05x11 - Bad to the Drone

[bunniefuu]

This particular spot had

some kind of flying saucer
or wreckage.

Something crashed

through the tree.

TRAVIS: I think an arborist
should take a look at it.

THOMAS:
You see anything?

JON: Something broke off
here at some point,



- There you go.
- Wow.

TRAVIS:
There's something blocking

the transmission
of their beacon.

BRYANT:
What the hell is that?

DR. POWER:
The jelly samples

are pieces
of burnt plant material.

- It's full of charcoal.
- TRAVIS: You mean, like,

something caused a fire
deep inside the mesa?

Absolutely, yeah.

NARRATOR: There is
a ranch in Northern Utah.

It is considered the epicenter

of the strangest and most
disturbing phenomena on Earth:

animal mutilations,

bizarre UFO sightings

and unusual energies that
have proven harmful to humans.

For 20 years, the
federal government

tried to find
answers and failed.

Now a new team of
dedicated scientists,

researchers and
experts has taken over.

They are determined to
solve the mystery and reveal...

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.

- TRAVIS: What's going on, Thomas?
- THOMAS: Uh,

so, we got here
earlier today 'cause,

as we discussed
previously, the beacon quit

transponding, right?

So we thought if we
pulled the beacon back

to that point, he could pick it
up, we could mark what position

the bit was in and
proceed back up.

The problem is, is that
you never picked the bit up

- when we came down, right?
- No, never picked it up,

and the signal never came
back on, so I completely lose it.

It's not telling
me where I'm at,

what depth I'm at,
what direction I'm going,

anything like that.

What are our steps right now?

Just back it up,
get the beacon out?

ALEX: Back it up,
get the beacon out,

and then put a new battery in,

try and recalibrate
it and reset it,

and if that doesn't
work, then I have no idea.

This is a job-stopper
if this doesn't turn on.

ERIK: That's serious.

TRAVIS: That is serious.

Nothing has been easy

during our team's investigation
on Skinwalker Ranch.

But our ongoing drilling
operation in the mesa,

where data suggests
a 400-foot-long,

dome-shaped object is buried,

with a number of smaller
anomalies surrounding it,

has been absolutely frustrating

and, at the same
time, very intriguing.

In the past three years,

several drill rigs, designed
to cut through solid rock,

have been unable to penetrate
whatever is inside there.

Yeah, I'm up against
something pretty hard right now.

TRAVIS: And in the spoils
we've found metal fragments

that are composed of the
same kinds of materials

that are used by NASA and SpaceX

to protect the
surface of spacecraft.

So, for the past five weeks,

the team from Mark
Construction have been working

to drill the first
of two boreholes

on either side of the
dome-shaped object

that will go all the way up
through to the top of the mesa.

This will allow us to
insert scanning devices

to hopefully identify
what these things are

and help us figure out
how to uncover them.

But during this operation,

the drill has been thwarted

by possible contact
with these anomalies.

A calf suddenly
became extremely ill, as if

it were exposed to a massive
dose of microwave radiation.

THOMAS: Do you even have
it now, or is it totally gone?

ALEX: Totally gone.

TRAVIS: And last
week the drilling beacon,

which is a device
that allows the team

to track the location
of the bit underground,

just suddenly stopped working.

How much further would
you guess you need to go

to come out of the ground?

- About 260 feet.
- Wow.

- That's a long way to be operating blind.
- Yeah.

So today we checked
in with the team,

hoping that we could fix the
problem with the drill beacon

and start making some
progress in this dang mesa.

So, Travis, do you think
there's any diagnostic

that we could help do

as far as with any of our
equipment down here?

Well, what we could maybe
do is get the handheld,

uh, RF detector systems...

uh, the spectrum analyzer
or the TriField meters...

and see if we can actually
see the signal coming

- from the beacon.
- ERIK: Uh-huh.

TRAVIS: Let's see
what the deal is.

Let's get that
thing out of there

and look and see if
that beacon's working.

Well, it's right here close.

We can have it out in a minute

and, uh, hopefully
get it diagnosed.

All right, well, then, Erik
and I'll go get our piece

of equipment ready while
you guys are getting that thing

- out of there. How does that sound?
- Sounds good.

- Thank you, guys.
- TRAVIS: All right, let's do it.

Maybe the beacon stopped working

purely because of a mechanical
failure or a dead battery.

Hey, guys. Just
gonna let you know,

the beacon's out of the bit,

and, uh, he's up
here troubleshooting it.

We'll be there in...
in about one minute.

After the drillers swapped
out the battery in the beacon,

Erik and I got our
spectrum analyzer ready

to see if we could
pick up the signal

and make sure it
was working properly.

When we got it out of the
beacon, it was... it was on,

and, uh, he was getting
a perfect signal off of that.

But still no data
was transmitting.

Oh, yeah, I see it right here.

We're getting it. Yeah,
oh, yeah, it's strong, too.

