UFO Mantell Incident

The so-called Mantell Incident is one of the most famous UFO reports from the 1940s: it concerns the crash of the 25-year-old pilot Thomas F. Mantell of the Kentucky Air National Guard, who on 7 January 1948 in the prosecution of an alleged UFO occurred. The Mantell Incident is mentioned frequently in the literature.

On 7 January 1948 was the airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky from a street patrol in a report of an unusual flying object near Maysville, Kentucky.The report mentioned the sighting of a flying westward, circular object with a diameter of 250 to 300 feet (75 to 100 m) in Owensburo, Kentucky, and Irvington.Clock at 13:45, also the object of Sergeant Quinton Blackwell on the control tower of the airport of Fort Knox was sighted. His two colleagues confirmed his observations. The commander of the base described the object as a "shiny white" and a "quarter of the diameter of the moon." Viewed through binoculars, it appeared to have a red line. It stayed for about one and a half hours at the same place.Four in the airborne fighter aircraft of the type P-51 Mustang - one of which is controlled by Thomas F. Mantell - were instructed to approach the object. Sergeant Blackwell was in radio contact with the pilots.Mantell was an experienced pilot: His sister said he was honored for his efforts in the Battle of Normandy.One of the Mustangs had hardly any fuel on board and had to turn off. Mantell described the object above him as "a metallic object or the reflection of the sun on a metallic object of enormous size" and estimated his speed at about 180 miles per hour (about 290 Km / h).The other two pilots accompanied Mantell in pursuit of a steep object. They reported later that they also saw the object, but described it as small and indistinct and could not identify it precisely. Mantell ignored the suggestions that the pilot should adjust its height to track the object better.Only one of Mantell's companions, Lt. Albert Clemmons, had an oxygen mask. Clemmons and Lieutenant Hammond ended their pursuit due to the malfunctioning oxygen supply at a height of 22,500 feet (approx. 6800 m).Mantell did not give up. A witness later reported, Mantell's Mustang in a circling descent observed. Mantell's plane crashed on a farm area, where he was killed.Firefighters later Mantell's body pulled from the wreckage of the Mustang. His watch stopped at 15:18 clock, at the time of the crash.At 15:50 clock was no longer the object of Goodman or visible to other persons in the control tower.About the Mantell incident was reported in the news, and he got a lot of attention in public.The U.S. Air Force claimed that Mantell misinterpreted the planet Venus, and he was promoted to major in height. This claim was later amended and the reason for Mantell's crash officially classified as unexplained.J. Allen Hynek was the Fehlinterpreation a weather balloon-type "Skyhook" the Navy as a possible explanation. Others argue this statement, since none of these balloons was abandoned at the relevant time in Kentucky.Others have found that Mantell, although he was an experienced pilot who had no experience flying the P-51 and that this would also benefit his crash.Unconfirmed rumors began circulating that Air Force officers should have noted that the Mustang was allegedly shot down by an alien spacecraft and that the official services in these reports.