One of the strangest moral panics to affect North America was the 'cattle mutilation' craze that spread across the US Great Plains and parts of Canada from the 1960s to 1980s. Ranchers found dead cows that appeared to have been drained of blood and to have had certain body parts removed in a 'surgical' manner: ears, eyeballs, teats, and - especially - sex organs. These mutilations became a media sensation and various theories were put forward to explain the phenomenon. Some argued UFOs were responsible, with aliens perhaps wishing to clone the animals or conduct scientific research. Others suggested the mutilations may have been part of a secret government programme, with mysterious black helicopters having been spotted, or carried out by a vampire-like cryptid known as the chupacabras. Another explanation blamed Pagan or Satanic cults, who were harvesting the body parts - and especially the sex organs - to use in fertility rituals. An especially far-fetched claim had a group of wealthy Satanists using a truck with a telescoping lift that would extend a man out to the cow to carry out the mutilations, explaining why there were often no tracks found around the affected animals. Most veterinaries and scientists who investigated the phenomenon found the mutilations were due to the normal effects of decomposition and the actions of insects and scavengers like cayotes, foxes and vultures. #folklore #history #mythology #gothic #weird #paranormal