He was her rock and emotional lifeline when her parents and brother died six years apart—beside her in times of trouble when life was too much to carry alone.

“When you get ‘the one’—some people never do—they just don’t understand it,” said Tammy, a retired health care worker in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Jack was one in a jillion. He was just a perfect gentleman. Neat as a pin.”

Jack lived to be 18—a long life, by cat standards—succumbing to cancer in February and dying in Tammy’s arms at home.

But before Jack’s cancer diagnosis, Tammy had already decided to “clone” her beloved cat, despite the high cost and uncertainty of the procedure.

“A lot of people do cloning for themselves,” Tammy said. “I know this sounds silly—I did it for Jack,” who she had neutered when he was young. “He deserved sons.”

The cloning procedure took place two years ago for $25,000 and produced two nearly-identical male kittens, each the spitting likeness of Jack.

Both kittens were born to their surrogate mother on Feb. 14, 2021—Valentine’s Day; both have extra toes on each paw and the same distinctive coloration that Jack had. And both love to swim, travel, and carry socks in their mouth, just like Jack.

Tammy named her two cloned kittens, OJ and Thud, who owe their existence to advancements in cloning technology over the past three decades.

Costly and Still Controversial

Tammy said she knew the procedure was not only expensive but controversial. She’s received many messages on Facebook condemning her decision to clone Jack as “Satanic,” “unnatural,” and unwise for her to play God. And these people were “ungodly rude” about it, Tammy said. For this reason, she asked not to use her last name in this story.

However, she said that most people on social media tell her they’re curious about cloning and think it’s “amazing.”

Pet cloning is making a genetic copy of a living or deceased pet, usually a dog or cat. It involves extracting DNA from the host animal to produce live embryos for placement inside a surrogate mother to develop until they are born.

According to market analyst DataIntelo, pet cloning is a global market projected to grow by 9.1 percent annually between 2022 and 2030.

“The market can be attributed to the increasing demand for pet cloning services, rising awareness about the benefits of pet cloning, and technological advancements in the field of pet cloning,” the company website states.

The market goes by two types—deceased pet cloning and alive pet cloning using similar techniques. Since the controversial birth of Dolly, the first cloned sheep in 1996, several companies have emerged to reap the lucrative commercial rewards of pet cloning.

BioVenic and Gemini Genetics in the United States and Sinogene in China are among them. Pet cloning is also big business in South Korea, fetching $100,000 for a cloned dog at some elite clinics. For the past 20 years, ViaGen Pets and Equine in Texas has cloned horses, livestock, and dogs and cats for hundreds of clients across the United States.

“I think most clients hope to recreate that special bond [with a deceased pet]—and I certainly understand that,” said ViaGen’s client service manager Melain Rodriguez, who’s had many cats and dogs in her lifetime.

“Although you love them all, you had a special relationship with that one special [pet] that stands out. It’s so hard when it’s gone,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

In 2016, ViaGen delivered the first cloned puppy in the United States: a Jack Russell terrier named Nubia, an identical twin of its genetic donor. Ms. Rodriguez said ViaGen cloned horses and livestock primarily before branching into cloning pets and even threatened or endangered species.

The procedure is intricate and costly—$50,000 for a cloned dog at ViaGen—and carries the potential risk of failed embryos and unwanted heritable traits. Several nationwide polls found that most Americans in sample groups opposed cloning on moral or religious grounds.

Opponents of animal cloning cite inherent health and safety risks, flaws in the developing technology, and lack of government oversight and regulation. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has called for a moratorium on cloned and bioengineered pets.

During the moratorium, a multidisciplinary commission would evaluate existing cloning research and technology, including regulations regarding its use.

“Our current knowledge of animal cloning indicates that there are important welfare concerns at issue,” according to the ASPCA position statement. “Reports on the health and condition of mammalian animals produced by cloning have indicated a variety of anatomical and physiological problems.

“It is difficult to document fully the consequences of cloning or bioengineered applications of companion animals since many of these activities fall outside the framework of publicly funded and regulated research programs.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) opposes cloning on moral grounds, stating on its website that over 90 percent of cloned embryos miscarry or are stillborn.

“Dolly, the cloned sheep, was the sole survivor of 277 attempts. Those few who survive have serious medical problems.”

Many scientists oppose reproductive cloning of humans for these reasons “but still favor cloning for research,” the USCCB added. The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) said it opposes animal cloning as a potential threat to animal welfare. The organization launched two campaigns to stop animal and pet cloning to “protect both animals and people from being exploited by companies attempting to ‘bring back a deceased companion animal.’”

EU Opposition to Cloning

Opposition to animal cloning is also widespread in the European Union. In 2008 and 2010 surveys, the European Consumer Organization found overwhelming opposition to cloning in European countries.

