On this day in 1948, Captain Thomas Francis Mantell, Jr., 165th Fighter Squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard, received a request from the control tower at Fort Knox, Kentucky, to investigate an Unidentified Object. The object was observed by four members of the control tower staff for approximately 35 minutes. Mantell led four North American Aviation F-51D Mustang fighters in pursuit. Two pilots broke off because of low fuel, and Mantell became separated from his wingman. He reported that he was climbing through 15,000 feet.
It is likely that Captain Mantell lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen. The wreckage of his fighter was found 5 miles southwest of Franklin, Kentucky. Mantell did not survive. In seven decades of hindsight, he spotted either Venus or the top secret Project Skyhook balloon, which could ascend to more than 100,000 feet. “The Mantell Incident” was one of the most publicized “UFO” reports of the 1950s, coming exactly six months after “The Roswell Incident” in New Mexico.
Details at Project Skyhook program
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