McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 1 EXCERPT
COYOTES, COWS, & UFOS
CHAPTER NINE
THE NEW MEXICO CATTLE MUTILATION DELUSION
J. Henry McHenry
The first cattle mutilations in New Mexico were recorded during August, 1975, at around the time the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was beginning its investigation. Three years later, by the end of 1978, around ninety cattle mutilations had been reported and investigated in
New Mexico. Of that total, around thirty, one-third of the total, were investigated and confirmed in Rio Arriba County by New Mexico State Policeman Gabe Valdez.
Because of the extreme number of cattle
mutilations confirmed in the county by Valdez, First
Judicial District Attorney Eloy Martinez, whose
jurisdiction included Rio Arriba County, applied for a
federal Law Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA)
grant to fund an investigation by a “full time, top level,
highly credible” investigator. [Rio Grande Sun, Espanola, New
Mexico, 15 FEB 1979, pA3, “DA To Probe Mutilations,” by Gail Olson of the New Mexico First Judicial District Sun’s Sante Fe Bureau] McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 2 EXCERPT
As part of his effort, District Attorney Martinez was also in touch with U.S. Senator and former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, asking him to request the assistance of the FBI. Concurrently, several other of the state’s politicians, ranchers, and influential citizens were asking the Senator to provide federal assistance. Senator Schmitt agreed, and threw his support behind Martinez’
LEAA grant request, and requested FBI help in the New Mexico investigation.
The Senator also scheduled a public hearing on cattle mutilations.
Senator Schmitt’s Cattle Mutilation Public Hearing
On the morning of April 20, 1979, United States Senator Harrison Schmitt dropped the opening gavel on a cattle mutilation conference he had convened at the Albuquerque Public
Library. Since the day he “entered politics” in 1975, he told the audience, “One of the first issues my constituents confronted me with was this loss of cattle and other animals by theft and mutilation.”
And because so many of his constituents had requested it, he continued, he was doing three things. First, he was holding this public hearing to look for new ideas, and to help coordinate local and multi-state investigations. Second, he had endorsed an application by
District Attorney Martinez for a federal grant to hire a top-level professional to investigate cattle mutilations in the three counties of the district, particularly Rio Arriba County. And third, he had requested that the FBI assist in that investigation. He noted that over a third of all cattle mutilations in the state had been confirmed in the First Judicial District, mostly by New Mexico
State Police officer Gabe Valdez.
The attendees at the cattle mutilation public hearing were generally in two camps. On the one hand were the UFO aficionados, whose presentations told of the various and sundry ways McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 3 EXCERPT
UFOs were probably involved with cattle mutilations. On the other hand were the law enforcement officers who came to the meeting with the understanding it would be a closed-door event for officers only, to compare investigation notes.
As it turned out, however, law enforcement officers sat silent and listened in open- mouthed amazement at the bizarre UFO presentations during the hearing. Tommy Thompson, an
Inspector with the Nebraska Agriculture Department put it best when I asked him about the public hearing during our interview in 1980.
Me: Lieutenant Omer at the Nebraska State Patrol said you
attended Senator Schmitt’s public hearing at the Albuquerque Public
Library last year, in April of 1979.
Thompson: Yes, I did. It began when Governor Exon received a
letter asking him to send a representative to the meeting. Governor
Exon contacted the Director of the Agriculture Department, and he
chose me to attend.
Me: Were you a brand inspector?
Thompson: No, no, I’m sworn as a Special Deputy Sheriff. My
job is to investigate agriculture crimes, things like weights and
measures, strange animal deaths, that kind of stuff. But it was one of
our Brand Inspectors and I who did go to the meeting. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 4 EXCERPT
Before we left, we met with Lieutenant Omer, and he briefed
us on what they had found out about critters dying natural deaths and
then being scavenged. He made copies of lab reports and a bunch of
their investigative reports for us to take along to the meeting. We
also had a bunch of our own reports that we combined with his, so we
went down there with quite an arsenal of information.
