Snippy: Struggle for UFO mare's remains

'Snippy can't leave this valley,' Alamosa chamber head says

By Special to the News By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
December 9, 2006

The battle for Snippy's bones is on.

Snippy, a horse that died in a field near Alamosa in 1967, drew international attention because her owner claimed that space aliens in a UFO mutilated the mare.

After a series of owners, Snippy's bones, wired together and mounted on a wheeled platform, appeared briefly on eBay last week for a minimum bid of $50,000.

Attorneys for the heirs of Snippy's last owner, Carl Helfin, lawyers for the descendants of Snippy's original owner, Nellie Lewis, and legal counsel for the Alamosa Chamber of Commerce where Snippy once resided, all claim the mare's remains.

Snippy was the first reported case of animal mutilation by space aliens. All flesh between Snippy's nose and withers was removed, along with her brain.

At the time, Lewis said the boots she walked in to where Snippy was found were radioactive.

And, Lewis said her hands burned when she picked up Snippy's mane and a gizzard-like growth appeared on her hand afterward.

Snippy launched the San Luis Valley's reputation for spaceships, alien encounters and all things extraterrestrial.

Today, her bones are a hot commodity.

"We're temporarily stalled on eBay now," said Cassandra Martinez, the personal representative for Helfin's estate. Helfin died in 2003.

"The heirs think Snippy is more valuable than $50,000 and they hope they can realize more than that," said Martinez, who declined to identify Heflin's heirs.

Helfin owned the Narrow Gauge Motel in Alamosa, collected real estate, artifacts and trains, Martinez said. The estate includes 26 boxcars of items, she said.

There is no paperwork that follows Snippy's postmortem trail from a veterinarian's home to the Alamosa Chamber of Commerce to Adams State College and private owners.

"Snippy can't leave this valley," said Debra Goodman, director of the chamber of commerce. "She's historic. There's a public outrage that she might leave."

The chamber of commerce, Goodman and author/UFO investigator Chris O'Brien plan an event Friday to raise money to buy Snippy's skeleton.

O'Brien, who has written several books on UFOs and false reports, said he saw Snippy's picture on a supermarket tabloid in 1967 when he was 10.

"The headline was 'Flying Saucers Killed My Horse.' I devoured the article," said O'Brien, who lived in the San Luis Valley for 13 years, researching incidents.

"There's no other place with as many sightings. Snippy was the grand lady of the mutilations," O'Brien said. "I would hate to see someone from Japan come up with the $50,000 to take Snippy away."

Frank Duran, hired by Helfin's estate to market Snippy, said Lewis' descendants are upset about the sale and visited his office this week to have a family picture taken with Snippy.

"I'd like to see Snippy stay here, too," Duran said.

Goodman said Helfin donated the railroad depot to the town that could house a museum that included Snippy and other historical items.

"She's our icon," Goodman said. "The valley is not what you call normal. We have a prominent UFO history. Snippy represents that history better than anything."

Martinez said that Helfin's heirs are sympathetic.

"They want the most value for Snippy that they can get, but the fact that the valley has such an interest in Snippy will come into play," Martinez said.