Cattle mutilation
Encyclopedia
Cattle mutilation is the apparent killing and mutilation
of cattle
under unusual or anomalous circumstances. Sheep and horse
s have allegedly been mutilated under similar circumstances.
A hallmark of these incidents is the surgical nature of the mutilation, and unexplained phenomena such as the complete draining of the animal's blood, loss of internal organs with no obvious point of entry, and surgically precise removal of the reproductive organs and anal coring. Another reported event is that the animal is found dumped in an area where there are no marks or tracks leading to or from the carcass, even when it is found in soft ground or mud. The surgical-type wounds tend to be cauterized by an intense heat and made by very sharp/precise instruments, with no bleeding evident. Often flesh will be removed to the bone in an exact manner, consistent across cases, such as removal of flesh from around the jaw exposing the mandible
.
Since the time that reports of purported animal mutilations began, the causes have been attributed variously to natural decomposition
, normal predators, cryptid
predators (like the Chupacabra
), extraterrestrials, secretive governmental or military agencies, and cult
s. "Mutilations" have been the subject of two independent federal investigations in the United States
collected many accounts of cattle mutilations that occurred in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Reports of mutilated cattle first surfaced in the United States in the early 1960s when it was allegedly largely confined to the states of Pennsylvania
and Kansas
. The phenomenon remained largely unknown outside cattle raising communities until 1967, when the Pueblo Chieftain
in Pueblo, Colorado
published a story about a horse named Lady who was mutilated in mysterious circumstances, which was then picked up by the wider press and distributed nationwide; this case was also the first to feature speculation that extraterrestrial
beings and unidentified flying object
s were associated with mutilation.
, in 1967. The real name of the animal was Lady, but the media quickly adopted the name "Snippy" (the name of another horse at the ranch), which stuck.
On September 7 of that year, Agnes King and her son Harry noted that Lady, a three-year-old horse
, had not returned to the ranch at the usual time for her water. This was unusual, given the heat and the arid conditions.
Harry found Lady on September 9. Her head and neck had been skinned and defleshed, the bones were white and clean. To King, the cuts on Lady seemed to have been very precise. There was no blood at the scene, according to Harry, and there was a strong medicinal odor in the air.
The next day, Harry and Agnes returned to the scene with Agnes’ brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Berle Lewis. They found a lump of skin and horse flesh; when Mrs. Lewis touched it, the flesh oozed a greenish fluid which burned her hand. They also reported the discovery of fifteen "tapering, circular exhaust marks punched into the ground" over an area of some 5000 square yards. (Saunders and Harkins, 156) The medicinal odor had weakened somewhat, but was still present.
Mrs. Lewis contacted the United States Forest Service
, and Ranger Duane Martin was sent to investigate. Among other tasks, Martin "checked the area with a civil defense
Geiger counter
. He reported finding a considerable increase in radioactivity about two city blocks from the body." (Saunders and Harkins, 157) Later, Martin would state, "The death of this saddle pony is one of the most mysterious sights I’ve ever witnessed ... I’ve seen stock killed by lightning
, but it was never like this." (ibid., 159)
After trying to interest other authorities with little success, Mrs. Lewis turned to her professional connections: she wrote occasionally for the Pueblo Chieftain. Her account of Lady's strange death was published in that newspaper, and was picked up by the Associated Press
on October 5, 1967. Soon, much of the United States knew the tale of Lady’s death, and other reports of similar phenomena in Colorado emerged.
That same day, an account by Superior Court Judge Charles E. Bennett of Denver, Colorado
, saw publication. Bennett and his wife claimed to have witnessed “three reddish-orange rings in the sky. They maintained a triangular formation, moved at a high speed, and made a humming sound.” (Saunders and Harkins, 157) The civilian UFO research group NICAP
became involved in the case as well, and some people speculated that UFOs were somehow involved with Snippy’s death.
Shortly thereafter, an anonymous Denver pathologist’s account of his necropsy saw publication. Lady’s brain and abdominal organs were missing, he said, and there was no material in the spinal column. The pathologist insisted on anonymity, he said, due to fear his reputation would be damaged with involvement in such a high-profile case.
The Condon Committee
, then at the University of Colorado
, sent its coordinator, Robert Low
, to investigate. Low brought in Dr Robert O. Adams, head of Colorado State University
’s Veterinary and Biomedical Science School.
Adams examined Lady and the evidence. He concluded there were "No unearthly causes, at least not to my mind." (Saunders and Harkins, 164) Adams noted a severe infection in Lady’s hindquarters, and speculated that someone had come across the dying horse and slit its throat in order to end its misery. Then, Adams said, scavengers had inflicted the rest of the damage to the horse.
To some, this settled the question, but Mrs. Lewis argued that Adams’ conclusions failed to account for the lack of blood at the scene and the medicinal odor.
Low reported that he’d located the "anonymous pathologist"; Low said that the man was "widely misquoted" and was furthermore not a pathologist. The man's opinions of Snippy's death generally matched Adams', said Low. Jerome Clark later identifies the anonymous man as hematologist
John H. Altshuler. (Clark, 17).
and South Dakota
in the north, to New Mexico
and Texas
in the south.
Democratic senator Floyd K. Haskell
contacted the FBI asking for help in 1975 due to public concern regarding the issue. He claimed there had been 130 mutilations in Colorado alone.
In 1998, documented photographic evidence of a 1994 mutilation surfaced that involved a human being outside of Sao Paulo
, Brazil
. An autopsy report concluded the procedure occurred while the victim was still alive, and the associated pain resulted in cardiac arrest. The victim's identity was kept private.
In May 2001, 200 goats were mutilated in Panggang District of Gunung Kidul Regency
, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
.
George E. Onet, a doctor of veterinary microbiology and cattle mutilation investigator claims that allegedly mutilated cattle are avoided by large scavengers "such as coyotes, wolves, foxes, dogs, skunks, badgers, and bobcats" for several days after its death. Similarly, domestic animals are also reported to be "visibly agitated" and "fearful" of the carcass.
In FBI records from 1975, mutilations of the eye occurred in 14 percent of cases, mutilation of the tongue in 33 percent of cases, mutilation of the genitals in 74 percent of cases, and mutilation of the rectum in 48 percent of cases. According to a later survey taken by the National Institute for Discovery Science
(NIDS), mutilation of the eye occurred in 59 percent of cases, mutilation of the tongue in 42 percent of cases, the genitals in 85 percent of cases, and the rectum in 76 percent of cases.
According to Dr. Howard Burgess, nearly 90 percent of mutilated cattle are between four and five years old.
