06x12 - Hard Boiled

[bunniefuu]

ROBERTS: I wanted to show
you what we found inside the mesa.

TRAVIS:
This could be one of the most

miraculous finds
here on the ranch.

ERIK:
I want to sit down with this

and get some quality time

with their scanning
electron microscope.

I can see some
clearly defined holes.

TRAVIS:
What if it's the electron beam

from the microscope
that's causing this?

Let's turn it off.

BRIAN:
This stuff is fixing itself.

It's putting itself
back together.

- It's healing.
- BRANDON: I want to pull the plug immediately

on any further
drilling activity,

because we may damage

the very thing that
we are trying to study.

I got something kind
of curious over here.

U.S. nickel.

Archaeologically, when
you do an excavation,

- TRAVIS: Yeah.
- You throw a new coin in there

so that you know
when that was dug.

TRAVIS: That
suggests that somebody

did an archaeological
excavation in 1964.

That gives us a period
to look through records.

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 them.

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: Hey, fellas.

KALEB: Ooh.

Looks like some aerial photos.

Believe it or not,
this is an image

of the drill site from 1969.

KALEB: Oh, wow.

- Damn.
- ERIK: Yeah. Yeah.

SAM: So, why are we
looking at old pictures?

TRAVIS: Just days
ago at the drill site,

we found that 1964 nickel.

Our investigation

of a massive,
possibly metallic object

and a number of
smaller anomalies buried

inside the mesa on
Skinwalker Ranch

took a turn two weeks ago.

While searching
through drilling spoils

that came from nearly 470
feet in our second borehole,

we found what could be an
engineered ceramic material

related to some kind of
highly advanced technology.

Things got even crazier
a couple days ago,

when team archaeologist
Chris Roberts

uncovered an
encrusted 1964 nickel

in those same drilling spoils.

He explained that archaeologists
will often bury a coin

to mark the year
of an official dig.

The nickel could be evidence
that an archaeological dig

happened right
here back in 1964.

So, Erik and I scoured
through records

from the state of Utah

and actually found
some aerial photos

of the mesa drill site

that were taken during
geological surveys

over the past 60 years.

So, we think wh... that maybe

somebody knew
about something there

and it's possible that
there was an excavation

or an archeological
dig of some sort.

And so, we thought,
well, if we go back and look

through archival images,
maybe we could see

actual evidence
of some kind of dig.

ERIK: Yeah, so I've got
the historic aerial photos

from the early '60s.

You know, 1961, 1963,

and then there's
a gap until 1969.

KALEB: Really? Wow.

Yeah, there's no
available images

from '63 to '69.

Is that not fascinating?

That's a coincidence
on the timing, isn't it?

TRAVIS: Why would there
be missing photos from 1964,

which is the same year
as the nickel we found,

and then all the way
up through 1968?

Was it a clerical error?
Or was it done on purpose?

The photos of the
mesa from 1961,



look almost identical
to the naked eye,

but I wanted to make sure

they weren't
doctored in some way.

So, I used an AI program
to look for any evidence

of artificial changes in them.

Let me show you what
happens when we compare

the '61 and '63 image
to the '69 image.

Erik, you want to bring up
my, uh, analysis that I did?

ERIK: Sure.

TRAVIS: All right. So, this was

the 1961 image.

And you can look
at the drill site there.

So that's the region
that I'm focusing on,

just the data in that circle.

So, the AI said there
were no potential

alterations to the picture.

Now, this is the '63 image.

There's nothing unusual.

'61 and '63 look almost
identical to each other.

And, in fact, I overlayed
them with each other.

They were, like, 99% each other.

So now, if you
look at this one...

This is from 1969.

So, what I did was I
started comparing them

to each other using
an AI program,

and highlight any regions

that appears to have
been altered, all right?

Uh, now, Erik, go
to the next slide.

So, here's all three of
them beside each other,

and, uh, you can see that
there's a significant spot

that it thinks is...
has been dithered

or smoothed with some
sort of filter in the 1969 image

that's not in the other images.

Right? This spot right here,

it looks kind of
like a leaf shape

that seems raised or brighter
or blurrier or something?

- KALEB: Yeah.
- That right there means

someone altered this picture.

THOMAS: That's just incredible.

- But who?
- That's the big question, man.

And why?

And why between 1963 and 1969?

Why are there no
archival photos,

and why was this photo altered?

THOMAS: I mean, the fact that it
was doctored indicates a cover-up.

If there's no cover-up,
why doctor the photos?

Interesting.

TRAVIS: You know, we
don't know what's in the mesa,

how it got there, but the
timing is really interesting

because in 1963 to '69,

NASA's transitioning to Apollo,

the three-man capsules
that were going to the Moon.