I'm about to see if
it'll pair right now.

If it doesn't pair,
then I got nothing.

TRAVIS: Then it was time
to see if Alex would be able

to pair or sync it with the rig

so they could start
drilling into the mesa again.

Now I'll calibrate it.

Okay, everything's paired up.

Should be, uh,
getting signal now.

Works.

So you're getting a signal.
Are you getting the data

that you're expecting
out of it now,

now that it's out of the ground?

Yeah, we're getting all
the data and stuff now, so...

- So it is working?
- It's working now.

TRAVIS: Well, so, then,

if this is working, then
you should be able

- to put it back in, and it ought to work, right?
- Yup.

- ERIK: Well...
- Fingers crossed.

- Well, heck yeah. Let's do it.
- BRYANT: That's good news.

- Let's hope it stays.
- ERIK: Let's hope for the best. -TRAVIS: Yeah.

- Okay. -Let's go test this one.
- Let's do it.

ERIK: We have lost contact
with the beacon repeatedly

as the drill bit encounters
this apparently impenetrable,

dome-shaped object in the mesa.

All right, you guys ready?

Go ahead.

ERIK: But at this point

we've received a
clear and strong signal

from the beacon
at surface level.

ALEX: This is
going a lot better.

ERIK: I'm beginning to wonder

whether the anomaly itself
may be interfering directly

with the beacon signal.

This only intensifies
my interest

in what is going on in the mesa.

ALEX: Let's just go right here.

THOMAS: The battery
we just pulled out

was in perfect condition, so

I don't know what was
causing the problem,

but hopefully, with
this new battery,

we'll be able to continue on

and get up into the mesa.

ALEX: And I lost him.

- THOMAS: Lost him again?
- ALEX: Lost him again.

I mean, the battery's good.
You just recalibrated it,

and not... we're not even
getting up to the same place

- that we lost it the first time.
- Yeah, it's definitely strange.

Makes no sense.

Hey, guys, you got a copy?

Yeah, go ahead.

Uh... we've encountered
some more problems.

You can meet us
over... close to the drill.

Yeah. We're on our way over.

Every time that we go
out to do an experiment,

you always have to
wonder, what's the response

from the ranch going to be?

The lore that has been
told about this place says

that something intelligent is
here and monitors the ranch.

I know it sounds
crazy, but at this point

enough things have happened
that seem to be reactionary,

like there's something
out here interfering with us,

especially as we try
to drill into the mesa.

- Something more's going on?
- Yeah.

THOMAS: Isn't this getting
a little bit ridiculous as far as

what's being thrown your way?

JARED: Yeah,
a little bit, but...

So, we, uh, lost
signal sooner this time.

- TRAVIS: No kidding?
- ALEX: Yeah.

What do you reckon's
happening there?

ALEX: Have no
clue at this point.

So, uh, I got to try

an entirely different beacon.

How long will it be before
you can implement that?

I-I bet a week at
the earliest, right?

ALEX: Yeah.

It is odd that when
we pulled back,

the batteries,
after being tested,

were still fully charged.

If it's not the batteries,

there's something throwing
interference inside the mesa.

As far as what could be causing
this, we're not exactly sure.

There's definitely some
weird stuff going on here,

something unexplainable.

TRAVIS: Are we
gonna lose the hole?

ALEX: If the ground
does shift, you might have

some collapse in some places,
but for the most part, it should

- maintain the hole.
- TRAVIS: I mean,

you guys have drilled a lot.

You've changed the batteries,

you've taken this
thing out several times,

tried to recalibrate
it several times.

Have you ever had a dig
where you had to do this?

- JARED: I can't say I have.
- ALEX: Been doing this

for 11 years, and this
is definitely the first time

I've ever encountered
anything like this.

TRAVIS: That's crazy, man.

Yeah, you guys
are living the story

of Skinwalker
Ranch at this point.

Certainly. [chuckles]

It's a strange and
dynamic environment.

THOMAS: At this point,

uh, gonna just be on standby

till that new beacon
gets here, so

let's get ready for this
drone experiment tonight.

Yeah, let's get to
work. Let us know, guys.

- Thanks, guys.
- All right, you guys.

BRYANT: Hey, guys. Welcome back.

TRAVIS: How many drones

did you bring us this time?

Brought you a thousand.

- Thousand?!
- THOMAS: Quite the crew

- you guys brought.
- We've got a few people.

TRAVIS: While we were waiting
for the Mark Construction team

to get the new beacon device

for the drilling
operation in the mesa,

we welcomed our friends from
a drone light show company

known as Sky
Elements back to help us

with another major
focus of our investigation...

the mysterious spot in
the center of the ranch

that we call the triangle.

So, for tonight, uh, we've got
this field mowed down for you.

You guys can set up right here.

- Perfect. Sounds great.
- THOMAS: Okay, well, we got

a lot of work, so we'll go
get to setting up our stuff.

We know you guys

have a lot to do.