Some mutilations are said to occur in very brief periods. A 2002 NIDS report relates a 1997 case from Utah. Two ranchers tagged a specific calf, then continued tagging other animals in the same pasture. The ranchers were, at the most, about 300 yards from the calf. Less than an hour later, the first calf was discovered completely eviscerated—most muscle and all internal organs were missing. There was no blood, entrails, or apparent disturbance at the scene. Independent analysts both uncovered marks on the calf's remains consistent with two different types of tools: a large, machete
-type blade, and smaller, more delicate scissors.
The absence of tracks or footprints around the site of the mutilated carcass is often considered a hallmark of cattle mutilation. However, in some cases, strange marks or imprints near the site have been found. In the famous "Snippy" case, there was an absolute absence of tracks in a 100 ft radius of the carcass (even the horse's own tracks disappeared within 100 ft of the body.) But within this radius several small holes were found seemingly "punched" in the ground and two bushes were absolutely flattened. In Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
, June 1976, a "trail of suction cup-like impressions" were found leading from a mutilated three-year-old cow. The indentations were in a tripod form, 4 inches in diameter, 28 inches apart, and disappeared 500 feet from the dead cow. Similar incidents were reported in the area in 1978.
Although the exact nature of mutilations varies from case to case, a typical mutilation may involve any or all of the following: -
In one case documented by New Mexico police and the FBI, an 11 month old cross Hereford-Charolais bull, belonging to a Mr. Manuel Gomez of Dulce, New Mexico
, was found mutilated on March 24, 1978. It displayed 'classic' mutilation signs, including the removal of the rectum and sex organs with what appeared to be “a sharp and precise instrument” and its internal organs were found to be inconsistent with a normal case of death followed by predation.
The animal's heart as well as bone and muscle samples were sent to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for microscopic and bacteriological studies, while samples from the animal's liver were sent to two separate private laboratories.
Los Alamos detected the presence of naturally occurring Clostridium
bacteria in the heart, but was unable to reach any conclusions because of the possibility that the bacteria represented postmortem contamination. They did not directly investigate the heart's unusual color or texture.
Samples from the animal's liver were found to be completely devoid of copper
and to contain 4 times the normal level of zinc
, potassium
and phosphorus
. The scientists performing the analysis were unable to explain these anomalies.
Blood samples taken at the scene were reported to be "light pink in color" and “Did not clot after several days” while the animal's hide was found to be unusually brittle for a fresh death (the animal was estimated to have been dead for 5 hours) and the flesh underneath was found to be discolored.
None of the laboratories were able to report any firm conclusions on the cause of the blood or tissue damage. At the time, it was suggested that a burst of radiation may have been used to kill the animal, blowing apart its red blood cells in the process. This hypothesis was later discarded as subsequent reports from the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory later confirmed the presence of anti-coagulants in samples taken from other cows mutilated in the region.
In May 1979, the case was passed on to the FBI, which granted jurisdiction under Title 18 (codes 1152 and 1153). The investigation was dubbed "Operation Animal Mutilation."
The investigation was funded by a US$44,170 grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
, and was headed by FBI agent Kenneth Rommel. It had five key objectives:
Rommel's final report was 297 pages long and cost approximately US$45,000. It concluded that mutilations were predominantly the result of natural predation, but that some contained anomalies that could not be accounted for by conventional wisdom. The FBI was unable to identify any individuals responsible for the mutilations. Details of the investigation are now available under the Freedom of Information Act.
Prior to the involvement of the FBI, the ATF
launched their own investigation of the phenomenon. It concluded further investigation was necessary, but was unable to determine what was behind the phenomenon. The scope of the ATF investigation was limited to a single suspected cause.
Both federal investigations were preceded (and followed, to some extent) by a state level investigation carried out by enforcement officials in New Mexico. This investigation reported finding evidence that some mutilated animals had been tranquilized and treated with an anti-coagulant prior to their mutilation (page 13). It also contended that alleged surgical techniques performed during mutilations had become 'more professional' over time (page 13). However, officers in charge were unable to determine responsibility or motive.
The ATF investigation was headed by ATF Agent Donald Flickinger. The New Mexico investigation was headed by Officer Gabriel L Veldez of the New Mexico Police, with the assistance of Cattle Inspector Jim Dyad and Officer Howard Johnston of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
While many unconventional explanations have been put forward to explain cattle mutilations, a variety of scientists, veterinary workers and knowledgeable observers (including farmer and other agricultural workers) have suggested more conventional ideas, most of which revolve around the hypothesis that 'mutilated' animals died of natural causes and were subjected to known terrestrial phenomena – including the action of predators, parasites and scavengers.
Missing or mutilated mouth, lips, anus and genitalia are explained as:
Missing/mutilated eyes and soft internal organs are explained as:
Absence of blood is explained as:
Surgical incisions in the skin are explained as:
The hypothesis that natural phenomena account for most mutilation characteristics has been validated by a number of experiments, including one cited by long-time scientific skeptic
Robert T. Carroll
, conducted by Washington County (Arkansas) Sheriff's Department. In the experiment, the body of a recently deceased cow was left in a field and observed for 48 hours. During the 48 hours, postmortem bloating was reported to have caused incision-like tears in the cow's skin that matched the "surgical" cuts reported on mutilated cows, while the action of blowflies and maggots reportedly matched the soft tissue damage observed on mutilated cows. No explanation was made however, for the entire absence of any blood.
Experiments have also been conducted to compare the different reactions of surgically cut hide/flesh and predated hide/flesh to natural exposure. They demonstrated pronounced differences between surgical cut and non surgical cuts over time. This article does not address tearing due to bloating.
Some ranchers have disputed the more scientifically mainstream "natural causes hypothesis" on the grounds that the mutilated animals often fall outside of the normal categories of natural deaths by predation or disease. One reason cited is that the animals were healthy and showed no sign of disease prior to death, and were large and strong enough not to be a likely target for a predator. In some cases, ranchers have reported that the mutilated cattle were among the healthiest and strongest animals in their herd.
Other critics of the accepted position include investigators involved in paranormal and UFO research organizations, such as "National Institute for Discovery Science
" which report the discovery of anomalies in necropsies which, they claim, cannot be explained by natural processes.
Attacks against animals are a recognized phenomenon. There have been many recorded cases around the world, and many convictions. Typically the victims of such attacks are cats, dogs and other family pets, and the actions of humans are usually limited to acts of cruelty such as striking, burning or beating animals. However, attacks have also been recorded against larger animals, including sheep, cows and horses.
Humans, particularly those with sociopath
ic disorders, have been found to have mutilated animals in elaborate ways using knives or surgical instruments.
On April 20, 1979, Dr. C Hibbs of the New Mexico
State Veterinary diagnostics Laboratory spoke before a hearing chaired by Senator Harrison Schmitt
. Dr. Hibbs testified that mutilation fell into three categories, one of which was animals mutilated by humans (page 25). FBI records did not record the percentage of mutilated animals that fell into this category.
