Former Navajo Ranger details his career in new book
As a Native American with parents of both Navajo and Cherokee descent, Stanley Milford Jr. grew up in a world where the supernatural was both expected and taboo, where shapeshifters roamed, and witchcraft was meant to be feared.
When he joined the Navajo Rangers, a law enforcement agency that protects the Navajo Nation’s natural resources, historical sites, and public works, he soon found himself investigating the paranormal encounters he’d been taught to avoid.
After 23 years as a Ranger, Milford has released a book detailing some of the out-of-this-world experiences that have stuck with him to this day. His book The Paranormal Ranger was released on Oct. 1, and he will be speaking about the book and his experiences at the Zollinger Library at the University of New Mexico-Gallup on Nov. 11.
MILFORD’S EXPERIENCES WITH THE PARANORMAL
Milford graduated from the U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. in 1997. After graduation he returned home to the Navajo Nation and joined the Rangers.
He worked under Chief Ranger Leonard Butler, and he said he’s the one who made some of the Rangers investigate paranormal encounters.
Milford and his partner Jonathan Dover worked many paranormal investigations together, but it all started when an elderly woman who lived in the Chuska Mountains called the Rangers to report that a Sasquatch had allegedly eaten one of her sheep.
Sheep have been an important part of Navajo culture ever since the Spanish colonists first brought churro sheep, which are now called Navajo Churro sheep, to the Southwest. Now, the Diné use the animals for sustenance and a means to make money. So, it’s no wonder this elderly woman was upset.
Two rangers went out to check on the situation, but Milford said he doesn’t believe they handled it correctly. He worried that one of the Rangers, who was often perceived as more of a jokester, might have upset the woman.
She eventually called the Rangers again, and Milford believes she might have “chewed Butler out.”
Butler called a meeting with all the Rangers and gave them what Milford calls a stern talking to.
“He said ‘You’ve chosen a career in law enforcement and in doing so, you’re there for one of two reasons, if not both: that’s to either help people or protect people. If you’re in law enforcement for any other reason, then you need to look at your career and choose something else. These people who are experiencing this, you may not understand this phenomenon that happens, you may not believe in these things, but to these people it’s very real,’” Milford said.
During that meeting Butler pointed at Milford and Dover and put them in charge of the Rangers’ paranormal investigations. Milford said he and Dover were simply following orders.
“It wasn’t like we were raising our hands and wanting to be the Navajo X-Files or anything like that, we just said ‘Yessir,’” Milford said.
THE OFFICE BUILDING HAUNTING
Milford and Dover worked on many cases together over the years, from hauntings to possible witchcraft, and even Bigfoot and UFO cases.
As Navajo Rangers, the two men took their police training and used it during their paranormal investigations,
But one of the most memorable ones, which he writes about in The Paranormal Ranger, was one that occurred after Dover retired in 2009.
Milford and his team were called out to an office building in Window Rock, Ariz. after a woman contacted the Rangers and said her employees were experiencing odd occurrences. They were allegedly hearing voices and noticing items moving around the office when no one had touched them. The manager said all of this was ultimately disturbing the workplace.
So, Milford and his team set up shop on a weekend when no one would be in the office.
As the team leader Milford arrived early to set up his equipment and get a lay of the land. He was setting up in a conference room when he had his first paranormal experience of the night.
He suddenly felt as if someone was running their finger across his mustache. He also heard two distinct male voices having what seemed to be a conversation at this time, although he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“Immediately, I knew there was something to the claim of the director, that there was something going on,” Milford said.
When the other investigators arrived, Milford began the official investigation.
The team used audio and video recordings during their investigation, but one unique factor that came out of this investigation is still something Milford experiences today.
Milford and his team reportedly witnessed a multitude of coins appearing in thin air and then falling to the floor during this particular investigation. Milford said he himself saw about 10 coins, and throughout the two-day investigation his team saw 66 coins materialize and disappear at random.
“To see this with your own eyes really challenges the way you see the world,” Milford said. “It makes you realize our world and the universe is much greater than what we could ever begin to imagine. There's so much to the world than what’s right in front of us.”
That particular investigation is one that is still with Milford.
The day after that investigation, he began seeing coins materialize out of thin air in his own house. Fifteen years later, he’s still experiencing this coin phenomenon. Recently, one of the fellow investigators from that investigation was visiting New Mexico for a week and Milford said the two of them saw 20 coins fall out of thin air during the visit.
Milford said he’s asked Native medicine men and other shamans about the coin situation, and whether or not it is something to be feared, but they all told him it was nothing to worry about.
MILFORD’S LIFE NOW
Milford’s career spans 30 years; 23 of those he spent with the Rangers, the other seven he worked construction and security for the Navajo Nation. He finally retired from his work with the Nation on May 5, 2023. And he had a book deal by July 2023.
He said that the paranormal aspect of his job was just that: a job.
“For me and John it was never about the matter of believing,” he said. “People always ask ‘Do you believe in ghosts, do you believe in Bigfoot?’ For us as criminal investigators, when you go into an investigation you’re going in with a blank mind. You’re not having any preconceived ideas of what took place or any of that, you’re just going in to document the evidence: photograph, collect evidence. You take that and put it all into a report, and then you let that report speak for itself.”
Milford and Dover have given presentations about their experiences. They were also featured on an episode of the Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries, which is what eventually led Milford to his book deal with HarperCollins.
He said he and Dover still do the occasional investigation, when they’re asked. But for the most part, he’s still settling into retirement.
The Paranormal Ranger can be found on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor