Possible Cattle Mutilation Near Area 51 Nevada, September 5th, 2010
September 6th, 2010, UFOnut.com website received the following sighting report:
“I found your name and this website by doing a Google search for “cattle mutilation experts”. I’m not much of a believer in these situations, however I must say that I encountered something this past Sunday (Sept 5, 2010) that I would like to have someone review for clarification.
On that date, I did a little road trip throughout parts of Nevada (I currently live in Las Vegas) that included traveling to the area around what is known as ‘Area 51’. As you may know, this area is ‘open range’ used by cattle ranchers. As I drove east on Hwy 375 towards Rachel, NV, I noticed a dead cow near the road. I pulled over (I had no intention of ever looking for “cattle mutilations”) and was shocked to see what looked like a cattle mutilation to my un-trained eyes. I took two quick photos and continued on my way. Now, I have no idea if this cow was dead from natural causes, predators, or others, but the longer I thought about it, the longer I thought I should seek out an expert for his/her review.”
Interview response from website visitor:
“See attached photos. Again, I had no idea what I was really looking at, but I’m assuming this may be the work of a predator or scavenger. I think maybe because I was near Area 51, my curiosity got the best of me.
I do not recall seeing any human or animal footprints around it, however there was what appeared to be a fresh set of tire tracks (about the size of a normal car) that had pulled off the road and made a circle around the remains. I’m assuming this would have been from another curiosity seeker such as myself. The remains themselves were only about 10-15 feet off to the north side of Hwy 375 (west of Rachel, NV).”
Just for my own curiosity, let me know if this does or does not match a typical “cattle mutilation” that causes your concern. If you wish to use these photos on your website (or in other matters) you have my permission, but I ask that you do not use my name or contact info. “
This website prides itself by releasing information to the public so they can discuss, debate and decide for themselves about its content. Take for instance this reported cow death. A picture or two not only can cause a lot of questions to be asked, but can answer a lot of questions too! Further interview with the eye witness also answered a couple of my curious questions.
At first glance this animal appears to have been dropped showing evidence of broken limbs with the body laying contorted on the dirt. One explanation could be it was struck “broad side” while crossing the highway by a large vehicle. But, if it was struck by a vehicle, launched into the air and landing stationary on the dirt, why are there no signs of impact marks or skidding on the dirt? If the animal survived the impact but died shortly there after, then there also should be animal struggling marks in the dirt. Remember, an animal weighing an excess of 500 pounds will leave deep gouging marks in the dirt as it struggles to survive. (This information gathered from previous rancher experience.)
The witness also reported he didn’t see any skid marks or blood markings on the pavement which would have been evidence the animal was hit. Now if you’ve ever seen the aftermath of an impact between a vehicle and a cow as I have, then not only would there be animal evidence on the pavement, but there would also be vehicle evidence too!
The witness did say he saw a dead cow laying off the highway earlier that day, but it didn’t appear unusual looking. He’s not accustomed to stopping and looking at dead animals, but this cow so intrigued him by the way it was laying, he had to stop and get a closer look.
The witness stated, “The cow I had seen earlier that day was on it’s side with stiff legs, like what you would see normally for a dead animal. This ones position seemed more sprawled out on its stomach.”.
At another glance, we see a large gaping wound where the anal area used to be. Scavengers will start eating this part of the animal first because of the soft tissue, but their remaining evidence is not usually as large as the cavity pictured. There also appears to be signs of slight scavenger evidence nearby, but not as much blood pooling as you would expect if it was from a predator kill.
The witness said he only saw the large wound in the anal area and didn’t notice any other injuries or unusual markings on the animal. He also said there wasn’t much of a smell, so possibly he saw the animal within the first 24 hour period before extensive decomposition set in. Upon my visual inspection of both pictures I noticed the following:
The animal appears to be laying on its stomach, with possible massive skeletal damage.
The right front radius bone “forearm”, appears to be pulled from the elbow joint.
The right and left rear tarsus “hock”, seems to be broken allowing the rear legs to fold oddly outward.
The right rear tibia “leg”, appears to be broken.
The upper cervical vertebrae looks damaged.
Bird scavenging is seen on the hide on the upper back area.
The left eye appears to have been removed, probably due to bird scavenging.
The tongue appears to be seen.
Both ears are fully intact.
Obviously a large circular incision where the anal area used to be.
The tail appears to be aligning to the left side of the circular cut.
Blood mixed with secreting body fluid is seen pooling between the two rear legs.
Soil discoloration from blood and body fluids is seen behind the animal.
Slight scavenger evidence is seen just to the right side of the right rear leg.
Close examination of the dirt around the right hoof shows no signs of movement.
No signs of dirt movement around the right rear hoof or leg.
No signs of dirt movement around the head.
When asked how the witness perceived the dead animal, he said, “My personal perception is that, it all seemed a little too perfect I guess. Traveling near Area 51 for my own curiousity and then suddenly here is a mutilated cow so close to road for anyone to see? Sort of like telling ghost stories and then thinking you’ve seen a ghost. It could have been a hoax, maybe? I’m generally a skeptic, but the manner in which someone could do that and leave little in the way of tracks, splattered blood, etc. does seem puzzling.”
Obviously not every animal which appears mutilated is because of an unknown death. There could be a very logical explanation for this particular animal death, and it’s just not obvious to us based on the pictures we have. Issues with these type of cases include not being able to investigate them in person and run an on site analysis. Still, this case does appear to be somewhat unusual. The way the animal is laying, the lack of marks associated with it’s death, and the large incision in it’s anal area. The location near Area 51 is most intriguing and just a few feet away from Hwy 375 also knows as, “The Extraterrestrial Highway.”
Extraterrestrial Highway? The Nevada ET Highway runs about 98 miles from US-93 in the southeast to US-6 in the northwest. It passes through three large high desert valleys, Tikaboo Valley, Sand Spring Valley and Railroad Valley. The town of Rachel is the only civilian settlement along it’s long stretch, and Area 51 is the only “non civilian” or “non human?” settlement nearby. In April 1996, the highway was officially named the “Extraterrestrial Highway” because of the many UFO sightings seen while traveling on it. So, a cattle mutilation off that piece of “alien aided” road, is really not out of the question.
But what is the question? Is this a typical animal mutilated case due to an unknown animal death? Or are we missing the big picture which points to a very explainable, explanation. Either way we need to at least check on these cases by stopping and doing a quick, “look see.” Then we need to make a note of it somewhere, like reporting it to this website or other sites which cover these phenomenons. We do know most animal mutilations occur un-noticed, and passing a dead cow or horse off the side of the road could be one of those, un-noticed mutilations.
UFOnut.com applaudes the witness who reported this sighting to us, and we encourage other readers to do the same, when occasions exist, and you have the stomach for it. As for this particular case, is it one of those strange animal mutilations we hear so much about? Well, the pictures sure point in that direction, but without doing an on-site investigation, this is similar to receiving a photo with a ghost image on it. Still, some pictures with ghosts appearing on them do turn out to be unexplainable after they are investigated. So one has to assume that some pictures with possible animal mutilations on them, could turn out to be unexplainable too!
Category: Cattle Mutilations, Chuck Zukowski, The Z-Files