And they were
testing reentry vehicles

that had, uh, different
types of materials,

heat shields, uh,
different metals, ceramics.

Prior to sending men in space,

NASA had the Saturn I program

to test vehicle performance
in a variety of ways.

For instance, between


there were ten uncrewed
Saturn missions.

After launch, some
fell into the ocean,

some burned up on reentry

and some were
just never recovered.

So, what if, you know,
one of those reentry vehicles

got off track and
crashed in there?

- Yeah.
- Or...

while looking for
a crashed vehicle,

did they find something else

and then covered it up?

Well, this has given me
a lot to think about, yeah.

I think we need to
run more lab tests

on the ceramic material

- at Utah Valley University.
- Yeah.

And while we wait
for that access,

let's try to get more
data out of Borehole 2.

- SAM: Yeah.
- THOMAS: I have that new camera

for the drillers to
install into Borehole 2.

Definitely gonna dig in and...
and see what else we can find

as-as we move
forward up in the mesa.

All right, well, thanks, guys.

Let's get it and head out there.

ALEX: That's the new one, huh?

Yeah, so we've got two
cameras in this and a light.

TRAVIS: All summer long,

we've been working
to drill our second,

approximately 600-foot-long
borehole, up through the mesa,

so that we'd have two
identical boreholes positioned

on either side of the
massive object buried in there.

And once Borehole


our plan was to insert
scanning devices

into both boreholes

so we could study what all
these anomalies inside there are.

But after finding those
ceramic pieces in the spoils,

we've decided to
stop drilling Borehole 2

so that we don't further damage
whatever it is that's in there.

So today, working
with our drilling team,

our new plan is to insert
a specialized drill head,

equipped with cameras,
to hopefully see something

that will help us figure
out what the heck it is.

They built it so that the
water will jet out there,

hopefully, to spray
the cameras off.

- All right.
- Yup.

We can get it put on
the head and test it

in the hole before we go up.

Well, let's go get it set up

and start pushing up the hill.

- ALEX: Sounds good.
- All right.

ERIK: It's worthwhile to
think about what brought us

to the drill site.

Specifically, why
are we drilling

where we've been drilling?

When we start finding metal,
and of course, the ceramics

inside of a sandstone mesa,

we're all very interested.

ALEX: Hey, Allan, go ahead
and get that water fired up.

All right, I'm gonna
start pushing.

ERIK: It certainly
bears revisiting

the question as to
what is the best way

to find out what
is inside the mesa.

I'm sitting at about 240.

We're gonna stop
down right there.



TRAVIS: Once the drilling
team made it about 240 feet

into Borehole 2 with the
cameras, they stopped

so that we could
retract the drill head

and check out the video
data that was collected.

We got you some cameras.

TRAVIS: Well, look at that.

Take that thing apart and
let's get the video out of there.

On a scale of
one to ten, I'd say

we were all at about 100,

hoping to finally get
a look at whatever

those ceramic tiles came
from inside the mesa.

Yeah, it's just dark artifact.

THOMAS: We should be seeing
something from the camera lights.

Yeah, I'm seeing
these random flashes.

- Are you picking up on that?
- TRAVIS: Yeah. I am seeing that.

I see 'em right there.

TRAVIS: Yeah. There's one.

- There's another one.
- ERIK: There it is again.

TRAVIS: What the hell?

TRAVIS: What the hell?

We might be looking
at energetic particles

- striking the detector.
- Uh-huh. Um...

That makes me think that

that it was, like, a
gamma ray or something

- and hit the...
- ERIK: Mm-hmm.

- TRAVIS: There's another one.
- ERIK: There it is again.

KALEB: Yeah, there's
quite a few of those.

- Yeah.
- TRAVIS: Yeah, I think

that's got to be gamma ray
hits against the focal plane.

It was hard to tell exactly
what we were seeing

in the Borehole


from about 240
feet inside the mesa.

It was almost completely dark,

except for several
flashes of light

that looked to Erik and me
like they could be gamma rays.

Now, gamma rays can
occur naturally underground

due to the
radioactivity of Earth,

but these flashes were
happening more frequently

than you'd expect.

So, if that's what they were,

could they have come from
the huge object buried in there?

I think we just got a kind of
data we weren't anticipating.

I think we just
discovered that there are

- gamma rays in there.
- Mm-hmm.

That's interesting.

TRAVIS: When we first pulled

the ceramic materials
out of the mesa,

it showed elevated
levels of radiation.

So we needed to figure out a
way to investigate our boreholes

for more clues
about what's in there.

