Bigelow buys the ranch: NIDS on watch
Robert Bigelow bought the Sherman place in September 1996 and put his National Institute for Discovery Science on it. Biochemist Colm Kelleher led the research. Scientists and a veterinarian lived on site with cameras and instruments for eight years. With George Knapp, Kelleher later described close to 100 incidents: vanishing and mutilated cattle, orbs, a huge animal that bullets didn't stop, and invisible objects with destructive magnetic fields. NIDS closed in 2004. The next year Kelleher and Knapp's Hunt for the Skinwalker reached a DIA analyst named James Lacatski.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 1994The Sherman familywitnessEarlier reports at the ranch that led to the purchase Skinwalker Ranch (Sherman years)
- 20 Oct 1996Deseret NewsdocumentContemporary report of the purchase and the NIDS research presence Deseret News, 20 Oct 1996
How plausible · High
A named biochemist led eight years of on-site study and reports nearly 100 incidents; NIDS itself admits little reached publishable evidence, and AAWSAP later funded work on the same ranch.
- ●●Access Staff lived and worked on the ranch.
- ●●Character record A biochemist and a veteran investigative reporter.
- ●●Fits the documented skeleton NIDS and AAWSAP are documented.
- ●○Cost of speaking Named scientists.
- ●○Consistent over time Eight years of reports.
- ●○Restraint Admits evidence fell short.
- −Commercial motive A book followed.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- NIDS was founded in October 1995 and disbanded in October 2004 (Wikipedia).
- Deseret News, 20 October 1996: Bigelow paid about $200,000; John B. Alexander was NIDS's named scientist.
- Kelleher led the NIDS research programme from 1996 to 2004 (EdgeScience bio).
- Hunt for the Skinwalker (Kelleher & Knapp, 2005).
- Bigelow paid about $200,000, closing in September 1996.
- A 1999 hotline took more than 5,000 reports.