Cattle mutilations
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 5
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | cattle mutilation |
Cattle mutilations are cases in which livestock are found dead with apparently precise wounds and missing parts, such as eyes, tongues, ears, udders or genitals, often with little visible blood. A wave of reports in the western and midwestern United States in the 1970s led to theories involving UFOs, cults and secret government operations, but official investigations concluded that most cases were caused by natural death and scavengers.[1][2]
Early cases
Unexplained livestock deaths have been recorded for centuries; the earliest documented outbreak dates to 1606 in England. The modern association with UFOs began in 1967 with "Snippy", a horse found dead in the San Luis Valley near Alamosa, Colorado, with flesh removed from its head and neck. An investigation for the Condon Committee found nothing abnormal, and two students later admitted shooting the horse.[1][3]
The 1970s wave
From the early 1970s reports spread across Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado and New Mexico. Kansas officials attributed most 1973 deaths to natural causes such as predators and disease. In September 1974 more than 50 officials met in Nebraska to discuss 80 cattle deaths, about 27 of them suspected mutilations. Colorado Senator Floyd Haskell cited 130 mutilations in his state, a 1979 FBI document cited an estimate of 8,000 in Colorado, and some estimates reached 10,000 nationwide by 1979.[1][4]
Investigations
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The FBI declined to investigate in the 1970s, citing no evidence of interstate crimes, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (1975) and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (1975–76) found no conclusive cause. On 20 April 1979, New Mexico Senator Harrison Schmitt chaired a public hearing attended by about 80 people, and a federal grant funded an investigation led by retired FBI agent Kenneth Rommel from May 1979.[1][5]
Rommel's 297-page report of June 1980 concluded that most cases were the result of natural death and predation, though a few anomalies remained unexplained. Laboratory tests, including some at Los Alamos, found unusual results in a handful of samples but could not establish their significance.[1][5]
Explanations and theories
Researchers explain the "surgical" appearance by the way scavengers such as birds and insects first remove soft tissue, and by bloating and drying, which can split skin in clean-looking lines. Theories without supporting evidence include alien experimentation, satanic cults and secret government testing. Linda Moulton Howe's 1980 documentary A Strange Harvest linked the deaths to UFOs, partly through information from Air Force agent Richard Doty, who later admitted spreading disinformation. Cases continue to be reported, and the subject remains part of UFO lore, especially around Dulce, New Mexico, and Skinwalker Ranch.[1][2]
References
- Cattle mutilation — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations", The New Yorker · newyorker.com · archived copy
- "Town gets Snippy about skeleton of mutilated horse", The Denver Post (2006) · denverpost.com · archived copy
- "Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s", Agricultural History 85(3) (2011) · doi.org · archived copy
- FBI Vault: Animal Mutilation · vault.fbi.gov · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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