Well, it was our impression that it was going to be a closed
meeting for law enforcement officers only, kind of like the meetings
our State Patrol had with the sheriffs here, where they would have to
stand in front of an audience of other sheriffs and describe their
mutilations and then justify them based on the evidence. Nobody
could. In New Mexico, we expected that everyone would just lay their
cards on the table and we could get to the heart of the problem.
Instead, it was an open meeting with the public invited. Every
UFO and mutilation kook in the world was there. They were like a
bunch of wild Einsteins - but with no common sense. We just sat back
and listened, didn’t say a thing. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 5 EXCERPT
The worst part was when Gabe Valdez – the state cop – spoke.
He pranced and danced up there in front of everyone like he was an
expert on everything, an authority. It was disgusting.
After the meeting was over, we asked a captain on the New
Mexico State Police who was there, why they kept a man like that
around. We told him that back in Nebraska he would have been looking
for a job a long time ago. Well, he said they couldn’t get rid of him,
though they’d like to. He said they had concluded that cattle
mutilations were just like what the Nebraska Patrol said they were,
but Valdez was loved by all the ranchers in his district. They were
convinced they were having mutilations and he agreed with them. They
loved him, and he became politically untouchable. [Interview with Tommy
Thompson, Inspector, Nebraska Department of Agriculture, South Centennial Mall Office, Lincoln, Nebraska,
September 4, 1980]
Perhaps you find yourself wondering what Inspector Thompson’s “UFO and mutilation kooks” had to say. Fortunately, the entire public hearing was transcribed, including remarks by a dozen or so speakers, so I can give you a couple of representative examples. You can read what all of them had to say in the New Mexico chapter of Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 6 EXCERPT
Introducing David Perkins, Animal Mutilations Probe Director
The first person Senator Schmitt recognized from the floor was paranormal investigator/author David Perkins. From the podium, he identified himself to the audience as being associated with the Department of Research, Libre School, Farisita, Colorado. In addition, he added, he was also the director of A.M.P (Animal Mutilations Probe), which he described as being a “a clearinghouse for the systematic collection of data relating to the animal mutilations.”
In that capacity, he informed, he had been working on cattle mutilations since 1975, and represented a “nationwide network of independent researchers, law officials, scientists, and journalists.”
As to his background, Perkins told the
audience that he was educated as a sociologist,
with an interest in “aberrant mass psychology,
including the study of cults, religious sects,
mass delusions, fads, and other belief systems
which lie outside the mainstream.” His
education appears to have failed him, however,
Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 21 APR since he failed to recognize a mass delusion 1979, p1 when he was standing up to his neck in one.
From the transcript:
David Perkins: As a general rule, the more impenetrable the
subject, the greater the chances for striking scientific pay dirt. In all
of my studies, I’ve never run across a phenomenon which has McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 7 EXCERPT
presented more of a challenge to the rational mind. In fact,
mutilations are an outright frontal assault on all our notions of reality.
Clearly we are faced with an enormous challenge; perhaps the
greatest challenge man has ever faced. The mutilations seem to say to
us, “Everything you know is wrong.” I feel that the answer may well
have something to do with man’s survival on this planet.
But in terms of summarizing the conclusions of our group and
our studies, I would say that we should take a very long, hard look at
the possibility that UFOs could be involved with these mutilations.
This is not idle speculation on my part, this is based on several years
of research and investigations with many members of the people in
this room. [Proceedings, p9 – 13]
One of the “members of the people in this room” Perkins referred to was Richard
Sigismund, of Boulder, Colorado, one of Inspector Thompson’s “wild Einsteins.”
