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FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has focused much of his tenure on combating human trafficking and, more recently, pushing back on environmental, social and governance investing strategies.
Reyes has also lent his credibility to the investigation of paranormal activities in northern Utah as a guest on the History Channel's "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch" television series.
Located near Fort Duchesne, the so-called Skinwalker Ranch property is famous for reports of unexplained phenomena, which are the basis for the investigative reality series in which ranch owner and real estate mogul Brandon Fugal and a team of researchers "apply cutting-edge technology to investigate the 512-acre property to uncover the possibly 'otherworldly' perpetrators behind it all," according to the History Channel.
Reyes appeared as a guest on the latest episode of Season 4 and offered to investigate an unidentified aircraft — believed by the cast to be a Black Hawk military helicopter — that appeared to be monitoring the team's latest experiment at the ranch.
When asked how the attorney general became involved with the series, a spokesman for Reyes said he was "invited to the show because the ranch is a site of national interest."
"He is not appearing in the show in his official capacity," spokesman Rich Piatt said. "No taxpayer funds are used for his appearances on the show."
A clip of the show on the show's YouTube channel lists the headline: "Attorney General Assists in MAJOR UFO Investigation."
In the episode that aired May 9, Reyes seemed to suggest the aircraft may represent federal overreach on state lands, and vowed to look into it.
"We're a sovereign state," Reyes said, in response to the suggestion that the crew is under surveillance during filming. "We have our own constitutional rights and violations of our state's sovereignty and our state's rights, we have to take very, very seriously."
Reyes said on the show that he has "a lot of friends and a lot of assets in this state and I would love to get to the bottom of this."
"Gentlemen, what the heck is flying around in my state?" he asked cast members when shown video footage that captured a small unidentified object.
In a later interview on the episode, Reyes said he could confirm that a Black Hawk helicopter had flown over the ranch after taking off from Heber City, but he didn't provide any further information.
Piatt said the office doesn't comment on official investigations, but said "any investigation related to the ranch would come through normal protocols and be conducted like any other investigation."
Reyes also appeared in an episode of "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch" in 2020, and was on a panel about the series at FanX Salt Lake last year. His spokesman reiterated that the appearances were outside of his official duties.
"In his personal time, Reyes has appeared on several television interviews, documentaries, podcasts, reports and programs," Piatt said. "He even narrates and co-produces A&E's program 'Addiction Unplugged,' to provide hope for those dealing with the cycle of addiction."
A&E Networks owns the History Channel and holds worldwide distribution rights for "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch."
A person familiar with the matter said Reyes did not receive any fee or payment for his appearance on last week's episode.
According to mandatory campaign filings, Fugal donated $1,000 to Reyes' 2020 campaign for reelection. Fugal has also donated to several members of Utah's congressional delegation, including Congressmen John Curtis and Blake Moore, and Sen. Mike Lee.
Former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert also appeared on two episodes of the show in 2022, according to IMDb.