The standard criminal charge for mutilating an animal, including cattle, is animal cruelty.
Beliefs held by proponents of the cult hypothesis vary, but may include:
The hypothesis that cults were responsible for cattle mutilation was developed in the U.S. during the 1970s, a time of growing national concern over cults issues. It became a social phenomenon in areas where cattle were being mutilated and there were several panics when it was claimed that cattle mutilations were a 'warm up' in preparation for human sacrifices.
In 1975, the US Treasury Department assigned Donald Flickinger to investigate the existence of connections between cults and the mutilation of cattle(Page 23). The operation came under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
.
Flickinger recorded a number of 'unusual' incidents and circumstantial evidence, but was unable to find sufficient evidence of cult involvement for the ATF to take further action. Media reports of the time reported his investigation was dropped when it was determined cattle deaths were not a prelude to a co-ordinated campaign against elected officials by cult members (Page 23).
However, there were various reports during the time of menacing groups prowling around mutilation sites. In September 1975, a forestry service employee in Blaine County, Idaho
, reported seeing a group of people in black hooded robes. Several cattle were found mutilated in the area the following day. On October 9, 1975, a motorist on U.S Highway 95 in northern Idaho, in an area of frequent cattle mutilation, reported to police that some 15 masked individuals formed a roadblock with linked arms, forcing him to turn around.
Public interest in the cult hypothesis waned during the 1980s, but interest was maintained by proponents such as the Colorado
based television evangelist
Bob Larson
, who campaigned to raise public awareness of links between cattle mutilations and cult activity through his ministry and radio shows.
Another proponent of the cult hypothesis is Montana
author Roberta Donovan. In her 1976 publication "Mystery Stalks the Prairie" she documents the experiences of Deputy Sheriff Keith Wolverton of Great Falls
, Cascade County
, investigating cattle mutilations with suspected cult involvement.
Since the beginning of the cult hypothesis, law enforcement agents in several states and provinces, including Alberta
, Idaho
, Montana, and Iowa
have reported evidence implicating cults in several instances of cattle mutilations. but does not prove involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
During their investigations, the FBI and the ATF were unable to find appropriate evidence, including signs of consistency between mutilations, to substantiate that the animals had been the victims of any form of ritual sacrifice or organized mutilation effort. They were also unable to determine how or why a cult would perform procedures that would result in the anomalies reported in some necropsies (Page 3), or to verify that the anomalies were 1) connected to the mutilations themselves 2) the result of human intervention.
In most cases, mutilations were either ruled due to natural causes, or the cattle were too far decayed for any useful conclusions to be drawn. Some cases of cult hysteria were traced back to fabrication by individuals unrelated to the incident. In one case it was concluded that claims had been falsified by a convict seeking favorable terms on his sentence in exchange for information (Page 23-24) (Page 14-15). In another case, claims were traced back to local high school students who had circulated rumors as a joke. (Page 21)
Oliphant posits the NIH, CDC, or other federally funded bodies, may be involved, and they are supported by the US military. Part of his hypothesis is based on allegations that human pharmaceuticals have been found in mutilated cattle, and on the necropsies that show cattle mutilations commonly involve areas of the animal that relate to “input, output and reproduction”. To support his hypothesis, Oliphant cites the Reston ebolavirus case in which plain clothes military officers, traveling in unmarked vehicles, entered a research facility in Reston, Virginia
, to secretly retrieve and destroy animals that were contaminated with a highly infectious disease.
Additionally, a 2002 NIDS
report relates the eyewitness testimony of two Cache County, Utah, police officers. The area had seen many unusual cattle deaths, and ranchers had organized armed patrols to surveil the unmarked aircraft which they claimed were associated with the livestock deaths. The police witnesses claim to have encountered several men in an unmarked U.S. Army helicopter in 1976 at a small community airport in Cache County. The witnesses asserted that after this heated encounter, cattle mutilations in the region ceased for about five years.
Biochemist Colm Kelleher
, who has investigated several purported mutilations first-hand, argues that the mutilations are most likely a clandestine U.S. Government effort to track the spread of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
("mad cow disease") and related diseases, such as scrapie
.
Theories of government involvement in cattle mutilation have been further fueled by "black helicopter
" sightings near mutilation sites. On April 8, 1979, three police officers in Dulce, New Mexico
, reported a mysterious aircraft which resembled a U.S. military helicopter hovering around a site following a wave of mutilation which claimed 16 cows. On July 15, 1974, two unregistered helicopters, a white helicopter and a black twin-engine aircraft, opened fire on Robert Smith Jr. while he was driving his tractor on his farm in Honey Creek, Iowa
. This attack followed a rash of mutilations in the area and across the nearby border in Nebraska. The reports of "helicopter" involvement have been used to explain why some cattle appear to have been "dropped" from considerable heights.
gathering genetic material for unknown purposes. Most of these hypotheses are based on the premise that earthly entities could not perform such clean dissections in such a short space of time without being seen or leaving evidence behind at the mutilation site, and around laboratory reports suggesting the use of unconventional cutting tools and other unexpected phenomena. Some suggest that as cows make up a significant part of the global human diet a study is being carried out on this element of the human food chain. Numerous speculative theories abound, but others center on possible specific nutrient requisites, hormone procurement, species propagation (reproduction), and rote experimentation on mammalian populations.
/AIDS
virus.
Duke claims cattle blood is harvested in order to obtain virus samples and identifies some of the mutilation sites on carcasses (primarily the anus and genitals) as being the HIV/AIDS transmission sites in humans, or as likely sites for tissue sampling to take place. He also speculates that mutilations of the ear are the result of aliens removing tracking implants.
To support his hypothesis, Duke cites findings by Texas A&M University
Professor James Womack, that humans and cattle share substantial number of chromosomes, and he expressed the belief these similarities makes them the logical choice for large scale biological incubation and experimentation on subjects for human pathogens, in the same way that horses have been used to produce Tetanus treatments.
This hypothesis is inconsistent with the accepted medical knowledge about the origin of AIDS and that the primates from which the strains of HIV
are believed to have originated through zoonosis
, would have higher genetic similarity to humans. The broader genetic similarity of cattle (or indeed all mammals) to humans does not necessarily translate into the proper immunologic markers for virus transmission.
recorded a song called "Cattle Mutilation" on their 1989 album Freaks. The song is speculative in nature, making reference to both cults and UFOs as the cause of the phenomenon.
Mutilation
Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...
of cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
under unusual or anomalous circumstances. Sheep and horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s have allegedly been mutilated under similar circumstances.