More than 80 percent had concerns over cloning’s long-term effects on nature; 58 percent found cloning “totally unacceptable for food production” in 2008, 67 percent in 2010, and 69 percent felt cloning would risk viewing animals as commodities.

In addition, 83 percent said they would want food labeling on products derived from the offspring of cloned animals in European supermarkets. The organization said that commercial livestock cloning, including beef and dairy cattle, occurs mainly in the United States, Canada, and Argentina, with “some activity” in New Zealand, Australia, and China.

“In short, only the U.S. and Argentina have done much cloning of food animals,” Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the Center for Food Safety based in the United States, told The Epoch Times.

“Most other countries treat clones as a new animal requiring extensive review. Europe and Canada do that. Japan has limited approvals of clones for food and requires labeling, which prevents most markets from carrying meat from clones or their offspring,” Mr. Hanson said.

Mr. Hanson said the genetically engineered Gal Safe pig is the only cloned and FDA-approved meat product sold in U.S. supermarkets. But you can’t just “go to the supermarket and tell you’re getting the offspring of a cloned animal.”

“What you’re seeing in the food sector is a decline in the practice,” he said. “The animal clones are dogs, cats, and horses,” and a few other species.

Large Offspring Syndrome

The center believes animal cloning is “generally not safe” absent long-term FDA studies, Mr. Hanson said.

“We know there are animal welfare implications: large offspring syndrome is a huge problem with cloned animals. The fetuses are large, and it kills them. It also happens in traditional breeding. It just happens more often with cloned animals. The thing about pets is people have such a love for their animals. That’s understandable.”

As a relatively new commercial industry, pet cloning fills a growing niche market, but there “aren’t that many people that can pay $50,000 to have a Xerox copy of their cat or dog,” Mr. Hanson said.

Jack, part Siamese, had dazzling blue eyes, a thick brown-black coat smooth as velvet, and an extra toe on each paw due to a congenital deformity called polydactylism.

Unlike most domestic short hairs, Jack loved the water, swimming in the pool with his owner Tammy, going on long car or motorcycle rides, and walking on a leash in public. Tammy said she desired to preserve these endearing traits in Jack through cloned offspring.

During a routine tooth cleaning at the vet clinic in 2015, Tammy had skin cells removed from his stomach and stored at ViaGen Pets. In 2021, she decided to proceed with the cloning procedure. About nine weeks later, she received two genetically cloned kittens for the price of one.

“I burst into tears when I saw them on the little carrier,” Tammy told The Epoch Times. “When they turned to look at me, I lost it. They were identical. The big paws, the bright blue eyes—identical to Jack. Perfect.”

“There’s nothing I can say other than amazing.”

Cloning and Public Perception

Ms. Rodriguez said that the media and Hollywood perpetuate the belief that cloning is dangerous and evil.

The 1992 movie “Jurassic Park” capitalized on the public’s fear of the unknown using a fictional island populated by cloned dinosaurs brought back from extinction. The dinosaurs ran amok through corporate sabotage, causing mayhem and destruction when the system broke down.

“A lot of the negative thoughts about cloning have come from Hollywood,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “They think that’s what it’s like. Most people who don’t fully understand the process are the ones who tend to be the most fearful of it.”

Animal cloning—whether it involves a horse, cattle, sheep, dog, cat, or ferret—is different from normal sexual reproduction. At ViaGen, the process begins with harvesting cells from a donor animal using a skin biopsy kit and sending it to ViaGen’s facilities for storage.

It will remain in stasis for weeks, months, years, and even decades in liquid nitrogen until the client is ready to clone their pet. About 85 percent of ViaGen’s business are long-term storage clients, who store their pet’s donor cells at a yearly $150 cost, Ms. Rodriguez said.

The next step in cloning involves growing millions of cells in a lab environment. Using a high-tech microscope and the “somatic cell nuclear transfer process,” the lab technician injects a single cell into a donor egg with the nucleus removed. A jolt of electricity causes the cell to divide and grow as a living embryo.

Multiple eggs are inserted into the surrogate mother and allowed to gestate until at least one cloned kitten or puppy is born—sometimes more than one. In most cases, the offspring are healthy and robust genetic copies of the original donor, Ms. Rodriguez told The Epoch Times.

“We do see, for the most part, that cloned animals live a normal lifespan and are just as healthy as the original animal”—with a few caveats, she said.

She said it’s essential for clients to have reasonable expectations about pet cloning. For example, a cloned pet is not the same as the one that passed. Given the likelihood of slight genetic variations, there might be differences in coloring, behavior, and temperament.