We'll get to it.

- Well, let's get to work.
- All righty.

We're gonna go get set up.

- Hey, look, UAP right there!
- KALEB: Yup, I see it.

TRAVIS: Over the
last several years...

Whoa. We got
something on the FLIR.

ERIK: Wow. I think that
may be formation flying.

We've encountered more
phenomena at the triangle

than anywhere else on the ranch,

including UAPs...

- Whoa.
- KALEB: Whoa.

That was fast, whatever it was.

Strange energy signals

around 1.6 gigahertz...

That's a communication
signal or something.

BRYANT: See that?

TRAVIS: It's like it's
hitting something up there.

And even invisible obstructions

at various altitudes
that have blocked

and created voids
in laser beams.

THOMAS: How could it block
out the green and not the blue?

I've never seen
anything like this ever.

And about a month ago,

technologist Pete
Kelsey scanned the area

with an infrared lidar device

and detected a massive
cone-shaped anomaly.

Incredibly, it stretched
from Homestead Two

all the way over to
the east field canyon

and was centered
about 2,000 feet high,

right above the triangle.

- Can you believe this?
- No, it's crazy.

TRAVIS: To collect more data

on this cone-shaped
anomaly and anything else

that might be in the airspace
above the triangle tonight,

Tyler Johnson, Preston
Ward and their team

are going to launch a
thousand illuminated drones

to various altitudes in a
preprogrammed formation

of two parallel lines.

So, tell us about this fleet

that you're putting
out in the field.

We've got a series of two lines.

It's gonna be a hundred
drones two meters apart,

and it'll be two sets
of those per flight.

And we'll fly it from
back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

So the lines will
go straight out

over top of the triangle
towards the mesa,

they'll go up to 40
meters and come back.

And when they're on their
way back, the next fleet

will pick up and
do the same thing.

TRAVIS: Some of the drones will
also be equipped with GPS devices,

so as the swarm
reaches higher elevations,

if the drones' straight-line
pattern is altered in any way,

it could be evidence of
any number of the anomalies

we've measured above
the triangle in the past.

TYLER: Typically, a
flight total is eight minutes,

especially out here, with the
stuff we've seen with batteries.

So, um, we've got these down
to five to eight minutes each.

And so they'll take
off every five minutes.

TRAVIS: And they have a new
drone that you haven't seen yet.

It's like a racing drone.

It'll go up to, like,


- Absolutely.
- Thing is amazing. Wait till you see it.

He flies it through VR.

I'm jealous. Can we trade jobs?

- [laughs] I get that a lot.
- [laughter]

McEWEN: As a
first-person-view drone pilot,

I put on a set of goggles
and I'll have a controller,

and it puts me

inside the c*ck of the drone.

So we're able to go in and out

through the swarm,

and you get a unique perspective

of what exactly goes on in
a drone swarm light show.

So I've got a couple of ways
to watch what we're doing.

One of those is, of course,
our surveillance camera system.

The other being live
monitoring of the GPS positions

of at least one of the
drones while we're flying

- as we've done in the past.
- Yeah.

- Of course.
- TRAVIS: We've also got

high-speed cameras
to the west, and Kandus

and Tom are gonna be with
high-speed cameras to the east.

So we'll see the
drones this way.

Uh, and, uh, we'll also have,
uh, the guys from OmniTeq.

ROYSTON: Yeah, our multi...

sensor boxes will be at,

you know, what we say
are the primary locations.

- Yes. Yes.
- So then we'll be monitoring

while you guys are
doing everything here.

TOM: We also brought this FLIR.

Where do you want that set up?

TRAVIS: We're gonna
set it up somewhere

in this vicinity, where
we got a full shot

of the sky and the
area above the triangle.

And we'll see the drones in it.

In order to gather
additional data tonight,

we'll monitor the experiment

with multiple
cutting-edge technologies.

First, high-speed
cameras will be positioned

to the east and
west of the triangle

and one directly under
the center of the triangle

that will be taking

hundreds of pictures per second.

And also a FLIR thermal
camera that will visualize anything

that might have a
different temperature

than its surroundings.

Finally, Jim Royston and
Sam Deriso from OmniTeq

will be using their
multi-sensor scanning systems,

while Erik and I will
have an array of antennas

to look out for any strange
energy spikes or signals,

which we frequently detect
during our experiments.

ERIK: You know, as amazing

as the in-flight
component of this is,

the stuff that's
happened on the ground

when it comes to
the connectivity issues

or even equipment
failure has really been

the most puzzling
in these exercises.

And so, of course, as
soon as you guys fire up

your base stations and
start talking to your drones,

if anything happens, I
want to know about it.

- Absolutely.
- PRESTON: Sounds like a plan.

ERIK: This is gonna be

one heck of an experiment.

TRAVIS: With that said,

we've got some
rocket stuff to get ready.

I've got to get the spectrum
analyzer up and running.

Uh, so let's get to work.

