Classic UFO Casebook: What We Know About the Kentucky UFO Incident

 Written By: Ken Hulsey

Was Air Force pilot Thomas Mantell the first person to lose his life in a potential conflict with beings from another world? In the late 1940s, UFO sightings in the United States were exploding after reports of nine flying saucers over the Cascade Mountains and the infamous crash in Roswell, New Mexico. Although these early UFO reports were often harmless—mostly just sightings of unusual objects in the sky—events took a concerning turn on January 7, 1948. 

Around noon that day, many witnesses in western Kentucky spotted a large unidentified craft, estimated to be between 250 and 300 feet across, zooming through the sky at incredible speeds. Shortly afterwards, the object flew into the line of sight of the control tower at Godman Air Force Base, located near Fort Knox. Coincidentally, at that very moment, a group of four Air National Guard P-51 Mustangs was circling the base, preparing to land. The tower instructed the pilots to abort their landing and pursue the unidentified craft. While one of the planes had to land due to low fuel, the other three fighters took off in pursuit. Captain Thomas Mantell led the charge, and the pilots managed to get a closer look at the UFO. 

One pilot remarked on the craft’s "tremendous size," while another described it as "round like a teardrop, and at times almost fluid." Eventually, two pilots chose to break off the chase, leaving Mantell to follow the object alone. At 3:15 p.m., Mantell radioed Godman Air Force Base, saying he would ascend to 20,000 feet for a better view. His last transmission was, "I'm going to 20,000 feet, and if I'm no closer then, I'll abandon chase." Several hours later, the wreckage of Mantell's P-51, along with his remains, was found in the woods near Fort Knox. 

Initially, the Air Force suggested that Mantell and his squadron had been chasing the planet Venus. Later on, they claimed it was a weather balloon associated with the US Navy's "Project Skyhook," which coincidentally had also been reported in relation to the Roswell incident. However, this Venus explanation puzzled civilian investigators. They pointed out that the sighting occurred during the day and that if Venus was visible, it wouldn't have been in Mantell's flight path. 

Whether Mantell was shot down or crashed due to a black-out, this incident led the US military to take UFO sightings more seriously. Soon after, the renowned Ohio State scholar J. Allen Hynek was appointed to head Project Sign, a military effort dedicated to investigating UFO phenomena.