The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained by Stanley Milford, Jr.

 

Do you believe in the paranormal such as aliens, bigfoot, ghosts, other supernatural beings?  I am always curious.

Stanley Milford Jr. grew up in multiple worlds with a Navajo father and Cherokee mother.  He learned native culture and traditions but also grew up in the white world.  As an adult, he became a Navajo Ranger serving the very large (27,000 square miles) area of the Navajo Nation.  Along the way he had many encounters with the paranormal.

My thoughts on this book:

·       I really liked the Navajo creation story and myths that were interspersed between each chapter.

·       There were great pictures of Stanley Milford Jr. throughout his life as well as sketches of paranormal creatures.

·       I found this book to be very interesting.  Milford takes a police perspective to each investigation.  He can determine some are hoaxes, while others have no apparent explanation.  He had an interesting theory that there could be interdimensional travel happening to explain strange appearances.

·       It was interesting that one witness was able to get trail cam footage of a bigfoot and that the DNA analysis of the hair fibers came back inconclusive for the type of mammal.

·       Milford had a LOT of area to cover with not many rangers.

·       The book had an interesting discussion about how perhaps some areas see more paranormal activity than others, such as Gettysburg.

·       Milford was in a few documentaries on paranormal activity and now I want to see them.  He was on Unsolved Mysteries and Beyond Skinwalker Ranch just to name a couple.

·       This book was a good mix of memoir, native mythology, and paranormal investigations.

·       It was a quick read with a good index.

·       It was nice that Milford was able to listen to and help those who “regular” police would typically dismiss with their paranormal experiences.

Favorite Quotes:

“Overall, I found that treating people like fellow human beings instead of being badge-heavy always resulted in more compliance.  I was a member of the community, and that’s how I conducted myself on the job.”

“That’s what was different about paranormal cases as opposed to my usual, everyday ones.  These cases made me wonder What If?  They sent my mind whirring in all directions.”

Overall, The Paranormal Ranger was a very interesting memoir of a Navajo Ranger and his investigations into paranormal activity.

Book Source:  Review copy from William Morrow Books. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.