Skyhook Balloons

In the early 1950s, the UFO project was reorganized, and cases that had been "solved" were again examined. Ed Ruppelt, seeing that the Mantell case was one of the thickest, asked for a microfilm copy of it. Unfortunately, something had been spilled on part of it, so that it was difficult, if not impossible, to read.

Ruppelt had one advantage that those who had made the original investigations didn't. He knew of the Navy's high altitude research using huge balloons that were called "Skyhook." He tried to find records that would prove that Skyhook was responsible, but could find nothing that would put one of the balloons over Godman Field at the right time. Because he had no conclusive evidence, he left the case listed as a "probable balloon."

Ruppelt did try to find the evidence. He gathered wind charts that showed if a balloon had been released from Clinton Air Force Base, Ohio on January 7, 1948, it might have been in the right position to cause the sighting over Godman Army Air Field on that date. But Ruppelt could not confirm it.

In 1956, Ruppelt published a book about his experiences as the chief of Project Blue Book. Because he was seen as an insider, when he drew conclusions, they carried some weight. When he said that he could find no records that proved a Skyhook balloon, or any other balloon was responsible, people listened.

Later, the controversy continued to rage. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who was the scientific consultant for Project Blue Book, said that he didn't believe that Mantell was chasing Venus. He did say, however, "It is possible that Venus was also a cause to this sighting, and was observed by some of the witnesses on the ground. However, the prime culprit is believed to have been the Skyhook balloon released by the Navy. Captain Mantell was attempting to close in one this balloon which was still more than 40,000 feet above him."

Research conducted by Robert Todd, Charles Moore and Barry Greenwood, and reported by Jerry Clark in his UFO encyclopedia (Clark, 1998, 606)reported, "thought the Skyhook identification is surely correct, the claim that it was launched from Clinton County airport is certainly mistaken. According to Charles B. Moore, who conducted balloon experiments for the government in the late 1940s, no Skyhook flew from the airport before July 9, 1951. As investigation conducted in the early 1990s by ufologists Barry Greenwood and Robert G. Todd identified the balloon as one set off from Camp Ripley, Minnesota, at 8 A.M. on January 6, 1948 ("The Mantell UFO," 1994).

The Balloon on Radar

When the Air Force ended the barrage of answers, the civilian UFO community was only too ready to pick up. Many of those writing about the Mantell case have suggested that the object was first spotted on radar. There are no accounts of radar sightings in the official records. Ruppelt makes no mention of it. In fact, the earliest reference to radar is in a book published in 1956. After that book appeared, others have picked up the idea that radar confirmed the UFO.

The Truth about Thomas Mantell

Others have claimed that Mantell was a World War II ace. Military records show that Mantell was a transport pilot during the war and therefore couldn't have shot down the five enemy aircraft necessary to become an ace. This doesn't mean that Mantell wasn't a good pilot or that he was a careless pilot. It merely proves that he wasn't a fighter pilot and didn't shoot down enemy planes.

In fact, he seemed to have been a very brave man. According to a letter sent to me by Mantell's sister, Bettye Mantell Risley,

"Tommy was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his calm and courageous action on D-Day [that is, the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944]. On that day he was ferrying a glider plane to a designated point behind German lines. His instructions were to cut the glider loose and return to base if attacked. Tommy was attacked but proceeded to [his] destination where men in the glider would be with others for mutual safety. He was then able to get his badly damaged plane back to his base in England."

But the problem here is that Mantell had only recently transitioned into the P-51. As a transport pilot, he normally flew below ten thousand feet because the transports were not pressurized and those riding in them would suffer the same effects from high altitude as pilots. According to the available records, Mantell had a total flight history of 2167 hours that included training time and co-pilot time. He was credited with 107 hours of combat flying time but he had only 67 hours in fighters.

Further Rumors

Almost before the aircraft hit the ground, there were rumors circulating about what had happened. Many of the reports from UFO books and magazine articles contain the essential information, and for the most part, report it accurately, there are always one or two paragraphs added that suggest something extraterrestrial.

