Mute Evidence

by Ian Summers and Daniel Kagan

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553233181
• ISBN13: 9780553233186
• Release Date: June 1984
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 504 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.

Customer Reviews

well-written and researched

An extremely well-written detective story. The authors begin with a mystery to be solved -- what is causing the strange phenomenon of cattle mutilations in New Mexico? The story unfolds and the mystery deepens. The authors examine the claims with no ulterior motive or hidden agenda, looking at theories including UFOs, government conspiracy, and Satanic ritual killings. As they dig deeper, the evidence becomes clearer and clearer -- these are simply animals damaged by predation. The way this book is written, even a follower of Linda Moulton-Howe will be sucked into it and unable to refrain from reading through to the end. A great example of how skeptical investigations and reporting should be done.

It's a conspiracy...and we're all responsible

I first read "Mute Evidence" - a journalistic dissection of the "cattle mutilation" craze of the late 1970's-early 1980's - in 1989, and find much of it fresh today. For roughly a decade following the end of the war in Vietnam, cattle farmers of the southwest reported finding numerous steers dead and, apparently deliberately mutilated. Dead cows appeared to have body parts selectively and precisely removed in ways that suggested something other than feral scavengers. Blame for these incidents soon took a turn for the sinister, with sentiment hinting at the use of cattle carcasses for secret experiments by the government, sinister corporations, secret paramilitary organizations, aliens, devil worshippers or some weird combination involving all of them. With no plan to turn up little green men out for a quick chorizo, Kagan and Summers find that the truth, even when plausible, can often chill more than fiction. In their journeys, they encounter the usual suspects - crackpots and the ambitious small-town media hounds that exploit them. While the authors wisely refrain from attempts to avoid explaining the phenomenon of cattle mutilation, Kagan and Summer also offer competent evidence suggesting that there was no phenomenon to explain - just overzealous reporting of typical and perfectly natural cases of bovine morality, combined with an unwillingness to recognize perfectly natural indicia of scavengers. With no indication that the frequency of cattle deaths was actually within normal limits, slipshod reporting overlooked evidence that would have explained the indicia of mutilation. I've since edited this review in-light of another review which doesn't do this book justice. "Evidence" does not condescend towards the die-hard UFOlogists convinced of a link between aliens and the dead cows, nor attack the notion of intelligent extra terrestrials in general (or specifically the idea that ET's, for their advanced technology, would need to experiment on cows). K & S provide a wealth of alternative theories ruling out alien involvement, and never go out of their way to condemn as liars those who steadfastly claim otherwise. Theories implicating corporations, the military, Satanists or simply those inspired to commit acts as copycats are inherently more plausible than UFO's. That is not to say that K & S don't detail the subjectivity of those believing in the ET's, or reveal the paucity of their claims or their willingness to jump to UFO as the solution of first resort. Neither does it mean that K & S must ignore how UFO enthusiasts like TV reporter Linda Moulton Howe play-up the alien-angle from both sides - as fervent proponents of a theory as well as seemingly impartial reporters ready to look at a story from all angles. While obviously unfavorable to Howe, K & S never came close to slandering her - their reporting was consistently objective, looking into her claims and explaining them. The controversy seems laughable to us, but its principle th