Introducing Richard Sigismund, UFO Aficionado
After recognition by Senator Schmitt, UFO aficionado Richard Sigismund told the group he had been investigating the UFO phenomenon for over twenty years, and that his academic training and subsequent course of study had been primarily the social sciences, heavily into psychology. Sound familiar? McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 8 EXCERPT
Also like Perkins, Sigismund rambled on and on, telling participants that newspaper reports of UFOs around the world were all the evidence needed to prove their existence. As his trump card, he read from an undated article in the Washington Post that described UFO sightings at a few U.S. military bases sometime during 1975. That newspaper article, according to
Sigismund, “establishes once and for all the reality of the UFO phenomenon.” Based on that and other newspaper articles about UFO sighting reports around the world, Sigismund told the rapt audience, he had concluded that associating UFOs with cattle mutilations was entirely logical.
From the transcript:
Richard Sigismund: I see the cattle mutilation problem as being
subheaded under the general UFO problem, for what few clues we
have concerning those responsible for the mutilations suggest that we
are dealing with well-equipped, highly capable, airborne entities. So
little evidence is left to suggest that surface vehicles are used in the
conduct of the mutilations that we are, I feel, forced to the
hypothesis that unidentified aircraft are the means.
Can we as a nation afford to continue to publicly ignore our
citizens’ reports of UFOs and possibly related phenomenon? This is
precisely what we are doing, since there is apparently no government
agency to which such information may be reported and which might
have the staff to research and evaluate the data. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 9 EXCERPT
Therefore, in the interest of national security, Sigismund proposed the establishment of what he called a ‘Federal UFO Center’ that would be authorized to investigate UFOs and related phenomena like cattle mutilations. Patriot that he was, Sigismund offered his services to the
President in getting it set up.
I call upon the President of the United States to authorize
such an investigative agency, and offer the President my services,
support and time in whatever way may be helpful toward achieving this
goal.
To bring UFO investigations out of the shadows and into the light, Sigismund made clear that the Federal UFO Center would need to “work closely with and have the full cooperation of all government intelligence agencies and the military services in the matter of gathering reports of UFOs and all possibly related phenomena.” Sigismund said he would advise the President to establish and maintain “several field investigative teams and well-equipped mobile units, able to be quickly dispatched to any area of the country to deal with significant UFO events.” [Proceedings, p19 – 30; 87 – 96]
Sigismund and the other speakers concluded their remarks by lunch time, and the public hearing was ended. Media reports of the hearing followed. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 10 EXCERPT
How The Public Hearing Was Perceived
In reporting on the public hearing after it was over, most newspapers treated it deferentially, as though there was nothing strange about the presentations – the usual UFO stuff.
However, columnist Mark Acuff of Albuquerque’s New Mexico Independent, was equally as aghast as was Inspector Tommy Thompson. He published a column making fun of the hearing.
Tom Adams, the proprietor of the UFO/cattle mutilation/other phenomena information exchange network that he called ‘Project Stigma’, was another speaker at the hearing. He was later aghast when he became aware of Acuff’s column. At the time, Adams was publishing a paranormal newsletter he called Stigmata. He used it to fire back at columnist Acuff.
From Stigmata Number 7, Fall, 1979: Mark Acuff of THE
NEW MEXICO INDEPENDENT of Albuquerque must surely be
recently-arrived from some other-worldly realm. Otherwise it would
be hard to imagine how anyone so ill-informed could be a journalist.
In early May, he authored an editorial on the April mutilation
conference, sponsored by Senator Harrison Schmitt. Acuff variously
describes the gathering as a “sideshow”, “hysterical event”, “exquisite
farce” and “the strangest collection of weirdoes ever assembled in
New Mexico.” Au contraire, says Adams, “Most of the people there
took it quite seriously.” McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 11 EXCERPT
Project Stigma’s Tom Adams got up to announce the availability
of a paper that he and Gary Massey were presenting regarding the
appearance of unidentified helicopters at or near mutilation sites. The
preliminary report represented only a few of the 200-plus
helicopter/mute cases in our files, most of which will be included in an
upcoming special report. The mounting evidence for this copter/mute
connection is overwhelming. Yet, rather than addressing himself to
the data, Acuff whines that, “The notion that thousands of such
(copter/mute) incidents have been undertaken by unmarked
helicopters is several levels beyond preposterous.”
