Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: April 30.024
This historical marker chronicles the death of Captain Thomas Mantell Jr., as his plane crashed while chasing a UFO. No one knows if the crash was caused by pilot error or if it was a ray shot from the UFO. The story is intriguing.
Captain Mantell (who was born in Franklin) was Flight Leader of the 165th Fighter Squadron of the Kentucky Air National Guard. On January 7,1948 while on a training flight with three other P-51D Mustang airplanes, was directed by the airport tower to pursue an unidentified flying object. While in pursuit of the UFO, he died in a plane crash near this marker site. Mantell’s death while chasing the UFO made national headlines. Intense military investigation of the incident became part of Project Blue Book. Still today, there is much uncertainty about what Capt. Mantell was pursuing.
