Mantell UFO incident

On 7 January 1948, 25-year-old Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, died when the P-51 Mustang fighter plane he was piloting crashed near Franklin, Kentucky, United States, after being sent in pursuit of an unidentified flying object (UFO). Pursuing the object in a steep climb and disregarding suggestions to level his altitude, Mantell lost consciousness at high altitude from lack of oxygen; his plane went into a downward spiral and crashed. The incident was among the most publicized early UFO reports. Later investigation by Edward J. Ruppelt, Head of United States Air Force's Project Blue Book found that observations from an airforce base control tower, particularly of "a parachute" and "an ice cream cone tipped with red", as well as an astronomer at Vanderbilt University who reported "a pear-shaped balloon with cables and a basket attached", suggested that Mantell died chasing a Skyhook balloon, which in 1948 was a top-secret project that he would not have known about. The Skyhook was likely launched from Clinton County AFB.

Incident

At 13:15 on 7 January 1948, Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky, received a call from the Kentucky Highway Patrol of reports of an unusual aerial object near Maysville which could not be immediately identified. At about 13:35 a call was received again with the details of an object which was "circular, about 250 to 300 feet in diameter" and moving with a "pretty good clip" in a westerly direction. At approximately 13:45 the control tower assistant tower operator and then the chief operator at Godman for the first time were able to visually observe the object, which they stated later they had determined was neither an aircraft or weather balloon. Four F-51D Mustangs of C Flight, 165th Fighter Squadron Kentucky 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 at the tower could recall Mantell's description of the object, but "saucer historians have credited him with saying, '...It looks metallic and it's tremendous in size...'" Mantell continued to climb to 22,000 ft, but his wingmen did not follow due to lack of sufficient oxygen equipment and tried to contact him to request he level 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 ft 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. At 15:50 the control tower at Godman received the report that his plane had crashed on a farm south of Franklin, on Kentucky's border with Tennessee.