THE UFO INVESTIGATION: Although there was a logical, if not spectacular explanation for the crash and Mantell's death, there was no clear explanation for what Mantell had chased, at least in the beginning. That would be the second prong of the official investigation.

Eyewitness Statements

Within forty-eight hours, Air Force investigators collected statements from the military witnesses who had been in Godman Tower on January 7. This gave them a clearer picture of what had happened and who had seen what. First was the statement of TSGT Blackwell [all statements contained in the Project Blue Book files on file in the National Archives, microfilm T-1206, Roll 2] in which he noted:

9 January 1948
STATEMENT OF T SGT QUINTON A BLACKWELL

I, T Sgt Quinton A Blackwell, AF18162475, was on duty as chief operator in the Control Tower at Godman Field, Ky. on the afternoon of 7 January 1948. Up until 1315 or 1320 matters were routine. At approximately that time I received a telephone call from Sgt Cook, Col Hix's office, stating that according to Ft Knox Military Police and "E" Town state police, a large circular (sic) object from 250 to 300 ft in diameter over Mansville, Ky. and requested I check with Army Flight Service to see if any unusual type aircraft was in the vicinity. Flight Service advised negative on the aircraft and took the other info, requesting out (sic) CO verify the story. Shortly afterward Flight Service gave Godman Tower positions on the object over Irvington, Ky. then Owensboro, Ky. of about the same size and description. About 1345 or 1350 I sighted an object in the sky to the South of Godman Field. As I wanted verification, I called my Detachment Commander, 1st Lt Orner, to the Tower. After he had sighted the object, he called for the Operations Officer, Capt. Carter, over the teletalk box from the Traffic Desk. He came up stairs immediately, and looked at the object through field glasses in the Tower. He then called for the CO, Col Hix. He came to the tower about 1420 (appx)and sighting the object immediately. About 1430 to 1440 a flight of four P-51s approached Goldman Field from the South, enroute to Marietta, Ga. to Standiford Field, Ky. As they passed over the tower I called them on "B" channel, VHF and asked the flight leader, NG 869, if he had enough gas and if so, would he mind trying to identify an object in the sky to the South of Godman Field. He replied in the affirmative and made a right turn around with two planes and proceeded South from Godman Field. The fourth plane proceeded on to Standiford Field alone. The three ship formation proceeded South on a heading of 210 [degrees], climbing steadily. About 1445 the flight leader, NG 869, reported seeing the object "ahead and above, I'm still climbing". To which a wing man retorted, "What the Hell are we looking for"? The leader reported at 15,000 ft that "The object is directly ahead of and above me now, moving about half my speed or faster. I'm trying to close in for a better look. This last contact was at about 1515. About 5 min. afterward, the other two ships in the flight turned back. As they passed over Godman NG 800 reported "It appears like the reflection of sunlight on an airplane canopy". Shortly afterward, the same pilot and plane took off from Standiford and resumed the search. He went to 33,000 feet one hundred miles South and did not sight anything. I left the Control Tower shortly afterward.

The foregoing statement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Signed by Quinton A. Blackwell.

"CERTIFIED A TRUE COPY"
JAMES F. DUESLER, JR., CAPT., USAF

In the tower at the time of the initial telephone call was PFC Stanley Oliver. Blackwell pointed the object out to Oliver who was also spotted it. Two days later, he offered the following:

9 January 1948
STATEMENT OF PFC STANLEY OLIVER

I, Pfc Stanley Oliver, was on duyt in the Control Tower at Godman Field on the afternoon of 7 January 1948. When first heard of the object in the sky about 1320 CST, we received a phone call from Colonel Hix's off that a large object was sighted at Mansville, Kentucky, the supposed object was supposed to be 250 feet to 300 feet in diameter at 1330 CST or more.

Sgt Blackwell sighted an object to the southwest of Godman Field and he asked me if I saw it. I saw the object but thought I was imagining I saw it and Sgt Blackwell told me to look again. This time I was really sure I saw an object and then we called Lt Orner, who came to the Control Tower and he too saw the object. Lt Orner then called Captain Carter who, called Colonel Hix who came to the Control Tower and he too saw the object. We all then attempted to figure out just what it could be and to me it had the resemblance of an ice cream cone topped with red.

