On 7 January 1948, Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky, received a report from the Kentucky Highway Patrol of an unusual aerial object near Madisonville which could not be immediately identified.[3][4] Four F-51D Mustangs of C Flight, 165th Fighter SquadronKentucky Air National Guard, one piloted by Captain Thomas F. Mantell, were told to approach the object. Mantell climbed to 15,000 feet. According to former U.S. Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, no one could recall Mantell's description of the object, but "saucer historians have credited him with saying" that the object was "metallic and of tremendous size". Mantell continued to climb to 22,000 feet, but his wingmen did not follow due to lack of sufficient oxygen equipment and tried to contact him to request he discontinue his ascent. Since Mantell's aircraft also lacked the requisite oxygen equipment for high-altitude flight, the Army later determined that once Mantell passed 25,000 feet (7,600 m) he blacked out from lack of oxygen and his plane began spiraling back towards the ground. Witnesses reported Mantell's Mustang in a circling descent. His plane crashed on a farm south of Franklin, on Kentucky's border with Tennessee.[1][3][4][5] Firemen later pulled Mantell's body from the wreckage. His seat belt was shredded and his wristwatch had stopped at 3:18 p.m., the time of his crash.[5]
Press coverage
The Mantell incident was reported by newspapers around the nation, and received significant press attention. A number of sensational rumors were also circulated about the crash. According to UFO historian Curtis Peebles, among the rumors were claims that "the flying saucer was a Soviet missile; it was [an alien] spacecraft that shot down [Mantell's fighter] when it got too close; Captain Mantell's body was found riddled with bullets; the body was missing; the plane had completely disintegrated in the air; [and] the wreckage was radioactive."[6] However, no evidence has ever surfaced to substantiate any of these claims, and Air Force investigation specifically refuted some claims, such as the supposedly radioactive wreckage.[5][3][4]
Venus had been in the same place in the sky that Mantell's UFO was observed, and the crash was initially thought to have been caused by the pilot mistaking the planet for an unidentified object, a conclusion reached by Project Blue Book investigator J. Allen Hynek in 1948. Hynek later retracted the Venus explanation, concluding it was incorrect because "Venus wasn't bright enough to be seen" by Mantell and the other witnesses, and because a considerable haze was present that would have further obscured the planet in the sky.[1]
In 1952, Project Blue Book identified the object Mantell pursued as a Skyhook balloon, a top-secret project that he would not have known about at the time. The massive spy balloons rose to 100,000 feet in the air.[3][4] The army determined that Mantell lost consciousness pursuing one into the atmosphere without oxygen.[4] Classified and likely released by another branch of the armed services,[7] the large craft would have been unknown to Mantell or the observers on the ground.[3][8] A report from Madisonville, Kentucky, identified the object as a balloon after viewing it through a telescope. Dr. Seyfert, an astronomer at Vanderbilt University, observed the object through binoculars drifting south of Nashville, Tennessee. He described it as "a pear-shaped balloon with cables and a basket attached."[6]
While UFOs are culturally associated with the mysterious, they are often later identified, particularly as balloons.[9] Skyhook sightings were behind many UFO reports during the 1940s and 1950s.[10][11] The more famous Roswell Incident and 2023 high-altitude sightings were also later attributed to military balloon projects.[9]
Mantell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism while piloting a C-47 named Vulture's Delight and towing a glider under heavy anti-aircraft fire.[8]
Following his death in January 1948, Mantell's remains were sent to Louisville for burial in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.[14]
He was survived by his wife Peggy and their sons, Thomas and Terry Mantell.
Captain Thomas F Mantell, Jr. Marker in Franklin, KY about the crash of his aircraft and death in pursuit of a UFO in 1948.
On 29 September 2001, the Simpson County Historical Society unveiled a historical marker in honor of Mantell in his hometown of Franklin. The marker is located at the exit off Interstate 65.[14]
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