- All right.
- Okay.

♪ ♪

- TRAVIS: You got it?
- BRYANT: Yeah.

Come on. There we go.

- You let it go. I got it.
- Okay.

TRAVIS: Just before the
drone swarm takes flight,

we'll kick off the experiment

using our favorite
probing tool...

rockets.

Launching rockets has
repeatedly given us indications

of strange things
in the airspace

and sometimes even seemed
to trigger phenomena to appear.

- SAM: The GPS is looking good.
- Yeah.

TRAVIS: We have a lot of
components to this experiment tonight.

But hopefully
they'll get us closer

to answers about the triangle

and Skinwalker Ranch.

BRYANT: Okay, that's it.

All right.

ERIK: Okay, guys, I've got

good signal here,
um, on the tracker.

I-I am really anxious
to see how this looks.

Okay, we'll give a
countdown over walkie

when we're ready to go.

Call over to them and
tell them we're ready.

Hey, guys, we are ready
to rock and roll here.

All right. Let's
launch this thing.

- You want to give a countdown?
- Yeah.

All right. Going
hot on the battery.

Rocket is hot.

You ready?

Yeah.

TRAVIS: In five,

four, three,

two,

- one.
- [beeping]

We got a chute.

- Arming!
- Arming, arming,

arming, arming.

- PRESTON: Look at that.
- That's nuts.

- Flash it again. Do it again.
- They should be in unison.

TYLER: They
should be all at once.

Come on.

Look what we're getting.

I've never seen it like that.

Typically, whenever we
send a blink command

to the drones, we expect all
the drones to blink in unison.

Something we've
never seen anywhere

is the drones all
blinking randomly

when we send that command.

Didn't make any sense.

But, look, they're
already disconnecting.

TYLER: Yeah,
everything's disconnected.

TRAVIS: Did you see that?!

THOMAS: Is something
happening over there?

Hey, guys, what's up?

TRAVIS: We got something
in the sky over the mesa.

Where'd it go?

Oh, there it is.

TRAVIS: Yeah, that
don't look like an airplane.

BRYANT: What
the hell is up there?

TRAVIS: We got something
in the sky over the mesa.

Right there. Yep.

You don't typically
see satellites that bright

to the north.

That's way... That's
a... that's a really high...

- BRYANT: That's going east.
- Latitude.

The question is, is that
close or is that far away?

Are you seeing it still?

TRAVIS: No, I'm
not seeing it still.

- It's gone.
- It's gone. It went away.

It went away.

TYLER: Hey,
Travis, all the drones

are fully down.

Wow.

As scientists, Erik
and I often preach

that correlation doesn't
necessarily mean causation.

But right after we launched
our first rocket from the triangle,

a UAP suddenly appeared
high above Skinwalker Ranch.

And then all 1,000 drones that
Sky Elements had programmed

to take off malfunctioned.

TYLER: So we're actually seeing

some really interesting
behavior with the drones.

You see the red blink
we've been doing?

Yeah, I've been noticing
that. What's that about?

Well, they should all be
blinking at the exact same time.

TRAVIS: Oh, really?

Ain't none of 'em
blinking at the same time.

Copy that. Let us
know when you're ready.

- Stay with it.
- Copy.

We will.

- ROYSTON: Hey, Travis.
- Yeah.

We just lost signal
from this antenna

as that was coming over.

So we're out.

- You lost signal when that flew over?
- It just went down.

We've been up the whole time.

It's down right now.

TRAVIS: Wow.

After Jim and Sam reported

that one of the
antennas connected

to their multi-sensor
system was also glitching,

it really started to
look like all these things

might be directly related.

Have you reset it,
see if it'll start back up?

Sam just rebooted
it and nothing.

- And it's still nothing?
- No. -SAM: Still nothing.

What?

That's just so weird.

As frustrating as
these setbacks were,

they offered compelling evidence

that some kind of
ranch phenomenon,

like perhaps that UAP we saw,

caused them all to happen.

PRESTON: Yeah, I mean, that's...

TYLER: That's insane.

- [static]
- TRAVIS: Oh.

And then we just
had... Did you see that?

KALEB: Yep.

SAM: What is that?

TRAVIS: There's
clearly a signal there.

Something at 1.6 gigahertz,

whatever it is.

ROYSTON: Wow,
it's definitive, too.

What the crap is doing that?

So, the only
antenna picking it up

is pointed directly
at the launchpad.

SAM: Yeah.

TRAVIS: It sounds like
a communication signal.

When our spectrum analyzer

detected the


it was icing on the cake,
as far as I was concerned.

We've not only detected
this kind of signal many times

when we've seen other
phenomena on the ranch,

but this one was making sounds
like some form of communication.

And our antenna showed
that it was coming directly

from the launchpad in
the center of the triangle.

Hey, look, it just showed up

in the sky-facing antenna.

What? What? It just
show... Did you see that?

- It was not there before.
- KALEB: Yeah. It's right there.