At or about 1445 CST we sighted five (5) P-51 aircraft coming on from the southwest and as they came over the Control Tower someone suggested contacting the aircraft. Sgt Blackwell contacted them on "B" channel (VHF) and aircraft acknowledged his called. Someone suggested they try to overtake the object and we requested the planes to try and the flight leader stated he would. The call sign of this ship was NG869. They turned around and stared toward the southwest again. One pilot in the formation told the flight leader that he would like to continue on to Louisville with the flight leader giving his permission to do so. We kept in contact with the flight leader for about twenty-five (25) minutes. The last contact we had with the flight leader was when one of his wingmen called and said "what the hell are we looking for". Flight leader stated had the object in sight and he was going up to see what it was. He said at present he was at 15000 feet and was still climbing. Those were the last words I believe we heard from him. Other pilots in the formation tried to contact him but to no avail.

In about another ten or fifteen minutes another P-51 took off from Standiford Field to look for the object. He gave me a call and asked if we still had the object in sight. H was told that at present the object was behind a cloud formation but he said he would try and locate it and in the meantime he tried contacting his flight leader but was unable to do so. He then reported he was unable to see the object and ws coming back in when he came over the Control Tower.

I received a call from Standiford Operations that the plane had crashed and the pilot was killed at Franklin, Kentucky. He then sighted the object again and to my belief the object was a great distance from Godman Field and it was so far I couldn't tell if it was moving or not.

At 2:07 p.m. on January 7, Captain Gary Carter, the operations officer was called and he went to the control tower. Later he provided Air Force investigators with a written statement of his experiences and observations. He wrote:

9 January 1948
The undersigned was on duty at Godman Field 7 Jan 48 as Operations Officer.

At approximately 1400 hours and 7 minutes, 7 Jan 48 I received a call from Lt. Orner, AACS Detachment Commander, that the Tower had spotted an unidentified object and requested that I take a look. Lt. Orner pointed out the object to the southwest, which was easily discernible with the naked eye. The object appeared round and white (whiter than the clouds that passed in front of it) and could be seen through cirus (sic) clouds. After looking through field glasses for approximately 3 or 4 minutes I called Co. (sic) Hix's office, advising that office of the object's presence. Lt. Col. Wood and Capt. Duesler came to the tower immediately. Col Hix followed them.

About this time a flight of four P-51 aircraft were noticed approaching from the south. I asked Tec. Sgt. Blackwell, Tower Operator to contact the planes and see if they would take a look at the object for us. The planes were contacted and stated they had sufficient gas to take a look. One of the planes proceeded on to Standiford, the other planes were given a heading of 230 [degrees]. One of the planes said he spotted the object at 1200 o'clock [directly in front of him] and was climbing toward it. Once of the planes then said, "This is 15,000 ft., let's level out". One of the planes, at this point (apparently the plane who saw the subject) estimated its speed (the objects') at 180 M.P.H. A few seconds later he stated the object was going up and forward as fast as he was. He stated that he was going to 20,000 feet, and if no closer was going to abandon the chase. This was the last radio contact I heard. It was impossible to identify which plane was doing the talking in the above report. Later we heard that one plane had landed at Standiford to get fuel and oxygen to resume the search.

The undersigned reported to Flight Service a description, position of the object while the planes searcher for it.

Signed by Gary W. Carter

"CERTIFIED A TRUE COPY"
JAMES F. DUESLER, JR.
CAPTAIN, USAF

Also in the tower was Lt. Orner, who was later interviewed by Air Force investigators. In his written statement, he reported:

9 January 1948
STATEMENT OF LT PAUL I ORNER
Following is an account of the sighting of unknown objects from the Control Tower on 7 January 1948 at Godman Field:

On the above date at approximately 1400 CST a report came in to the Control Tower through M Sgt Cook of a report of an unidentified object flying at terrific speed in the vicinity of Maysville. This call was cancelled minutes later by the Military Police at Fort Knox who had instructions from the Kentucky State Police