Well, we may be limited
on Hole number 2 as to what

-we can do right
now. I mean, -Yeah.

We don't have an
opening at the top.

TRAVIS: We're gonna
have to put PVC down

the other hole

to run instruments
down that tube

- and see what we can find out.
- ROYSTON: That's a great idea.

- TRAVIS: Yeah.
- SAM: Yeah.

I'm already preparing
a few sensors

to put down the pipe.

TRAVIS: Because we
weren't able to drill Borehole 2

all the way up through
to the top of the mesa,

we're gonna have to
go back to Borehole 1

to get more data about
what's buried in there.

But first, we'll need to install
some industrial PVC pipe

down through it

so that we can get our
instruments safely deployed.

Well, I say we pack up, and

- let's call it a night.
- Let's do it. -I think

- that's a great idea.
- Yeah. -Yeah.

TRAVIS: Let's get out of here.

THOMAS: We got a big
day ahead of us, huh?

- ALEX: Yeah.
- So, you guys are ready

- to push back up the hole?
- ALEX: Mm-hmm.

Yeah. If everything goes smooth,
it shouldn't take us too long.

TRAVIS: By the next afternoon,

Thomas got us the
PVC pipe we needed

to start casing Borehole 1.

So, everybody
was hoping like hell

that we could get it installed
without any problems.

But in order to do that,
the drillers first needed

to drive their six-inch
bit all the way back up

through the borehole
to the top of the mesa.

And then, they would
attach the PVC piping

to the bit with a device
called a "pulling eye,"

and pull it all the way
back down through the hole.

While you guys are pushing rod

up the hill, we're
gonna go get the spooler

and try to get working on
getting the pipe up to the top

so that by the time
you guys are up there,

hopefully, we can be ready

- to start pulling down.
- Works for us.

ERIK: Thanks, guys.

THOMAS: Push it.

TRAVIS: As the guys
from Mark Construction

drilled back up
through Borehole 1...

ALEX: Push in, push in.

Push in.

TRAVIS: we hoped
it would go smoothly

since it was previously drilled

and presumed to
be completely open.

THOMAS: All right, we did it.

TRAVIS: But then
they reported a spot

around 450 feet
in the borehole...

We're hung up.

Where they hit something
that slowed their progress.

I'm stuck on something.

Hey, Thomas, you got a copy?

Yeah, go ahead.

We're hung up on something,

can't go forward.

How far in are you?

I'm 30 rods in.

So, you're, what, 450
feet into the mesa?

Yeah.

[static]

It's, like, the same section

that we were experiencing
all the same issues

in this second borehole.

What's the game plan?

ALLAN: I'm trying
to do what I can

to try and work my way
around it and see if I can

keep moving forward.

Copy that. Well, keep us posted.

Will do.

THOMAS: Did you
get past the hard spot?

ALEX: Yeah, we got through it.

- TRAVIS: Really?
- Yup.

TRAVIS: Thankfully, in
less than a couple hours,

they were about to pop back
up through the top of the mesa.

So, we couldn't wait to
get the PVC hooked on

and then case the hole with it.

- Hey, hey, look at that.
- Unbelievable.

ALEX: Heck, yeah.

The side teeth on
that bit are all tore up.

TRAVIS: But it's
chewed up, isn't it?

These were brand-new
when we went in.

- No way.
- Really? And it's chewed that up

- just in re-reaming the hole?
- ALEX: Yeah.

What the heck have
we got inside this mesa?

- KALEB: That's nuts.
- TRAVIS: Yeah, it is nuts.

We knew the drill
hit that one hard spot,

but we couldn't believe how
much damage was done to the bit.

It was very similar to what
happened in Borehole 2

just before we found the
strange ceramic material

in the drilling spoils.

Is that what we just
hit in Borehole 1?

More than 40 feet to
the east of Borehole 2?

ALEX: We'll get
the pulling eye on,

hook it up, and we're gonna
start yanking her back in.

- All right.
- ROYSTON: Nice.

TRAVIS: Whatever it was,

- daylight was burning.
- Here we go.

TRAVIS: So, we needed
to pull that PVC casing

down through the
hole as fast as possible.

ALEX: All right.

So, there's no chance
of this slipping off.

Tighten this down as
tight as you can get it.

- THOMAS: Nice.
- ALEX: Okay.

- THOMAS: All right.
- ALEX: Okay.

All right, Allan,
you got a copy?

- Yeah, I got a copy.
- ALEX: Get everything fired up.

We're getting ready to pull
this in. We're all hooked up.



We got water. Go ahead
and start dead-pulling.

