An August 2010 livestock mutilation incident in eastern El Paso County, investigated by Chuck Zukowski and the UFONut team of Colorado Springs, prompted attention from the UFO and paranormal investigation community. Three horses and a dog were involved in an attack of mysterious origin in the 2010 incident. Zukowski’s investigation led to his termination as a volunteer El Paso County Sheriff reserve deputy because of the publicity he received.A book and movie deal with New Line Cinema, inspired by the Rush livestock mutilations, the sheriff department’s reaction and Zukowski’s work nationwide, was announced in July.According to the National UFO Reporting Center, at least 10 credible UFO sightings east of Falcon have been reported to law enforcement or their database in the past two years. There is a history of animal mutilations in Rush and elsewhere on the east end of the county going back to 1967, Zukowski said.The 2010 Rush horse and dog mutilation case that drew national attention focused on the Utopia Ranch. ìThere were a couple horses involved that were killed, and a couple surviving animals,î Zukowski said. ìCody, the dog, and another horse experienced the mutilation and had marks on their noses and legs. The dog was still electrically charged when I got there to do the investigation.îThe military is also a suspect in these cases, at least in the eyes of long time residents, Zukowski said. ìSome of the people absolutely believe it was military,î Zukowski said. ìOne gentleman said he saw a helicopter drop an animal. Are they mimicking it? Are they responsible for it? Are they doing their own investigation?îUnexplained phenomena draw Zukowski and other UFO investigators to the eastern plains. ìWhen I first moved to Colorado Springs in 1998, one of the first things I heard about was the Rush mutilations, crop circles and black triangles,î he said. ìI would hang out on new moon nights and see if I could see something. I never did, but it was shortly thereafter I started getting reports out of San Luis Valley about mutilations.îOther mysterious events follow the reports. The ranchers at Utopia Ranch and other landowners report unmarked helicopters sweeping the area at night soon after these incidents are reported. ìAs an investigator, I think of these unmarked helicopters coming after the fact like they’re doing their own investigations,î Zukowski said. ìMy opinion is they’re doing follow ups with things like full spectrum cameras, or bouncing sound and light waves off the ground to investigate after the fact.îEvents like the Rush-area mutilations throughout the decades are the most important animal cruelty cold case in America, Zukowski said. ìThey all have the same earmarks: lack of blood anywhere around it, no stains on the hide, precise incisions with no cauterization, and no hemorrhaging so we know the animals were dead before the cuts,î Zukowski said. He took some of the carcasses from incidents to veterinary labs, where veterinarians told him they had never seen those kinds of wounds from coyote or other predator attacks. He also has taken soil samples from the impressions near the area and surrounding fields where the animals have been found. The soluble nutrient levels are almost always significantly different between the depressions and the undisturbed soil, he said.ìThe confusion has always been if it’s a natural predator or is it human as in cult or as in military, or something else,î Zukowski said. ìThe problem with both of those obvious options is we don’t get evidence of either one. People make mistakes; weíd see evidence of them eventually. If Seal Team 6, the best of the best, can leave evidence and crash a stealth helicopter while getting Bin Laden, why don’t people make mistakes and leave evidence at these sites?îThe book on these cases by bestselling author Ben Mezrich is expected to be released in the summer of 2016. The film adaptation by the Flynn Picture Co. division of New Line Cinema is in development.