Yeah.

And you can see it
coming across the side,

- like on the other one.
- Yeah.

So let's zoom in on that
and see what it sounds like

coming from that antenna.

[static]

That's coming from
the sky-facing antenna.

And-and so we're
getting a signal now

in a vertical antenna
pointed right at the mesa

and then an antenna
pointed at the sky

out in the field here behind us.

What?

We really haven't seen this.

KALEB: No, we
haven't seen this before.

It's jumped to the
other antenna now.

So now we've got it
coming from the antenna

pointed at the exit spot.

Now things were going
from weird to ridiculous.

The signal was not only
coming from both the triangle

and the sky in the
area where we detected

the huge cone-shaped anomaly

but also from the very
same spot in the east field

where we recorded images of a
UAP passing through the mesa

and flying toward the
triangle back in 2022.

So, we're getting
this same signal

from multiple directions
at the same time?

TRAVIS: Yes. So
that signal's coming

from everywhere all at once.

Our antennas are
supposed to help us pinpoint

where any signals
are coming from.

But they were detecting this one

like it was jumping around
from the center of the triangle

to the east field to
the south field and then

right above us.

Could that mean that it
was being deflected around

from inside the
cone-shaped anomaly?

And if so, then
what in the world

could we actually
be dealing with?

I don't know, man.

PRESTON: Call over to
them and tell them we're ready.

Hey, guys, we are ready
to rock and roll here.

We have 200 drones ready to go,

approximately 60
seconds from liftoff.

60 seconds from liftoff.

Copy that, guys. We'll be
ready with the rocket launch.

Let's go, Dragon.

We didn't know if
we should be relieved

or even more freaked
out when Preston said

that only 200 of the 1,000
drones were finally working.

But either way, we couldn't
wait to get the swarm

and the single
FPV drone in the air

to see what might happen next.

PRESTON: Arming!

I'll send everything
that's connected.

- Five seconds.
- TYLER: Five,

four, three,

two, one,

go.

What do we have?
Four? Four didn't take off?

TYLER: Four no
take-offs. Lots of movement.

TRAVIS: Four no take...

Look at... look at
'em moving around.

They cannot control
'em. Look at 'em.

Oh, look at that.

- They hit each other.
- [rumbling]

- Did you hear 'em hit?
- Yup.

TYLER: As soon
as our show goes up,

we start having problems.

We started to see some
wiggle in several different spots.

Typically, wiggle's
not something we see

when we're flying
patterns and shapes.

This wiggle was very random,

random drones,
random parts of the lines.

It didn't seem to
have any cause to it.

It's really weird.

TRAVIS: Oh, they look terrible.

BRYANT: Oh, they're
moving into a straight line.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

PRESTON: Trying to
figure out if they're locked in.

Stay clear, stay
clear, stay clear.

PRESTON: Some of them are out.

THOMAS: They're having
a hard time down here.

In typical ranch fashion,

we're having all
sorts of problems

with these drones.

So, hopefully, this FPV pilot

will give us a real up-close
perspective of these drones

to help us see what's
possibly above the ranch

that's causing all this trouble.

TRAVIS: They
are not in line at all.

Look at 'em, there-there's
a wave going through it.

Youre going to have to wait.

[device beeps]

McEWEN: Why did it cut?

Where'd the other drone go?
I thought I heard one hit again.

- TYLER: FPV just lost video.
- FPV just lost its feed.

FPV is down, lost video feed.

Something's not right.

TRAVIS: I think
that drone crashed.

[device beeps]

TYLER: FPV is down,

lost video feed.

TRAVIS: They crashed.

He crashed his drone, man.

Yeah, I heard it

hit the ground.

Kaleb, they think

that you hit the ground.

TRAVIS: Just after
the Sky Elements team

was finally able to get


to launch up above the triangle,

inexplicably a number of
them were still deviating

from their
preprogrammed formation.

And then the
manually-operated FPV drone,

which was being flown
through the swarm

to look for evidence
of whatever might be

affecting all the devices,

suddenly lost its camera feed

and crashed into the ground.

So, did it just lose power,

or did something
knock it out of the sky?

Yeah, that one's
still really out.

THOMAS: Yeah, you
got some right over there.

That one's the most
significant one I see.

There's like three or
four with spacing issues.

We've got a few on the west
side that seem to be misbehaving.

Preston, time to land?

Uh, in probably
about two minutes.

TRAVIS: After eight minutes in the
air, the drone swarm needed to land.

And because of all
those malfunctions,

the team from Sky
Elements decided

that it was time to
end the experiment.

Sky Elements, clear
the grid! Everybody clear!

TEAM MEMBER: Clear the grid!

♪ ♪

TYLER: Guys, heads on a swivel.

We may have some bumps
on the way down here.

All right, coming in to land.

We may have lost
a drone in the air.

PRESTON: It was difficult to
get those 200 drones connected

and get everything going.

