Someone instant-messaged me the other day to ask for my ideas on cattle mutilations. While I don't claim to know what they're all about, I'm satisfied that some of them are indeed mysterious -- but not necessarily due to an overarching alien agenda. My best guess is that a "black-ops" government project is monitoring the spread of toxins and/or diseases by sampling cattle.

The guy I was chatting with posed the obvious question: But if it's the government doing a clandestine study, why scare people when it could buy its own cattle-land for research? After all, who would know?

My answer is that people would know. They might not be aware of the ultimate purpose of the project, but sooner or later they'd be curious -- and asking uncomfortable questions. Keep in mind that Area 51 was a tourist destination long before it officially existed; hiding research projects in the Southwest isn't nearly as easy as one might assume.

So rather than risk snooping researchers who might expose a frightening secret, why not simply do all research "in the field," using made-up UFO scare-stories to keep the project safely protected behind the "laughter curtain"? I wouldn't be in the least surprised to discover that some of the UFO reports associated with cattle mutilations were actually staged to confuse the issue, and perhaps even frighten away potential witnesses. (Inevitably, there are unsubstantiated rumors of grisly human mutilations, supposedly the work of cattle-snatching alien biologists.)

Aside from remaining invisible -- albeit with its handiwork in plain view -- the project could expand its sample population by plucking cattle and horses from disparate locations; this makes sense if the goal is to actively track contaminants as opposed to studying them in the privacy of a lab.

My question: What, exactly, are they tracking? And how dire is the threat, assuming there is one?