[engine starting]

THOMAS: Fortunately, because
this is only a four-inch pipe

going in a seven-inch hole,

this should go fairly easy.

TRAVIS: Look at that!

- THOMAS: Down in the hole.
- KALEB: That's awesome.

TRAVIS: Fruits of our labor.

THOMAS: It's just so
imperative that we get this hole

cased and completed

so the scientists can finally

get instruments in there,

and hopefully, get
us some answers

as to what lies inside the mesa.

Uh-oh.

Hey, they stopped.
Is that a bad sign?

Are you rotating, Allan?

I'm trying.

I have to run down there
and see what we got going on.

Okay.

ALEX: Everything was
going smooth originally

when we started
pulling, and we hit a spot

in the mesa, and...

we weren't able to pull,
really, anymore at that point.

Here. Let me see it, Allan.

I went down to operate
the machine just to see

if I could get it freed up, or

if we could get past
the spot we were in.

After drilling all day,
well into the night,

we were all under
a lot of stress

because we knew we
had to get this pipe moving

and get it through.

We're stuck pulling back.

I'm gonna try and push back up.

THOMAS: Go ahead. I'll let you
know if we see any movement.

ALEX: We were definitely
snagging on something hard.

We were unable to
rotate and unable to pull.

[high-pitched metallic creaking]

We're stuck, boys.
We're stuck-stuck.

TRAVIS: We had
gotten about 270 feet

of the PVC back
down through the hole,

so it seemed like
whatever damaged the bit

was now holding up
the entire operation.

ALEX: Back
right up to the drill.

Yeah.

TRAVIS: So, after spending more

than an hour trying
to get past that spot,

and making no progress,

the drillers hooked
their semitruck up

to the drill rig to try
something pretty drastic.

THOMAS: What's the update?

ALEX: My only option is

to crank this pressure
to 60,000 pounds.

It wants to pull
the drill forward,

so I chained the
semi to the drill.

All right.

ALEX: All right, guys.

This is the
last-ditch effort here.

Something's gonna
break or it's gonna move.

I'm giving her
everything she's got.

[rattling]

I felt her pop for a second.

[high-pitched squeak]

Still pretty hung up.

ALEX: Okay. I'm
going at it again.

ROYSTON: Come on. Come on.

TRAVIS: We were all
holding our breath as the team

from Mark Construction
used every bit of power

they could, between
their semitruck and drill rig,

to pull the PVC casing down

through Borehole 1.

ROYSTON: Whoa.

TRAVIS: Because
if this didn't work,

we didn't know how
we were going to be able

to get our scanning
devices in there

to help figure out what the
heck is buried in the mesa.

ROYSTON: Oh. Four inches.

You just pulled
about four inches in.

Yeah, we're seeing some
good movement on the pipe.

Keep her up.

ALEX: Yeah, it loosened
up there at the end.

THOMAS: Oh, yeah. Keep going.

TRAVIS: After all the problems
we had with this operation,

seeing that pipe finally
get pulled into place

all the way down through
Borehole 1 was a huge relief.

Well, we're gonna
wrap it up here

and we'll head back that way.



TRAVIS: Now, we'll
have a great pathway

for our instruments to collect
data on the buried objects,

and we have a good
trouble spot to focus on

about 270 feet
into the borehole.

KALEB: There's your plug.

TRAVIS: There's your
plug right there. Look at that.

- THOMAS: And there's the pipe.
- KALEB: There it is.

Yeah, Alex, we're good.

We got pipe.

[whooping]

TRAVIS: Well,
looks like we did it.

KYLE: Yup.

JAN: So, I'm going to go
over to the table right now

and set up the radar.

TRAVIS: Late the next afternoon,
ground-penetrating radar expert

Jan Francke arrived at the ranch

with a new,
specialized GPR device

to run down Borehole 1.

Jan, talk to me about
what we're gonna be able

- to see as we go down that tube.
- Right.

I think you said we can
see out to about 20 feet.

- That's a radius, right? Okay.
- That's a radius.

So, if there is
something of a void,

or, I guess a
metal object, right,

then we would
definitely pick that up.

Okay.

TRAVIS: Once Jan's scan is done,

Sam Deriso has put
together an entire sled

of instruments to run a series

of other scans,
including magnetometry,

which might confirm these
objects are made of metal,

and a gamma ray detector

to show just how
radioactive they might be.

THOMAS: Jan, let's start

- with your GPR device.
- Yup.

- So, Kaleb and Jim are at the bottom of the hill.
- Okay. Okay.

They're gonna be
assisting us, making sure

that nothing gets
caught up at the bottom.

Okay.

JAN: Okay.