Once we got the swarm going,

we noticed a couple of
drones that were out of position

that were definitely
having GPS issues,

but also our FPV
pilot hit something.

We don't know what it was.

We're going to go back
and look at the footage.

We're here at Skinwalker Ranch,

there's nothing around,
there's no obstacles.

We're not quite
sure what he hit.

All right, all drones
back on the ground.

Man, what a,
what a night, right?

Very eventful, for sure.

TRAVIS: Yeah, I got to tell you,

we were picking up a
signal at 1.6 gigahertz.

It was moving around,
it was interfering

and started on one
antenna pointed at the mesa,

moved to an antenna
pointed at the sky,

one pointed at the
mesa over there.

And it suggests that
there's something above us

broadcasting downward at us

and it's bouncing around
off the mesa and everywhere.

And maybe some of those things

could be what was
causing the problem, but I...

That's interesting you say
that signal was bouncing around

'cause we would have periods
where everything would connect

for 15, 20 seconds,
sometimes a minute,

and then it would all
start disconnecting again

and it would do
it just randomly.

Ah. Wh-What could
be causing that?

That rapid loss of power
doesn't make much sense.

TRAVIS: So, your fast drone
that was moving around?

We heard it crash.

You could just see
it just go dark and...

And I just watched it drop
like a rock right out here,

- like someone flipped a switch.
- [snaps fingers]

That's crazy.

Well, we've got a lot
of data to look through,

and we also had
high-speed cameras going.

There might have been things
in there that we haven't seen yet.

All right, guys. Let's load up.

- We got a lot to do.
- Start heading out.

- Thanks, guys.
- Thank y'all.

Hey, thanks, you guys.

ERIK: Well, we've got
quite a bit to go through.

Uh, you know, what a night.

TRAVIS: The next
morning, Erik alerted us

that he had already scoured
through the surveillance,

the high-speed, and
the thermal camera video

from the drone swarm experiment.

ERIK: Hey, Preston. Hey,
Kaleb, you hear us okay?

- How's it going, guys?
- How's it going?

So, we were all eager
to review everything

along with Preston Ward and
Kaleb McEwen from Sky Elements,

who joined us on
a videoconference.

This is really interesting,

this particular, uh, video
that I'm going to share.

Okay, I'm gonna
play this through.

THOMAS: We know what we're
looking at when we see a plane.

This didn't match any of that.

TRAVIS: I agree.

We've got it from another angle.

ERIK: Let's take a look at that.

- ROYSTON: There it is.
- ERIK: There it is.

THOMAS: So, this is
the UAP that correlates

with the same time that
their equipment went down

and all of the
drones disconnected.

Right. I-I think we all want

to take a look at
this a little closer.

TRAVIS: All we
can say about it is,

we know it's not
one of our drones,

and it's some object that's...

Emitting light.

Emitting light, and it
doesn't look like an aircraft.

It doesn't look like
anything normal.

So I don't know what it is.

Whatever this really
bright UAP was,

it didn't appear like
a meteor or a satellite

or something natural.

And then it just
vanished into thin air.

Since it showed up just
before all of the drones

and a lot of our other
gear malfunctioned,

could it have been related
or maybe even the cause?

I know that we ran into
all kinds of problems.

Uh, maybe just walk us
back through and tell us

what you've learned
on, uh, you know, uh,

anything you've postprocessed.

PRESTON: Sure, so I looked

through all the
logs on the drones

and the system itself,
and it didn't tell me anything

that would be impacting
that communication level.

And there's no really
assignable cause on our end.

Um, you know, it was just
kind of more of the same

that-that Skinwalker Ranch
seems to cause issues

that don't exist anywhere else.

TRAVIS: And, Kaleb,
you lost your FPV drone,

and I was wondering if, uh,
you had any insight about that

after you've had some
time to think about it

and reflect on it.

Yeah, so out of the 50 flights
I've flown for drone shows,

I've never lost
connection completely.

So, out of nowhere, I
was flying and, boom,

I lost the telemetry
and my video,

and that's never happened.

I couldn't explain.

I'm excited to see
what is on that GoPro.

I'm... I hope y'all found it.

Well, it's right here,
as you can see.

- Yeah.
- And we found this

nearly right up on
top of the mesa.

That's crazy.

TRAVIS: So, how
did it end up that far

away from the triangle?

So, guys, I have the footage
from the onboard camera.

We've recovered that.

PRESTON: We're super
excited to see what happened.

We've been racking our
brains trying to figure out

what happened to that drone.

Well, I-I think
it'll be instructive

to both see and hear,

uh, whatever the
drone saw and heard.

[rotors whirring]

[impacts]

[clattering]

What?

- That was midair.
- THOMAS: Whoa.

[mutters]

Yeah. I mean, you
hit something and...

Yeah, it's... That's weird.

You're in midair, dude.

I'm, like, really high, too.

TRAVIS: What in the world?

So, you hit something in the air

and spiraled into the ground.