A hallmark of these incidents is the surgical nature of the mutilation, and unexplained phenomena such as the complete draining of the animal's blood, loss of internal organs with no obvious point of entry, and surgically precise removal of the reproductive organs and anal coring. Another reported event is that the animal is found dumped in an area where there are no marks or tracks leading to or from the carcass, even when it is found in soft ground or mud. The surgical-type wounds tend to be cauterized by an intense heat and made by very sharp/precise instruments, with no bleeding evident. Often flesh will be removed to the bone in an exact manner, consistent across cases, such as removal of flesh from around the jaw exposing the mandible
Mandible
The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...
.
Since the time that reports of purported animal mutilations began, the causes have been attributed variously to natural decomposition
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
, normal predators, cryptid
Cryptid
In cryptozoology and sometimes in cryptobotany, a cryptid is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is unrecognized by scientific consensus and often regarded as highly unlikely. Famous examples include the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Loch Ness Monster in...
predators (like the Chupacabra
Chupacabra
The chupacabras is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico , Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities...
), extraterrestrials, secretive governmental or military agencies, and cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s. "Mutilations" have been the subject of two independent federal investigations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
History
Charles FortCharles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...
collected many accounts of cattle mutilations that occurred in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Reports of mutilated cattle first surfaced in the United States in the early 1960s when it was allegedly largely confined to the states of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. The phenomenon remained largely unknown outside cattle raising communities until 1967, when the Pueblo Chieftain
Pueblo Chieftain
The Pueblo Chieftain is an American daily newspaper published in Pueblo, Colorado. 2006 marks its 138th year publishing.The Chieftain was established in 1868 by Dr. Michael Beshoar, the first doctor in Trinidad, Colorado. Wilbur Fisk Stone George A...
in Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
published a story about a horse named Lady who was mutilated in mysterious circumstances, which was then picked up by the wider press and distributed nationwide; this case was also the first to feature speculation that extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
beings and unidentified flying object
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
s were associated with mutilation.
The Lady/Snippy mutilation
The first allegedly strange death of livestock comes from near Alamosa, ColoradoAlamosa, Colorado
The city of Alamosa is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 8,682 in 2005...
, in 1967. The real name of the animal was Lady, but the media quickly adopted the name "Snippy" (the name of another horse at the ranch), which stuck.
On September 7 of that year, Agnes King and her son Harry noted that Lady, a three-year-old horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, had not returned to the ranch at the usual time for her water. This was unusual, given the heat and the arid conditions.
Harry found Lady on September 9. Her head and neck had been skinned and defleshed, the bones were white and clean. To King, the cuts on Lady seemed to have been very precise. There was no blood at the scene, according to Harry, and there was a strong medicinal odor in the air.
The next day, Harry and Agnes returned to the scene with Agnes’ brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Berle Lewis. They found a lump of skin and horse flesh; when Mrs. Lewis touched it, the flesh oozed a greenish fluid which burned her hand. They also reported the discovery of fifteen "tapering, circular exhaust marks punched into the ground" over an area of some 5000 square yards. (Saunders and Harkins, 156) The medicinal odor had weakened somewhat, but was still present.
Mrs. Lewis contacted the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
, and Ranger Duane Martin was sent to investigate. Among other tasks, Martin "checked the area with a civil defense
Civil defense
Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...
Geiger counter
Geiger counter
A Geiger counter, also called a Geiger–Müller counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiation. They detect the emission of nuclear radiation: alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays. A Geiger counter detects radiation by ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a...
. He reported finding a considerable increase in radioactivity about two city blocks from the body." (Saunders and Harkins, 157) Later, Martin would state, "The death of this saddle pony is one of the most mysterious sights I’ve ever witnessed ... I’ve seen stock killed by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
, but it was never like this." (ibid., 159)
After trying to interest other authorities with little success, Mrs. Lewis turned to her professional connections: she wrote occasionally for the Pueblo Chieftain. Her account of Lady's strange death was published in that newspaper, and was picked up by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
on October 5, 1967. Soon, much of the United States knew the tale of Lady’s death, and other reports of similar phenomena in Colorado emerged.
That same day, an account by Superior Court Judge Charles E. Bennett of Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, saw publication. Bennett and his wife claimed to have witnessed “three reddish-orange rings in the sky. They maintained a triangular formation, moved at a high speed, and made a humming sound.” (Saunders and Harkins, 157) The civilian UFO research group NICAP
National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena
The National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena was a civilian unidentified flying object research group active in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s.-Overview:...
became involved in the case as well, and some people speculated that UFOs were somehow involved with Snippy’s death.
Shortly thereafter, an anonymous Denver pathologist’s account of his necropsy saw publication. Lady’s brain and abdominal organs were missing, he said, and there was no material in the spinal column. The pathologist insisted on anonymity, he said, due to fear his reputation would be damaged with involvement in such a high-profile case.
The Condon Committee
Condon Committee
The Condon Committee was the informal name of the University of Colorado UFO Project, a group funded by the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1968 at the University of Colorado to study unidentified flying objects under the direction of physicist Edward Condon...
, then at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, sent its coordinator, Robert Low
Robert Low
Robert Low is a Scottish journalist and writer of historical fiction. His Oathsworn series of novels are set in the Viking Age.-Biography:...
, to investigate. Low brought in Dr Robert O. Adams, head of Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...
’s Veterinary and Biomedical Science School.
Adams examined Lady and the evidence. He concluded there were "No unearthly causes, at least not to my mind." (Saunders and Harkins, 164) Adams noted a severe infection in Lady’s hindquarters, and speculated that someone had come across the dying horse and slit its throat in order to end its misery. Then, Adams said, scavengers had inflicted the rest of the damage to the horse.
To some, this settled the question, but Mrs. Lewis argued that Adams’ conclusions failed to account for the lack of blood at the scene and the medicinal odor.
Low reported that he’d located the "anonymous pathologist"; Low said that the man was "widely misquoted" and was furthermore not a pathologist. The man's opinions of Snippy's death generally matched Adams', said Low. Jerome Clark later identifies the anonymous man as hematologist
Hematology
Hematology, also spelled haematology , is the branch of biology physiology, internal medicine, pathology, clinical laboratory work, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases...
John H. Altshuler. (Clark, 17).
Later developments
By the mid 1970s, mutilated cattle were reported in 15 states, from MontanaMontana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
in the north, to New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in the south.
Democratic senator Floyd K. Haskell
Floyd K. Haskell
Floyd Kirk Haskell was a United States Senator from Colorado, and a member of the Democratic Party. He graduated from Harvard University 1937; graduated from Harvard Law School 1941; admitted to the New York and Colorado bars in 1946 and commenced practice in Denver, Colorado.; served in the...
contacted the FBI asking for help in 1975 due to public concern regarding the issue. He claimed there had been 130 mutilations in Colorado alone.
