Alien Highway Series Catches Extraterrestrial Traffic

There is a 98-mile stretch of road on Nevada State Route 375, starting were it crosses U.S. 93, called the Extraterrestrial Highway. It is the closest public street to Area 51. There have been multiple reports of strange goings on in the skies over it, as well as in the tourist shops who have embraced their geographic legacy. Alien Highway, the upcoming series on Travel Channel, will wait until its eighth episode to try and pick up a hitchhiking alien who escaped from the facility. But they will hit all the glowing spots on the journey to it.  Alien Highway premieres on June 12.

The 8-part series tracks a team of investigators as they follow the lights in the sky, and the highbeams on the road. Former Colorado law enforcement officer Chuck Zukowski, who has been researching and investigating UFO-related incidents for over 30 years, leads his son Daniel and documentarian Heather Taddy on the search. The researchers pursue “the cases that authorities ignore, finding evidence that others have missed, listening to witnesses that are otherwise afraid to come forward, searching for definitive proof of UFOs along America’s Alien Highway,” according to the official statement.

The series begins at the infamous Skinwalker Ranch, also known as Sherman Ranch, of Ballard, Utah. Named after the skin-walker legend of the Navajo’s oral tradition, it is allegedly the site of paranormal and UFO-related activities. “A recent creature sighting outside the infamous Skinwalker Ranch brings Chuck Zukowski and the team to Utah to investigate,” reads the official synopsis. “Evidence, both on the ground and in the skies, indicates the mysterious shapeshifter might actually be an alien.” The series premiere, “Legend of the Skinwalker,” airs Wednesday, June 12 at 10 p.m.

Lead Field Investigator Chuck Zukowski currently he holds the title “Deputy Director of Animal Mutilation Investigations” for the Mutual UFO Network, aka MUFON International. He “approaches every investigation from a skeptical point of view looking for any known possibility before claiming otherwise,” according to the advance press. “He also implements new and innovative field experiments from time to time to enhance his investigations looking for new evidence.

Researcher Heather Taddy, starred on A&E’s Paranormal State. The television series chronicled investigations from The Paranormal Research Society (PRS), the college-run club at Pennsylvania State University. Taddy traveled across the country as their Team Documentarian to help and educate  families experiencing paranormal activity. She has worked alongside recognized researchers and psychics including Lorraine Warren, Chip Coffey, and Michelle Belanger. “Showing no fear when it comes to the paranormal, Taddy is often seen on the series isolating her self in some of the world’s most notoriously haunted locations,” according to her bio.

Daniel Zukowski, who is in charge of security, is a law enforcement officer with a military background that helps identify the types of technology the military currently has. His bio says he “looks at every investigation from a non-bias point of view.”

Further reading: What Possesses People to Go to an Exorcist?

In the episode “UFO Recovery,” the team “receives a map from an informant supposedly leading to a hidden cache of recovered materials from the Roswell incident,” according to the official synposis. They go on “the treasure hunt of lifetime to locate what could be the mother lode of all UFO discoveries.”

“After an informant relays a story of an alien that reportedly escaped from Area 51,” reads the official synopsis of the “Escape From Area 51” episode, “Chuck and the team head to Tonapah, Nevada, to investigate whether this creature still roams the area.”

Alien Highway premieres on June 12 at 10 p.m. on Travel Channel.

Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York City’s Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera AssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol.