Case file · Animal mutilation
The 1970s mutilation wave
Thousands of cattle across the American West were reported mutilated — bloodless, with precise removals — sparking panic and UFO links.
1975 CE · 40.00, -103.00 · status: unexplained
The researched reading
A wave of reported mutilations largely explained by scavengers and decomposition, amplified by media panic.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 40% | The 1980 Rommel report, written for New Mexico by retired FBI agent Kenneth Rommel, found that predators, scavengers and decomposition explain the "precise" cuts and missing parts in the cases it studied. |
| Undetermined | 20% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 16% | Press coverage created a moral panic in which ordinary deaths were reported as mutilations. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 10% | Some cases involved human interference by pranksters or cults, and some reports were false. |
| Something known, misidentified | 4% | Natural damage misread as surgical. |
| Secret human technology | 4% | Claims of government testing have no supporting evidence. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 4% | A few cases were never fully explained. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 2% | No unknown natural factor is required. |
Official position: The 1980 Rommel report, a federally funded New Mexico study led by a retired FBI agent, concluded natural predation explained the cases it examined.
Connections in the atlas
- Minnesota cattle mutilations
- The bloodless calf (10 March 1997)
- Dugway sheep kill
- Howe, 'An Alien Harvest'
- The Munden 'butcher', Kansas
- Gabe Valdez and the Gomez ranch mutilations
- Cascade County mutilations and mystery helicopters
- Linda Moulton Howe
- Argentine cattle mutilation wave
- The Sherman family's ranch reports