If a host dog or cat died from an inherited illness, that illness may carry over to the cloned offspring.

“Anything that is genetically linked, as far as illness, the clone will have the same genetics and the same potential to develop that illness at some point in its life,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

Environment plays a significant role in how a cloned pet acts and reacts. And sometimes, it’s the pet owner who’s different. While time often heals the emotional wound of losing a pet, people change with time, Ms. Rodriguez said.

They may feel and behave differently while interacting with a genetic copy of a beloved pet that died years ago, which may influence the pet’s personality. Yet, she said there is no limit to how many times one can clone a pet to resurrect that priceless bond.

“It’s a very personal decision and not for everyone. It’s the next best thing to going to the breeder and getting another dog with the same parents.”

Ms. Rodriguez acknowledged critics who feel that cloning pets is “unnatural” and even immoral, despite the process being similar to in vitro fertilization (IVF) in family planning common today.

The technology shows even more promise in “conservation cloning” threatened or endangered species.

Using cloning tools and technology, ViaGen recently decided to bring the first clones of the endangered black-footed ferret and Przewalski’s horse into the world.

“Where I see cloning technology headed is helping support endangered species,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

Paying to Keep Emotional Bond Alive

Ms. Rodriguez said the main reason for cloning a pet is the desire to recreate the “family” bond that existed with a deceased dog or cat.

It is one way to approach enduring the grief that comes with death. For many pet owners, the cost is often no object.

“I think it’s that special relationship—that special bond they had with their pet. We commonly hear that they had many dogs but nothing like this dog, and they can’t imagine life without this dog.”

Before cloning became an option, Tammy said that Jack was her pride and delight, an abandoned stray cat “somebody threw out because he had extra toes.”

“He was utterly stunning in every way,” Tammy said, and cloning seemed the best and only option to continue his genetic legacy.

Jack spent two years bonding with his cloned “sons” before he passed.

“He smelled them face to face” when they first met in 2021 and “immediately started grooming them. He accepted them—loved them deeply,” Tammy said. “They all slept together. They took care of each other. If people could be so good to each other.”

Tammy said she knows OJ and Thud are only the likenesses of Jack as individuals.

“We are an amalgamation of our own experiences as individuals, so they’re not going to be precisely the same. But they share many weird things, like carrying socks around—Jack loved socks, kneading on things, singing to their ‘people,’ [and] peculiar things that Jack loved: cars, music. That was a big thing.”

Enduring Legacy

When Jack died, Tammy refused to have him cremated and buried him in her backyard.

“I bought him a coffin and everything,” she said.

She feels fortunate she had the choice on whether to clone Jack or not, for as often as she wants. His cells will remain at ViaGen for years to come.

“He was family to me,” Tammy said. “I know he was a 17-pound little animal, but to me, he was my best friend. He was the coolest.”

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

The states considering legislation include North Dakota, Tennessee, Arizona, Idaho, and Missouri.

Idaho House Bill 154 would make it a misdemeanor offense for anyone who provides or administers a vaccine using mRNA technology “for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state.”

Arizona House Bill 2762 requires conspicuous labeling of all aquatic, livestock, or poultry products that received mRNA vaccines, and prohibits these products from being labeled as organic.

Tennessee House Bill 0099 amends an existing law to prohibit the manufacture or sale of livestock or meat that contains mRNA “vaccine of vaccines materials” without a conspicuous label that there are such ingredients in the product.

In North Dakota, state lawmakers filed SB2384, which seeks to ban the use of mRNA vaccines in humans and to introduce a penalty for anyone breaking the prohibition.

Missouri State Rep. Holly Jones, a Republican, is the lead sponsor of a bill requiring product labeling of all livestock meat containing “potential gene therapy products.

“We label everything around the world. We label non-GMO. We label GMO. We label grass-fed. We label no antibiotics used. We label manufactured in a plant that has nuts,” Jones said.

“We should label anything that has not been proven safe and effective. As we’ve seen with the COVID vaccines, they’re neither safe nor effective. Even the CDC has come out with that.”

While HB1169 does not mention mRNA by name, the proposed ban would include all “potential gene therapy products.”

The House Emerging Issues subcommittee will review an amended bill on April 19. Jones is a member of that committee.

The bill would require labeling of any product created to act as a potential gene therapy, or that could “otherwise possibly impact, alter, or introduce genetic material or a genetic change into the user of the product.”

It would include anyone exposed to the product or people “exposed to others who have used the product.”

With the passage of HB1169, the law would require livestock farmers and producers in Missouri to fully display on product packaging mRNA technology used in cows, pigs, and other livestock under the rule of informed consent.

Already In Development

“They would have to tell us if they begin using those things. As it is currently, almost all states do not,” Jones said.