Some relatively bizarre material was presented at the
conference. Elsewhere in this issue, we mentioned the speculation that
it may have been intended that way, to perhaps provoke reactions
precisely like that of Acuff’s.
To question the existence of the helicopter/mute link or to
doubt the very occurrence of classic mutilations is, for a journalist, to
be incomprehensibly out of touch with “reality.” [Stigmata, “The Project Stigma
Report On The Continuing Investigation Into The Occurrence Of Animal Mutilations,” Number 7, Fall 1979, p25,
“The Editor From Outer Space”] McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 12 EXCERPT
In fact, reality was about to step in, in a big way. The federally-funded, FBI-assisted investigation Senator Schmitt mentioned at the beginning of the public hearing, was about to kick in.
The Ken Rommel Investigation Of Cattle Mutilations
On May 2, 1979, two weeks after Senator
Schmitt’s cattle mutilation public hearing, the federal
Law Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA)
announced the award of a $42,000 grant to New
Mexico’s First Judicial District to fund a cattle
mutilation investigation. Almost immediately, and as
“MUTE” CONTROL CENTER – Tom Fiorina (left), administrator in the District expected, District Attorney Eloy Martinez announced Attorney’s office, meets with Ken Rommel, retiring FBI agent, hired under that he had selected retiring FBI agent Kenneth the grant to investigate the county’s mysterious cattle mutilations, after showing him his new office space at the Rommel to lead the investigation. DA’s Espanola Branch. (Sunfoto) [Rio Grande Sun, Espanola, New Mexico, 10 MAY As detailed in his final report, Rommel set four 1979, pA19, “Investigator Finds Mutilations To be ‘Intriguing;’ Maps Campaign,” by Gail Olson, of the Sun’s Santa Fe Bureau] main objectives at the beginning of his study. They
together would determine whether or not cattle mutilations were a law enforcement problem.
First, he would not discuss his investigation with members of the news media in order to prevent the spread of misinformation, and to determine if the media was part of the problem.
Second, he would gather and analyze as many previous cattle mutilation reports as possible from across New Mexico. Third, he would conduct as many on-scene investigations as possible of new cattle mutilation reports in the district during the one-year study period, and he would McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 13 EXCERPT
consult experts to help interpret the evidence. Fourth, based on the evidence he developed, he would determine if cattle mutilations were actually a major law enforcement problem or not, since “it is a well-proven fact that predators and scavengers mutilate livestock.” [Report, p4-7]
To be a law enforcement problem, he wrote in his final report, he would have to determine that “certain parts of the animal” had been “surgically removed, in violation of a law.”
If they had been surgically removed, to then determine the scope and make recommendations on how to deal with it. If they had not been surgically removed, to then “recommend that no further law enforcement investigations be funded.”
His conclusion, at the end of the year-long study period, was:
In executing this assignment, I have traveled thousands of
miles, interviewed numerous people, and compiled a massive amount of
material, including many photographs. To help me interpret this
evidence I have consulted experts from a variety of different fields.
After laboriously weighing and analyzing the evidence, I have come to
the conclusion that the vast majority of mutilations are caused by
predators and scavengers.
I fully realize there are those, including other law enforcement
officers, whose assessment of the situation may differ from mine and
who will take exception to my findings. This is understandable. But I
hope that they, and others concerned about the mutilation McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 14 EXCERPT
phenomenon, will take the time to read this report and to examine the
evidence that so strongly supports my conclusions.
It has not been my purpose or intent to embarrass, criticize, or
question the sincerity of anyone in regards to this investigation. My
major objectives have been to investigate the phenomenon and to
determine the cause of as many reported mutilations as possible. This,
I feel, I have done. [Report, p7-8]
Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs follows Rommel’s progress as he completes his objectives during the one-year study period, including the investigation of several new cases reported during that time. One of them, as described in the New Mexico chapter, involved the capture of
UFO droppings in a jar.
