I have a 4.0 manual '96 Ford ranger with only about 68k miles on it.
Earlier today the heat was working fine as it was getting cold down here in Texas, I parked and I went out about an hour later, sitting in the truck I turn on the heat, the car is still a little warm from earlier but I hear a noise which I cannot describe but its semi loud coming from the engine in bursts about every 3-5 seconds, the power drops at this time significantly, I turn it off start to drive and turn it back on and the noise continues but constantly instead of bursts while still drawing huge amounts of power in bursts like the voltage vague drops about 1/4th of where it was. I turned it off and haven't touched it since to minimize whatever damage I could be causing by keeping it on as a
burnt like smell emitted but not sure where from.
I have searched the internet for this issue but I cannot find a lost or form anywhere about my issue. Please reply with some suggestions I'll be looking at it first thing in the morning.

 

Welcome to the forum

If you have Air Conditioning(AC), which it reads like you do, then what you are hearing is the AC compressor in the engine bay turning on and off, and this compressor may have a problem.
It is powered by the Fan Belt so you will always lose a "little" power when compressor is on, but not as much as you are describing, which makes me think the pulley or compressor has a problem.

So why would AC compressor come on when you select HEAT?
It is used to DRY the air in the cab, which helps to Defrost windows.

You may be smelling(and hearing) the fan belt as it slips on the compressor pulley because compressor is seizing up

There is a wire connector on the top of the compressor, unplug it
Then start engine and turn on the heat, see if same noise comes back, it shouldn't if compressor is the problem.
You can just leave it unplugged until you can look at fixing the problem, which may mean replacing compressor, so AC drain and refill, plus new drier/filter and expansion valve.
Also need to Flush the system if compressor did break internally because metal fragments will be in the AC tubes/hoses and will cause damage to new compressor if not flushed out