a purpose! Yes.
- And it was built for a purpose.

That's right. Now our goals are

to find out what
that purpose is.

Yeah.

So, how does a
manufactured piece of material

with these kind of
exotic properties exist,

and what the hell was this
material doing in the mesa?

[laughing]: I don't
know, Brandon,

and how did it get there?

That's what I want to
know, because I'll tell you

where it didn't come
from. It didn't come

from any modern-day
ceramics lab that I know of.

You know, originally,
the-the intent...

and I think it made
a lot of sense...

was to drill, at...
essentially, at all costs,

so that we could study
whatever that anomaly is.

Now we've encountered this.

I think we have to
respond to the data,

change our approach,

possibly to an
archaeological fashion.

- Right?
- Yeah.

BRANDON: I want to pull the plug

immediately on any
further drilling activity.

- Yes.
- TRAVIS: Absolutely.

BRANDON: Because we may damage

the very thing that
we are trying to study.

And I think we're going

to have to take a much more
disciplined, careful approach,

because what we
have extracted is...

- It's unbelievable.
- Yeah.

We need to find the safest
way to get it out of there.

BRANDON: I think we
need time to carefully

plot our next steps to preserve

and properly study the
nature of what is in the mesa.

Yeah, 100% agree with that.

This is definitely something
incredibly interesting,

something I
definitely didn't expect.

So, if we find more
of it, is it all right

if we bring it back
here for analysis?

- Please do.
- All right.

BRANDON: Well, after eight years

of scientific investigation
at Skinwalker Ranch

under our stewardship,

I think today marks a
significant turning point

that is going to take us
in a whole new direction.

- Yes. Well, thank you for the time.
- BRANDON: Thank you.

- Of course.
- And I think it is time for us

- to gather up and move on.
- Yeah. Let's go.

ERIK: I can't wait to tell the
rest of the team what we found.

THOMAS: Hey, guys.

TRAVIS: What's up, fellas?

Pull up a seat.

TRAVIS: After what we learned

about the ceramic materials
at Utah Valley University,

the next morning,
we met with the drillers

to let them know about our
change of plans for the mesa.

So, uh, I asked you
guys to come in here

'cause we just come
across some new data

that is evolving the way

that we want to tackle the mesa.

Brandon has asked us

to cease all
drilling operations,

effective immediately.

- Okay.
- THOMAS: But it's because

of the things that we
have found in the spoils.

And it's paid off in a big way.

- Okay.
- THOMAS: But...

we don't want to risk damaging

anything up in the mesa.

ALEX: That's actually

a really good idea.

What's the sum
total of the hard stuff

- that you've drilled through?
- We were kind of talking.

And we were thinking
probably around 40 feet,

- right around there.
- Wow.

Yeah, but where did it all go?

Yeah. Where did it all go
when you drilled through it?

Where are the pieces of it?

There were several obstructions

that we struggled to drill
through in Borehole 2,

from about 130 feet
up to almost 500 feet.

But we only found a few small
pieces of the ceramic material.

There should have been a
lot more of them in the spoils.

ALEX: I was saying
that to you guys,

that it's weird that we're
not running into anything.

- You know what I mean?
- TRAVIS: It's almost like it was

- destroyed or something, completely.
- ALEX: Yeah.

You've seen that bit. It's made
for taken off chunks of stuff.

Yeah, well, the
destruction was mutual.

Yeah, yeah, right.

- Your bits were destroyed.
- KALEB: I was just thinking.

You guys went
through, what, 15 teeth?

- Yeah, we went through quite a few teeth.
- Yeah.

So, something's not adding up.

No. Yeah.

We've speculated that we may
have been chipping materials off

of this very hard layer or
object that we're running into.

So, I think it makes
a lot of sense,

as we encounter this
hard material, to expect

to see large individual pieces
of ceramics in the spoils,

which we haven't seen.

I think reanalyzing that and
going through it with a smaller

screen will definitely
provide some more evidence.

TRAVIS: I think
the, uh, the trick is,

figure out a way
to non-destructively

get some data back up in
there, like a camera or something.

- Absolutely.
- TRAVIS: Put a camera in a little

hemisphere dome and
mounted it inside to the drill.

So, the drill's like this,
right, and we mounted it here,

so we could see whatever
it might be that you're hitting.

Yeah. We can try that.

Yeah. As much
as we set our sights

on having these
two parallel holes,

which, yes, I want, you know,

this is a different
kind of success,

and we're simply
pivoting to a different way

of engaging with
what's in that hill.

THOMAS: Well, I'm excited

to go get this head and see
what we got to do to modify it

and find the camera.

So, I say we get this done.

- Yup.
- [people voicing assent]

I'm gonna go do
some camera research.

That's a good idea.

TRAVIS: Later that day,
while we were working

on getting a new camera
to investigate Borehole 2,

Chris Roberts was using

his smaller sifting screen

to carefully search
for more ceramics

and other evidence of
what's buried in the mesa.

