Answers Actively Sought In Bizarre Cattle Mutilations Source: Deseret News Archives Answers actively sought in bizarre cattle mutilations Last fall when a Duchesne County cattle rancher made a routine check of his herd, he found one of his prized registered polled Herefords dead.
The day before he had seen the cow in perfect health. But on Oct. 17, 1998, he discovered the animal lying in an unusual position and missing an eye and part of an ear. There was no sign of a struggle, and there were no tracks around the animal, which was found in a water-logged pasture about 20 feet from a paved road with frequent traffic.
There were no sick cows in the herd. The rancher's
discovery and his quick decision to contact local representatives of the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), an organization dedicated to the scientific study of extra-terrestrial phenomenon, launched an extensive investigation
into the cause of the cow's death.
"What was intriguing about this particular case is it was relatively fresh and a good amount of tissue and blood were able to be taken and that's rare," explained Colm Kelleher, NIDS deputy director.
So far research efforts have turned up even more bizarre findings and posed questions that are attracting a great deal of interest.
A few months ago, NIDS posted its preliminary research findings in the unexplained death on its Web site, www.accessnv.com/NIDS. The public report marked the first time NIDS had made such specific details about its research available for public consumption.
Over the past three years, since NIDS purchased the
480-acre Sherman Ranch between Fort Duchesne and Randlett, in Uintah County, it has investigated less than half a dozen unexplained animal deaths in scattered locations, said Kelleher. The ranch is the site of documented, but unexplained, cattle disappearances and reported UFO sightings.
NIDS, based in Las Vegas is headed by millionaire Robert M. Bigelow, who reportedly spends several million dollars a year on research and scientific study of anything related to extra-terrestrial phenomena.
In this case, the rancher requested anonymity. He had not contacted NIDS before the unexplained death, nor after he reported the mutilation, said Kelleher.
Several of the findings in the cow's unexplained death in an unincorporated area northwest of Roosevelt match or are similar to other instances of unexplained cattle mutilations in the Uinta Basin and elsewhere, said Kelleher.
For starters, the cow was found lying in a north-south pattern with its front legs tucked under and rear legs splayed behind -- the same way 16 other cows in the Uinta Basin, dead from unexplained mutilation, were found over the past several years. Other than the fact that the placement is not random, its meaning is unknown, Kelleher reported.
The cow, estimated to have been about 90 days pregnant, did not have a fetus. Blood tests confirmed the presence of a placenta, leading researchers to believe the animal was indeed pregnant very close to the time of death, said Kelleher. Although the fetus was missing, there were no signs
of an aborted calf, another similarity to other mutilation cases.
Tests conducted by two separate veterinary laboratories at university research facilities confirmed the animal's left eye and the portion of its left ear were removed with a sharp instrument and not by scavengers. The eye and ear are typically removed in such animal mutilation cases.
The full necropsy yielded a heart that appeared "to have been blown apart." The heart disintegrated when touched, although the pericardium (outer sac surrounding the organ) was intact.
The decimated heart is a recurring factor in animal
mutilation deaths that continues to puzzle researchers because the heart is normally the last organ to decay when an animal dies.
One exceptionally unusual occurrence was the presence of a "blue gel-like substance," which continues to be analyzed with results due out soon. Kelleher said although he is aware of one report in the 1970s of a "blueish-greenish" substance found on a mutilated cow, there has been no precedent in the Uinta Basin.
Blood tests revealed a copper deficiency, which further analysis found did not appear to be the case with the herd, and a possibly toxic level of potassium chloride in the blood. Potassium itself has the potential to be toxic, and the cow had a level 10 times higher than normal, although NIDS
investigators and the veterinarian who performed the necropsy agreed the animal appeared to be in excellent nutritional condition.
Investigators have questioned whether an injection of potassium chloride may have killed the animal. Potassium chloride is easy to obtain, hard to trace in a postmortem and kills rapidly, the NIDS report explains.
Dr. Blaine L. Whiting, the Roosevelt veterinarian who conducted the necropsy for NIDS, said he could not determine a "distinct cause of death," although he reported that some of the findings -- including hemorrhaging around the neck -- were similar to Blacles Disease, an infection caused by organisms in the soil. Although cows are usually vaccinated for the disease, the inoculation isn't a guarantee.
He does admit that many of the findings are puzzling and unexplainable. The weather wasn't a factor, since there were no storms or associated lightning strikes in the area before the cow was found dead.
Animal mutilations have been reported worldwide since the 1960s. Reports became even more common in the 1970s and occurred in clusters. From 1975-77 in two Colorado counties alone there were nearly 200 reports. Most of the incidents reported in Utah have occurred in the eastern and northeastern parts of the state.
Ryan Layton, who has immersed himself in the study of extra-terrestrial phenomena and is very familiar with the Uinta Basin's history of UFO sightings and reported extra-terrestrial activity, calls the unexplained animal deaths "one of the most incredible mysteries of the day."
Popular theory and mere conjecture leads one to believe that extra-terrestrials descend on helpless cattle and other livestock to conduct biological experiments that may benefit their own species. Whether this belief will ever be a borne out, cattle mutilation researchers estimate the actual cases far outnumber those that are reported.
In spite of investigations by law enforcement officers, including the FBI, no one has ever been arrested or charged with animal mutilations, said Linda Moulton Howe, author and award-winning TV documentary producer.
Howe has spent the past 20 years researching unusual animal deaths and mutilations. In 1993 she won an Emmy for her documentary "Strange Harvest." Howe said when she read the NIDS Web site report she was immediately struck with the fact that the animal mutilations she had researched had a common chord with the Duchesne County case.
"In reading the NIDS report on the Utah animal my mind was flooded on with the many reports I had done with sheriffs' deputies and vets . . . dealing with the intact pericardium and no (heart) tissue."
From her years of study Howe has concluded that the
government knows far more about extra-terrestrial phenomena than it will reveal. Howe has produced seven works specifically related to what appears to be physical evidence, governmental knowledge and cover-up about the interaction of nonhuman intelligence with our planet.
She alleges massive cover-up by U.S. government
intelligence and even the media, designed "to keep the public ignorant" of the reality and pervasiveness of such phenomena.
� 1999 Deseret News Publishing Co.
by Lezlee E. Whiting
Deseret News correspondent
July 28, 1999
Patterns are being found � but not explanations