Jones said she confirmed through multiple agricultural sources that mRNA programs for U.S. livestock are “in the works.”

“It is in the pipeline. Australia is already doing that.”

According to a statement from the Queensland government in Australia, scientists are working to develop an mRNA-related vaccine to combat the threat of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in beef cattle with $1.5 million invested.

“A new mRNA vaccine would be a game changer as the live virus vaccines currently available overseas cannot be used in Australia,” said Mark Furner—the Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities—in the statement.

“Using existing vaccines here would result in us losing our disease-free status,” Furner added.

With mRNA technology, as in COVID-19 vaccines, the injections introduce a virus fragment into cells, teaching them how to produce a specific antibody against the disease.

The Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine Department at Iowa State University is developing an mRNA-based cattle vaccine for the bovine respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Untreated, RSV can lead to pneumonia in cows.

The federal grant program aims to develop a “novel mRNA system” that provides immune protection against RSV.

“We hypothesize that a [mRNA injection] delivered continuously by vaccine implant will lead to prolonged and robust cellular and antibody immunity,” according to a program summary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Research, Education, and Economics Information System (REEIS).

“Here, we will optimize our vaccine further and then test for potential correlates of protection to examine for in eventually challenged cows.”

No Labeling of Foreign Meat

In 2016, the U.S. Congress removed a labeling law requiring the country of origin on meat products.

“That means we could take beef from Argentina, Australia, China—anywhere around the world—and this gets mixed in because we no longer have to label it as country of origin.

“That strikes an issue with me,” Jones told The Epoch Times.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association recently stated that “there are no current mRNA vaccines licenses for use in beef cattle in the United States.”

“Cattle farmers and ranchers vaccinate cattle to treat and prevent many diseases, but presently none of these vaccines include mRNA technology.”

In August 2022, mRNA vaccine research start-up Genvax Technologies received $6.5 million in grant funding through a coalition of private investors, including United Animal Health.

“The threat posed to producers and consumers by foreign animal diseases like African swine fever (ASF) and constantly mutating variants of swine influenza is extraordinary,” Joel Harris, CEO and co-founder of Genvax Technologies, said in a release published in PorkBusiness.com.

“The goal is to develop a vaccine that matches 100 percent to the specific strain when a disease outbreak occurs.”

While ASF is a viral disease that is almost always fatal in domestic and wild pigs, it does not threaten human health and can’t spread from pigs to people.

“It is not a food safety issue,” the USDA states on its website.

“ASF is found in countries around the world. More recently, it has spread to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. ASF has also spread through China, Mongolia, and Vietnam, as well as within parts of the European Union.

“It has never been found in the United States—and we want to keep it that way.”

The Animal Health Institute (AHI) reports that mRNA vaccines used in veterinary medicine are at least five to 10 years away from deployment.

“New vaccines that use mRNA technologies to control parasites could allow more effective vaccines that can be reliably produced. Parasite vaccines developed through traditional methods are often difficult to reliably manufacture for companies,” the AHI’s website says.

“As a result, only a handful of parasite vaccines are available in veterinary medicines. However, mRNA could allow for more reliable production as these can avoid the difficulties of traditional methods.”

Not All Harmful?

Jones, however, said her bill does not mean she considers all mRNA technology harmful.

“They’re using it in many different medical studies and clinical trials. We do a good job of covering up things that may or may not be the best for us.

“I would like to see is that informed consent for consumers. I will fight for that tooth and nail.”

“What we’re asking is tell us if you are a cattle rancher or a pig farmer—if you choose to go that route with vaccinations—people should have that awareness whether to purchase that meat or 100 percent organic.”

Jones said lobbyists accused her of creating fear among consumers and affecting the “bottom line.”

“That’s upsetting to me. I have a strong moral standing that everyone has a right to choose what they put in their bodies.”

Texas Cites Concerns

On April 3, Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller said his office is working on a “fact-based analysis” of the risks associated with mRNA technology in food and livestock.

“Since news of the development of mRNA vaccines and mRNA-related treatments for livestock came to the attention of the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), we have been working towards developing a fact and science-based assessment of the risks associated with this technology,” Miller said in a statement.

“Our analysis will include the clinical research, the structure of existing Texas law, and the public policy, economic, and production impact of the different policy prescriptions we may adopt.

“I aim to ensure that Texas agriculture remains safe, trusted, healthy, and wholly uninfected by dangerous or unproven technology.”

“I personally take this issue very seriously. No political hot takes. Just a well-reasoned and well-researched proposal based on a wide range of input from stakeholders, scientists, agriculturalists, and other experts.

“We are looking at this issue at TDA and will share your concerns.”