Very soon thereafter several reports of the same nature came from Flight Service saying this object was over Irvington and Ownesboro, Kentucky. At the same time an object was reported by T Sgt Blackwell, Chief Control Tower operator on duty. I was in the office of the Commanding Officer checking the call from the Fort Know Military Police at this time. When the call was cancelled I was returning to the Control Tower to see the object sighted by them. I immediately went to the Control Tower and saw a small white object in the southwest sky. This object appeared stationary. I was unable to tell if it was an object radiating its own light or giving off reflected light. Through binoculars it partially appeared as a parachute does with bright sun shining on the top of the silk but there also seemed to be some red light around the lower [part] of it.

The Commanding Officer, Operations Officer, S-2 and Executive Officer were called immediately. Several minutes after the object was sighting a flight of four (4) P-51's came over the field from the south. I instructed T Sgt Blackwell to call flight leader and ask if they had seen any evidence of this object. The flight leader answered negative and I suggested to the Operations Officer that we ask them if they had enough gas to go look for this object. The Tower operator was instructed to call the flight leader and he answered "yes" to this question. One (1) P-51 had permission from the flight leader to break formation and continue where he landed several minutes later on their original flight plan. The flight leader and two (2) other planes flew a course of 210 [degrees] and in about five (5) minutes sighted the object. At first the flight leader reported it high and about one-high his speed at "12 o'clock". Shortly thereafter the flight leader reported it at about his speed and later said he was closing in to take a good look. This was the last message from NG869, the flight leader. NG800 shortly thereafter reported NG869 disappeared. From pilots reports in the formation NG869 was high and ahead of the wing man at about 1515 CST to 1530 CST when he disappeared. NG800 said he was breaking off with other wing man to return to Standiford Field due to lack of gas. This was about 1525 CST to 1530 CST. From messages transmitted by the formation it was estimated the flight leader was at 18 to 20 thousand feet and the wing man at approximately 15 thousand feet wide formation when flight leader NG896 disappeared. NG800 and other wing man returned to Standiford Field.

NG800 gassed up and got more oxygen and flew a second mission on the same heading of 210 [degrees] to a position about 100 miles south of Godman Field to an altitude of 33 thousand feet and did not sight the object. About 1645 CST when NG800 reported not seeing the object I left the Control Tower.

At about 1735 CST I returned to the Control Tower and a bright light different than a star at a position of about 240 [degrees] azimuth and 8 [degrees] elevation from the Control Tower. This was a round object. It seemed to have a dark spot in the center and the object moved north and disappeared from the horizon at a point 250 [degrees] from the Tower. The unusual fact about this object was the fact that it remained visible and did not disappear until it went below the level of the Earth in a manner similar to the sun or moon setting. This object was viewed and tracked with the Weather Station theodolite from the hangar roof.

Relevant Witness Testimony

Boiled down to their essence, these statements provided a glimpse about Mantell and what he had seen. Questioned on several points within days of the sighting, these men reported what they remembered Mantell saying. While the exact wording was lost, and no tower recording was made, the meanings were quite clear. From Mantell, each of these witnesses reported:

Info taken from reports of radio conversation between Control at Godman and Ng 869 essentially as follows:

Col Hix's account. NG 869: "Object traveling at 180 MPH - half my speed.

Lt Orner's account.NG 869: "high and traveling about ½ my speed at 12 o'clock position."

Later: "Closing in to take a good look"

No further word heard by Orner.

T/Sgt Quinton A. Blackwell: NG 869: At 1445. "Object traveling at 180 MPH Directly ahead & above me now and moving at about ½ my speed."

Later: "I'm trying to close in for a better look"

At 15,000 ft: "Object directly ahead of and above me now and moving about ½ my speed. It appears to metallic of tremendous size. I'm trying to close in for better look"

No other word heard by Blackwell from NG 869.

Capt Gary W. Carter: NG 869 "Object going up and forward as fast as he was" - approx 360 MPH

"Going to 20,000 feet and if no closer will abandon chase."

No further contact heard by Capt Carter - Apparently last word ever received from NG 869.