THOMAS: All right,
the GPR is in the pipe.

We're gonna start our
slow, steady descent.

TRAVIS: I'm gonna get
my hand-held instrument

out of the Jeep, and I'm going
to kind of walk up the mesa.

- Great. Sounds good.
- All right, man.

TRAVIS: While the GPR device
was being run down Borehole 1...

One hundred and thirty.

TRAVIS: I was hiking
down the mesa along that line

with my handheld
spectrum analyzer.

I wanted to look out for
any strange energy spikes

or radio frequency signals
that we've detected in the past

while we drilled both boreholes.

Here we go.

Look at that... bone dry.

- Awesome.
- Awesome. Look how...

- Look how clean it is.
- We just put an instrument

from the top of the mesa down
to the bottom for the first time.

JAN: It worked perfectly.

We should get really
good data out of this.

I'm gonna head down right now

and get started on that.

That sounds great.

Okay. See you guys.

ERIK: All right, Sam, you're up.

SAM: Yeah. Just need
to go, uh, get it recording,

and then we'll send it down.

THOMAS: So, you're gonna
be collecting the profile,

the magnetometry
data and the radiation.

- Awesome. Let's do it.
- Yeah.

What is inside of this mesa?

And might there have
been a deliberate effort

to conceal something?

I want to get
magnetometry information,

I want to get side-looking,
ground-penetrating radar

measurements from Borehole 1.

I'm anxious to take
a look at the data

and look for
meaningful correlations.

THOMAS: The sensor's
loaded into the pipe

and we're ready to start
making a descent into the mesa.

Copy that. We're ready to go.

TRAVIS: Hey, Jim. You copy?

Yeah. Go ahead, Travis.

Yeah. The spectrum
analyzer was picking up

a 1.6 gigahertz signal, and
then the signal went away.

It don't make any sense.

Yeah. That is crazy.

TRAVIS: I wondered if I might
see something during this scan,

because when we
drilled both boreholes,

we detected numerous


that appeared to be
coming from inside the mesa.

And when I picked this
one up, it was very close

to where the drill was
damaged the other day.

You're not gonna
believe this, though, Erik.

Yeah, I put the spectrum
analyzer literally on the dirt

on the ground, right where
the anomalous area is.

And I started getting
a 1.6 gigahertz signal

- when the sensor passed by.
- That's strange.

ERIK: And there's nothing in
our devices that should cause that.

TRAVIS: There's
nothing. It makes no sense.

ERIK: Well, Sam has just
finished running his scans.

I say we pack it up and get
back to the command center.

TRAVIS: All right, guys, we'll
see you at the command center.

- ERIK: Hey, Jan.
- TRAVIS: Hey, Jan.

Hey, guys, good to see you.

I'm excited to show
you what I've got.

Later that night, both Jan
Francke and Sam Deriso

already had their data
from Borehole 1 processed.

So, we couldn't wait to
see what they might reveal

about the buried
objects in the mesa.

So, before we
jump into your data,

Sam's got the output
of his instrument.

Sam, how about you
take us into the data?

So, I'm gonna bring
your screen up here.

SAM: So we took

the magnetometer, we
started from the top of mesa,

and we sent it down Borehole 1.

So, as you're going
through the data,

the leftmost side
is the actual top.

There are several spikes,
but I'm really interested

in these two large,
magnetic data spikes.

As we're looking at this
blue trace across the screen,

that represents the disturbance
of the Earth's magnetic field.

So, if there's anything
along the borehole

that we drilled, like
big pieces of metal,

anything with magnetism,

if there's iron,
it could explain

- that disturbance.
- ERIK: So that points

to the possibility of
some actual feature

in the mesa that is causing
this temporary elevation

of the magnitude
of the magnetic field.

THOMAS: Could
a large metal object

in Borehole 1 be
responsible that?

Yeah.

ERIK: Wow.

ERIK: We have
every reason to think

that there are, in fact, regions

of some very hard stuff,

possibly metal, that
we're encountering

- in the mesa.
- SAM: Right.

And this data says "yes."

Wow. Wow.

TRAVIS: According to the
magnetometry scans that Sam ran

in Borehole 1, between


he detected numerous
potentially magnetic objects

buried in the mesa.

And that's a major corroboration

of the previous
ground-penetrating radar data

we collected before our drilling
operation began three years ago.

Very interesting.

- Yeah.
- And I'm just seeing that is

right where we do have
an artifact assemblage

- Yeah, yeah.
- From the spoils, including metal

in that area, so...

THOMAS: Well, after seeing
this, I'm really excited to see

how this correlates or does
not correlate with what Jan found.

Well, let's get Jan to show us.

