Captain Thomas J. Mantell Day in Simpson County

SIMPSON COUNTY, Ky. – Are we alone in this big universe? Well, who’s to say?

There have been loads of UFO sightings in our state but this is one of the earliest to get media attention. It’s the story of Captain Thomas J. Mantell. He was a highly decorated World War II veteran who by accounts “knew his plane better than anyone”  and unfortunately died at 25 years old after going after an unidentified flying object on military orders on January 7, 1948

According to Terry Mantell, from the information he’s gathered over the years, his grandfather was on the way back from Marietta, Georgia in his plane when nearing Fort Knox, he was told to follow what we have long time considered a “UFO”. In his pursuit, he would eventually chase whatever it was to the airspace above Franklin and Simpson County and then he went down.

Some say Thomas Mantell was after a weather balloon, but the nature of the situation makes that hazy to some. According to eye witnesses that were present the night of January 17, 2023 at the Simpson County Historical Society for the recognition of Thomas Mantell, there was an explosion in midair. Doyle Burnett told News 40 and the crowd Tuesday night he, his dad and his grandpa saw the plane blow up in the sky and spiral down.

Brother and sister Joe Phillips and Patsy Burnett lived in the event space, hearing a loud boom followed by debris hitting their apparently sounding worse than any hail storm followed by feeling a huge impact nearby.

Doyle said he and his family were first on the scene, about to start his ride home from the bus stop. Shortly after, hundreds of people from widespread areas came to see what had happened. Phillips said so many people were in the area his dad couldn’t get within a mile of the crash site and that he had to leave the car parked and walk home.

Terry said his last couple of years have had added focus to bringing his grandfather’s story to light and getting some answers and in a dream world would love to have a movie put together. “I think he was chasing something he thought was a national security threat”.