The Texas agriculture department’s communications director Reb Wayne said many Texans expressed their concerns regarding mRNA technology.

Wayne said the department’s goal is “a safe and abundant food supply.”

“Our work is in its initial stages, and Commissioner Miller wants to make sure that both the [agricultural] industry and the general public are dealing with the facts on mRNA,” Wayne told The Epoch Times.

Jones said the Missouri legislation is for businesses and people who “deserve to know” the effects of mRNA in food and other products.

“We want to make sure people not only have informed consent and transparency in their food supply, but that if something happens without their knowledge, there is a way to stand firm,” Jones said.

“This is spreading like wildfire. And rightfully so.”

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

“It’s getting real,” Wright said, standing behind the glass showcase filled with various silver and gold bullion, coins, jewelry, and sterling in his busy Cottonwood, Arizona, shop on March 20.

“On a dime, it turned around—big time. It’s unprecedented,” he said. “We’ve seen the demand high, but not like this. Of course, SVB started this phase we’re in.”

And where the buying phase—more like a buying frenzy—ends up is anybody’s guess, Wright said.

Once regarded as a “barbarous relic” by the Wall Street financial sector, gold and silver are now in heavy demand to hedge against inflation and financial risk.

Wright said retail demand for precious metals could soon outstrip supply, and if more banks fail, to expect a full-blown “panic.”

He agreed that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen didn’t help matters by not announcing a government bail-out for SVB after depositors withdrew $42 billion in early March, spurring the bank’s collapse.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures depositor accounts up to $250,000.

Almost immediately after the run on SVB, people began buying gold and silver on the spot market, putting the squeeze on coin and bullion dealers large and small.

As of March 20, gold was on sale at $1,979 per troy ounce, and silver at $22.51 per ounce.

One troy ounce weighs 31.10 grams or 1.1 regular ounces.

Buy Low, Sell High

In November 2011, an ounce of gold rallied to a multi-year high of more than $2,000 while silver soared to almost $50 an ounce before the bull run on precious metals corrected to new lows.

Wright, whose uncle started Coin Heaven in 1985, said that demand for precious metals was robust during COVID-19.

“But after that bank fell, it created quite a panic, and people wanted to get their funds out of banks and into something real and tangible—gold and silver,” Wright told The Epoch Times.

“It’s something you own. There’s no third party involved. It’s solely yours.”

Galina Suvorova, owner of Galina Fine Jewelers in Cottonwood, said business has been steadily increasing since the fall of SVB, and “there’s more interest in bullion—specifically, bullion and coins.”

“It’s been like this for a couple of years now,” Suvorova said. “Before, it used to be more investors—people doing it for years. Nowadays, we’re getting new people inquiring how to start, what to do with it, what to buy.”

She said the biggest seller at the moment is gold coins, although silver sales are also way up, given their much lower cost, even with higher premiums.

Suvorova said she has yet to encounter supply issues during market dips when silver and gold prices go down.

“During those low dives, it is not the supply that’s suffering; it’s dealers holding back because they have an investment in it and don’t want to lose money,” Suvorova told The Epoch Times.

“Of course, everybody buys more during those times.”

In general, her customers purchase gold and silver to hedge against economic turmoil and as a financial investment, since “there’s money to be made” in precious metals as a historic store of value.

“It’s just what you do with it and how you use it. You can buy investment coins or just for the rally,” Suvorova said.

Many of Suvorova’s new customers are first-time buyers following the collapse of SVB. She expects the buying trend to remain brisk as long as uncertainty reigns in the financial equities and bank sectors.

“Coins and precious metals are a smart investment. We still have fiat currency worldwide, but it’s tied to precious metals prices,” Suvorova said.

“Even if nothing goes crazy, it’s still solid money—cold, heavy money.”

Wright said that substantial risk in the financial markets can only be good for precious metals demand in the long run.

No Top In Sight

“Near term, I do think we’re heading up [in price]. It’s been years in building. An event like banks going down is the catalyst to spark this thing to take off and charge higher,” Wright said.

“When the COVID scare happened three years ago, it kicked off quite a buying frenzy. It sustained for two-and-a-half years or so. Later in 2022, it tapered off.”

In the current market, Wright said he is buying as much silver and gold as he can wholesale to keep pace with demand.

“We cannot satisfy demand based on whoever walks in the door. We have to get more product from our wholesaler,” he said, and people are “nervous. They do not trust the banks—for a good reason.”

“We could get into a pinch where [supply becomes] strained. At that point, we could see premiums go even higher relative to spot [price].”

Wright said dollars, quarters, dimes, and nickels containing 90 percent silver, known as “junk silver,” fetch high premiums after the U.S. Mint stopped producing them in 1964.

