Editing Cattle mutilation (section)

==Other explanations==
Fringe explanations for the mutiliation have blamed satanic cults, aliens, or even mythical monsters.  Historian Michael J. Goleman has argued that ranchers' conflicts with the federal government fueled nefarious explanations.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398 | jstor=10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398 | 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 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="the-enduring-panic-about-cow-mutilations"/>

=== Satanic cults ===
{{see also|Satanic Panic}}
Closely related to the deviant hypothesis is the hypothesis that cattle mutilations are the result of cult activity.<ref name="metarel">[http://www.meta-religion.com/Paranormale/UFO/cattle_mutilations.htm Meta Religion.com: Cattle Mutilation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823075308/http://www.meta-religion.com/Paranormale/UFO/cattle_mutilations.htm |date=2006-08-23 }}, (September 2006)</ref> However, contrary to the deviancy hypothesis, which holds that cattle are mutilated at random by individual deviants, the cult hypothesis holds that cattle mutilations are coordinated acts of ritual sacrifice carried out by organized groups.

In July 1975, reporter Dane Edwards of the ''Brush Banner'' published a cattle mutilation story and began investigating a theory that a cult was responsible. When the origin of the cult theory was traced to a federal inmate and no cult members were ever identified, ranchers and law enforcement started looking for other explanations.

Beliefs held by proponents of the cult hypothesis vary, but may include:
* That the apparent absence of blood at mutilation sites may indicate cult members would harvest it<ref name="mstp">Mystery Stalks the Prairie (1976), Donovan Roberta, Wolverton Keith, {{ASIN|B0006WH8CA}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}</ref>
* That organs have been removed from cattle for use in rituals<ref name=sceptdict/>
* That unborn calves have been harvested from mutilated cattle.

The hypothesis that cults were responsible for cattle mutilation was developed in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s, a time of growing national concern over cults (such as the [[Peoples Temple]] and [[Jonestown]]) and [[ritual satanic abuse]] ("Satanic panic").<ref>Bromley David G. and Anson Shupe (1981), ''Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare''. Boston: Beacon Press, {{ISBN|0-8070-3256-5}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}</ref><ref>Hadden J.K. (2002) [http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/cultsect/anticounter.htm Cult Group Controversies: Conceptualizing "Anti-Cult" and "Counter-Cult"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827231058/http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/cultsect/anticounter.htm |date=August 27, 2006 }}, University of Virginia</ref>

However, there were various reports during the time of menacing groups prowling around mutilation sites. In September 1975, a forestry service employee in [[Blaine County, Idaho]], reported seeing a group of people in black hooded robes. Several cattle were found mutilated in the area the following day. On October 9, 1975, a motorist on U.S. Highway 95 in northern Idaho, in an area of frequent cattle mutilation, reported to police that some 15 masked individuals formed a roadblock with linked arms, forcing him to turn around.<ref>{{cite book |last=Albers |first=Michael D. |title=The Terror |date=1979 |pages=86–87 |publisher=Manor Books |isbn=978-0532233114}}</ref>

Since the beginning of the cult hypothesis, law enforcement agents in several states and provinces, including [[Alberta]], [[Idaho]], Montana, and [[Iowa]] have reported evidence implicating cults in several instances of cattle mutilations.<ref>Clark J (1999), ''Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena'', 2nd Edition, {{ISBN|1-57859-070-1}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}</ref>

During their investigations, the FBI and the ATF were unable to find appropriate evidence, including signs of consistency between mutilations, to substantiate that the animals had been the victims of any form of ritual sacrifice or organized mutilation effort. They were also unable to determine how or why a cult would perform procedures that would result in the anomalies reported in some necropsies,<ref name=fbi4/>{{rp|3}} or to verify that the anomalies were 1) connected to the mutilations themselves 2) the result of human intervention.<ref name=opanmuthome/>

In most cases, mutilations were either ruled due to natural causes, or the cattle were too far decayed for any useful conclusions to be drawn. Some cases of cult hysteria were traced back to fabrication by individuals unrelated to the incident. In one case it was concluded that claims had been falsified by a convict seeking favorable terms on his sentence in exchange for information.<ref name=mstp/>{{rp|14–15}}<ref name="fbi2">[http://vault.fbi.gov/Animal%20Mutilation/Animal%20Mutilation%20Part%202%20of%205/view Operation Cattle Mutilation, Section 2], FBI, Released under FOIA</ref>{{rp|23–24}} In another case, claims were traced back to local high school students who had circulated rumors as a joke.<ref name=mstp/>{{rp|21}}