These same witnesses, who watched the object for more than an hour, sometimes through binoculars, offered a range of descriptions that, in the end, matched more or less. Their words might have been different, and they searched for their own comparisons, but they all described the same basic object. They reported:

Col Guy F. Hix: "It was very white and looked like an umbrella."

"I thought it was a celestial body but I can't account for the fact it didn't move."

"I just don't know what it was."

He said it was about 1/4 size of the full moon and white in color. Through the binoculars it appeared to have a red border at the bottom at times and a red border at the top at times. It remained stationary (seemingly) for 1 - 1 ½ hours.

Capt Carter: "Object appeared round and white (whiter than the clouds that passed in front of it) and cold be seen through cirus (sic) clouds."

From interview with Duesler (accompanied by LTC E. G. Wood):

Wood said that the object appeared about 1/10 the size of a full moon, if the thing were a great distance away, as compared to the diminishing size of the P-51's flying toward it, it would seem that it was at least several hundred feet in diameter.

After dark, another or the same object appeared in approx 234 [degrees] from Godman at 6 [degrees] elevation. This body moved to the west (259 [degrees]) and then down. The shape was fluid but generally round with no tail, the color changing from white, to blue, to red to yellow and had a black spot in the center at all times.

NOTE: Later, an astronomer was contacted who attempted to account for this phenomena as wither Venus or a comet. (?)

PFC Stanley Oliver: "resembled an ice cream cone topped with red."

Lt. Orner: (Through binoculars) "Could not determine of (sic) object radiated or reflected light. Thru binocs (sic) it appeared partially as parachute with bright sun reflecting from top of the silk, however, there seemed to be some red light around the lower part of it.

THEORIES AND EXPLANATIONS: What is interesting here is the descriptions all suggest something with a rounded top and then a long and tapering underside. The weather balloons, with which they would have been familiar in 1948 all would have been about 15 to 20 feet in diameter and would have been round, or ball like. Clearly these descriptions do not fit with a weather balloon, but do fit with that of a Skyhook balloon.

Venus

On that document was one of the first mentions of Venus as the possible culprit. Looking at only the direction of the object in the sky, and given the time of day, Air Force investigators, or in this case, Air National Guard investigators, noticed that Venus would have been occupying that part of the sky. According to the astronomical charts available, at the time of the initial UFO sighting, Venus could be seen in the daylight sky in the approximate location of the UFO. A few of the investigators thought that Venus, if seen by Mantell, might explain the sighting.

Astronomers consulted acknowledged that Venus would have been visible, but doubted that a random search of the sky would have found it. Although bright enough to be seen in the daylight, it would have blended easily into the surrounding sky. If there was even the lightest of haze, Venus probably wouldn't have been visible to those on the ground. Or, in other words, Venus was not an acceptable explanation, and the cause of the sighting would have to be found elsewhere.

In the official files, one of the reports goes into depth about Venus.

"However, under exceptionally good atmospheric conditions and the eye shielded from the direct rays of the sun, Venus might be seen as an exceeding tiny bright point of light. It can be shown that it was definitely brighter than the surrounding sky, for on the date in question, Venus has a semidiameter of six seconds of arc... While it is thus physically possible to see Venus at such times, usually its pinpoint character and large expanse of sky makes its casual detection very unlikely."

They were, in effect, saying that Venus was visible but they didn't think it was the answer.

The Air Force investigator was not finished with the Venus, however. He wrote,

"The chances, of course, of looking at just the right spot are very few. Once done, however, it is usually fairly easy to relocate the object and call the attention of others to it. However, atmospheric conditions must be exceptionally good."

Venus and Balloons

Venus was no longer the preferred answer. The official report said,

"It had been unofficially reported that the object was a Navy cosmic ray balloon. If this can be established, it is to be the preferred an explanation."

But this report was anything but consistent. Having said that it was Venus, that it wasn't Venus, and that it was a balloon, the investigator now explained why it wasn't a balloon.

"If one accepts the assumption that reports from various locations in the state refer to the same object, any such device must have been a good many miles up... 25 to 50... in order to have been seen clearly, almost simultaneously, from places 175 miles apart."

