INTERVIEW: Eric Drummond on the secrets of ‘Blind Frog Ranch’

Photo: The team members take a look at what’s lurking beneath the surface on Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch. Photo courtesy of Discovery / Provided by press site with permission.

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Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch, the Discovery reality series, follows Duane Ollinger and his son Chad Ollinger as they try to figure out the secrets lurking beneath (and perhaps above) their 160-acre ranch in Utah’s Uintah Basin. Helping them with the research is Eric Drummond, a geologist and prospector, who sticks to the science, while the other team members explore questions that are not always of this world.

There are many supposed secrets on this unique landscape, including theories about lost treasure, UFO activity and a strange surveillance system that keeps the team feeling uneasy and somewhat paranoid. The terrain where Drummond and company explore is difficult to navigate. The elements of the Utah high desert are at play, and much of the questing is found in a remote cave system that is difficult to access.

For Drummond, the allure of the property’s possibilities are what keep him going — no matter the setback.

“There’s several things that are very intriguing regarding the ranch,” Drummond said in a recent phone interview. “The first would be the natural occurrences of minerals and things like that — gold, iridium. We did find some iridium there, which is very interesting, and then the other aspect is the treasure aspect. So there’s a great potential for treasure in the area. I think those two things are very intriguing about it.”

Drummond said that the Blind Frog Ranch is a tough patch of earth. The property sits at approximately 7,000 feet in elevation, which means the exploration season is relatively short because of winter snows and chilly temps. The remoteness of the cave system also means they are unable to simply pull up and start working, and some four-legged creatures, like bears and cougars, like to roam the area.

“We have to deal with wildlife, the weather, the terrain, so it’s difficult,” he said. “Just moving from point A to point B can be very difficult, and so what I try to bring to this project is bringing in some scientific methodology to look for these cave systems.”

Complicating matters is having TV cameras documenting their every step, but Drummond finds the crew to be professionals and as hard-working as Duane and Chad, the father-son team at the center of the show. Drummond first made contact with them when Chad contacted him on social media. The younger Ollinger told the geologist a little bit about the project, and they set up a meeting.

“We discussed the project,” Drummond said. “I found it very, very interesting. It’s not the typical project I would be associated with, but I found it very, very interesting, both a combination of potential for natural resources and also the treasure aspect. … Duane and Chad are really good guys. Everybody on the team, in fact, are really good people. We get along with them. We’ve been working some really long hours, and so it can be tough. But we come together as a team. We each have different attributes and different skill sets, but I’ll just say we work our asses off. But we also manage to have a lot of fun.”

Although Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch can peddle in paranormal theories, Drummond keeps his eyes on the scientific side of the exploration. He endeavors to use scientific methods to find what’s lurking underneath the ground; however, even he was disturbed when the team found a security camera system on the property.

“The camera system was an elaborate scheme by somebody to spy on us,” the geologist said. “It really angered me when we discovered that, and then there’s the UFO aspect and the paranormal. As far as that stuff goes, as far as I’m concerned, the verdict is still out, but we’re investigating it. … To be honest, I’ve got my hands full with the exploration aspect.”

For Drummond, love of the Earth and its unique terrain goes back to his childhood.

“I first started in geology I guess when I was very young, 5 or 6 years old,” he said. “I was always picking up rocks and trying to figure out, what is this rock? How did it get here? How old is it? In high school, I had a very good Earth science teacher, and it sparked an interest in me in geology. And I took it from there. I got my degree in geology in college, and then from there I’ve been in the exploration business for the last 40 years. So, to me, doing something that you really love and being able to make a living at it is pretty cool.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch continues with new episodes Fridays at 10 p.m. on Discovery. Click here for more information.