In 1998, documented photographic evidence of a 1994 mutilation surfaced that involved a human being outside of Sao Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. An autopsy report concluded the procedure occurred while the victim was still alive, and the associated pain resulted in cardiac arrest. The victim's identity was kept private.
In May 2001, 200 goats were mutilated in Panggang District of Gunung Kidul Regency
Gunung Kidul Regency
Gunung Kidul or Kidul Mountain is the name of a regency—a well known cultural region—and the town located in the province of Yogyakarta , Indonesia. Like many regions on the island of Java, it is densely populated with roughly 1,600 people per square kilometer...
, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Physical characteristics
In most cases mutilation wounds appear to be clean, and carried out surgically. Mutilated animals are usually, though not always reported to have been drained of blood, and have no sign of blood in the immediate area or around their wounds.George E. Onet, a doctor of veterinary microbiology and cattle mutilation investigator claims that allegedly mutilated cattle are avoided by large scavengers "such as coyotes, wolves, foxes, dogs, skunks, badgers, and bobcats" for several days after its death. Similarly, domestic animals are also reported to be "visibly agitated" and "fearful" of the carcass.
In FBI records from 1975, mutilations of the eye occurred in 14 percent of cases, mutilation of the tongue in 33 percent of cases, mutilation of the genitals in 74 percent of cases, and mutilation of the rectum in 48 percent of cases. According to a later survey taken by the National Institute for Discovery Science
National Institute for Discovery Science
The National Institute for Discovery Science was a privately financed research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.It was founded in 1995 by real-estate developer Robert Bigelow, who set it up to research and advance serious study of various fringe science, and paranormal topics, most...
(NIDS), mutilation of the eye occurred in 59 percent of cases, mutilation of the tongue in 42 percent of cases, the genitals in 85 percent of cases, and the rectum in 76 percent of cases.
According to Dr. Howard Burgess, nearly 90 percent of mutilated cattle are between four and five years old.
Some mutilations are said to occur in very brief periods. A 2002 NIDS report relates a 1997 case from Utah. Two ranchers tagged a specific calf, then continued tagging other animals in the same pasture. The ranchers were, at the most, about 300 yards from the calf. Less than an hour later, the first calf was discovered completely eviscerated—most muscle and all internal organs were missing. There was no blood, entrails, or apparent disturbance at the scene. Independent analysts both uncovered marks on the calf's remains consistent with two different types of tools: a large, machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
-type blade, and smaller, more delicate scissors.
The absence of tracks or footprints around the site of the mutilated carcass is often considered a hallmark of cattle mutilation. However, in some cases, strange marks or imprints near the site have been found. In the famous "Snippy" case, there was an absolute absence of tracks in a 100 ft radius of the carcass (even the horse's own tracks disappeared within 100 ft of the body.) But within this radius several small holes were found seemingly "punched" in the ground and two bushes were absolutely flattened. In Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*51.6% White*0.5% Black*16.0% Native American*0.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.3% Two or more races*28.2% Other races*71.3% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, June 1976, a "trail of suction cup-like impressions" were found leading from a mutilated three-year-old cow. The indentations were in a tripod form, 4 inches in diameter, 28 inches apart, and disappeared 500 feet from the dead cow. Similar incidents were reported in the area in 1978.
Although the exact nature of mutilations varies from case to case, a typical mutilation may involve any or all of the following: -
- The removal of eyes, udderUdderAn udder is an organ formed of the mammary glands of female quadruped mammals, especially ruminants such as cattle, goats, sheep and deer. The udder is a single mass hanging beneath the animal, consisting of pairs of mammary glands...
s and sexual organs very cleanly with surgical precision. - The removal of the anusAnusThe anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
to a depth of around 12 inches similar in appearance to surgical coring. - The removal of the lips and/or tongueTongueThe tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...
deeply cut out from the throat. - The removal of one ear.
- The removal of major organs (such as heart or liver) with no obvious entry/excision marks. Often, if the heart is missing, apart from no excision wound, the PericardiumPericardiumThe pericardium is a double-walled sac that contains the heart and the roots of the great vessels.-Layers:...
will still be present and intact, with the heart missing. - The stripping of hideHidesA hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...
and flesh from the jaw and the area directly beneath the ear to the bone. - The removal of soft organs from the lower body.
- The presence of incisions and cuts across the body that appear to have been made by a surgical instrument.
- Unexplained damage to remaining organs, but no sign of damage to the surrounding area.
- A lack of predation signs (including teethmarks, tearing of the skin or flesh, or animal footprints) on or around the carcass.
- Lack of obvious scavenging.
- In many cases, a draining of the majority of bloodBloodBlood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
from the animal. What blood is left exhibits color anomalies and may not coagulate for days. - The animal will appear 'dumped' or dropped in a secluded area, with no animal, human or vehicle track(s) leading to or from the site. Some have been found draped over fences or in treetops.
- The ground under the animal appears depressed, as if the animal was dropped on the site from a height leaving an impact crater.
- The animal's bones found to be fractured with injuries consistent with being dropped.
- Strange marks/holes in the ground around the carcass.
- Other cattle avoid the carcass and the area where it's found.
- Eyewitness reports of aerial objects in the vicinity of cattle at the time of an animal going missing.
Laboratory reports
Laboratory reports carried out on some mutilated animals have shown unusually high or low levels of vitamins or minerals in tissue samples, and the presence of chemicals not normally found in animals. However, not all mutilated animals display these anomalies, and those that do have slightly different anomalies from one another. On account of the time between death and necropsy, and a lack of background information on specific cattle, investigators have often found it impossible to determine if these variations are connected to the animals' deaths or not.In one case documented by New Mexico police and the FBI, an 11 month old cross Hereford-Charolais bull, belonging to a Mr. Manuel Gomez of Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,623 at the 2000 census, almost entirely Native American...
, was found mutilated on March 24, 1978. It displayed 'classic' mutilation signs, including the removal of the rectum and sex organs with what appeared to be “a sharp and precise instrument” and its internal organs were found to be inconsistent with a normal case of death followed by predation.
- “Both the liver and the heart were white and mushy. Both organs had the texture and consistency of peanut butter”
- Gabriel L Veldez, New Mexico Police
The animal's heart as well as bone and muscle samples were sent to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for microscopic and bacteriological studies, while samples from the animal's liver were sent to two separate private laboratories.
Los Alamos detected the presence of naturally occurring Clostridium
Clostridium
Clostridium is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, belonging to the Firmicutes. They are obligate anaerobes capable of producing endospores. Individual cells are rod-shaped, which gives them their name, from the Greek kloster or spindle...
bacteria in the heart, but was unable to reach any conclusions because of the possibility that the bacteria represented postmortem contamination. They did not directly investigate the heart's unusual color or texture.