Hey, guys.

Uh, gonna share my screen.

All right, does
everybody see this?

- Yes.
- Okay, great.

So this is the GPR scan
that I took in Borehole 1.

Along the X axis,

we see the number of
meters down the hole.

I'll move through the
scan, going kind of deeper

into the borehole as I advance.

So let's go down,
you know, 30, 40.

We're down 50 meters into
the hole, which is about 165 feet.

Nothing to talk
about until you get

to about 270 feet to this.

Wow. Look. I mean, look at that.

- Oh, wow.
- What is that?

JAN: That is something
that is so distinct.

And it sits out

away from the
hole, approximately,



six feet thick.

That is just unbelievable.

- Oh, wow.
- JAN: And then we see

other little bits and pieces

further down.

TRAVIS: So, this is

about 270 to 280 feet in.

- It's the same place. Same place.
- The same place

that your data, Sam,

was picking up the
anomalous data.

Right.

This bears evidence
of a similar structure,

potentially to the large
object we believe is in there.

- Yeah, it does.
- Which means that what we encountered

at Borehole 2 may
be continuous with

what's happening
near Borehole 1.

TRAVIS: Jan's new GPR
scans have also confirmed

that there appears to be
a central, massive object,

that could be made of metal,

between Borehole


And now, he's given
us data that suggests

it's at least six feet thick.

Is this what's covered in that
ceramic material that we found?

Or what may have been emitting
gamma rays when we put a camera

in Borehole 2 earlier this week?

If so, what the heck is it?

So, Jan, would it be fair to say

that we're looking at something
potentially not natural?

- Yeah.
- Possibly technological

- in the mesa?
- I think it would be fair to say

"Yes, absolutely."

That is amazing.

Wow.

ERIK: Well, guys,

this is... this is great.

Jan, thank you for
jumping on with us.

Always a pleasure.

Take care, guys.

TAMMY: Okay, welcome to the lab.

TRAVIS: A couple of days later,

Erik, Jim, Thomas and I went
back to Utah Valley University.

- All right, well, let me get the samples out.
- Okay.

TRAVIS: There, we met
with chemist Dr. Tammy Clark

to run a series of new tests

on samples of the
ceramic materials

that we believe are related

to the massive object
buried in the mesa.

ERIK: For the first part of what
we want to do, we need a sample

that's about, what,


- Yeah, that would be great.
- Okay.

TRAVIS: Our hope was
to learn not only more

about the composition
of these ceramics

but also if they
really are related

to some kind of
advanced technology.

- ERIK: So I've got one selected.
- TAMMY: Great, the first thing

we're gonna do is
clean up the sample.

We'll use the gas chromatography
mass spectrometer.

And that's gonna let us know

if there's organics in
there and maybe identify

what they are, if they're
known substances.

- Hmm. -Okay.
- And then, with what remains,

we're gonna mortar
and pestle that down,

and then we're gonna digest
that with really strong acids.

- Mm-hmm.
- And we'll be able to use

the atomic emission spectrometer

to be able to see what metals
are present in the sample.

Okay, that makes sense.

TRAVIS: So, this
test should tell us

all of the elements that
are making up the material.

TAMMY: Right.

TRAVIS: Yeah, the
tests we ran here

last time were crazy.

A couple weeks ago...

All right, I'll close this up.

TRAVIS: we
examined the ceramics

in a scanning
electron microscope.

There we go.

TRAVIS: And as
the beam of electrons

hit the sample, its
surface suddenly began

to open up with
all kinds of holes.

But when we turned the beam off,

it went back to
its original state.

ERIK: So that does
not look as porous

- BRIAN: No.
- As it was.

This stuff is fixing itself.

Yes, it's healing.

Now, we don't know if there was

some kind of organic material
on the surface of the ceramic

that might explain why
it behaved that way.

So, this first process
will clean the ceramic

so we can better analyze
it with additional tests.

So, we're just gonna
take this sample,

and we're gonna put
it in the sonicating bath

to start cleaning up
the ceramic piece.

And this is in the isopropanol.

And we're gonna put some
sound waves through there.

- There we go.
- [whooshing]

So, the tests that we're
gonna run are going to be

the gas chromatogram
and mass spec.

We first need to separate
the organic components

and pull them out of
the ceramic material.

Essentially cleaning it up.

Take a peek.

We're going to do
that by putting them

into different
types of solvents,

isopropanol and dichloromethane.

And we'll sonicate it. That'll
hit it with some sound waves.

SAM: When you say
you're adding sound to it,

we can't hear it, so it's
at such a high frequency,

- in the ultrasonic range above what we can hear?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I mean you can
hear it buzz a little bit.