Rommel Investigates ‘UFO Droppings’ Captured In A Jar
During July, 1978, just outside Taos, New Mexico, three families reported seeing “a very bright orange light” outside their homes one night. It was described by Mrs. Elias Vargas, one of the residents.
From the Albuquerque Journal: “I had just gone to bed and
suddenly the room lit up with a bright orange light. I thought maybe
the neighbors were throwing firecrackers, but then I realized it was
too bright to be that. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 15 EXCERPT
“I went to the window and opened it, and I could hear a kind of
crackling noise. The light was so bright I could see for some distance.
“At first I thought the neighbor’s house was on fire, so I went
to the other window. I saw this form. It wasn’t a definite form, but it
was roundish and about as big as two cars, maybe bigger. By then it
wasn’t orange any more, it was a sort of gray color. It stayed for
about two minutes. I rushed into another bedroom and opened the
drapes, and it took off to the north and disappeared in two seconds.
All you could see was a red light. It happened so fast I got real
scared; I don’t think I went to sleep until 5 in the morning.”
She said the light hovered low over a space between her house
and that of an immediate neighbor. A 500-gallon fuel tank and a pickup
truck were directly below the object.
The next morning, she said, a thin powder was found on the roof
of the pickup’s cab. They collected the powder in a jar. [Albuquerque Journal,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 13 DEC 1978, “New Findings Deepen Mystery of Mutilations,” by Fritz Thompson,
Journal Staff Writer]
It wasn’t until five months later, in early December, that State Police officer Gabe Valdez learned of the incident. He went and talked to Mrs. Vargas and her neighbors and convinced McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 16 EXCERPT
them to turn the powder over to him for analysis. He sent a sample to the Schoenfeld laboratory in Albuquerque. The Rio Grande Sun’s Gail Olson had the story.
From the Rio Grande Sun: As State Police Officer Gabe
Valdez excitedly mulls over the clue he hopes will crack the case of
Rio Arriba County’s mysterious rustlers, a question arises as to
whether the culprits will fall into his jurisdiction if he does track
them down.
Three elements, two rare earth elements and one a transitional
metal, have been discovered among those that comprise the material
recently reported deposited upon a pick-up truck by an unidentified
flying object.
Though Valdez believes that for now, those elements must
remain unnamed, he admits he is “tickled to death” at their discovery.
“Now we are on the right track,” Valdez said Monday for the
first time since he began his investigation into cattle mutilations in
the county.
“Now we have something to trace,” the Super Sleuth of
mutilated cow lore and other eerie phenomena explained Monday. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 17 EXCERPT
Though he believes he is getting warm, the secret behind all the
mysteries he’s been confronting still proves to be elusive.
“I can’t figure out why,” he said, as he always says, when asked
again what is behind the mutilations.
He believes, though, that the answer to that question is lurking
behind all the implications of the three unnamed elements uncovered
this week by Schoenfeld Research Labs in Albuquerque.
Following his initial
investigations into the materials,
Dr. Robert Schoenfeld, owner of
the private lab, said that in Valdez’
findings he found “circumstantial
[Rio Grande Sun, Espanola, New Mexico, 01 FEB 1979, evidence” that the cattle pA18, “Investigator Hopeful New Clue May Solve Mutilations,” by Gail Olson, of the Sun’s Sante Fe Bureau] mutilations are related to UFO
activities.
“They could be linked,” he said cautiously.
Since then, Valdez learned that a great deal more material had
been gathered at the site of the UFO encounter than had originally McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 18 EXCERPT
been handed him. The additional “slivers” were turned over to Valdez,
who in turn passed them on to Schoenfeld.
Schoenfeld, with the additional material, was able to perform
an exhaustive study of the UFO droppings, and through that study
discovered the elements Valdez believes to be a major breakthrough
in the case.
