Stigmata

History

Stigmata began publication in January 1978 from PO Box 1094, Paris, Texas 75460, as the bulletin of Project Stigma, an independent investigation into livestock mutilations coordinated by Thomas R. Adams. The first issue was distributed free with a self-addressed stamped envelope; later issues charged $2.00 to $3.00 each, with foreign subscriptions at $5.00. Adams published in association with SAAPVIC and maintained a telephone hotline, (214) 784-5922, for reporting fresh mutilation incidents, with a standing offer to dispatch an investigative team by air to any site in the western United States within 48 hours of discovery.

The publication documented a phenomenon that peaked in 1975 but continued sporadically through the late 1970s and into the 1980s. The first issue presented a detailed 1977 chronology of confirmed and unconfirmed mutilation incidents across Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, and Alberta, Canada. Incidents involved cattle primarily, but also horses, goats, pigs, dogs, and rabbits. Adams documented the specifics with the precision of a police blotter: county, month, number of animals, and whether the case matched the "classic" mutilation pattern (surgical-precision excisions of soft tissue, absence of blood, lack of predator tracks).

Adams promised from the first issue to address several persistent questions: the possible relationship between mutilations and UFO sightings, the role of unidentified "mystery helicopters" frequently reported near mutilation sites, the extent of mutilations outside the United States, whether human mutilations had occurred, threats against investigators, and which agencies had jurisdiction. He positioned Project Stigma as a coordination centre for information exchange among investigators, law enforcement, and veterinary professionals, explicitly stating the project had "no pet theories to promote" and preferred factual data over speculation.

The newsletter ran through at least 23 numbered issues plus a Special Supplement, with the final issue (#23) appearing within "Crux No 2," another publication. By issue 20, Adams was apologising for a "sluggish and sporadic publishing schedule" and hoping to resume regular publication in late 1983 or spring 1984. The archive also holds a related publication, "Journal of Humanoid Studies," filed with the Stigmata collection.