And then those
sound waves are going

to essentially loosen up

any organic molecules

that might be
embedded in the ceramic

and help dissolve
it into the solvent.

So this is step one
of stripping it down?

- Yeah.
- Yes. Yes.

Okay, so, we're gonna
transfer it to another flask,

and then we'll add
dichloromethane to that one.

Look at this.

It's floating.

Oh, wow.

A normal ceramic would not

be floating in a liquid.

Wow.

ERIK: A normal ceramic would

- not be floating in a liquid.
- TAMMY: Yeah.

It is sort of unusual
to have something

that looks like a rock
float in dichloromethane.

ERIK: Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

TRAVIS: Dr. Clark's analogy
about the ceramic floating

in this liquid cleaning
solution was spot-on.

There are rare, porous ceramics
that do float, but we believe

that this ceramic could be part

of what destroyed multiple
drill bits in the mesa.

So, how could it be light
enough to float like that?

More and more,
this stuff is proving

to be something very strange.

ERIK: We're gonna dry
that out, so we're gonna

dry off the solvent
in preparation

for crushing the sample
for subsequent analysis.

Okay. So, we've got
a hot plate over here.

It's getting warm.

So, it's just forming
bubbles underneath it.

TRAVIS: After the
cleaning process was done,

next, it was time to
dry out the sample

and then pulverize
it into tiny particles

for compositional analysis.

But the question was,
would it break apart easily?

TAMMY: Okay, let's go
use the mortar and pestle.

- The moment we've been waiting for.
- ROYSTON: Yes.

- TAMMY: Okay.
- THOMAS: So now, you finally get to crush it up.

ERIK: We have a whole
series of moments of truth here.

So, it is crushing. It's
crushing pretty easily.

Except there's one
large piece in here

that is less happy

to get destroyed.

There was one
piece in the middle

that took a little bit more.

You clearly didn't
put 15,000 PSI

- No.
- Pounds of pressure per square inch on that sample

- right there, like the drill did on the ranch.
- No.

We were all stunned that most
of the ceramic samples broke up

into dust very easily

when Dr. Clark started
grinding it up in the lab.

When we found that
stuff, it was right after

an industrial drill struggled
for hours to break through it.

You look at it, and it looks
so brittle, and I'm thinking,

there's no way that that
is what's stopping the drill.

I would say "no"
looking at this,

unless it was behaving somehow
differently while in the mesa.

Right. Yeah.

We didn't know
what to think. I mean,

during our previous lab test

with a scanning
electron microscope,

we watched this stuff morph
from having a smooth surface

to opening up with
all kinds of holes,

and then literally going
back to its original form.

So, does it really
have the ability

to change physical
characteristics?

What is this stuff?

Well, we're gonna
dissolve this in acid

so we can do
quantitative analysis.

- All right.
- TAMMY: Okay.

TRAVIS: After
those strange results,

Dr. Clark prepped
the ceramic materials

to run them through the atomic
emission spectrometer, or AES.

It emits a plasma beam
that excites the electrons

in the material to identify
the elements in them.

We conducted a
preliminary elemental analysis

back on the ranch,

but this equipment is
much more sophisticated.

So, we absolutely
wanted to confirm

just what's in this stuff

to figure out what
it actually could be.

TAMMY: So, we have
the results of the AES here.

And so, what we can
see here is titanium

- and calcium.
- ERIK: Which comes as

- no surprise.
- TRAVIS: Right. Yup.

And it's so high
here that it's actually

going off of our
calibration curve.

- TRAVIS: That's interesting.
- Okay.

And next is iron. When
we look at our sample,

we see that it
has a lot of iron.

- TRAVIS: It has a lot of iron.
- Yes.

- Okay?
- TRAVIS: Got it.

And here we have aluminum,
nice, solid aluminum,

- just like you would expect to see, so...
- ERIK: Yup.

So there's aluminum
in the ceramic?

- Yup.
- Yeah.

Now we go down...
So this is vanadium.

TRAVIS: Oh. Wait a
minute. Wait a minute.

- Yup.
- Vanadium is in it?

- That's what this is telling us.
- Okay. -Remember?

- Yeah. Yes.
- ERIK: Those metal flakes

did have trace
amounts of vanadium.

TRAVIS: They sure did.
So, the other pieces of metal

that we pulled out
three years ago now...

uh, they had vanadium
on the surface.

So that must mean it's embedded
in the material somewhere.

Which is even more interesting
when you think about it.

- TRAVIS: Yeah.
- THOMAS: What makes

- vanadium interesting?
- TRAVIS: Well, I do know

that vanadium is very durable
and used in the construction

of military vehicles
and spacecraft.