Valdez said that the elements in question sometimes are found
with uranium, but they are hard to find, and mining these elements is
nearly impossible.
To sort them out, he explains, involves a “highly sophisticated”
process.
“Who can make them and who can get them?” Valdez asks of the
depositors of a material containing these elements.
The answer to that question, Valdez believes, could well lead to
the answers to the many questions evolving from the mutilations and
surrounding activities. [Rio Grande Sun, Espanola, New Mexico, 01 FEB 1979, pA18,
“Investigator Hopeful New Clue May Solve Mutilations,” by Gail Olson, of the Sun’s Sante Fe Bureau] McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 19 EXCERPT
Although reporter Olson’s article claimed that Valdez was keeping the chemistry of the
“UFO droppings” confidential, they had nonetheless been described in the Albuquerque Journal a month earlier.
From the Albuquerque Journal: Schoenfeld said Tuesday
initial analysis of the substance shows it contains significant amounts
of potassium and magnesium.
In descending order, Schoenfeld said the residue contains
calcium, sodium, potassium, aluminum, phosphorous, magnesium and
iron. Other elements presently identified include barium, bismuth,
platinum, vanadium and strontium.
“It’s possible to find all these elements in the soil,” Schoenfeld
said, “but they do not occur naturally in the air. If you say it was
found on top of a pickup cab, there would have to be something to
have moved it up there.”
He described the chips of material as gray and about 2/3 of an
inch long, 1/16 of an inch wide, and about as thick as a sheet of paper.
“I’m really not in the business of paint analysis,” Schoenfeld
said. “It could easily be a film of oxidized metal. We’re going to do McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 20 EXCERPT
some more work with it. I’m not convinced that it’s metallic or organic
or either.”
He said microscopic particles are imbedded in the material. “We
can’t really say what it is yet,” he said. “For the moment, I’m baffled.”
[Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 13 DEC 1978, “New Findings Deepen Mystery of
Mutilations,” by Fritz Thompson, Journal Staff Writer] When Rommel learned of the ‘UFO droppings’, he obtained some of the original samples from the jar, and sent them to the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C., for analysis. In his final report, he wrote that, “The specimen was identified as a “white enamel paint typical of an acrylic latex/emulsion-type exterior house paint!” [Report, p56]
Rommel’s Recommendations
Based on the evidence gathered during his study, Rommel had two recommendations.
First, since his investigation revealed that the “vast majority of reported mutilations
are not a law enforcement problem,” Rommel recommended that “no additional
money be spent to fund law enforcement investigation of this phenomenon.” He also
recommended that this should not apply to other types of investigations, “for I believe
that useful and revealing studies can be done by anthropologists, psychologists,
sociologists, and other behavioral scientists.”
Second, if a law enforcement officer is called to investigate a suspected mutilation, it
should be conducted to determine if the facts, as alleged, are in violation of a
particular state statute, such as unlawful killing, unlawful butchering, or stealing of
animals. If so, a logical investigation should be conducted to collect evidence and McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 21 EXCERPT
testimony to support a successful prosecution of the individuals involved. If not, the
incident should be investigated no further. For example, a homicide investigation
would not be conducted after it had been established that the individual had died a
natural death or committed suicide. The same reasoning should be applied to
investigating livestock mutilations.
Rommel closed his report expressing hope for the future, but knowing that it would have no effect on true believers.
It is my sincere hope that the conclusions reached in this
report will help those engaged in the cattle industry and others to put
behind them the rumors, theories and fears that some highly
organized criminal activity or extraterrestrial conspiracy is
responsible for these mutilations. If this year-long investigation has
achieved this one result, then all of the time, effort, and research will
have proved most worthwhile.