Now, having run through all sorts of explanations, the investigator wrote,

"It is entirely possible, of course, that the first sightings were of some sort of balloon or aircraft and that when the reports came to Godman Field, a careful scrutiny of the sky revealed Venus, and it could be that Lieutenant [sic] Mantell did actually give chase to Venus."

Having gone through all that, the investigator now explained why he believed that Mantell had chased Venus. It did not appear to move away from him. Of course, if the object was, in fact, an extraterrestrial spacecraft, it might be that it was maneuvering to avoid the close approach of Mantell's fighter. That idea didn't seem to cross the mind of the Air Force investigator, and that says something about the mindset of the military as they were writing their reports.

Finally, the investigator wrote, again, that it was Venus, but for that explanation to work properly, he needed a balloon and one other object as well. Given these three items, though there is no evidence that all three existed, he believed he could explain the case. He wrote,

"Such a hypothesis [that is, Mantell chasing Venus] does still necessitate the inclusion of at least two other objects."

All of this suggests something about the investigations as they were being carried out in that era. It was a search for labels, but not necessarily a search for solutions. They were willing to accept nearly anything as an answer as long as they could remove a mysterious case from the files. And Mantell's case, because of the sensational aspects, as well as the public interest, was certainly one of those to be solved at all costs.

By late 1948, the Air Force became disgusted with the idea of UFOs. In the reports Air Force officers created, they explained as many of the cases as they could and suggested the remainder could be explained if there was sufficient information. They found nothing to suggest that UFOs were real. The problem, if ignored, would go away.

In 1952, a major magazine wanted to print an article about how spectacular UFO sightings had been explained through proper research and investigation. Because the spin of the article was that flying saucers did not exist, the Pentagon cooperated with the writer and the magazine. High-ranking Air Force officers assured the magazine editors that Mantell had chased Venus. In a move that was sure to anger the reporter and the magazine editor, week after the magazine was published, the Air Force released a new answer. Mantell had chased a balloon.

Speed of the Balloons

Donald Keyhoe, who examined the Mantell case carefully and who used it as an example of the Air Force coverup, suggested in his 1950 book, The Flying Saucers Are Real, reported, "The fast flight from Madisonville, the abrupt stop and hour-long hovering at Godman Field, the quick bursts of speed Mantell reported make it impossible. To fly the 90 miles from Madisonville to Fort Knox in thirty minutes, a balloon would require a wind of 180 m.p.h. After traveling at this hurricane speed, it would them have had to come to a dead stop above Godman Field. As the P-51's (sic) approached, it would have had to speed up again to 180, then to more than 360 to keep ahead of Mantell (Keyhoe, 41).

The evidence, as provided by the eyewitnesses, tends to nullify much of Keyhoe's arguments. He believed that the balloon, to be seen, would have been at a low altitude, but these were Skyhook balloons made of polyethylene which had a metallic sheen to it. Reflecting sunlight gave them the appearance of an internal luminescence and made them visible to those on the ground, even when the balloon was close to its upper limit of more than nineteen or twenty miles.

Second, Keyhoe, as have others, assumed that the reports of the balloons from various locations indicated when the object first appeared over those locations. These researchers then measured the distance between the two, and divided it by the time to come up with a speed. There are several problems with this, not the least of which is assuming that all the clocks were synchronized to the same time. If the clocks were off by five or ten minutes, then the speed is reduced.

Keeping with that, no direction for the sightings are supplied, so that people in one location might have not been looking at the balloon directly overhead, but seeing it to the west, while those in another western town, might have been looking to the east. If that is the case, then the speed is significantly reduced.

If a Skyhook balloon was drifting slowly, halfway between two locations separated by 90 miles or more and was twenty miles high, then witnesses in those two locations could have seen the object between them and the timing is irrelevant because the Skyhook would have been high enough, bright enough and big enough to be seen in those locations at the same time.

Third, there is testimony from a number of witnesses that suggests the object was drifting slowly, about ten miles an hour. Keyhoe believed that many would have reported the balloon, or reported the object as a balloon, but since they didn't, the balloon answer is eliminated. Unfortunately for Keyhoe's theory, there were those who saw the balloon and reported it as such with a slow, balloon-like speed.