Editing Cattle mutilation (section)

===Helicopter sightings===
{{see also|Stealth helicopter#History}}
On July 15, 1974, two unregistered helicopters, a white helicopter and a black twin-engine aircraft were reported to have opened fire on Robert Smith Jr. while he was driving his tractor on his farm in [[Honey Creek, Pottawattamie County, Iowa|Honey Creek, Iowa]]. This attack followed a rash of alleged mutilations in the area and across the nearby border in Nebraska.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rommel Jr |first=Kenneth M. |year=1980 |title=Operation Animal Mutilation |pages=22–23 |oclc=6799836}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Albers |first=Michael D. |title=The Terror |date=1979 |pages=13–15 |publisher=Manor Books |isbn=978-0532233114}}</ref><ref name="smith">W. Smith, Fredrick, Cattle Mutilation, p. 21</ref> In August 1974, state leaders called for an investigation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94288444/decamp-asks-probe-into-cattle-mutilation/|title = DeCamp Asks Probe into Cattle Mutilations|newspaper = The Lincoln Star|date = 27 August 1974|page = 22}}</ref>

On August 20, 1974, the ''[[Lincoln Journal Star]]'' reported that residents had seen unidentified helicopters shining spotlights into fields where mutilated cows were later found.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94288099/cow-mutilated-east-of-agnew/|title=Cow Mutilated East of Agnew|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|date=20 August 1974|page=25}}</ref> Know County Sheriff Herbert Thompson claimed helicopter sightings had become a nightly occurrence, with both the FAA and the National Guard reportedly being unaware of any helicopter activity. However, both Thompson and the Nebraska State Patrol found no definite connection between the cattle deaths and the helicopter sightings.<ref name="auto1"/>

By 1975, the problem was so prevalent, that some ranchers formed armed vigilante groups to patrol their fields at night. Authorities ran ads in Colorado urging ranchers to not shoot at their survey helicopters.<ref name="beedleNov2019">{{cite news |last1=Beedle |first1=Heidi |title=Colorado's cattle mutilation history and the journalist who wouldn't let it go |url=https://www.csindy.com/temporary_news/colorado-s-cattle-mutilation-history-and-the-journalist-who-wouldn-t-let-it-go/article_6769e632-2de0-5997-beda-9e12f9088bea.html |access-date=December 30, 2020 |publisher=Colorado Springs Indy |date=November 26, 2019 |archive-date=October 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010101038/https://www.csindy.com/temporary_news/colorado-s-cattle-mutilation-history-and-the-journalist-who-wouldn-t-let-it-go/article_6769e632-2de0-5997-beda-9e12f9088bea.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="JSTOR"/> The National Guard warned its helicopter pilots to fly at higher than normal altitude to avoid fire from "jittery farmers".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94288270/copter-pilots-told-fly-high/|title=Copter pilots told fly high|newspaper=Beatrice Daily Sun|date=5 September 1974|page=1}}</ref>

In 1976, two [[Cache County, Utah]], police officers reportedly confronted several men in an unmarked U.S. Army helicopter 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.  The story was first published in a 2002 report.<ref name="anonymous">Anonymous, [http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/cache_county_utahreport.pdf Report on Unusual Animal Injuries in Cache County, Utah] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051222013047/http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/cache_county_utahreport.pdf |date=2005-12-22 }} (2002)</ref>

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 alleged mutilation which claimed 16 cows.  The reports of "helicopter" involvement have been used to explain why some cattle appear to have been "dropped" from considerable heights.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}