Stanley Milford Jr.: The Navajo Ranger

 

              Stanley Milford Jr.: The Navajo Ranger

 Background: Stanley Milford Jr. is a Native American, coming from Navajo and Cherokee descent. He originally was a park ranger for the Native community. He was considered a police officer and seemed to find paranormal activity everywhere, especially because Native Americans were firm believers in paranormal activity. He investigated things like ufos. After his parents divorced, he began spending more time with his Navajo father learning about the culture.

        The Ranger Writes! :   Milford Jr. decided he wanted to document his journey and specifically his paranormal experiences he has encountered. He wrote the book called, "The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator's Search for the Unexplained". This book is essentially an autobiography about his real experiences. Thoughtsfromthemountaintop.com states, " I also liked that Milford included the Navajo creation story as a part of the book. It explains why the Natives are more open to possibilities that Western culture dismisses. I appreciated this context as well as the stories themselves." (Aliventi) I agree with this because I think this is a valuable piece of information that must be included in the book to help understand the culture and reasonings behind the book.

                                         

    The New York Times has included this book in its "22 Nonfiction Books to Read this Fall" article. About the Paranormal Ranger, it says, "nothing could prepare him for life as a Navajo Ranger, a job that included no small dose of the supernatural — investigating Bigfoot sightings, paranormal hot spots, U.F.O.s and ghosts, all of which he recounts in thrilling detail." (Chattopadhyay) This helps describe what the books intentions are and what it really is about. This book is truly about all of his experiences and how the Native culture ties in.

    Brightdreamer's Book Reviews says," The author approaches the subject and his experiences with both logic and cultural understanding, an approach that works rather well for events that would seem to defy current scientific consensus of what can be real and what cannot exist. More often than not, he and his partner serve a greater purpose by ensuring that people feel heard and understood and are not simply dismissed or actively derided for what they experienced" (Morrow) This makes me further understand the purpose for writing the novel and what makes this job so important to the Native people. I think this introduces another reason to read this because it introduces an outside opinion or view that is not necessarily the same as ours, as non-natives. I think this book has certainly piqued my interest in the supernatural way and the way of hearing other people's stories and cultural ways and beliefs.

        Where Else has this took Milford Jr? :

        Milford Jr. has also appeared with a partner of his on Netflix! He appeared greatly on "Unsolved Mysteries". He appears on volume 3 of the show and is mainly about his job as a paranormal ranger. He also speaks at public places, appears on podcasts, and is very present in media nowadays. He is known for just this one book. Here is an example of a podcast he joined to talk about his book; Podcast featuring Milford.    

                             Below is a picture of a different podcast him and his partner were on

                    Reflection: 

    I believe that Stanley is a very different author than most. I am very interested in what made him want to write a book on his experiences in this job. I think the curiosity behind the whole subject is what mainly draws me in to read this book. I also really am now interested in watching the Netflix show where he is featured.

• Works Cited

  Aliventi, Patti. “Book Review – the Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained by Stanley Milford Jr. – Credible Insights Into the Unknownopinions, Ideas, Thoughts, & Reviews.” Thoughts From the Mountain Top, 23 June 2024, thoughtsfromthemountaintop.com/2024/06/23/book-review-the-paranormal-ranger-a-navajo-investigators-search-for-the-unexplained-by-stanley-milford-jr/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

  Chattopadhyay, Shreya, and Miguel Salazar. “22 Nonfiction Books to Read This Fall.” The New York Times, 2 Sept. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/09/02/books/new-nonfiction-books-fall.html. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

  Morrow, William. “The Paranormal Ranger (Stanley Milford, Jr.).” Blogspot.Com, 4 Apr. 2025, brightdreamersbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-paranormal-ranger-stanley-milford-jr.html. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.