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1948 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.
Previously, the news media often treated UFO reports with a whimsical or glib attitude reserved for silly season news. Following Mantell’s death, however, Jacobs notes “the fact that a person had died in an encounter with an alleged flying saucer dramatically increased public concern about the phenomenon. Now a dramatic new prospect entered thought about UFOs: they might be not only extraterrestrial but potentially hostile as well.” However, later investigation by the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book indicated that Mantell died chasing a Skyhook balloon, which in 1948 was a top-secret project that Mantell would not have known about.
http://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/01/07/january-7/
Previously, the news media often treated UFO reports with a whimsical or glib attitude reserved for silly season news. Following Mantell’s death, however, Jacobs notes “the fact that a person had died in an encounter with an alleged flying saucer dramatically increased public concern about the phenomenon. Now a dramatic new prospect entered thought about UFOs: they might be not only extraterrestrial but potentially hostile as well.” However, later investigation by the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book indicated that Mantell died chasing a Skyhook balloon, which in 1948 was a top-secret project that Mantell would not have known about.
http://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/01/07/january-7/
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 1
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Isn't it? I'm not one to go in for UFO stories, but the thing that drew me on this one was the change in public perception because this incident had not only taken a life, but a military life.
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