Skinwalker Ranch is one of the most famous sites in contemporary parascience, and Bigelow has been involved in it since long before AATIP (roughly since 1995; Harry Reid may have been on board with the project that entire time although it's difficult to say for sure). Colm Kelleher has also been involved in Skinwalker Ranch since the start. So I think it's important to understand that this is not a case of the DoD taking interest in Skinwalker Ranch, but a case of Bigelow directing their interest there.
Despite occasional claims by Bigelow, Kelleher, and others, paranormal phenomenon are not clearly documented at Skinwalker Ranch prior to the ownership of the Shermans in 1994, immediately before they sold the property to Bigelow. The exact details of this transaction, how Bigelow became aware of the property, etc., are opaque, but it presents a substantial possibility that the paranormal history was fabricated by the Shermans to motivate the sale.
Bigelow and his various organizations (NIDSci, a more genera parascience and paranormal organization, and later BAAS, his aerospace company) have owned the ranch and been conducting research there for 27 years, and yet they have failed to produce any reasonable documentary evidence of the phenomenon. What they have produced is innumerable stories like this one, full of intrigue but absent of evidence. Some might see it as too dismissive to suggest that there isn't something paranormal at Skinwalker Ranch, but at this point people even in the UFO community are inclined to agree that Bigelow has made a huge effort and doesn't have anything to show for it.
Bigelow's decision to completely close the property to entry by other researchers, and hiring a small security force to keep people out, has been taken as a bit of an affront. This coincided with his signing a number of media deals including a "Curse of Oak Island"-esque History Channel series, creating the appearance that Bigelow is more interested in finding funding and press than finding the truth.
I have previously expressed my belief that Bigelow's involvement in DoD UAP programs, facilitated by Sen. Reid, was primarily an effort to obtain government funding to continue his Skinwalker Ranch pursuits. This article seems to support that perspective.
Despite occasional claims by Bigelow, Kelleher, and others, paranormal phenomenon are not clearly documented at Skinwalker Ranch prior to the ownership of the Shermans in 1994, immediately before they sold the property to Bigelow. The exact details of this transaction, how Bigelow became aware of the property, etc., are opaque, but it presents a substantial possibility that the paranormal history was fabricated by the Shermans to motivate the sale.
Bigelow and his various organizations (NIDSci, a more genera parascience and paranormal organization, and later BAAS, his aerospace company) have owned the ranch and been conducting research there for 27 years, and yet they have failed to produce any reasonable documentary evidence of the phenomenon. What they have produced is innumerable stories like this one, full of intrigue but absent of evidence. Some might see it as too dismissive to suggest that there isn't something paranormal at Skinwalker Ranch, but at this point people even in the UFO community are inclined to agree that Bigelow has made a huge effort and doesn't have anything to show for it.
Bigelow's decision to completely close the property to entry by other researchers, and hiring a small security force to keep people out, has been taken as a bit of an affront. This coincided with his signing a number of media deals including a "Curse of Oak Island"-esque History Channel series, creating the appearance that Bigelow is more interested in finding funding and press than finding the truth.
I have previously expressed my belief that Bigelow's involvement in DoD UAP programs, facilitated by Sen. Reid, was primarily an effort to obtain government funding to continue his Skinwalker Ranch pursuits. This article seems to support that perspective.