Cases and themes
The animal deaths blamed on UFOs from the 1960s on, and the official and scientific reviews of them. 7 events, newest first.
Select any year above to see what happened that year.
Open Cattle mutilations as a timeline
Skinwalker Ranch4 Jun 2024
History aired the second season of its spin-off Beyond Skinwalker Ranch, eight episodes with Andy Bustamante and Paul Beban. Episodes covered a ranch linked to Robert Bigelow, a Colorado cattle-mutilation site, a petroglyph site and a California desert.
Photo: Paul from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
Skinwalker Ranch2005
Former NIDS deputy administrator Colm Kelleher and Las Vegas reporter George Knapp published Hunt for the Skinwalker, describing incidents the authors say NIDS researchers recorded at the Utah ranch, including UFO sightings, unknown animals and cattle mutilations.
Photo: Paul from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
Skinwalker Ranch10 Mar 1997
NIDS researchers said a calf the ranch manager had just tagged was found dead about 45 minutes later, its body cavity empty and no blood on the carcass or ground. The account comes from NIDS scientist Colm Kelleher and was published years later; no independent investigation has confirmed it.
Photo: Paul from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
Skinwalker RanchOct 1995
Las Vegas real estate developer Robert Bigelow founded the National Institute for Discovery Science, a privately funded nonprofit that studied UFO reports, animal mutilations and survival of consciousness. It disbanded in 2004.
Photo: Bill Ingalls, Public domain
Government1980
Retired FBI agent Kenneth Rommel, funded by a federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration grant through the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, investigated mutilation reports and concluded the damage matched normal predator and scavenger activity, finding no support for UFO theories.
Government1975
Colorado Sen. Floyd Haskell repeatedly urged the FBI to investigate cattle mutilations in western states. FBI records show the Bureau declined, explaining it had no jurisdiction without evidence of interstate transport. Its file also holds clippings on helicopter and UFO theories.
Photo: Unknown, Public domain
SightingsSep 1967
A three-year-old Appaloosa called Snippy was found dead on a ranch north of Alamosa in the San Luis Valley, and claims of a missing-blood mutilation tied the case to UFOs. Sheriff's investigators and veterinarians disagreed on the cause; a shooting was among the explanations offered.
Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0