“Whatever is floating around—that’s it,” he said.

In these troubled times, Wright recommends setting priorities by stockpiling food and water before buying gold or silver.

“Take care of yourself that way. Then get into metals” to protect your assets, he said.

Article cross-posted from our premium news  partners at The Epoch Times.

Declining cattle production and drought contributed to a sizable drop in beef supplies last year, the lowest in nearly a decade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

As of Jan. 1, there were 89.3 million head of cattle, down 3 percent from a year ago; and 29 million beef cows bred for slaughter in the United States, down 4 percent from last year.

“Total red meat and poultry production in 2023 is forecast to decrease for the first time in nearly a decade,” the USDA said in its bi-annual livestock, dairy, and poultry outlook released in early March.

“This is due to the 6-percent decline in beef production that more than offsets forecast increases in pork (2 percent), broiler meat (1 percent), and turkey (7 percent) production.”

The report said dwindling cattle production would likely cause a “significant year-over-year decrease in beef production, the first decline since 2015.”

However, the USDA expects pork supplies to increase in 2023 after two consecutive years of decline due to higher carcass weights.

“Broiler meat production is forecast to continue its longstanding upward trends into 2023, increasing marginally over last year’s record production,” the report added.

“Turkey production is expected to increase throughout 2023, under the assumption that the sector recovers from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreaks.”

Of the 89.3 million head inventory, about 38 million cows and heifers produced calves in 2022, the report said.

According to the USDA, drought conditions contributed to the yearly decline in the beef cow inventory last year.

“While 2019 was the second-wettest year on record for the continental United States, after 1973, dry conditions began to persist in 2020, mostly in the West and Plains farm production regions,” the report noted.

“Overall, drought has contributed to reduced pasture and range conditions, and increased beef and cow slaughter. Any changes to the current drought conditions will likely impact inventory numbers in the coming year.”

The U.S. Drought Monitor reported that 41.5 percent of the continental United States experienced moderate to exceptional drought during the third week of February.

However, the agency’s three-month outlook in February said those conditions could persist in more than 34 percent of the lower 48 states, “with drought development likely in 8.9 percent of the country.

Other report findings showed that the number of milk cows had increased to 9.4 million in 2022, while the calf crop had decreased by 2 percent from 2021 to about 35 million head.

A higher forecast for beef cattle slaughter “more than offsets a decline in expected dressed weights, resulting in projected beef production being raised 165 million pounds to 26.7 billion pounds,” the USDA reported. “Fed cattle prices in 2023 are raised to $162 per hundredweight on firm demand. The trade forecast for 2023 is unchanged.”

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

Buried deep in the massive 3,854-page document is subsection 1673. It relates to “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) reporting procedures.” UAP is the government acronym used for unidentified flying objects—popularly known as UFOs.

Among other things, 1673 establishes a “secure mechanism” for authorized reporting of UAPs, with protections for whistleblowers, programs, and government departments that have information on them.

Section 1673 also provides security for any government activity, program, or contractor relating to UAPS such as “material retrieval and analysis, reverse engineering, research, and development.”

Although 1673 makes no reference to UAPS being of extraterrestrial origin, Melinda Leslie, of the UFO Research Center in Sedona, Arizona, said the section’s existence is “huge.”

For years, the government denied the existence of UFOs. Now, codified in the 2023 NDAA, 1673 has taken the debate in a whole new direction.

“The NDAA is the real story,” Leslie told The Epoch Times, and most previous investigations were mere distractions or coverups.

In a social media post, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon wrote that the UAP provision is “unprecedented.”

“This is arguably the biggest story mainstream news organizations have ever failed to cover,” he wrote. “Even before this ‘whistleblower’ legislation was signed into law, credible individuals were providing Congress information alleging that the US government has recovered extraterrestrial technology.”

In other words, the truth about UFOs is still out there. And every so often, the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, gets a phone call about an unusual sighting in the night sky. Is it a UFO—or something else?

Lowell Observatory historian Kevin Schindler says mostly it is a natural occurrence, like the planet Venus shining bright after sunset. And then those are tongue-in-cheek moments such as the letters that suggested there were extraterrestrials from Cassiopeia.

“We do have a variety of people asking things like that,” Schindler says.

But, UFO researchers say some cases defy explanation and include eyewitness reports from credible sources—from military people to commercial pilots.

These sightings have taken the debate over UFOs to a more sober level—to such an extent that the government formed an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) in August 2020 to study the topic in detail.

In its unclassified report, “Preliminary Assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” dated June 25, 2021, the task force concluded that the subject of UAPs is worth further study and research funding. However, the report would not acknowledge an extraterrestrial origin.

