Mike Conley: Cattle mutilation alive and well today
McDowellnews.com - by MIKE CONLEY - Thursday, July 7, 2005
Last week, the History Channel presented a new documentary on the weird phenomenon called cattle mutilations. Although I didn’t get to watch the entire program, I saw enough to let me know that the phenomenon is alive and well in 2005 - even if the cattle are dead.
Cattle mutilation is the term given to the thousands of cases where farm animals are found dead and their bodies mutilated in a strange way. The cause of death is undetermined (they don’t appear to have been shot or poisoned) and all of the blood has been removed from their bodies. And strangest of all, certain body parts are found surgically removed from the cattle, usually the reproductive and rectal organs. A cow’s udders are sometimes found removed as well. The incisions are always performed neatly and precisely with almost no blood at the scene.
Investigators will find abnormally high levels of radiation around the places where the dead animals are discovered. In some cases, the cattle are found marked with a kind of fluorescent paint. Buzzards and other scavengers will not touch the carcasses. No footprints or signs of a struggle are found around the scene. Investigators will often discover clamp marks on the animals’ legs that indicate they were taken from their pastures, killed and mutilated elsewhere and then brought back, according to a Web site.
People will report seeing UFOs at around the same time that the cattle mutilations occur. This has led many to suspect that aliens from outer space are responsible for the weird phenomenon. Most of the cases come from North America but other parts of the world have experienced it as well. Sheep and horses have also been the victims.
The phenomena began in the fall of 1973 when farmers in Minnesota and Kansas reported finding dead, mutilated cattle. The local police in both states looked into the matter but realized that this was nothing like anything else they had ever seen. They first suspected this was the work of some kind of satanic cult.
Later, more reported cattle mutilations occurred throughout the Midwestern United States and central Canada. Farmers and ranchers were concerned and afraid about what was happening to their livestock. They had heard nothing during the night when their valuable cattle were killed and mutilated. They wanted answers.
As the years went by, investigators put forward four theories to explain the cattle mutilations: satanic cults and ritual sacrifices, top secret government projects involving chemical weapons, mass hysteria blowing the thing out of proportion and most popular of all, experiments by alien visitors in UFOs.
In some cases, police were able to link the mutilations to satanic cults in Idaho, Montana, Iowa and Alberta, Canada. But that could not explain the other cases quickly coming from all over the world.
As for the secret government project theory, folks have reported spotting black, unmarked helicopters with tinted windows and searchlights at the same time when cattle mutilations are occurring. But again, this cannot explain the other cases that have come in from other countries. Are all the governments where this occurs involved in some kind of worldwide conspiracy?
And I don’t believe that these are natural deaths blown out of proportion. I have seen photos and video footage of the mutilated cattle. A farmer or rancher would have good reason to be concerned if he went out one morning and found this. Someone or something apparently drained the blood and neatly removed the sexual or rectal organs. This takes time and some degree of planning. A wolf or a coyote would not leave cattle in such a state.
So, we are still left with the extraterrestrial theory. Cattle mutilations often occur in such UFO-related places as northern New Mexico and near the secret government installation in Nevada called Area 51. Some folks have even reported seeing a UFO lift the animals off the ground with an invisible force. Two people who reported to have been abducted by aliens also said they witnessed a cattle mutilation inside the UFO, according to a Web site.
But this must bring little consolation to the farmer or rancher who has lost some valuable livestock and doesn’t know how to keep it from happening again.
Tales of the Weird: Cattle mutilation column sparks much response
Marion McDowell News
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Editor's note: Tales of the Weird appears on The McDowell News Opinion Page. It is presented for entertainment purposes. Credible scientific evidence does not support paranormal claims.
For more than two years now, this column has highlighted such weird phenomena as ghosts and haunted places, UFO sightings, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, psychic abilities and unexplained disappearances. But none of my previous Tales of the Weird has provoked a national and even international response like last week’s column about cattle mutilations.
Since last Thursday, I have received at least 16 e-mails and one telephone call about the phenomenon. The column was placed on our Web site and in no time it had made the rounds across the entire world. A woman in Russia and another person in British Columbia have sent me inquiries. The phone call came from a guy in Toronto, Canada.
"I sincerely hope you will continue to research this extremely sensitive phenomenon. It deserves at least that," read an e-mail from someone called "Truthseeker."
A number of the readers who contacted me pointed out some of the inaccuracies and misconceptions contained in my column. For that, I am very grateful. Though the subjects of this column are often fantastic in nature, I strive to give an accurate account of what I find. And I realize that there are plenty of people out there who know a lot more about cattle mutilations than I ever will.
For example, I referred to the documentary on the History Channel as being new. A man told me that the program had been shown a few times since 2004. I appreciate the e-mail and I apologize for my mistake. This was the first time I had seen the documentary and it was apparently new to me.
Another reader points out how my column is filled with popular misconceptions about "this strange but very real phenomenon." This man writes that he has investigated more than 200 reports of Colorado and New Mexico livestock mutilations since 1992 and has worked extensively with law enforcement and scientists on this problem. My column was based on information from a couple of Web sites and cannot match this man’s level of expertise.
The reader points out that there have been cases where the cause of death has been determined for the mutilated cattle. He says more than a dozen cases in Colorado in the 1970s involved cattle that had been shot and then mutilated.
My column also referred to investigators finding abnormally high levels of radiation around the places where the dead animals are discovered. The reader, who considers himself an authority on the subject, states that this is not true. He added that he has only heard of a single case where the cattle were found marked with a kind of fluorescent paint. It happened in New Mexico in 1977. He also disputes the notion of scavengers refusing to touch the carcasses of mutilated cattle.
I especially appreciate hearing from this man who has dealt with the weird phenomenon first-hand many times. He offered to supply me with "accurate material, photographs and cases that can be backed up by hard scientific data." Although he pointed out the mistakes in my column, he realized that I was simply repeating stuff that has entered the popular culture.
"Thanks again for your efforts, but don’t believe everything you see on TV or find on the Web," he said. To that I say amen.
In addition, more than one reader has stated that the phenomenon dates back much earlier than 1973. One person said it could have been around in the 1940s while another said it dates back to the 16th century.
Perhaps the most interesting response came from another man who says that demonic forces, not UFOs, are behind the strange mutilated cattle.
"A fifth possibility you should consider as the cause of the mutilations are the Devil himself," he writes. "These could be the fallen angels, the evil spirits, who are behind these horrific deaths. "
I must confess I have not considered that possibility. Still another reader directs me to a religious Web site that looks at how UFOs, crop circles and mutilated cattle are signs of demonic deception.
A woman asks me if we have had any reports of mutilated cattle in Marion. So far, we have not heard of any.
And numerous readers thanked me for having the courage to take on this highly controversial subject. "Don’t be surprised if you get a lot of ridicule from your readers and maybe even a visitor from the government," read one e-mail.
So far, the only contact I have with the federal government occurs when I file my income taxes. I hope it stays that way.