However, I tend to agree with the following observation made
by Dr. James R. Stewart in a letter which he sent to me dated May 13,
1980: “The efforts of knowledgeable experts hopefully will provide a
rational explanation for this bizarre episode. Unfortunately, the
histories of similar events show that reasonable, scientific
explanations may deflect or deter, but never completely eliminate the McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 22 EXCERPT
fantastic explanations that gullible, naive persons adopt.” [Operation Animal
Mutilation, Report of the District Attorney, First Judicial District, State of New Mexico, by Kenneth M. Rommel,
Jr., Project Director, June 1980, Prepared for the Criminal Justice Department Under Grant #79-D-5-2-S (297
pages)] [“Collective Delusion: A Comparison of Believers and Skeptics,” presented to the Midwest Sociological
Society conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 3, 1980, by James R. Stewart, Department of Social
Behavior, University of South Dakota]
Rommel’s final report, titled “Operation Animal Mutilation,” was released in June, 1980, while I was on the road researching. It was reviewed in a number of mainstream and alternative publications. Among the mainstream publications was the Record Stockman in Denver, which liked it. Among the paranormal publications was Tom Adams’ Stigmata, which hated it. Adams and other paranormal writers protested that Rommel hadn’t looked closely enough at helicopters or UFOs, or that he hadn’t scoured the filing cabinets of all the states where cattle mutilations had been reported, and so on and on.
The Record Stockman Review
The Record Stockman gave Rommel’s report a favorable review, but didn’t think true believers would like it.
From the Record Stockman: The exotic theories explaining
livestock mutilations as the work of little green men from outer space
or blood lusting satanic cults was poo pooed in the most recent
mutilation study released.
The study was conducted by former FBI agent Kenneth Rommel,
who studied mysterious animal deaths in New Mexico for over a year. McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 23 EXCERPT
Rommel’s explanation won’t be palatable to many. There is no mystery,
he says. The animals simply died of natural causes and were
“mutilated” by mice, birds, dogs and insects, “nature’s own ecologists
hard at work.” [The Record Stockman, Denver, Colorado, 09 OCT 1980, “Predators are mutilators
says investigative report”]
Tom Adams’ Stigmata Review
In the Second Quarter, 1980, edition of his periodical Stigmata, Tom Adams reviled
Rommel’s report even before he had read it. He wrote his critique based on an April 15, 1980, news release (of which I did not locate a copy). In it, Rommel announced the upcoming June release of his ‘Operation Animal Mutilation’ report.
From Stigmata Number 9, Second Quarter, 1980: At the
outset, Project Stigma supported the probe - hoping against hope that
it would be carried out in an objective, open and unprejudiced manner.
We gave Rommel the benefit of a doubt, though we could never shake
that gnawing feeling in the pit of our stomachs. Project Stigma
decided early on that the best approach to the Rommel probe was to
ignore it.
As time passed it seemed more and more a tangential diversion
to be avoided. But we wanted to give the man his full year to establish McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 24 EXCERPT
- if not compelling conclusions - at least credibility and a semblance of
rational integrity. However, Rommel has already informed several
sources that he will be putting the mute matter to rest when his
findings are announced.
And what are his findings? It seems likely that there are no
real or "classic" mutilations; most or all mutes are caused by
predators following natural deaths, complicated by misinterpretation,
hoaxing, and outright falsification of reports by lawmen, investigators
and veterinarians intoxicated with acute mute frenzy. It is
understood that Rommel will recommend that no further money
(taxpayers' money, at least) be wasted on any additional study and
research into animal mutilations. We hope we are wrong - or that we
have misinterpreted what we have heard - but the signs are
discouraging.
Any attempt at a point-by-point refutation of Rommel's
findings and conclusions will have to wait until the final report is
issued. At this writing, plans are underway for an Alternative Media McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 25 EXCERPT
Conference, at which evidence supporting the continued reality and
viability of the mute phenomenon will be presented.
We urge our readers to write to their Senators and
Representatives, on the state and federal level. They need to know of
the continued public interest and concern in "our" problem. But in
reality - the best hope for continued progress in seeking solutions to
the mutilation puzzle lies with privately-funded and supported efforts
to sustain the investigation.