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena “pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security,” the report to congressional intelligence officials warned.

While available reporting on UAPs is “largely inconclusive,” the report said sightings fall into five categories: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, U.S. Government or industry development programs, foreign adversary systems, and “other.” The report added that a few UAPs demonstrate advanced technology, though most reports “probably lack a single explanation.”

In October 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced the formation of an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Study with 16 members versed in the subject.

“Exploring the unknown in space and the atmosphere is at the heart of who we are [and] the language of scientists is data,” according to a NASA fact sheet.

The independent study group will examine UAP data over the next nine months and report on its findings around mid-2023. NASA asserted it is “going in with an open mind, and we expect to find that explanations will apply to some events and different explanations will apply to others.”

“We will not underestimate what the natural world contains [and] there is a lot to learn.”

NASA press secretary Katherine Rohloff said the study aims to identify data from the civilian government, commercial, and other sources that can shed light on UAPs. Using that data, the space agency will recommend a “roadmap” for future UAP analysis.

In July 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced the establishment of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office to examine and assess potential aerial threats near military installations.

The DoD said UAPs include anomalous, unidentified space, airborne, submerged, and “trans-medium objects.”

“Put simply, UAPs are objects that, when encountered, cannot be immediately identified and may exhibit anomalous behavior,” said DoD press operations spokeswoman Sue Gough.

Gough cautioned that the lack of attribution “does not necessarily indicate the significance of each sighting or a threat to national security.”

“Anomalous behavior means that DoD operators or sensors cannot make immediate sense of collected data, actions, or activities,” Gough told The Epoch Times in an email.

Gough said that by combining data collection with rigorous science, “any object we encounter can likely be isolated, characterized, identified, and, if necessary, mitigated.”

The DoD’s position is to collect as much data and see where it leads.

Gough added, “We will not rush to conclusions in our analysis. In many cases, observed phenomena are classified as ‘unidentified’ simply because sensors [could not] collect enough information to make a positive attribution.”

Mellon, in his post, said he is not claiming that information provided to Congress or the AARO proves alien visitation. However, based on credible government witnesses and reports, “I can vouch for the fact that the AARO office has serious leads to pursue.”

Mellon wrote the NDAA legislation expands the scope and resources of the AARO in the development of a science plan to “assess the sometimes mysterious and mind-bending capabilities” of UAPs.

Since the purported crash of a UFO took place in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1948, the idea of visitors from other planets has captured the public’s imagination like no other. There have been thousands of reports of UFOs over the years since, ranging from direct sightings of strange lights and actual craft to alien abductions.

Incidents such as these sparked a series of investigations by the U.S. Air Force, beginning with Project Sign in 1947, Project Grudge in 1948, and Project Blue Book from 1952 to 1969. The studies looked at more than 12,000 reported sightings in total, concluding UFOs were not a national security threat or of extraterrestrial origin.

People who study UFOs are known as “ufologists.” And many ufologists, like documentary filmmaker Ron James of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), believe ample proof exists that UFOs are here and not of this world. More importantly, the government knows this.

“When we say government, we’re not talking about guys at the Pentagon,” said James, MUFON’s director of public relations.

“We’re talking about programs buried for years away from the institutional memory of the armed forces in pseudo-government, private ventures that are accountable to nobody and impossible to penetrate with the FOIA [Freedom Of Information Act].”

James’s latest project, “Accidental Truths,” seeks to address the government’s “new narrative” of UFOs and the key people involved in concealing their existence. The 90-minute film’s release is due in early 2023. James said MUFON amassed a growing database of 120,000 UFO sightings and encounters since the group’s founding in 1969, receiving hundreds more cases each month.

He said at least 97 percent of cases MUFON receives and investigates have a natural explanation, like the weather, satellites, or aircraft. The other 3 percent can’t easily be explained and requires further study.

“When you talk about the field [of UFO research], you don’t cover it in one umbrella,” James told The Epoch Times. “Many of these avenues are conjecture, testimony, little documented evidence—which is fine.

“Things that are science fiction today are science fact tomorrow.”

More than 70 years after the Roswell incident, James said we know “something is going on.”

“We don’t know exactly [but] we have a pretty good idea.”

While Roswell catalyzed interest in UFOs, references to strange flying objects appear in texts going back to biblical times, James said.

“This topic has been at the forefront of our culture and the general population since the 40s. Since the Roswell thing took off.”

In December 2017, the New York Times published an article exposing what it said was a secret Pentagon program to investigate UFOs beginning in 2007. Former U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reportedly obtained funding for the program. However, James said government investigations into UFOs amount to little more than a “dog and pony show.”