===Aliens===
{{main|Paul Bennewitz}}
Since the Snippy case in 1967, press had linked reports of unidentified aircraft to UFOs and flying saucers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.denverlibrary.org/sites/history/files/FlyingSaucerSought%20%282%29.jpg|title=Flying Saucer Sought in Death of Horse}}</ref> 
In 1974, a few months after the first spate of alleged mutilations in the US, multiple farmers in [[Nebraska]] claimed to witness UFOs on the nights their cattle were harmed. The sightings were hailed by UFO researchers as the first physical evidence of extraterrestrial life.<ref name="JSTOR">{{cite journal | last = Goleman | first = Michael J. | title = Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s. | journal = Agricultural History | volume = 85 | issue = 3 | pages = 398–417 | date = 2011 | language = en | jstor = 10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398 | doi = 10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398 | pmid = 21901905 }}</ref> In 1980, journalist [[Linda Moulton Howe]] produced ''A Strange Harvest'', a documentary on cattle mutilations.  Based on information provided by a supposed-insider source called "Rick Doty", Howe used the film to claim the mutilations were linked to UFOs and aliens.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0wFZRWKdfoC&pg=PA86 | title=A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America | isbn=978-0-520-23805-3 | last1=Barkun | first1=Michael | date=7 November 2003 | publisher=University of California Press }}</ref><ref name="MirageMen"/>

The 2013 documentary ''[[Mirage Men]]'' suggests there was conspiracy by the U.S. military to fabricate [[UFO]] folklore in order to deflect attention from classified military projects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dalton |first=Stephen |date=2013-06-13 |title=Mirage Men: Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/mirage-men-film-review-568349/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> The book it is based on, also called ''Mirage Men'', was published in 2010 by [[Constable & Robinson]].<ref name="MirageMen">{{Cite book |last=Pilkington |first=Mark |title=Mirage men: a journey in disinformation, paranoia and UFOs |date=2010 |publisher=Constable |isbn=978-1-84529-857-9 |location=London}}</ref>  ''Mirage Men'' discusess how, on April 20, 1979,  U.S. Attorney R. E. Thompson and US Senator [[Harrison Schmidt]] held a public meeting about the ongoing cattle mutilations.  The meeting was attended by about 80, including UFO researcher [[Paul Bennewitz]].<ref name="autoMM"/>  At the meeting,   Bennewitz was introduced to highway patrol officer [[Gabe Valdez]] who was leading the state investigation into the incidents.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/784269490/ | title=The Albuquerque Tribune 20 Apr 1979, page 1 }}</ref><ref>Mirage Men ch. 11 p. 74</ref>  ''Mirage Men'' suggests government agents likely "first identified" Bennewitz at this meeting and perhaps outright targeted him for his participation.<ref>Greenwood, Barry and Brad Sparks, 'The Secret Pratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12', MUFON Symposium Proceedings 2007, as quoted in Mirage Men Ch. 11 p.88</ref><ref name="autoMM"/>

By August 1988, Bennewitz was accusing his wife of being in control of the extraterrestrials.  After attempting to barricade himself in his home using sandbags, his family admitted him to the mental health unit of [[Presbyterian Healthcare Services|Presbyterian Anna Kaseman Hospital]];  He remained under observation there for one month.<ref name="rose">{{Cite news|last1=Rose|first1=Steve |title=The real Men in Black, Hollywood and the great UFO cover-up |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/14/men-in-black-ufo-sightings-mirage-makers-movie |access-date=19 August 2020 | work=The Guardian|date=14 August 2014}}</ref>
{{external media
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCsKMZKgeHY Bill Moore addresses MUFON,  July 1 1989]
}}
On July 1, 1989, UFO author [[Bill Moore (ufologist)|William Moore]] claimed that he tried to push Bennewitz into a mental breakdown by feeding him false information about aliens.<ref name="Donovan2011">{{cite book|author=Barna William Donovan|title=Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJkhqU1IXHAC&dq=Conspiracy+Films:+A+Tour+of+Dark+Places+in+the+American+Conscious+bennewitz&pg=PA104|access-date=16 April 2012|date=24 July 2011|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-3901-0}}</ref> This was corroborated by a declassified CIA document that claims Moore and another officer of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Richard Doty, are responsible for a disinformation campaign against Bennewitz.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Durant |first1=R. J. |title=Will The Real Scott Jones Please Stand Up? |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00792R000400300004-7.pdf |website=CIA |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref>

In 1990,  the Bennewitz story was featured in [[Howard Blum]]'s book ''Out There: The Government's Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials''.  Blum publicized that the government had sent undercover agents to befriend and mislead Bennewitz using counterfeit documents.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/389843781 | title=Chicago Tribune 10 Sep 1990, page 47 }}</ref>

===Mythic monsters===
[[File:Chupacabra (artist's rendition).jpg|thumb|right|The "chupacabra", literally 'goat-sucker', rose to prominence in the folklore of the mid-1990s.]]
Folklore has attributed the mutilations to ''[[chupacabra]]s'' and similar creatures.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sieveking |first=Paul |title=50 Weird Years |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/100-weird-years-1134528.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |pages=8–13 |language=en |date=26 December 1999}}</ref>  "[[Mothman]]" author [[John Keel]] mentioned investigating animal mutilation cases in 1966 (while with Ivan T. Sanderson) that were being reported in the Upper [[Ohio River]] Valley, around Gallipolis, [[Ohio]].<ref>Keel, John A. The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings, 1994, Doubleday, New York {{ISBN|0-385-47094-0}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}</ref>