- CONRAD, Mont. - Investigators
in north-central Montana are baffled by a string of cattle mutilations
since mid-June, prompting one agency to seek help from a group that studies
unconventional theories, including UFOs. Ranchers in Dupuyer and Fort Shaw
have reported four cattle deaths in which portions of the animals' faces
were cut or peeled off and eyeballs and genitals were removed.
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- The animals had not been shot, and investigators say
whoever is responsible left few clues behind.
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- The killings are similar to a string of cattle deaths
in the 1970s in the same general area, in which more than 60 cattle in
five counties were found mutilated. Those cases remain unsolved, and prompted
speculation at the time from some that the deaths were the work of aliens
or satanic cults.
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- Dan Campbell, a deputy with the Pondera County Sheriff's
Department, believes humans are responsible, but their motives remain unclear.
"I don't believe in little green men," he said. "I think
500 people have asked me, 'Well, what's doing it?' If I knew, I would get
it in the paper."
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- Colm Kelleher, deputy administrator of the National Institute
for Discovery Science in Las Vegas, confirmed Tuesday that the sheriff's
office contacted the institute for help.
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- "They'd heard about some of our previous research
from a retired deputy sheriff in that area," he said.
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- The group describes itself as a research organization
that studies a variety of unconventional scientific theories.
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- NIDS investigated the 1970s cattle mutilations in Montana,
and Kelleher said its research found a correlation between the animal killings
and UFO sightings around Malmstrom Air Force Base.
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- "Just because we found a statistical linkage between
UFO sightings and animal mutilation, we are not drawing a direct link,"
he said. "We are completely undecided as to the perpetrators of these
mutilations."
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