Samples from the animal's liver were found to be completely devoid of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and to contain 4 times the normal level of zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, potassium
Potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...
and phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
. The scientists performing the analysis were unable to explain these anomalies.
Blood samples taken at the scene were reported to be "light pink in color" and “Did not clot after several days” while the animal's hide was found to be unusually brittle for a fresh death (the animal was estimated to have been dead for 5 hours) and the flesh underneath was found to be discolored.
None of the laboratories were able to report any firm conclusions on the cause of the blood or tissue damage. At the time, it was suggested that a burst of radiation may have been used to kill the animal, blowing apart its red blood cells in the process. This hypothesis was later discarded as subsequent reports from the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory later confirmed the presence of anti-coagulants in samples taken from other cows mutilated in the region.
Conventional explanations
As with most disputed phenomena, there are a number of potential explanations to cattle mutilations, ranging from death by natural causes to purposeful acts by unknown individuals.U.S. governmental explanation
After coming under increasing public pressure, Federal authorities launched a comprehensive investigation of the mutilation phenomenon.In May 1979, the case was passed on to the FBI, which granted jurisdiction under Title 18 (codes 1152 and 1153). The investigation was dubbed "Operation Animal Mutilation."
The investigation was funded by a US$44,170 grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, and funded educational programs, research, state planning agencies, and local crime initiatives.The LEAA was...
, and was headed by FBI agent Kenneth Rommel. It had five key objectives:
- To determine the reliability of the information on which the grant was based, which entailed gathering as much information as possible about the cases reported in New Mexico prior to May 1979
- To determine the cause of as many mutilations as possible, especially those reported in New Mexico
- To determine if livestock mutilations as described constitute a major law enforcement problem
- If these mutilations do constitute a major law enforcement problem, to determine the scope of the problem and to offer recommendations on how to deal with it
- If it is shown that the mutilation phenomenon is not a law enforcement problem, to recommend that no further law enforcement investigations be funded.
Rommel's final report was 297 pages long and cost approximately US$45,000. It concluded that mutilations were predominantly the result of natural predation, but that some contained anomalies that could not be accounted for by conventional wisdom. The FBI was unable to identify any individuals responsible for the mutilations. Details of the investigation are now available under the Freedom of Information Act.
Prior to the involvement of the FBI, the ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
launched their own investigation of the phenomenon. It concluded further investigation was necessary, but was unable to determine what was behind the phenomenon. The scope of the ATF investigation was limited to a single suspected cause.
Both federal investigations were preceded (and followed, to some extent) by a state level investigation carried out by enforcement officials in New Mexico. This investigation reported finding evidence that some mutilated animals had been tranquilized and treated with an anti-coagulant prior to their mutilation (page 13). It also contended that alleged surgical techniques performed during mutilations had become 'more professional' over time (page 13). However, officers in charge were unable to determine responsibility or motive.
The ATF investigation was headed by ATF Agent Donald Flickinger. The New Mexico investigation was headed by Officer Gabriel L Veldez of the New Mexico Police, with the assistance of Cattle Inspector Jim Dyad and Officer Howard Johnston of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
Natural causes
Missing or mutilated mouth, lips, anus and genitalia are explained as:
- Contraction of missing/damaged areas due to dehydration.
- The actions of small scavengers and burrowing parasites seeking to enter or consume the body in areas where skin is at its thinnest.
Missing/mutilated eyes and soft internal organs are explained as:
- The action of carrion feeding insects such as blowflies, and opportunistic or carrion birds such as vultureVultureVulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
s and buzzardBuzzardA buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....
s which are known to direct themselves toward an animal's eyes, and to enter the body through the openings of the mouth and anus in order to feed on soft internal organs.
Absence of blood is explained as:
- Blood pooling in the lowest points in the body where it will break down into its basic organic components.
- Blood that is external to the body, or in the area of a wound being consumed by insects or reduced by solar desiccation.
Surgical incisions in the skin are explained as:
- Tears in the skin created when it is stretched by postmortem bloat and/or as dehydration causes the animal's hide to shrink and split, often in linear cuts.
- Incisions caused by scavengers or predators, possibly exacerbated by the above.
The hypothesis that natural phenomena account for most mutilation characteristics has been validated by a number of experiments, including one cited by long-time scientific skeptic
Scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism is the practice of questioning the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence or reproducibility, as part of a methodological norm pursuing "the extension of certified knowledge". For example, Robert K...
Robert T. Carroll
Robert Todd Carroll
Robert Todd Carroll , Ph.D., is an American writer and academic. Carroll has written several books and skeptical essays but achieved notability by publishing the Skeptic's Dictionary online in 1994.-Early life and education:...
, conducted by Washington County (Arkansas) Sheriff's Department. In the experiment, the body of a recently deceased cow was left in a field and observed for 48 hours. During the 48 hours, postmortem bloating was reported to have caused incision-like tears in the cow's skin that matched the "surgical" cuts reported on mutilated cows, while the action of blowflies and maggots reportedly matched the soft tissue damage observed on mutilated cows. No explanation was made however, for the entire absence of any blood.
Experiments have also been conducted to compare the different reactions of surgically cut hide/flesh and predated hide/flesh to natural exposure. They demonstrated pronounced differences between surgical cut and non surgical cuts over time. This article does not address tearing due to bloating.
Some ranchers have disputed the more scientifically mainstream "natural causes hypothesis" on the grounds that the mutilated animals often fall outside of the normal categories of natural deaths by predation or disease. One reason cited is that the animals were healthy and showed no sign of disease prior to death, and were large and strong enough not to be a likely target for a predator. In some cases, ranchers have reported that the mutilated cattle were among the healthiest and strongest animals in their herd.
Other critics of the accepted position include investigators involved in paranormal and UFO research organizations, such as "National Institute for Discovery Science
National Institute for Discovery Science
The National Institute for Discovery Science was a privately financed research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.It was founded in 1995 by real-estate developer Robert Bigelow, who set it up to research and advance serious study of various fringe science, and paranormal topics, most...
" which report the discovery of anomalies in necropsies which, they claim, cannot be explained by natural processes.
Animal cruelty and human activity
It is alternatively hypothesised that cattle mutilations are the result of two unrelated deviant phenomena. The bulk of mutilations are the result of predation and other natural processes, and those with anomalies that cannot be explained in this way are the work of humans who derive pleasure or sexual stimulation from mutilating animals.Attacks against animals are a recognized phenomenon. There have been many recorded cases around the world, and many convictions. Typically the victims of such attacks are cats, dogs and other family pets, and the actions of humans are usually limited to acts of cruelty such as striking, burning or beating animals. However, attacks have also been recorded against larger animals, including sheep, cows and horses.
