1948-Death of Thomas Mantell
By Billy Booth
Summary:
There are three exceptional UFO cases in 1948 which
involved pilot-UFO encounters. One of these is the Chiles-Whitted Sighting The second one is the
well-documented Gorman Dogfight with a UFOand the third
is the case of Captain Thomas Mantell. The Mantell case occurred on January 7,
1948. He was a member of the Kentucky Air National Guard, and while on a
routine flight, would become the first pilot to lose his life while persuing a
UFO, at least that we know about.
Just out of His Reach:
After Kenneth
Arnold's sighting of 1947, and the subsequent crash at Roswell, many
open-minded individuals were frightened by what might be flying in our skies.
Airplane pilots were the guardians of our skies, and although the military
would never admit it, our pilots were seeing UFOs-and on a regular basis.
Mantell and his crew would be called upon to perform this important duty, and
the fulfillment of that duty was just out of his reach, as he lost his life in
the pursuit of a UFO.
Reports of Large, Circular Craft:
Mantell, in
his F-51, was joined by three other Guard fliers, on their way to Standiford
Air Force Base, Kentucky. About 1:30 PM, the Kentucky State Police began
getting phone calls from anxious citizens reporting the sighting of a large,
circular object. These sightings began over the city of Mansville, but soon
spread to Irvington and Owensboro.
Crew Investigates Object:
Operators in
the control tower of Godman Air Force Base were alerted to the sighting
reports, and they were able to clearly observe the unknown object. They
described it as being extremely large, white in color, and round with a red
light on its belly. The object appeared to be moving systematically, yet slowly
to the south. About an hour after the first sighting reports were made, Mantell
and his squadron were radioed to check out the mysterious unknown object.
Climb to 15,000 Feet:
One of
Mantell's three accompanying planes requested, and was granted permission to
continue his original flight plan. Mantell and two fliers would now pursue the
giant UFO. Godman Tower radioed the coordinates of the last known location of
the UFO as Mantell and the two other planes began their climb to 15,000 feet.
When he reached the known position of the UFO, he relayed the following
statement to the tower.
Closes
in on Object:
The object is
directly ahead of and above me now, moving at about half my speed... It appears
to be a metallic object or possibly reflection of Sun from a metallic object,
and it is of tremendous size... I’m
still climbing... I’m
trying to close in for a better look.”
Mantell Pursues UFO Alone:
Climbing into
thin air, and low on oxygen, two of the fliers turned back from the higher
altitude. Now only Mantell was left to find out just what this enormous,
unknown object might be. Finally, his plane leveled off at 30,000 feet.
Investigators surmised that he was out of oxygen, and passed out in the thin
atmosphere. His plane was on a direct descent to the ground, over 5 miles
below. In a few moments, his plane smashed to the earth near Franklin,
Kentucky.
Plane Becomes Coffin:
The crash site
was a horrible scene to behold. Mantell's body was still strapped in his
pilot's seat. Later there would be rumors that his body was missing from the
plane, but these rumors were unfounded. His watch had stopped at exactly 3:16
PM, obviously the moment that his plane hit the ground. In the span of 1/2
hour, the sighting reports stopped over Kentucky, but they did begin in
Tennessee. The crash made major news sources.
Theories Abound:
The United States Air Force was soon on the scene, and
they immediately knew what had happened, or so they said. Their first lame
assumption was that the crew was chasing the planet Venus. That theory was
quickly dismissed after it was overtly criticized. So the Air Force soon had a
second theory: The crew must have been chasing a "Skyhook" balloon.
This theory was also dismissed when it was learned that no "Skyhook"
was launched that day. What Mantell was chasing that fateful day has never been
adequately explained by anything of this Earth.
Early UFO Reports
See some of the best known early cases of flying saucers
- The Kenneth Arnold Sighting
- The Roswell Crash
- Gorman Plane - UFO Encounter
- The Mantell Crash
- Chiles-Whitted Encounter
- The Lubbock Lights
- Washington DC Buzzed by UFOs
- Felix Moncla Encounter
- Levelland, Texas Landings
- The Trindade Island Photographs
- The Papua, New Guinea Sightings
- Betty & Barney Hill Abduction
- The Socorro, New Mexico Landing
- The Kecksburg, Pennsylvania Crash
- Encounter at Falcon Lake
- Foo Fighters - UFOs of World War II
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