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Cattle mutilation
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===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 = 398β417 | 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>
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