Humans, particularly those with sociopath
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
ic disorders, have been found to have mutilated animals in elaborate ways using knives or surgical instruments.
On April 20, 1979, Dr. C Hibbs of the New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
State Veterinary diagnostics Laboratory spoke before a hearing chaired by Senator Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt is an American geologist, a retired NASA astronaut, university professor, and a former U.S. senator from New Mexico....
. Dr. Hibbs testified that mutilation fell into three categories, one of which was animals mutilated by humans (page 25). FBI records did not record the percentage of mutilated animals that fell into this category.
The standard criminal charge for mutilating an animal, including cattle, is animal cruelty.
Cults
Closely related to the deviant hypothesis is the hypothesis that cattle mutilations are the result of cult activity. However, contrary to the deviancy hypothesis, which holds that cattle are mutilated at random by individual deviants, the cult hypothesis holds that cattle mutilations are coordinated acts of ritual sacrifice carried out by organized groups.Beliefs held by proponents of the cult hypothesis vary, but may include:
- That the apparent absence of blood at mutilation sites may indicate cult members harvest it
- That organs have been removed from cattle for use in rituals
- That unborn calves have been harvested from mutilated cattle.
The hypothesis that cults were responsible for cattle mutilation was developed in the U.S. during the 1970s, a time of growing national concern over cults issues. It became a social phenomenon in areas where cattle were being mutilated and there were several panics when it was claimed that cattle mutilations were a 'warm up' in preparation for human sacrifices.
In 1975, the US Treasury Department assigned Donald Flickinger to investigate the existence of connections between cults and the mutilation of cattle(Page 23). The operation came under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
.
Flickinger recorded a number of 'unusual' incidents and circumstantial evidence, but was unable to find sufficient evidence of cult involvement for the ATF to take further action. Media reports of the time reported his investigation was dropped when it was determined cattle deaths were not a prelude to a co-ordinated campaign against elected officials by cult members (Page 23).
However, there were various reports during the time of menacing groups prowling around mutilation sites. In September 1975, a forestry service employee in Blaine County, Idaho
Blaine County, Idaho
Blaine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 Census the county had a population of 21,376. The county seat and largest city is Hailey. The county is home to the Sun Valley ski resort....
, reported seeing a group of people in black hooded robes. Several cattle were found mutilated in the area the following day. On October 9, 1975, a motorist on U.S Highway 95 in northern Idaho, in an area of frequent cattle mutilation, reported to police that some 15 masked individuals formed a roadblock with linked arms, forcing him to turn around.
Public interest in the cult hypothesis waned during the 1980s, but interest was maintained by proponents such as the Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
based television evangelist
Televangelism
Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A “televangelist” is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his ministry to television broadcasting...
Bob Larson
Bob Larson
Bob Larson is an American radio and television evangelist, currently based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books on the subjects of rock music and Satanism, written from a Christian perspective.-Life and career:...
, who campaigned to raise public awareness of links between cattle mutilations and cult activity through his ministry and radio shows.
Another proponent of the cult hypothesis is Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
author Roberta Donovan. In her 1976 publication "Mystery Stalks the Prairie" she documents the experiences of Deputy Sheriff Keith Wolverton of Great Falls
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
, Cascade County
Cascade County, Montana
-National protected areas:*Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge*Lewis and Clark National Forest -Economy:Malmstrom Air Force Base is a driving force in the regional economy...
, investigating cattle mutilations with suspected cult involvement.
Since the beginning of the cult hypothesis, law enforcement agents in several states and provinces, including Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana, and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
have reported evidence implicating cults in several instances of cattle mutilations. but does not prove involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
During their investigations, the FBI and the ATF were unable to find appropriate evidence, including signs of consistency between mutilations, to substantiate that the animals had been the victims of any form of ritual sacrifice or organized mutilation effort. They were also unable to determine how or why a cult would perform procedures that would result in the anomalies reported in some necropsies (Page 3), or to verify that the anomalies were 1) connected to the mutilations themselves 2) the result of human intervention.
In most cases, mutilations were either ruled due to natural causes, or the cattle were too far decayed for any useful conclusions to be drawn. Some cases of cult hysteria were traced back to fabrication by individuals unrelated to the incident. In one case it was concluded that claims had been falsified by a convict seeking favorable terms on his sentence in exchange for information (Page 23-24) (Page 14-15). In another case, claims were traced back to local high school students who had circulated rumors as a joke. (Page 21)
Shell-shock
During the early 1970s one of the hypotheses that emerged to explain cattle mutilations was that they were being perpetrated by shell-shocked Vietnam veterans who were recreating scenes of torture that they had either seen committed against US troops by Vietnamese guerrillas, or that they had themselves committed against Vietnamese fighters.Government/military experimentation
In his 1997 article “Dead Cows I've Known”, cattle mutilation researcher Charles T. Oliphant speculates cattle mutilation to be the result of covert research into emerging cattle diseases, and the possibility they could be transmitted to humans.Oliphant posits the NIH, CDC, or other federally funded bodies, may be involved, and they are supported by the US military. Part of his hypothesis is based on allegations that human pharmaceuticals have been found in mutilated cattle, and on the necropsies that show cattle mutilations commonly involve areas of the animal that relate to “input, output and reproduction”. To support his hypothesis, Oliphant cites the Reston ebolavirus case in which plain clothes military officers, traveling in unmarked vehicles, entered a research facility in Reston, Virginia
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
, to secretly retrieve and destroy animals that were contaminated with a highly infectious disease.
Additionally, a 2002 NIDS
National Institute for Discovery Science
The National Institute for Discovery Science was a privately financed research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.It was founded in 1995 by real-estate developer Robert Bigelow, who set it up to research and advance serious study of various fringe science, and paranormal topics, most...
report relates the eyewitness testimony of two Cache County, Utah, police officers. The area had seen many unusual cattle deaths, and ranchers had organized armed patrols to surveil the unmarked aircraft which they claimed were associated with the livestock deaths. The police witnesses claim to have encountered several men in an unmarked U.S. Army helicopter in 1976 at a small community airport in Cache County. The witnesses asserted that after this heated encounter, cattle mutilations in the region ceased for about five years.
Biochemist Colm Kelleher
Colm Kelleher
Colm Kelleher is a research scientist and author. He received his PhD in biochemistry at Trinity College, Dublin and has 21 years of experience in the field of cell and molecular biology. In addition he was an adminisrator for a Nevada aerospace company, Space Sciences Inc., and was also Deputy...
, who has investigated several purported mutilations first-hand, argues that the mutilations are most likely a clandestine U.S. Government effort to track the spread of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
("mad cow disease") and related diseases, such as scrapie
Scrapie
Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative disease that affects the nervous systems of sheep and goats. It is one of several transmissible spongiform encephalopathies , which are related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and chronic wasting disease of deer. Like other spongiform encephalopathies, scrapie...