That's what happened.

I'm, like, really high, too.

- You're in midair, dude.
- ERIK: Yeah.

There's nothing up there.

Well, something made
the drone fall out of the sky.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

Back it up again.

Watching and hearing the
Sky Elements' FPV drone

appear to hit something in
the sky during our experiment

over the triangle
last night was crazy.

To make things even stranger,
Dragon found the drone

several hundred feet away
on top of the mesa to the east,

but we saw it
flying to the west.

What could have caused it to
end up all the way over there,

especially since it didn't have
very much physical damage?

Now, see if you can back
it up to right as it crashed.

- ERIK: Okay.
- All right.

ERIK: So, here we're
still flying under control.

TRAVIS: Mm-hmm.

[keys clicking]

At this point, you
hit something.

What are we hitting? I don't
see the mesa anywhere.

And I don't see a bird.

McEWEN: Yeah, I
was pretty high, too.

I want to say I was, what,



That is just unbelievable.

ERIK: So, guys, we've
got one more piece

of footage that we
want to share with you.

This is thermographic imagery

off of a FLIR camera
out at the triangle.

Again, this is sky-facing.

We set it to where the
very bottom of the frame

is literally at the top
of the launch tower.

ERIK: Yeah, so here you
can see top of the mesa.

And I'm just gonna
let this play through

at its normal speed.

TRAVIS: Wow, it looked
like it was far away.

- Can you zoom in on it?
- Sure.

ERIK: So, we're looking at
something that's clearly giving off

a heat signature
that's warmer than,

you know, the surrounding
part of the frame.

TRAVIS: I don't see
any wings or anything,

like it would be a bug
flying over the FLIR.

So, Kaleb, do you, do you
remember the time frame

when you saw this, what was
going on the, on the ground?

Uh, this was right
around the same time

that Kaleb's drone crashed.

Yeah, it was.

In addition to the
UAP we all saw

right before our
equipment started glitching,

our thermal camera
positioned at the triangle caught

another UAP that was literally
invisible to the naked eye.

ERIK: This is very persistent,
it's-it's, uh, very graceful,

linear travel.

Clearly not a...
it's not an aircraft.

TRAVIS: It's too
fast for an airplane.

- ERIK: Yeah.
- Don't know what it... I don't know what it is.

It didn't appear to
make any contact

with the FPV drone,

so it made me wonder if there
was anything else up there

that might have.

What else you got, Erik?

So, what I'm about
to share with you

is some footage that
was obtained through

a high-speed camera asset.

TRAVIS: And this
is looking straight up

- through the anomaly at the launchpad.
- Yeah.

-Oh. -Yeah. You caught that?

I didn't see anything.

- ERIK: I'll back it up just a bit.
- Zoom in on it, Erik.

ERIK: Okay, you got it.

TRAVIS: Oh, yeah,
yeah, there it was.

THOMAS: There's
two things there.

- Did you see that?
- ERIK: Yeah.

Let me take that back through,

using frame advance.

Okay.

ROYSTON: Ooh, that
looks like two there.

- TRAVIS: Well, I find that really interesting.
- Turned into two.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

ROYSTON: Looks
like it starts with one.

Must be right behind each other.

THOMAS: Where do
they go? That's interesting.

TRAVIS: Yeah,
that's a good question.

ERIK: Yeah, whatever this
is, it appears to fade in and out.

Let me try one thing,
let me turn the contrast

and brightness up just a bit.

- TRAVIS: What are we seeing?
- Okay, I don't see anything now.

THOMAS: I would say
that they're still right there.

ERIK: Okay. How
about I dive in on it?

- Yep, I saw it. Yep.
- THOMAS: Oh, yes, look, it's right there.

TRAVIS: Yep,
there you go. Sure is.

ERIK: There's a lot
going on here, guys.

TRAVIS: Look at all this.

Wow, there are so
many in this clip, it's crazy.

TRAVIS: Wow, there are
so many in this clip, it's crazy.

So, I think that I'm seeing
maybe a formation flying event.

The high-speed video captured

during our drone swarm
experiment last night

showed more UAPs than
we've ever seen at one time.

They were literally
maneuvering around

above the center
of the triangle,

and many of them
seemed to be flying

in coordinated
patterns with each other.

Could these things
be what prevented

so many of the drones
from being able to launch?

And does it also explain
why the 200 that did

struggled to maintain their
programmed formations?

ERIK: Okay, I'm gonna take us

back out.

TRAVIS: Let it
keep playing for a bit.

ERIK: Okay.

TRAVIS: Oh... whoa,
whoa, there was a bright one.

We'll back up and look at
the, uh, individual frame.

TRAVIS: Look how bright that is.

It's not a satellite, it's not...
a satellite at this frame rate

would just be
sitting in one spot.

Let it keep playing
for a second forward.

All right, I'll keep
playing through this.

- Okay.
- TRAVIS: There was another bright one.