“That’s how it’s been from the beginning. The acronyms [for the studies] are adding up,” James said.

Through “compartmentalization” of various government entities, “it gives them the ability to say we don’t know anything about [UFOs], even though it’s a real thing,” James said.

“By compartmentalization—and by what we call ‘stovepiping’—they’re able to sequester information. And then they have plausible deniability.”

James believes there is a power struggle within certain levels of government between those who wish to cover up the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs and those who want to expose it. He said the government acknowledging the reality of alien technology and energy sources would be Earth-shaking.

“It would destroy every paradigm, every power structure, every means of control that keeps the planet in check. It’s all about energy. Whoever controls the energy controls the entire planet,” James said.

Despite official denials of non-terrestrial UFOs, sightings of strange objects continue to this day. The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), a national clearinghouse of information on unidentified aerial sightings, has logged more than 150,000 reports over 47 years of operation. The center in December posted 1,255 new UFO sightings on its website.

On Nov. 7, NUFORC received a report from multiple airline pilots describing a “dramatic display” of lights over the midwestern United States the night before.

“Moreover, several other flight crews allegedly reported the same event over their backchannel, so-called ‘guard,’ radio frequency, and discussed the event extensively over an estimated 20-25 minutes,” according to NUFORC’s website.

James said the UFO debate is far from over yet he doesn’t believe the new investigations will reveal anything significant.

“It’s not going to reveal anything we don’t already know. If [the government] can drag it out for another 50 years, they’ll do it,” James said. “At some point, they will have to acknowledge the existence of non-human intelligence. Where it goes after that depends on what that relationship is about.”

One organization focused on the search for advanced extraterrestrial civilizations through radio signals is SETI (Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence). SETI began as a government program in 1960. However, questions over its scientific value led Congress to terminate it in the 1970s, though SETI researchers reorganized privately in the 1990s.

SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak said there has been no shortage of UFO reports since he joined the organization.

“I get a phone call almost every day from someone having difficulty with aliens in their personal lives,” Shostak said. “It’s not a new phenomenon for me.”

Shostak agreed that public fascination with UFOs remains high while conspiracies of government cover-ups abound.

“The fundamental fact is that ever since the 1960s, poll after poll has shown that one-third of the American populace believes that the aliens are buzzing the skies. Many call me up,” Shostak told The Epoch Times.

Shostak said every time a new UFO study group enters the media cycle, it only stirs hope “that something new will happen,” and Americans “love a conspiracy.” But the evidence regarding alien visitation is doubtful. Otherwise, we’d see them in our everyday lives.

“Maybe the aliens have lost interest or have been repelled by the fast food,” he joked. “If the aliens were visiting—if there were good evidence of that—you’d have thousands of scientists looking into this.”

“They’d be beavering away at this every day,” Shostak told The Epoch Times. “What could be more important than the idea extraterrestrials have decided to come to Earth for—whatever reason? And they’re not doing that. That means [scientists] are not convinced.”

The late American astronomer Percival Lowell, founder of the Lowell Observatory in 1894, stands out among 20th-century scientists who believed in life on other planets.

Schindler said Lowell, from a wealthy Boston family, built the observatory housing its 24-inch refractor telescope to prove the existence of aqueducts, or “canals,” made by intelligent beings on Mars.

Lowell was not “one of these wacky guys with all these crazy ideas,” Schindler said. “He was well-educated and went to Harvard because he was a Lowell.”

“He started [the observatory] because he wanted to prove there was life on Mars.”

Lowell would also study the field of planetary formation and how the solar system might have evolved, theorizing the existence of a ninth planet—Planet X. Lowell died in 1915, though his research would inspire other astronomers to carry on, leading to the discovery of Pluto on Feb. 8, 1930.

“It’s interesting he wanted to prove there was intelligent life on Mars and didn’t—wanted to discover a planet and didn’t. He probably went to his grave unfulfilled in some ways because he didn’t do that one big thing,” Schindler said.

“In hindsight, he probably had more impact than he could imagine.”

Schindler said there is no scientific consensus to draw reliable conclusions about the origin of UFOs based on the amount of evidence that exists. Statistically, the existence of life on other worlds is highly probable, he said, given recent discoveries of planets circling other stars using the Hubble telescope.

On the other hand, James believes there is a “tremendous amount of evidence” that UFOs are from other worlds in the form of photographs, video, eyewitness reports, and debris recovered from alleged crash sites. It’s just a matter of when, and if, the government feels the time is right to disclose the truth about alien life and technology, he said.

“If Elon Musk lands on Mars next to a mushroom, the whole [no] life on Mars thing is pretty blown. There are just too many things to make it possible to continue covering it up,” James said.

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.