A UFO has shot down a US fighter plane
It is believed to be the first case of its kind.
On Wednesday, Capt. Thomas F. Mantell, Jr. of Louisville, KY was killed when his fighter plane crashed after an alleged encounter with an Unidentified Flying Object at approximately 25,000 feet. Mantell was with the 165th Fighter Squadron Kentucky Air National Guard and was engaged in a training flight when he and three other fighters were requested to ascend and visually observe the object. It’s not known exactly what happened, but Mantell’s plane spiraled all the way down to the ground. There was no ejection and no parachute, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Mantell was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He leaves behind his wife Peggy and sons Thomas and Terry. He was 25 years old.
If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard this in the mainstream media, it’s because it happened 77 years ago, and Mantell was flying a P-51 Mustang. The incident was the direct inspiration for the Star Trek episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, in which the fictional Captain John Christopher pursued the USS Enterprise in an F-104C Starfighter. In the show, the Enterprise crew turned their tractor beam onto Christopher’s fighter, causing it to break up. But in the real 1948 incident, the UFO — which was indeed all too real — played no role in Mantell’s death.
On January 7, 1948, the Kentucky Highway Patrol phoned Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky and asked if they could check out an unusual object. It appeared to be a silvery sphere, estimated 250-300 feet in diameter, moving “at a pretty good clip” in a westerly direction. As there were four planes in the vicinity, the tower asked them to take a look. They did see the object, and climbed to pursue. At 15,000 feet, Mantell reportedly gave some description of it like “It looks metallic and it's tremendous in size.”
