Cows found mutilated with sex organs removed and blood drained prompt alien and cult theories

Bulls have been found mutilated, killed and left with their blood drained and their sex organs removed, police in the US have said.

People living near the scene of the animal deaths in Oregon have speculated they could be part of an occult ritual or an alien invasion.

And while such outlandish suggestions have been routinely dismissed after similar cases in the past, experts say there is no obvious natural explanation and no indication the bulls were killed by either normal predators or poisonous plants.

The case has troubling connections to previous killings, which have remained unsolved for decades during which they have become a source of speculation about everything from the occult to extraterrestrials.

The first of the dead bulls was found – with no sex organs, tongue or blood – in a ravine in the Oregon countryside. In the few days that followed, four more of the animals were discovered nearby.

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(AP)There were no tracks around the bodies, or other clues as to how the killing happened, but police and ranch management believe that they were executed by someone rather than something.

Ever since the bulls were found over several days in July, Harney County Sheriff's Deputy Dan Jenkins said he had received many calls and emails from people speculating as to what, or who, might be responsible.

The theories range from scavengers such as carrion bugs eating the carcasses to people attacking the animals to cause financial harm to ranchers.

One person suggested that Mr Jenkins look for craters underneath the carcasses, saying this would be evidence the bulls had been levitated into a spaceship, mutilated, and then dropped back to the ground.

Mr Jenkins, who is leading an investigation that also involves state police, has run into only dead ends, with no witnesses. "If anyone has concrete information or knows of any cases that have been solved in the past, that would definitely be helpful," he said from his office in Burns.

Colby Marshall, vice president of the Silvies Valley Ranch that owned the bulls, had another theory.

"We think that this crime is being perpetuated by some sort of a cult," he said.

The case recalls mutilations of livestock across the West and Midwest in the 1970s that prompted widespread fear in rural areas. Thousands of cattle and other livestock were found dead with the reproductive organs, and sometimes part of their faces, removed, in territory ranging from Minnesota to New Mexico.

Ranchers began carrying guns and nearby residents said helicopters had been heard around the kill sites. A federal agency cancelled an inventory by helicopter of its lands in Colorado, worried that it would get shot down.

Two US senators urged the FBI to investigate, according to FBI documents. After saying it lacked jurisdiction, the FBI agreed to investigate cases on tribal lands. But the mutilations stopped.

Former FBI agent Kenneth Rommel, who headed the investigation, said there was no indication that anything other than common predators were responsible.

Cases have emerged sporadically since then. In the 1980s, a few cows were found dead and mutilated in eastern Oregon. More recently, there have been cases on a ranch near Flagstaff, Arizona.

Some of the mutilations can be attributed to natural causes. An animal drops dead, the blood pools at the bottom of the carcass, the carcass bloats and the skin dries out and splits. The tears often appear surgical. Carrion bugs, birds and other scavengers go for soft tissues like rectum, genitals, udders and eyes.

Dave Bohnert, director of Oregon State University's Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Burns, said he believed people killed the Silvies bulls because there was no indication they were felled by predators or had eaten poisonous plants.

However, the state of the carcasses could be attributable to nature, said Mr Bohnert, who is not officially investigating the case.

If people killed the bulls, a motive could be to financially harm the ranch, he said, noting that breeding bulls cost thousands of dollars each, and the 100-plus calves each of them sire are collectively worth much more.

Mr Marshall doubts it was a malicious attack on the ranch, which employs 75 people, many from local communities. Silvies Valley Ranch covers 140,000 acres (57,000 hectares) of deeded and leased National Forest lands around a mile above sea level.

In 2006, a wealthy veterinarian bought the ranch and made it a combination working ranch and an elite destination resort. It has four golf courses, a spa, shooting ranges, fishing and luxury cabins going for up to $849 per night.

Mr Marshall suspects the bulls were killed to get the organs of the free-ranging bulls for some reason. The bull parts would be available cheaply or free at a slaughterhouse, but he believes some people are going to a lot of trouble to get these parts on the range.

There's no sign that scavengers removed the organs of the bulls, and instead someone using a knife or scalpel probably did, Mr Marshall said.

"To lose a completely healthy animal would be an oddity," Mr Marshall said. "To lose five young, very healthy, in great shape, perfect bulls that are all basically the same age ... that is so outside the bounds of normal activity."

Mr Marshall speculates the bulls were darted with a tranquiliser that knocked them out. While some people acted as lookouts, others bled the animals out by inserting a large-gauge needle into the tongue and into an artery, then removed the organs after the heart stopped beating, he surmised.

Mr Jenkins, the deputy, has a similar theory.

"Personally, I would lean more toward the occult, where people for whatever reason - whether it's a phase of the moon or whatever rituals they're going to do with their beliefs - are coming to different areas and doing that," he said.

The Oregon Cattlemen's Association is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible. The ranch is offering $25,000.

Additional reporting by Associated Press