162: 162: The Great UFO Conspiracy, Part 2: The Rise of the Mutes, 1973-1979

“Is it saucers, satanists or CIA?” wrote Tom Adams in Stigmata, the only zine dedicated to the cattle mutilation phenomenon of the 1970s and 80s, and by the end of the decade, researchers and investigators were no closer to finding the culprit.

The road to the greatest UFO conspiracy of all time is a windy one, laced with paranoia, shady figures, and a carcass count in the tens of thousands. The mute phenomenon was a slow moving one that gradually gained momentum until it led to ranchers arming themselves against mystery helicopters and out-of-town strangers.

Still, there were a number of oddities during this time period. In Montana, Cascade County accounted for nearly every type of phenomenon associated with their mute cases, including the discovery of a “cult” site and the appearance of that big hairy guy that likes to hang out in the Pacific Northwest, Bigfoot. In Colorado, cases reached an epidemic proportion, and the culprits were brave enough to leave one carcass at NORAD’s fr...