Mantell Incident, Air National Guard Pilot Dies Pursuing Unidentified Object

Captain Thomas Mantell of the Kentucky Air National Guard died when his P-51 Mustang crashed while pursuing a large, bright object reported by multiple witnesses over Fort Knox. Mantell radioed that the object was 'metallic and tremendous in size' before his aircraft broke apart at high altitude. The Air Force initially attributed the sighting to Venus, later revising the explanation to a classified Skyhook balloon. Mantell became the first documented military fatality directly linked to a UFO pursuit.