Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell dies chasing an unidentified object
January 7, 1948 · Franklin, Kentucky · Sighting · Secondary sources only
On the afternoon of 7 January 1948, Captain Thomas Mantell led four F-51 Mustangs from Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox to look at an object reported over Kentucky. His wingmen, without oxygen equipment, turned back; Mantell kept climbing past about 20,000 feet, lost consciousness and crashed on a farm in Simpson County. He was killed.
Why it matters (3/5)
An early fatal chase that fed public alarm about the saucers.
Caveats
The Air Force first said he had chased Venus, an idea J. Allen Hynek proposed and later dropped. When Edward Ruppelt reexamined the case in the early 1950s he concluded the object was most likely a secret Navy Skyhook balloon. Stories of alien or Soviet involvement were never substantiated.
Sources
- The First Air Force Pilot to Die Chasing a UFO Was Actually Chasing a Secret Balloon (Military.com), context
- Project Blue Book: the Thomas Mantell case, 7 January 1948 (The Black Vault), context