.
Theories of government involvement in cattle mutilation have been further fueled by "black helicopter
Black Helicopter
Black Helicopter is a United States Boston, Massachusetts based hard rock band on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! independent record label. The band performed at North East Sticks Together in 2005 and 2006....
" sightings near mutilation sites. On April 8, 1979, three police officers in Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce, New Mexico
Dulce is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,623 at the 2000 census, almost entirely Native American...
, reported a mysterious aircraft which resembled a U.S. military helicopter hovering around a site following a wave of mutilation which claimed 16 cows. On July 15, 1974, two unregistered helicopters, a white helicopter and a black twin-engine aircraft, opened fire on Robert Smith Jr. while he was driving his tractor on his farm in Honey Creek, Iowa
Honey Creek, Iowa
Honey Creek is an unincorporated community in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. Its elevation is 1,014 feet . Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 51542....
. This attack followed a rash of mutilations in the area and across the nearby border in Nebraska. The reports of "helicopter" involvement have been used to explain why some cattle appear to have been "dropped" from considerable heights.
Aliens and UFOs
Various hypotheses suggest cattle mutilations have been committed by aliensExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
gathering genetic material for unknown purposes. Most of these hypotheses are based on the premise that earthly entities could not perform such clean dissections in such a short space of time without being seen or leaving evidence behind at the mutilation site, and around laboratory reports suggesting the use of unconventional cutting tools and other unexpected phenomena. Some suggest that as cows make up a significant part of the global human diet a study is being carried out on this element of the human food chain. Numerous speculative theories abound, but others center on possible specific nutrient requisites, hormone procurement, species propagation (reproduction), and rote experimentation on mammalian populations.
Specimen gathering for disease research
In his 1999 publication “The AIDS-ET Connection” UFO researcher Phillip S Duke proposes the hypothesis that aliens have been using commercial cattle stocks to incubate and research the HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
virus.
Duke claims cattle blood is harvested in order to obtain virus samples and identifies some of the mutilation sites on carcasses (primarily the anus and genitals) as being the HIV/AIDS transmission sites in humans, or as likely sites for tissue sampling to take place. He also speculates that mutilations of the ear are the result of aliens removing tracking implants.
To support his hypothesis, Duke cites findings by Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
Professor James Womack, that humans and cattle share substantial number of chromosomes, and he expressed the belief these similarities makes them the logical choice for large scale biological incubation and experimentation on subjects for human pathogens, in the same way that horses have been used to produce Tetanus treatments.
“HIV has only one natural host, humans, and logically would require a genetically similar animal host for replication”
-Philip S Duke.
This hypothesis is inconsistent with the accepted medical knowledge about the origin of AIDS and that the primates from which the strains of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
are believed to have originated through zoonosis
Zoonosis
A zoonosis or zoonoseis any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans or from humans to non-human animals . In a study of 1415 pathogens known to affect humans, 61% were zoonotic...
, would have higher genetic similarity to humans. The broader genetic similarity of cattle (or indeed all mammals) to humans does not necessarily translate into the proper immunologic markers for virus transmission.
Footnotes
The American speed metal band Rigor MortisRigor Mortis (band)
Rigor Mortis is a speed metal band that formed in 1983. Two schoolmates Harden Harrison and Casey Orr formed the band when they met Mike Scaccia . The three young men shared an interest in horror/gore films and very heavy music. With Bruce Corbitt on vocals they created some of the heaviest...
recorded a song called "Cattle Mutilation" on their 1989 album Freaks. The song is speculative in nature, making reference to both cults and UFOs as the cause of the phenomenon.
Other sources
- Linda Moulton Howe (1980 1989), A Strange Harvest (Documentary)
- Linda Moulton Howe (1993), Strange Harvests 1993 (Documentary)
- Linda Moulton Howe (1989), Alien Harvest: Further Evidence Linking Animal Mutilations and Human Abductions to Alien Life Forms, Linda Moulton Howe Productions, ISBN 0-9620570-1-0
- Fawcett Lawrence, Greenwood Barry (1993), UFO Coverup, Fireside, ISBN 0671765558
- Fawcett Lawrence, Greenwood Barry (1984), Clear Intent, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131366564
- Clark Jerome (1996), The UFO Encyclopedia, Volume Three: High Strangeness, UFO's from 1960 through 1979, Detroit Omnigraphics, ISBN 1-55888-742-3
- Jacobs David Michael (1975), The UFO Controversy In America, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-19006-1
- Saunders David R, Harkins R Roger (1969), UFO's? Yes! Where the Condon Committee Went Wrong, World Publishing, ASIN B00005X1J1
- Summers Ian, Kagan Daniel (1984), Mute Evidence, Bantam, ISBN 0-553-23318-1
See also
- Anomalous phenomenon
- ChupacabraChupacabraThe chupacabras is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico , Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities...
- Horse ripping
- The Mothman PropheciesThe Mothman PropheciesThe Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by author John Keel.The book combines Keel's account of his investigation into alleged sightings of a large, winged creature called Mothman in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967 with his own theories about UFOs and various...
- Black helicoptersBlack helicoptersBlack helicopters is a term which became popular in the United States militia movement and its associated political circles in the 1990s as a symbol and warning sign of an alleged conspiratorial military takeover of the United States, though it has also been associated with men in black and similar...
- National Institute for Discovery ScienceNational Institute for Discovery ScienceThe National Institute for Discovery Science was a privately financed research organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.It was founded in 1995 by real-estate developer Robert Bigelow, who set it up to research and advance serious study of various fringe science, and paranormal topics, most...
- Linda Moulton HoweLinda Moulton HoweLinda Moulton Howe, born January 20, 1942, is an American investigative journalist and documentary producer-writer-director-editor who is currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.-Early life and education:She was born as Linda Moulton in Boise, Idaho...
External links
- UFOs On Earth Objective Research
- The Skeptic's Dictionary explanation of Cattle Mutilation
- Linda Moulton Howe's homepage
- Human Mutilation by Aliens - Brazilian Case With Photos
- FBI files on Animal Mutilation
- Animal Mutilation News at Paranormalnews.com
- Return of the Mootilators Mark PilkingtonMark Pilkington (writer)Mark Pilkington is a writer, publisher, curator and musician with particular interest in the fringes of knowledge, culture and belief....
reports on Argentinian cases - Homepage Herman Doty Jr. 134 page historical narrative on Snippy the Horse
- http://puggle.byethost14.com/mutilations.htm It happened in Koonorigan Australia over 40 years.
- The Straight Dope, on Cattle Mutilations