In 1980, Howe produced A Strange Harvest, a documentary that suggested unusual wounds found on cattle are the work of extraterrestrial beings who harvest body parts required for their survival or research, and that the U.S. government is complicit. The documentary[8] received a Regional Emmy award for Audio Achievement[9] in 1981. Howe became known as a "staunch advocate" for these ideas, and began to focus on UFO conspiracy theories and speculate about alleged connections between cattle mutilations, UFOs and supposed government conspiracies, saying "I am convinced that one or more alien intelligences are affecting this planet".[2][3] Although Howe claimed she was shown secret documents after being taken into confidence by an agent of the government, author John Greer wrote that Howe presented no evidence for such claims other than "the very ambiguous evidence provided by rotting cow carcasses".[10][11]
One Idaho state director of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) called her "the most preeminent UFO investigator in the world", and she was named as one of "the gurus of American ufology",[4] although Howe has said she regards herself as a television producer and investigative reporter. Much of Howe's work includes speculations about what she terms "unexplained" phenomena, such as cattle mutilations, crop circles, UFO sightings, and alien abductions.[12]
Howe has produced numerous UFO related programming, including a two-hour special Earth Mysteries: Alien Life Forms in association with WATL-Fox, Atlanta, was Supervising Producer and Original Concept Creator for UFO Report: Sightings financed by Paramount Studios and the Fox network in Los Angeles that was first broadcast in October 1991 and became the Sightings series on Fox.
Howe appeared on a panel at UFO Disclosure press event held at the National Press Club in 2013, saying she believed "alien technology appears so advanced" that "space and time could be bent by outer space travelers, therefore allowing extraterrestrials to visit Earth".[13]
Howe has proposed that some photographs of crop circles show evidence of mysterious energy she terms "visible light phenomena". Joe Nickell described Howe as a "credulous journalist" in a 2002 article in Skeptical Inquirer magazine, saying that photos Howe published purporting to show mysterious energy are simply misinterpretations of photographic accidents, such as a camera's wrist strap reflecting the flash, or circular artifacts caused by floating dust, errors that Nickell calls "the stock-in-trade of ghost hunters".[14]
Howe was a frequent guest on Coast to Coast AM for 28 years, dating back to 2003 with George Noory, and 1991 with Art Bell. In 2019, she ended her monthly appearances on the show.[15] Howe has been interviewed on Larry King Live specials, CNN; The O'Reilly Factor, Fox; Sightings and Strange Universe, Fox; NBC's The Other Side; Britain's Union Pictures, ITN and BBC; The Discovery Channel special Evidence On Earth; the NBC network special, Mysterious Origins of Man, and the History Channel television series Ancient Aliens.[16]
Howe remains active as the host of a weekly broadcast on YouTube that dates back to 2007.[17]
Awards
For her early work focusing on environmental issues, she received Colorado's Florence Sabin Award for “outstanding contribution to public health" in 1982.[18]
Howe's An Alien Harvest received a New Mexico-Arizona Southwest Book Award in 2015.[19]
Personal life
Linda Moulton Howe's father was Chet Moulton, Idaho's Director of Aeronautics from 1946 to 1971 and recipient of multiple aviation honors.[20]
^ ab
"Winner of miss Idaho fits 1974 Contestant Composite". Idaho State Journal. University of Northern Colorado. June 17, 1974. "Miss Bacon is the fourth Boisean to win the state title in 25 years. Her predecessors have included . . . Linda Moulton Howe, 1963, Los Angeles TV producer and winner of an Emmy certificate for documentary work; . . ." Archived online with clickable newspaper image.
^Fawcett, Lawrence; Greenwood, Barry J. (1990). UFO Cover-up: What the Government Won't Say. Simon and Schuster. ISBN9780671765552. Retrieved 1 August 2022. p. 28: Ms. Howe has received several state and national awards for her documentary work, including a 1981 Regional Emmy for Audio Achievement in "A Strange Harvest."