1948 жылғы Кентуккидегі ұшқыш апаттың құпиясы: Нөлдік нысан ба?

1948 fighter plane crash purportedly caused by a UFO in Kentucky, US

On January 7, 1948, 25 year old Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, died when he crashed his P 51 Mustang fighter plane near Franklin, Kentucky, United States, after being sent in pursuit of an unidentified flying object (UFO). Mantell pursued the object in a steep climb and disregarded suggestions to level his altitude. At high altitude, he blacked out from a lack of oxygen; his plane went into a downward spiral and crashed. The incident was among the most publicized of early UFO reports. 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.

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. The Army determined that Mantell lost consciousness pursuing one into the atmosphere without oxygen. the large craft would have been unknown to Mantell or the observers on the ground. 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." While UFOs are culturally associated with the mysterious, they are often later identified, particularly as balloons. Skyhook sightings were behind many UFO reports during the 1940s and 1950s. The more famous Roswell Incident and 2023 high altitude sightings were also later attributed to military balloon projects. He was survived by his wife Peggy and their sons, Thomas and Terry Mantell. 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.