Dedpanman
Paranormal Novice
Setting the Record Straight on “The Colorado Ranch Case” also known as “The Clearview Case” first documented in the 1978-1979 issues of the APRO bulletin entitled: “Multiple Phenomena on Colorado Ranch”.
Having just listened to the Ryan Skinner episode of the Paracast, detailing his new book concerning the Skinwalker Ranch and area… I was chagrined to hear that Ryan was getting ready to go investigate the somewhat infamous and mostly forgotten Colorado ranch in which a family was harassed by UFOs, bigfoot-like entities, strange Chupa-like boxes that appeared and disappeared, weird robot-voices coming out of the stereo… etc. back in the 1970’s.
The first time I became aware of this particular case was in a book written by Timothy Good called “Alien Liason” (which I believe has been published under some different titles). Then the case popped up again in Colin Wilson’s “Alien Dawn”, and then again in Kelleher and Knapp’s “Hunt for the Skinwalker”. I was fascinated by the similarities between Skinwalker and the “Colorado Ranch case”. So much so, that I tracked down all the relevant, original copies of the APRO bulletin which featured this very long and very detailed report.
When you read the report on the Colorado ranch from the APRO bulletin (and it’s a good story), you will find that the story suddenly ends just as the phenomena seem to be reaching a boiling point. The last APRO report segment ends abruptly with this statement: “The investigation is continuing, in collaboration with the APRO consultant in anthropology, Dr. Peter W. Van Arsdale.”
And then… that’s it. There is no further continuation of the report on the Colorado ranch. It just stops there. I was left scratching my head and wondering, what happened after all that? Where’s the rest of the story?
I did some detective work on the Internet and managed to track down the addresses of all three of the original “Colorado Ranch” investigators: Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle, Dr. John Derr, and Dr. Peter Van Arsdale. I sent them each a letter with a copy of the APRO report (to refresh their memories) and kindly requested more info on the case. Each man turned out to be a gentleman and responded in writing.
Dr. Leo Spinkle has very little memory of the case at all (and he admits to being somewhat perplexed by that) and he referred me to the recollections and opinions of his esteemed colleagues, Derr and Van Arsdale.
Dr. Van Arsdale was more than willing to discuss the case with me on the phone and gave me his number. He cryptically indicated in his letter that… “I can assure you that what I found has very earthly/human – not alien – interpretations.”
It was Dr. Derr who clearly indicated why the APRO report on the “Colorado Ranch” suddenly ended without any follow-up in his letter:
“The Colorado Ranch story died peacefully when further investigation revealed that the primary character had lied (very convincingly!) about drugs never being involved. With drugs definitely a factor and his credibility gone, there was no point in expending further time or resources on this case. What’s left is just a good story. I did talk with the succeeding occupants of the house, and they never experienced anything unusual.”
So, it looks like Timothy Good, Colin Wilson, Colm Kelleher and George Knapp all failed to do their due diligence and follow up on the case before putting it so earnestly into their books. The authors all just grabbed that info from the APRO bulletin and integrated it into their books as if the story and details were accurate and irrefutable.
And the case won’t go away. It keeps popping up again and again, and now Ryan Skinner is getting ready to go off in search of the Colorado ranch with the hopes of some kind of exciting Skinwalker-type adventure. (And, I don’t blame him – like I said, when you read the original APRO report, it’s pretty gripping.)
I guess, my word of advice to Mr. Skinner, is: talk to the original researchers first. Do your due diligence. I suspect that there might be a really interesting story there that has remained submerged (along with the truth) since the original APRO bulletins… but it might not be the story that everyone wants it to be.
Having just listened to the Ryan Skinner episode of the Paracast, detailing his new book concerning the Skinwalker Ranch and area… I was chagrined to hear that Ryan was getting ready to go investigate the somewhat infamous and mostly forgotten Colorado ranch in which a family was harassed by UFOs, bigfoot-like entities, strange Chupa-like boxes that appeared and disappeared, weird robot-voices coming out of the stereo… etc. back in the 1970’s.
The first time I became aware of this particular case was in a book written by Timothy Good called “Alien Liason” (which I believe has been published under some different titles). Then the case popped up again in Colin Wilson’s “Alien Dawn”, and then again in Kelleher and Knapp’s “Hunt for the Skinwalker”. I was fascinated by the similarities between Skinwalker and the “Colorado Ranch case”. So much so, that I tracked down all the relevant, original copies of the APRO bulletin which featured this very long and very detailed report.
When you read the report on the Colorado ranch from the APRO bulletin (and it’s a good story), you will find that the story suddenly ends just as the phenomena seem to be reaching a boiling point. The last APRO report segment ends abruptly with this statement: “The investigation is continuing, in collaboration with the APRO consultant in anthropology, Dr. Peter W. Van Arsdale.”
And then… that’s it. There is no further continuation of the report on the Colorado ranch. It just stops there. I was left scratching my head and wondering, what happened after all that? Where’s the rest of the story?
I did some detective work on the Internet and managed to track down the addresses of all three of the original “Colorado Ranch” investigators: Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle, Dr. John Derr, and Dr. Peter Van Arsdale. I sent them each a letter with a copy of the APRO report (to refresh their memories) and kindly requested more info on the case. Each man turned out to be a gentleman and responded in writing.
Dr. Leo Spinkle has very little memory of the case at all (and he admits to being somewhat perplexed by that) and he referred me to the recollections and opinions of his esteemed colleagues, Derr and Van Arsdale.
Dr. Van Arsdale was more than willing to discuss the case with me on the phone and gave me his number. He cryptically indicated in his letter that… “I can assure you that what I found has very earthly/human – not alien – interpretations.”
It was Dr. Derr who clearly indicated why the APRO report on the “Colorado Ranch” suddenly ended without any follow-up in his letter:
“The Colorado Ranch story died peacefully when further investigation revealed that the primary character had lied (very convincingly!) about drugs never being involved. With drugs definitely a factor and his credibility gone, there was no point in expending further time or resources on this case. What’s left is just a good story. I did talk with the succeeding occupants of the house, and they never experienced anything unusual.”
So, it looks like Timothy Good, Colin Wilson, Colm Kelleher and George Knapp all failed to do their due diligence and follow up on the case before putting it so earnestly into their books. The authors all just grabbed that info from the APRO bulletin and integrated it into their books as if the story and details were accurate and irrefutable.
And the case won’t go away. It keeps popping up again and again, and now Ryan Skinner is getting ready to go off in search of the Colorado ranch with the hopes of some kind of exciting Skinwalker-type adventure. (And, I don’t blame him – like I said, when you read the original APRO report, it’s pretty gripping.)
I guess, my word of advice to Mr. Skinner, is: talk to the original researchers first. Do your due diligence. I suspect that there might be a really interesting story there that has remained submerged (along with the truth) since the original APRO bulletins… but it might not be the story that everyone wants it to be.
