Documents / FOIA release
This FBI file release, date unknown, reproduces press coverage of cattle mutilations: a magazine report by Ed Sanders and a Newsweek article dated September 30, 1974. The material describes about 1,500 mutilated cattle across 22 states, helicopter sightings, and theories ranging from predators to satanic cults to UFOs. It details a 1975 federal investigation into informants A. Kenneth Bankston and Dan Dugan, whose claims about a satanic cult the investigators came to doubt. It records that the inquiry was then dropped without resolution.
“cattle mutilation”20 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS # United States Senate WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510 SELECT COMMITTEE ON ETHICS December 21,1978 The Honorable Griffin B. Bell Attorney General Department of Justice 10th and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 RECEIVED 2 Dear Mr. Attorney General: O.L.A. During the past several years, ranchers throughout the West including my home state of New Mexico, have been victimized by a series of cattle mutilations. As a result, these ranchers have as a group and individually suffered serious economic losses. These mysterious killings have been the subject of at least two articles in national publications, copies of which are enclosed. Mr. Cockburn's article in the December 1975 issue of Esquire states that there had been a federal investigation into this matter, but it was dropped. Mr. Cockburn implies the investigation may have been terminated because cattle mutilation per se is not a federal offense. While an individual cattle mutilation may not be a federal offense, I am very concerned at what appears to be a continued pattern of an organized interstate criminal activity. Therefore, I am requesting that the Justice Department re-examine its jurisdiction in this area with respect to the possible reopening of this investigation. Enclosed are copies of my files on this subject. While awaiting what will hopefully be a favorable reply, I shall continue to gather materials that could be of help in such an investigation. If you need further information in studying this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, HS:jri Enclosures
FOIA release, from the fbi-vault collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 25 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.