[laughs]

ROBERTS: Hey. You guys
got a copy? This is Chris.

THOMAS: Hey, Chris.
We got a copy. Go ahead.

I got something kind
of curious over here.

You guys might want
to come take a look at it.

THOMAS: All righty.

We'll head right over.

Thanks.

TRAVIS: When Chris
called us and said

he found something
curious in the spoils,

we figured it must be a new
clue of some kind. Hopefully,

something that would propel
our investigation forward.

But no one expected what
he was about to show us.

ERIK: I heard about
something curious.

Uh, well, I'm going through
the 496-to-498-foot level.

So, it's a really small,
concise level, right?

TRAVIS: Yeah.

Um... and then I
found that in there.

Is that money?

- What on Earth?
- It's money.

It's a 1964

U.S. nickel.

Wow. 1964, man.

Check it out.

ERIK: Lots of
things come to mind

when I hear about a coin
being found in the spoils.

Is it coming from hundreds
of feet within the mesa?

Could it have somehow
fallen from the surface

near the spoils pit,

made its way into that slurry
and gotten vacuumed out?

And ultimately, what does
it mean to our investigation?

It's got really heavy
wear and patina on it

that, in a way, kind
of matches, you know,

the iron oxide we're finding
in there and the gypsum.

So, it looks very similar with
the orange and the pink colors.

ERIK: So, I think what I'm
reading into what you're saying...

- it's been there a long time.
- Yeah.

How would a nickel even
get inside the mesa that far?

'Cause there's no signs
of there being an entrance,

an opening, something
covered up, buried.

How did that get in there?

ROBERTS: Something they do

archeologically, when
you do an excavation,

you throw a new coin in it.

And then you backfill it so that
you know when that was dug.

That suggests that somebody did

an archeological excavation

- in 1964.
- ROBERTS: Yes.

That suggests that somebody
did an archeological excavation

in 1964.

ROBERTS: That is something

you do when you backfill.

TRAVIS: That would mean

somebody did get
something out of there,

and then they backfilled it.

It would certainly
seem to imply that.

TRAVIS: According to Chris,
who is a professional archaeologist,

it's been common
practice for decades

that when archaeological
digs are completed,

a coin with the exact
year is left in the backfill.

It's a time stamp
to mark the dig

in case someone else comes
along later and rediscovers it.

So, who was here back in 1964?

What did they find?

And what was left behind
that we're now rediscovering?



That gives us a period
to look through records.

And we can also review
any historic aerial photos

of the property, too.

Isn't that something?

Could there have been

an archeological
or other excavation

on the mesa at the drill site?

If so, why?

What could have happened there?

Maybe there's a connection
between the date on that nickel

and these unusual ceramic
and metal materials coming

from hundreds of
feet within the mesa.

There's got to be a story here,

and I want to find
out what that story is.

How did that get
in there? And why?

I still don't feel like I have
the answer to that question.

I don't, either. But we do know

is we found ceramic material

- in there that shouldn't have been there.
- Yes.

And we found a nickel from 1964.

This is certainly interesting.

TRAVIS: We're gonna
change our approach to this

- and look through the archives.
- ERIK: Yes, we are.

TRAVIS: Keep
finding crazy stuff, man.

- I'll keep looking.
- Keep looking, man.

- Good stuff. Good stuff.
- Thanks for this.

- All right, man.
- Okay, I'll catalog this.

ERIK: The fact that we're
finding this 1964 nickel

and potentially some
relatively modern materials,

including the ceramic
and some metal fragments

at the drill site, only adds

to the puzzling nature
of the mesa itself.

At this point, I
think it is very clear

that what we're looking
at is highly unusual.

It begs for an explanation.

So, it's very important
to get our hands

and to get our eyes on whatever
it is that's inside the mesa.

TRAVIS: Did
somebody find something

unbelievable in the mesa
and take part of it away?

Or did they find
something and decide

it was out of this world,
so they covered it back up?

This mystery just got
a whole lot deeper,

and we're gonna keep digging

until we get to
the bottom of it.

BRANDON: After years
of constant difficulty

with trying to access
what lies within the mesa,

we are closer than ever
before to getting the answers,

what may lie within the mesa

that is involved with all
of the strange phenomena

that we are seeing and
documenting at Skinwalker Ranch.

THOMAS: What the heck
do we got inside this mesa?

TRAVIS: I can't wait
to run instruments

down that tube
and see what we can find out.

THOMAS:
Down in the hole.

This should go fairly easy.

- ERIK: Oh, wow.
- TRAVIS: What is it?

JAN:
This thing is six

feet thick,

and then we see

other little bits and pieces
further down.

That is just unbelievable.

This material is
a superconductor.

ERIK:
That just makes

no sense to me at all.

TRAVIS:
It does if it's like

a space shuttle tile.