Coral Lorenzen (Lorenzen, 1966, 23) reported,

"The latest to reach me [Lorenzen] was from a captain in the USAF Reserve who claims he took part in the investigation of that incident, including the location and inspection of the crashed F-51. He supports the old theory that the 'spaceship' removed Mantell from his ship and then allowed it to crash. The captain says Mantell's body was never found."

The truth here, based on the information available is that Mantell's body was inside the aircraft. There are affidavits confirming this fact and there are even some gruesome descriptions of the body based on the original sketches from the classified investigation.

Jenny Randles (Randles, 1987, 25) reported,

"A more interesting, yet dubious claim comes second-hand via someone who was a friend of this wingman [meaning the wingman, though unidentified, who had caught a glimpse of the object and who said that it looked like a 'teardrop' and 'seemed fluid']. He supposedly was informed 'confidentially' that the airman had seen the UFO more clearly. As explained to investigator Leonard Stringfield, it had seemed to release a beam that struck Mantell's F-51! The reality status of this uncorroborated account must remain in doubt, although Stringfield regards it as sincere."

T. Scott Crain, Jr. (Crain, 1986, 13) added to the Stringfield notation. Crain wrote,

"Stringfield writes, 'My informant preferring anonymity, related that he had talked with Mantell's wing man, who witnesses the incident. The pilot stated that Mantell pursued the UFO because he was the only pilot with an adequate oxygen mask. The pilot also related that he saw a burst of 'what appeared to be tracer' fired from the UFO, which hit the P-51 and caused it to disintegrate in the air!..."

First, here is another anonymous witness providing second-hand testimony (though Crain identified him as 2nd Lt. Buford Hammond). There is no way to verify the information, even if Stringfield did believe it to be sincere.

Second, the accident record (also cited by Crain) makes it clear that Mantell had neither an oxygen mask with him nor oxygen in his aircraft. It is quite clear that the reason Mantell crashed was that he passed out to hypoxia.

Third, there were those on the ground who watched the accident as it happened, watched at the aircraft began its power dive, and watched as it broke up in mid-air. There were no reports of a beam or "ray" from any of them, and the destruction of the aircraft has been identified as the external forces that pulled it apart.

Further, Crain (1986, 13) reported that he had contacted Stringfield about the reliability of this information. Stringfield responded,

"Hard to say. He seemed sincere and knowledgeable in his profession, but that is not enough to pass a qualified judgement... What he did say was contrary to the known facts, I'm sure the Air Force would never admit it."

Over the years there have been quite a few statements attributed to Mantell that would lead to the belief that what he chased was something of an extraterrestrial origin. There have also been statements attributed to him that suggest what he saw was something mundane.

George Hunt Williamson, who would gain some fame in the contactee field, reported that Mantell's last words were, "There are windows and I can see people in it! (Captain, 1954, 4)."

Richard Miller, (1953) in a privately circulated "Prologue," reported that he had been in the Air Force in January 1948 and that he had been stationed at Scott Air Force Base near Belleville, Illinois. Like Albert Pickering (see Lockbourne sighting in part four of this report), he had been listening to the intercept over the closed communications link. Miller reproduced the inter-plane and the communications with the tower accurately, suggesting,

"At 3:15 P.M., ... Mantell called in again and said, 'It's still above me making my speed or better. I am going to 20,000 feet. If I'm no closer then, I'll abandon the chase.'"

Miller than added,

"This is where the official Air Force account ends. However, there was on further radio transmission from Mantell at 3:18 that afternoon. His last statement has been stricken from all of the official records. He said, 'My god (sic). I see people in this thing.'"

There is, of course, no corroborated record of Mantell ever having said anything like either of these two statements. The official record, now available to UFO researchers, was originally classified, and had Mantell uttered anything like that, it would have been included in that file. Air Force investigators would have expected the file to remain classified and would have had no reason to censor themselves. These sorts of quotes, and stories, created without proper foundation, while interesting, add nothing to the understanding of the case. They should now be expunged from the record.

