Editing Cattle mutilation (section)

===Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms===
In January 1975, the Minnesota field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|(ATF)]] launched their own investigation into the phenomenon, headed by Agent Donald Flickinger.<ref name="clarkstrange1">{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Jerome |last2=Pear |first2=Nancy |year=1997 |title=Strange and unexplained phenomena |publisher=Visible Ink Press |isbn=978-0787627645 |oclc=40367396}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2022}}<ref name="Goleman"/>  Flickinger was tasked with investigating the possible connections between cults and the mutilation of cattle.<ref name=clarkstrange1/>{{page needed|date=January 2022}}<ref name=fbi2/>{{rp|23}}

Flickinger recorded a number of "unusual" incidents and circumstantial evidence, but was unable to find sufficient evidence of cult involvement for the ATF to take further action.<ref name=clarkstrange1/>{{page needed|date=January 2022}}<ref name=fbi2/> Media reports of the time reported his investigation was dropped when it was determined cattle deaths were not a prelude to a coordinated campaign against elected officials by cult members.<ref name=fbi2/>{{rp|23}} During the investigation, Flickinger arranged for two prison informants to be transferred to less-secure facilities; both ultimately escaped, on separate occasions.  Flickinger closed his investigation by Spring 1975.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398 | title=Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s | date=2011 | last1=Goleman | first1=Michael J. | journal=Agricultural History | volume=85 | issue=3 | pages=398–417 | pmid=21901905 }}</ref>