Is this a case of a fanatically misguided G-man on his last legs?
Or does the almost desperate tone of some of Rommel's
pronouncements belie the very special sensitivity of a topic, the lid of
which must be firmly slammed shut?
One cannot help but notice the parallels between the Santa Fe
mute probe and the shameful "Condon Committee" UFO investigation
at the University of Colorado in the late 1960's. The late Dr. Condon's
reputation was soiled by his involvement in the unethical and wasteful
UFO "study.” All too often, his name draws snickers or even derisive
commentary. Is this the kind of legacy that Ken Rommel seeks? Or did McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 26 EXCERPT
he enter the probe honestly and objectively only to be stifled by
higher echelons? Is he sacrificing his reputation in a matter that
more than anything else - might be a concern of national security?
Such questions remain - and they are likely to remain for a very long
time. [Stigmata, Number 9, Second Quarter – 1980, p2, “The Rommel Probe: Worst Fears Realized,” by
Project Stigma, P.O. Box 1094, Paris, Texas 75460] Apparently, Adams thought twice about holding that “Alternative Media Conference,” at which “evidence supporting the continued reality and viability of the mute phenomenon” would be presented. He announced in the Fourth Quarter, 1980, Stigmata that he had decided not to refute Rommel’s report any further, that it would be beneath his dignity to pay it any attention whatsoever. He obviously realized there really was no “evidence supporting the continued reality and viability of the mute phenomenon” that he could present.
Nor was David Perkins too happy with Rommel’s findings and recommendations. Recall that he told Senator Schmitt’s conference that he feared the answer to the mutilation problem
“may well have something to do with man’s survival on this planet.” Perkins spoke his mind in
Taos Magazine.
From Taos Magazine: We can all sleep more soundly tonight
knowing that the mutilated cows were not mutilated at all. The animals
died of natural causes and were then gnawed on by predators.
Thousands of ranchers in at least forty states who have
reported finding their animals surgically dissected – missing sex McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 27 EXCERPT
organs, rectums, udders, tongues, eyes, ears, drained of blood, etc.,
are quite simply, crazy. And that goes double for the law officials,
veterinarians and news reporters who have verified these reports.
People in positions of responsibility ought to know better and should
be denounced for creating the most massive hoax in American history.
The credit for the solution
to the perplexing mystery goes to
super sleuth Ken “The Fox”
Rommel. As director of New
Mexico’s official Animal Mutilation
Project, Rommel cleverly combined
a $50,000 federal grant with the
skills developed during his 28 year
One month after Operation Animal Mutilation career with the FBI to solve the was released in June, 1980, Howard Burgess sent this letter to District Attorney Martinez, ridiculing Rommel’s report. crime. His findings will be made
public in a report due to be released later this spring.
Some ranchers, lawmen and private investigators may find cause
to dispute the conclusions of Rommel’s probe. I for one, would beg to McHenry / Coyotes, Cows, & UFOs 28 EXCERPT
differ. In my opinion, Rommel’s “solution” is total, unadulterated
bullshit.
Presumptuous? Shooting from the hip? Maybe. I wouldn’t even
venture a guess on the subject if I hadn’t spent the last few years of
my life crawling around the cow pastures of the nation in hot pursuit
of the elusive mutilators. [Taos Magazine, Spring 1980, p20, “Cattle Mutilations: A Space Age
Mystery,” by David Perkins]
In the years following Senator Schmitt’s public hearing, and as predicted by Rommel following his investigation, cattle mutilations have continued to be reported at background levels around the nation and the world. In the words of David Perkins, paranormal investigators/authors have continued “crawling around the cow pastures of the nation,” looking for what they can never find.
And with that image in mind, we have reached the end of my odyssey through the world of the cattle mutilations and UFOs. I hope you have enjoyed the journey and had a few laughs, a few surprises, and a few Aha! experiences along the way.
Thank you for reading my book.