Why in the world would
that be in the mesa?

THOMAS: What are the
properties of vanadium?

What makes it interesting?

Well, I do know that vanadium

is very durable and
used in the construction

of military vehicles
and spacecraft.

- This is pretty interesting.
- Yeah.

Every test that we've performed
on the ceramic materials

that came out of the mesa

only adds more evidence
that something incredible

is buried on Skinwalker Ranch.

- Let's move on to our next test, right?
- TAMMY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Last week, Erik
got the idea to place a piece

of the ceramic on a magnet
to see if it would stick to it.

At first, it did. But then,

the ceramic actually pushed
itself away from the magnet.

That ability to repel a
normal magnetic field

is what is known as
the Meissner effect.

And it suggested
that these ceramics

are highly-advanced materials
called superconductors.

Want to try just for
Meisner effect first?

BRIAN: Yeah.

So, you're gonna
freeze the sample?

- ERIK: Yes.
- TRAVIS: Yes.

ERIK: In liquid nitrogen.

And what does
freezing it accomplish?

So, in order for the materials
that we know of today

that are superconducting,
they don't become

superconducting until they get

to the temperature
of liquid nitrogen.

- Okay.
- And so, if we cool this down

to that temperature, about
negative 320 degrees Fahrenheit,

and it shows superconductive
properties, then we'll know

this material is a
superconductor.

Okay.

Superconductors are
cutting-edge materials

that scientists are researching
and developing today

because they can
transfer and store energy

without losing any of it,
and some even believe

that they could be used
to construct vehicles

and spacecraft that
actually defy gravity.

What the hell is
that in the sky?

Who knows?

Maybe this ceramic material

and whatever is in the
mesa will get us closer

to some answers about all
the UAPs we keep seeing

on Skinwalker Ranch.

So, we'll have a magnet,
and then on top of that,

we'll put this chamber, we'll
put the liquid nitrogen there,

and the sample.

Now, if the sample
becomes superconducting

when it gets cool, and
it's over this magnet,

this thing is gonna
push the ceramic upward.

- Okay.
- And so that's what we're looking for here.

All right. Well, let's do that.

ERIK: Some of our observations
on this ceramic material

are quite out of step with
anything I've ever seen before.

We're dealing with
something certainly unusual.

It is something that appears
to be an engineered material.

It begs for an explanation.

It deepens the
mystery of the drill site

and of the ranch overall.

At this point, I think it's
too early to say anything

about the origins and the true
design intent of this material.

Oh, that's probably
enough to cool it.

Well, it'll evaporate
pretty continuously.

So, we just want to make sure

there's enough in
there to stabilize.

Notice how it's
still boiling off?

- THOMAS: Uh-huh.
- BRIAN: That means

that the ceramic
itself hasn't reached

the temperature
of liquid nitrogen.

It's still warmer
than the nitrogen,

so the nitrogen is boiling away.

THOMAS: So, when
it quits bubbling, then

- it's the same temperature?
- TRAVIS: Yes.

It's still boiling away,
man. Look at that.

We expected the liquid
nitrogen to boil for a little while

as it cooled the ceramic down.

But it was crazy how
it just kept boiling.

A normal ceramic should
have cooled rapidly,

or even shattered from exposure
to such a negative temperature.

ERIK: I am reminded
of the thermal mystery

- with the drilling.
- Yes.

Yes, the fact that

that bit appears to
have gotten so hot,

even to the point of
fusing or welding itself,

and yet the temperature gauge

never registered any kind
of climb in the temperatures.

Yeah.

TRAVIS: Erik and Tom were right.

The drill bit was nearly
welded to the drill rod

as it was grinding
up against something

right at the spot where we
found the ceramics in the mesa.

Which suggests
whatever's in there

just absorbed the intense
heat from all that friction.

BRIAN: It is taking longer

- than I would have expected.
- TRAVIS: Yeah.

It's taking a lot longer
than I was expecting, right?

That's data by itself.

That is absolutely data.

That just makes no
sense to me at all.

TRAVIS: It does to me

if it's like a
space shuttle tile.

Watching this makes
me want to do follow-up.

We're gonna have to.

- Wow.
- ERIK: And I think we got out answer.

We've got a final
experiment of the year.

KEVIN:
So, we have several fuel mines.

That's gonna fully ignite,

and then you'll have
the rolling smoke rings.

TRAVIS:
Oh, my God. Look.

Is it bumping into the bubble?

Wow!

DAVE:
Hey, Erik, take a look at this.

I saw something going
from right to left.

ERIK:
This is really weird.