UFO or Cult: Netflix Show Investigates Eerie Cow Mutilations in Umatilla County

I love a good mystery and maybe that’s why I’ve been an avid fan of the TV series ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ since the late 1980s. The sound of the late Robert Stack talking over the top of the droning sounder of the show’s soundtrack drew me in week after week. The show was eventually put on hold with only reruns but thankfully, it has returned.

For the last four years, the hit TV series has enjoyed new life on Netflix with millions of new viewers. Volume 5 was released this month with 5 new episodes and I got sucked right in.

When I reached Episode 3: ‘Mysterious Mutilations’, dubbed as, “…the most mysterious mystery ever profiled…,” I was surprised to learn that the state of Oregon has had hundreds of unexplainable cow mutilations - some of them happening just a few miles from Tri-Cities in Umatilla County.

What is cow mutilation and what’s so mysterious about it?

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Cow mutilations date back many years and what makes them so mysterious is the fashion in which the cows are mutilated – tongues and sex organs removed, jawbone skinned, and other lacerations that could only be made with a precision-style instrument, no blood whatsoever around the mutilated cows and no evidence of a vehicle or footprints. Some cows appear to have been picked up and dropped out of the sky, miles from their grazing sites.

Oregon cattle ranchers have been plagued with cow mutilations for years.

Ranchers in nearly all of Central and Northeast Oregon have experienced at least one mutilation. Umatilla County Cattle Manager, Darwin Hodges is featured in Episode 3 of the series on Netflix. Hodges explains in detail what he found in October of 2019. He couldn’t believe his eyes, there was no reason for the cow to be dead, “…she was a perfectly healthy cow…”

The cow’s lips, tongue, and cheeks were removed and the vulva was cut out in a perfect circle. He said it was very bizarre and the cuts were precise with no blood anywhere. Hodges believes these mutilations are being done by something superior to our way of thinking…” It’s gotta be some grand experiment of some sort”. Other ranchers declined to comment or believe it is a cult of some kind, but as mentioned on the show, it would be difficult for anyone to wrestle a cow to the ground. A dart of some sort could be used to subdue an animal but it still doesn’t explain the lack of footprints, vehicle tracks, a struggle, or any blood. A healthy cow contains up to 11 gallons of blood.

I agree with the episode's creator, it's one of the most mysterious episodes ever featured on 'Unsolved Mysteries'. You can watch the volume 5 trailer here.