2 times Kentuckians saw a UFO

311 Most sightings of UFOs are usually explained away. Usually, these objects are identified as airplanes, satellites, or balloons. However, what about the ones that have no explanation? A report commissioned by Congress about the subject has brought back UFO speculations. The report, which is expected to be released this month, reportedly states that the government did not find proof that alien spacecraft exist in the skies. However, it doesn’t explicitly say that these objects aren’t. For over half of his life, Barry Gaunt has been involved in the field of UFO investigations. He is the director of the Kentucky chapter of the Mutual UFO Network. He has been investigating cases involving abductions and sightings of unidentified flying objects. According to Gaunt, it’s important that the government collects all of these cases so that it can thoroughly investigate them. He noted that the more people report these sightings, the better equipped the authorities are to deal with these strange phenomena. The creation of the Mutual UFO Network was prompted by the Air Force’s decision to stop its UFO study project known as Project Blue Book. In 2020, over 80 cases were reported to the organization’s database. He also noted that people tend to ignore these sightings as they walk around the world. However, if they do look up, they may see something. Let’s look into two cases from the past in Kentucky that involved alleged sightings of flying objects. And don’t forget to check a video of  this UFO sighting over Murray, Kentucky!

Fort Knox, 1948

One of the earliest known UFO sightings in Kentucky was reported on Jan. 7, 1948. The incident, which led to the death of a National Guard pilot, happened near Maysville. According to the Mutual UFO Network, the Fort Knox was notified about the incident. The town of Maysville is located 66 miles northeast of Lexington. However, reports about the incident came from other areas, such as Irvington and the city of Owensboro. The objects were reportedly spotted in the sky as they hovered over the Ohio River. A shiny object was easily spotted from Fort Knox. The post’s air force officers then radioed to inform other planes about the object, which they believed was a flying saucer. According to a newspaper report, the saucer was still hovering over the three planes when they returned about 20 minutes later. According to the pilots, the objects were too high and flew at a speed of around 180 mph. They also noted that the saucer appeared motionless as it flew over the Ohio River. According to Walter Moore, an astronomer at the University of Louisville, the weather conditions at that time might have caused the object to be visible to the naked eye. However, around 40 minutes later, the residents of a nearby town saw a group of men walking toward their homes. The incident was reported to the police the following day. One of the men, Billy Ray Taylor, said that he saw the flying tubmen as he stepped out of his home. He then said that one of them grabbed him from the roof. According to Elmer Sutton, he grabbed his shotgun and shot one of the saucers. However, his brother, John Sutton, said that the bullets didn’t seem to have hit the object. The police then found two empty .22 cartridges at the scene. The men claimed that the creatures, who looked like skin stretched over a skull, returned to their house several times over the next couple of hours. They then ran away with their weapons whenever they saw them. After the sixth visit, all of them went to the Hopkinsville Police Department to report the incident. The police stated that they found no physical evidence to support the claims of the incident. However, they noted that they spotted two objects in the sky that looked like meteorites. News about the incident started to spread the following day as wire services and newspapers reported it. The incident is still celebrated in the Kelly community each year during the Little Green Men Days festival. Sutton’s daughter, Glenda Morris, dresses up as an alien during the event.

Hopkinsville, 1955

On August 21, 1955, a group of kids and adults in Kelly said that they saw a lit object flying across a field outside their home. This was a small unincorporated community located north of Hopkinsville. In August 2017, thousands of people traveled to Hopkinsville to watch the total solar eclipse. This was the town’s second appearance in the national spotlight for an alleged alien encounter. Around half an hour before midnight, two women were driving across the country when they saw a bright object in the sky. They initially thought it was a plane when it hurtled toward the ground. However, before it hit the ground, the object stopped and hovered above their car. They said it looked like an oval-shaped aircraft with glowing yellow lights. The women said that a blue light illuminated their car. They then felt it move backward before they fell unconscious. They woke up in Hustonville, which was about eight miles from where they claimed to have spotted the UFO. The three women suffered from headaches and burn marks on their necks. Through hypnosis, the women were able to recall the events that occurred in the time they could not explain. They each told a different story during separate sessions, and they were subjected to lie detector tests. A year after the incident, the women’s story was featured on an NBC program hosted by Tom Snyder. During the interview, a cafe owner who knew one of the women said that she believed in their story. She also said that Stafford would likely get scared if she were to make up the incident. In 1977, the Lexington Leader reported that the three women became known as the “outcasts” in Casey County due to their claims. Following the incident, Smith moved to Las Vegas, while Stafford and Thomas resided in Kentucky. In an interview with the Leader, Stafford said that she was still torn up by the incident. She also stated that people refused to listen to her explanations. She added that she couldn’t take it any longer.