Air Force Responsibility

The solution to this case would have come much sooner had the Air Force not been interested in disproving UFOs but had been interested in finding answers. Clearly Venus has nothing to do with this sighting. The fact that it was in the sky near the right location at the time is irrelevant and has confused people for much too long. Then too, was the Air Force insistence, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, that Venus was responsible, if not for all the sightings, at least in part for the Mantell side of the case. Venus, as a culprit, has been eliminated from the case.

Second, there is no need to create a number of balloons or other unidentified and unreported aircraft in the area to find a solution. All the talk of another balloon or object is also irrelevant.

Given the descriptions provided, the fact that Skyhook balloons were being launched, and given the size and shape of those balloons, it seems reasonable to believe that Mantell chased a Skyhook. Neither he, nor anyone else at Godman Army Air Field, would have been familiar with the Skyhooks. They were classified in 1948. They certainly would have been huge, fluid, and would have looked metallic because they were made of polyethylene.

When the file is carefully studied, when the descriptions are considered, there is but a single conclusion. This was a Skyhook balloon.

LOCKBOURNE SIGHTING: JANUARY 7, 1948

In a report that might not be related to the Mantell incident but that is mentioned in the Project Blue Book file on Mantell, and which took place on the same day and some three hours after Mantell had crashed, three witnesses at Lockbourne Air Base near Columbus, Ohio, watched an object seem to land. These witnesses were well trained members of the civilian air traffic control at Lockbourne. The men were interviewed by officers from Project Sign, though according to the documentation available suggests those interviews were conducted at their home station by officers assigned there rather than members of Sign and at Wright Field. Contrary to what one of the witnesses believed and suggested, there is no evidence of interrogations that took place at Wright Field.

Witness Statements

According to reports given to Project Sign, these witnesses first sighted the brightly glowing object at about 7 p.m. when it broke through the overcast. Albert R. Pickering, who was manning the direction finding station about a mile from the tower, in his written statement, reported on January 14, 1948:

On Wednesday January 7, 1948 at about 1925 Eastern time I observed in the sky an object which I could not identify. It appeared to hover in one position for quite some time, moving very little. It disappeared once for about a minute and I assumed it entered the overcast, which was about 10,000 feet. After descending again below the overcast it circled one place for the duration of three 360 degree turns, then moved to another position to circle some more. Turns required approximately 30 to 40 second each, diameter estimated about two miles.

In moving from one place to another a tail was visible or approximately five times the length of the object. Not knowing how close or far the object was from me at the time, I could not estimate the size very accurately, but it appeared as large or larger than one of our C 47 planes, and of a different shape. Either round or oval shaped. Just before leaving it came to very near the ground, staying down for about ten seconds, then climbed at a very fast rate back to its original altitude, 10,000 feet, leveling off and disappearing into the overcast heading 120 [degrees]. Its speed was greater than 500 mph in level flight. It was visible to me for a period of twenty minutes. No noise or sound could be detected. The color was amber light but not sufficiently bright to cover or obscure the outline of the configuration which was approximately round. During up and down movement no maneuvering took place. Motions was same as an elevator, climbing and decending [sic] vertically. Exhaust trail was noticeable only during forward speed. It appeared as a thin mist approximately same color (amber) as the object.

Length about 5 times length of object.

During descent it appeared to touch the ground or was very near to touching it. It was approximately 3 to 5 miles away from Lockbourne Air Base in immediate vicinity of COMMERCIAL POINT. It positively was not a star, comet or any astronomical body to the best of my knowledge of such things. I also rule out the possibility of it being a balloon, flare, dirigble [sic], military or private aircraft.

I am 26 years old and in good health and have excellent vision. I have been actively engaged in aviation for 6 years. I have a private pilot license and spent 3 years 10 months in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Sergeant link trainer instructor, instrument flight observer.

The statements made herein are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and may be used for any official purpose as deemed necessary.

