25 May–June 1980 / T146
Cattle mutilations: A Strange Harvest and the Rommel investigation
Denver, Colorado; New Mexico
Witness account
Two contrasting 1980 milestones shaped the cattle-mutilation controversy. Linda Moulton Howe’s television documentary A Strange Harvest aired on Denver station KMGH on 25 May and promoted the possibility that unusual livestock deaths were connected with UFOs. In June, former FBI agent Kenneth Rommel completed Operation Animal Mutilation for New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney, following an investigation supported by a federal grant.
Public record
Rommel reported that 25 cases described as mutilations among 27 newly investigated incidents showed predator or scavenger damage; most animals had first died of natural causes. He also reviewed earlier reports. An FBI memorandum dated 14 July 1980 forwarded the report, establishing its circulation within the Bureau without making the project an FBI investigation.