Did you see that one?

- Wow.
- ERIK: Okay, I'm gonna,

I'm gonna, I'm gonna
bring us back through it.

TRAVIS: Right there.

Wow, that was a bright one.

ERIK: And that's, like,
a single-frame event.

TRAVIS: Lord have
mercy, what are we seeing?

Look how bright that was.

ERIK: We have seen UAPs

moving at fairly
high rates of travel

in the area where Pete Kelsey

detected a very large
cone-shaped anomaly.

What if there is, in fact,
some kind of connection

between those UAPs
and that anomaly?

That would be interesting.

BRYANT: And
how long is this clip?

ERIK: This whole clip
is about 20 seconds.

That many things
in 20 seconds' time?

- Oh, wow.
- That's fast.

I mean, think about all the
problems we were having

on the ground, guys.

Sky Elements is
trying to connect

those thousand drones up,

and-and while we're
down there on the ground

trying to fight through
that, and you guys

- are losing your equipment...
- Yeah.

We're having this
take place above us,

and we're not even
aware that it's going on.

Well, it wouldn't be hard
to imagine, if you've got

a bunch of things popping
in and out of your space,

that you'd expect
to see interference

- with all your stuff.
- Right.

BRYANT: Especially if they have

some sort of an
electromagnetic quality to them

- or something of that nature.
- ERIK: Yes, yes.

Have y'all seen
anything like that before

while you were
doing drone shows?

No, no, we've never seen

anything strange
in the sky, you know.

It's totally unexpected
to see that kind of stuff,

you know, in the
middle of nowhere,

and especially if it's
something we can't identify.

Yeah, that's...
this is the thing, is,

we recently imaged a
massive cone-shaped anomaly

using lidar directly
over the triangle,

where you did just fly through,
Kaleb, and lost a drone.

So I-I find it really
interesting that, uh,

you know, we had something
else in the same airspace

that we couldn't see but
occasionally with the naked eye,

mostly with high-speed
or infrared cameras.

Yeah, it's definitely
very unusual, right?

ERIK: Well, look,
guys, after all

of these really
unexpected, amazing things

that we've seen, we
definitely want to get you guys

back out here,
boots on the ground.

See if we can't get those
thousand drones in the air.

- How do you feel about that?
- Let's do it.

- Let's see if we can make it happen.
- TRAVIS: All right.

See you guys later.
Good to see y'all.

- You guys rock. -THOMAS: Thank you.
- Thank you, Kaleb.

ERIK: We definitely
need to follow up on this,

but we need to do some planning.

Given what we've seen,
what can we do differently,

what can we do better

during these massive
drone exercises?

Well, they didn't get
the thousand drones up...

- Got to do that.
- So I would love to see them get the thousand drones up,

even if they're in
sections, you know?

If you create a section,
you could do half of them

over here at the triangle
and half of them down here

at the east field, simultaneous.

I like where you're
going with that.

The idea of maybe two
major thrusts simultaneously.

TRAVIS: Since the massive
cone-shaped anomaly that we detected

encompassed the triangle

and reached all the
way to the east field,

my thought was to split
the drones into two swarms

between the two areas.

That way, we can see if they
are affected in similar ways

or in different
ways or not at all.

It could produce more
data to help us determine

just what we're
dealing with out there.

Well, let's get 'em
back and let's do it.

- I'm all about it.
- ERIK: All right, guys. -Sounds great.

- Well, we've got a lot of planning to do.
- Yeah, we do.

BRYANT: That was crazy.

ERIK: Over many years
of work on the ranch,

it is often the case

that when we're
conducting our experiments,

we have seen UAPs that
appear in the sky above us.

And it's not uncommon
that we experience

equipment malfunctions
at the same time.

I think we would
all like to know

how the phenomenon
interferes with our equipment,

equipment of all kinds.

TRAVIS: This experiment led

to some of the most
incredible events

we've ever documented
during our investigation.

So, by repeating the exercise
on an even larger scale,

maybe it will lead
to a revelation

that finally explains

what's behind all the phenomena
that we keep experiencing

here on Skinwalker Ranch.

BRANDON: As crazy
events continue to occur

in the area of the triangle,

we'll be more
vigilant as we set up

the next drone experiment.

I truly believe the team

is closer than ever to
discovering the truth.

To understanding

the nature of what
we are documenting

in the skies above
Skinwalker Ranch.

TRAVIS: We're gonna conduct
a drone swarm experiment

between the east
field and the triangle.

Both simultaneously.

- Whoa, what is that?
- BRYANT: Whoa.

Right over the mesa here.

PRESTON: Here we go.

- THOMAS: Oh, [bleep]!
- PRESTON: Holy mackerel.

THOMAS: It's raining
drones over here.

TRAVIS: Oh, heads
up. Let's get out, get out!

- THOMAS: Heads up, they're coming down!
- Oh, my God.

TRAVIS [over radio]: The
drones are falling on us.