Inspired by Real Interviews and Firsthand Accounts

The Shadow Gate is grounded in real experiences gathered during on-site investigations in Elbert County, Colorado — one of the most active paranormal and UFO corridors in the American West.

The story draws from interviews with a respected authority figure who previously worked inside classified government facilities connected to Area 51 and Lockheed. Through that work, he witnessed technologies and incidents he still cannot fully discuss. After returning to rural Colorado, he continued working under a government contract through his family and began encountering phenomena he described as “non-human and shadow-like.”

Local reports, combined with this man’s firsthand accounts, provided the backbone of the film’s mythology. These include sightings of tall shadow beings near his business, unexplained craft hovering over the Palmer Divide, elk dying under strange conditions with “digital-like” eye flicker as life faded, and the discovery of caves historically tied to early occult traditions.

The Shadow Gate also incorporates documented events surrounding a privately owned ranch on the Palmer Divide. Two investigators — including myself — visited the property shortly after the owner’s sudden death. Upon arrival, a Bell helicopter was seen leaving the area, and later investigation confirmed the land had a long history of drug trafficking activity, hidden encampments, and recurring reports of both aerial anomalies and unidentified figures moving through the treeline.

These true accounts, combined with regional folklore, witness testimony, and on-the-ground research, form the inspirational foundation of The Shadow Gate. While the film is a work of fiction, it is built from real events, real interviews, and real mysteries still unfolding in the Colorado high country.

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