27.3 billion pounds of beef was consumed as a food product in the US in 2008, or roughly one trillion ¼ pound hamburgers.[1] That number is actually down from the 28.1 billion pounds consumed in 2007, but even with some slight fluctuation (only in this discussion could we say that a difference of 800,000,000 pounds of beef could be a slight fluctuation) the consumer statistics of beef production are staggering, and considering that these numbers are related to US consumption only, this means every American has been personally responsible for consuming some 780 pounds of beef a year (Based on a population of 350 million).[2]
The domestic cattle rearing industry is by far the largest farming business sector in North America, and possibly the most expensive, with cattle ranging from $500-$5000 per head, depending on breed, lineage and location. So when these expensive and market demanded bovine suddenly start falling dead with all sorts of inhuman mutilations and deformities, you’d think someone (not the least of whom should be insurance companies) would be asking some hard question, rather loudly. Though it seems this isn’t the case.
The first known examples of cattle mutilation are born of early 19th century England. Charles Fort, the world renowned American writer and researcher and father of the Fortean school of thought in paranormal circles, collected reports of and documented several cases of livestock excision around the turn of the century in Great Britain, but the phenomenon didn’t reach North America until the early 1960’s. The event commonly (though wrongly) known as the first documented case of livestock mutilation occurred in September of 1967, near Alamosa Colorado, and is often referred to as ‘The Snippy Mutilation’. This is the case of an adolescent horse named ‘Lady’, having allegedly been excised by an unseen “alien” force complete with supposedly clear evidence of some type of aircraft having landed near the carcass of the dead horse.[3]
Though citable statistics aren’t available to accurately estimate the number of mutilation reports since 1967, some have estimated the number to be between 8000-100,000, which is an almost unusable estimate, but does provide some idea of the naturally mysterious nature of the cattle mutilation phenomenon. Though that mystery is less about the means by which the cattle meet their death, than it is about the unorganized nature of research into the phenomenon.
To date, two official US Government investigations have delved into Cattle Mutilation phenomenon, though some argue that they barely scratched the surface of the problem with their cursory look into only a few cases. The FBI conducted their investigation beginning in May of 1979, and carried on until the submission of Agent Kenneth Rommel’s final report, which was heralded as a serious case of lunch bag let down. While simultaneously offering absolutely no explanation for what was happening, Rommel also claimed that there was no reason for continued law enforcement interest.[4]
Prior to Rommel’s investigation, the ATF conducted an independent look at the phenomenon, coming to much the same conclusions, though they did suggest that further investigation was necessary and with a much larger scope of research. One does tend to wonder though, how cattle mutilation might fall under the purview of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms administration.
It should be noted that many on-going local and state level investigations by both public and private sector investigators have provided intriguing results, such as the presence of tranquiliser and anti-coagulant compounds in the tissues of some of the animals, as well as describing a trend in pathology, wherein the mutilations seem to be growing more precise and professional as time goes on. Though, as more media coverage takes place, the opportunities for disinformation and misnomer become much greater.
Canadian rancher and amateur researcher Fern Belzil has done much for the cause of finding a definitive answer to the sceptical cry of hoax, trickery and ignorance.[5] Belzil has investigated an enormous selection of animal excision cases in and around western Canada and the North-western US, and though he is hesitant to offer any kind of hypothesis for what entity (whether alien or human) is responsible for the destruction of such valuable property, he is adamant that, with few exceptions, these cases are not the work of natural predation or post-mortem pathology. His website, as with the many TV documentaries and viral videos he’s appeared in, offer an impartial look at only what can be seen and examined. Belzil has compiled a startlingly gruesome and complete picture slideshow of many of the various cases he has personally investigated, and is adept at illustrating the unnatural similarities between each case, all the while maintaining a well earned air of respectability and credibility.
Fern Belzil
Conspiracy theorist Jeff Rense of the Jeff Rense Program draws connection between cattle mutilation and the obscure Indestructible Prions that are supposedly to blame for every major illness and disease known to modern man.[6] He claims that the mutilations are a clandestine governmental conspiracy in the throes of testing and analyzing the effect of prions in the beef we consume; though his theory doesn’t account for the mutilation of horses, goats, sheep and deer.
Possibly the most popular answer to ‘why’ is the alien hypothesis, asserting that an extraterrestrial race is using their superior technology to inspect and analyze these cattle for means of either co-opting bovine DNA and engineering a genetic compatibility between aliens and humans, or as a pragmatic study of our climate and the effects of pollution on various forms of Earth life. There seems to be an equal amount of supportive, albeit anecdotal, commentary for both cases, though one does wonder if repeated cattle mutilation is really the most efficient means for either scenario.
One other possible answer to ‘why’ is actually rooted in the age old military-industrial complex conspiracy of disinformation and social control through grand and sweeping sleight of hand. This is the idea that the hidden cartel of super wealthy families and businesses behind the government is engineering these so-called mysterious phenomena in order to maintain a level of social control by way of a universal fear of what might be out there. Majestic, as this group is typically called, is believed by many to be the controlling force on the planet, in areas such as commerce, manufacturing, fuel production, medicine and certain sectors of scientific research. Such esteemed people as Dr. Steven Greer of The Disclosure Project fame have suggested that Majestic is responsible for nearly all negatively viewed UFO and alien phenomenon since the early 1950’s, including such peripherally connected ideas as Cattle Mutilation.[7]
Though it might be best to view these types of things with an eye toward more moderate explanations, taking the middle road and assuming without cause that these cases are benign and even natural is definitely not the right course either. I would suggest we keep our minds open to the possibility that a combination of two or more of the above explanations is the truth.
At some point in our not-so-distant past the faculty of some unknown and mysterious entity or complex took to abducting and mutilating cattle for whatever purpose; whether every report of such activity is a true and accurate measurement of that entity’s scale and capacity is in question, but in-so-far as no plausible explanation has been put forward in the 40 some years since ‘Snippy’s’ unfortunate demise, we can safely say that whatever is going on, it remains organized and holds a consistent but evolving methodology.
Evidence is fairly clear for the argument that Cattle Mutilation is not a natural occurrence, in spite of certain government sources claiming otherwise, but no evidence exists to explain the problem beyond that point, which seems typical of such a conspiratorial subject. All in all, the informational ammunition being gathered and inspected by people such as Fern Belzil and his colleagues will eventually amount to a smoking gun of evidence to be waved in the face of the so-called conspirators and sceptics alike.
[1] Source: http://www.ers.usda.gov/news/BSECoverage.htm
[2] These values are obviously skewed, as not all beef product is destined for human consumption; a portion is used in livestock and pet food as well.
[3] For a detailed telling of the Snippy Mutilation see: http://www.snippy.com/
[4] Rommel’s 300 page report is now available through the Freedom of Information Act, though it hasn’t yet been published for review.
[5] See: http://www.ufobc.ca/Fern/index.htm
[6] See: http://www.rense.com/general32/beef.htm (with a grain of salt)
[7] For information about Dr. Greer, see: http://www.disclosureproject.org/