ALBERT R. PICKERING
VHF/DF Operator
CAF

Pickering's observations were confirmed by other members of the civilian crew including the tower operator, Alex A. Boudreaux, who report, also on January 14, 1948:

On Wednesday January 7th between 1915 and 1930, there appeared in the sky a bright glowing object which I could not identify. At first I assumed it to be a star but the sky being overcast, I knew definitely that it was not a star nor an aircraft because the only aircraft flying in the local area was landing at the time. It was not any aircraft flare nor a balloon because it appeared to be enormous in size. I then observed it through binoculars. It appeared to be cone-shaped, blunt on top and tapering off toward the bottom. I could not distinguish the attitude in which the object appeared to be. It was glowing from a bright white to an amber color with a small streak trailing. It was at a distance between 5 and 7 miles from the control tower at an altitude of approximately 2000 to 3000 feet bobbing up and down and moving in a south-southwesterly direction at a speed exceeding 500 miles per hour. Also the wind at the time was blowing from east to west and if it had been a balloon or lighter-than-aircraft it would have drifted in the direction the wind was blowing. There was no sound or unusual noise. Its performance was very unusual and the light emitting from it seemed to fade out at times. Just before it disappeared beyond the horizon the light changed to a sort of red color. The same object was later sighted i the vicinity of Clinton County Air Field by the operators on duty in the control tower.

I have actually engaged in aviation as an Air Traffic Control Tower Operator and a Private Pilot for a period of 5 years and thus for in all my experience, I have never encountered an optical illusion or any physical defect that would disqualify my possessions of such ratings.

Alex A. Boudreaux
Air Traffic Controller
CAF-6

The final man on the ground was Franklin Eislle, who also provided a written statement about his observations. On January 13, 1948, he reported:

At approximately 1940 hrs. Jan. 7th the Control Tower operator advised he observed an extremely strange bright light in the south west. However by the time I reached the operation steps at the entrance the light faded out. About two minutes later the Tower advised that the phenominon [sic] was visible again. This time I saw the object at about 15 degrees above the horizon to the west south west of Lockbourne. The object was extremely bright, more so then [sic] any star, I would say about as large as and as bright as one of the runway lights at full intensity as viewed from the Control Tower. It appeared to have a tampering tail about 5 diametrs [sic] long and predominantly was of a ruddy red color changing to an amber-yellow at different intervals.

The position of the object in the sky and the fact that we were reporting A [sic] high overcast at the time added to the mystery.

UP [sic] until approximately 1950 hrs the object appeared to be motionless, at this time, however, it descended to the horizon in an interval of about 3 or 4 second, hovering there for 3 or 4 seconds and then ascended to its' [sic] original position in an interval of about 3 seconds. It then rapidly began to fade and lower in the sky and disappeared about 1955 hrs.

AF9944 xntd [sic] a position report to me at 1953 hrs over Columbus at 5,000 ft on round robin out of Wright Field to Washington and return, and reported a mysterious bright light to the west south west of his position, appearing like an oversized beacon[.]

Further information on reports from other stations observing the phenominon (sic) can be obtained from flight service at Patterson.

Franklin Eislle

There were three additional witnesses to the sighting, the pilots in two different aircraft. They were also interviewed by the investigators and provided the following.

Air Force investigators decided that Venus was an appropriate answer because the men had seen the object southwest of the field and hovering close to the horizon. Air Force investigators learned that, contrary to what all the men believed, the overcast had begun to break up about dusk so that they weren't aware that some parts of the sky had begun to clear. To the Air Force, the answer, Venus was obvious.

Jerry Clark, in his massive UFO encyclopedia discussing Mantell, as well as the Lockbourne case, noted, that the pilots:

All estimated that it [the amber light] was at 3000 feet. They described it as a stationary amber light in the west-southwest sky, resembling a "large star or planet." this object may have been Venus. Possibly it would not have been noticed had the pilots not been alerted to the UFO scare going on at the base. Pickering remembered only three other witnesses, all of them at the tower (Jones, op. cit.) Whatever those four observers saw, it could not have been Venus.