Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 01:54:00 BST Sender: "Gateway to alt.paranet.ufo" From: MR JAMES EASTON Subject: Captain Thomas Mantell Captain Thomas Mantell ______________________ Regarding --:> [Start] Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 20:20:34 GMT From: alberto@GARNET.BERKELEY.EDU Subject: Re: Captain Thomas Mantell In article , MR JAMES EASTON wrote: >Captain Thomas Mantell >______________________ > >Can anyone definitively confirm details of the conversation which took >place between Mantell and the control tower, when he reported details of the >UFO he was chasing? Specifically, did Mantell ever refer to a disc shaped >craft? > >Also, were photographs or film of the plane wreckage ever shown? > > >Cheers, > >James. The following transcript is the statement of Technical Sergeant Quinton A. Blackwell, given to Air Force investigators working with Project Blue Book: I, TSgt Quinton A Blackwell, AF18162475, was on duty as chief operator in the Control Tower at Godman Field, Ky. on the afternoon of January 7, 1948. Up until 1315 or 1320 matters were routine. At approximately that time I received a telephone call from Sgt Cook, Col. Hix's office, stating that according to Fort Knox Military Police and "E" Town state police, a large circular object from 250 t0 300 feet in diameter over Mansville, Ky. and requested I check with Army Flight Service to see if any unususal type aircraft was in that vicinity. Flight Service advised negative on the aircraft and took the other info, requesting our CO verify the story. Shortly afterward Flight Service gave Godman Tower positions on an object over Irvington, Ky. then Owenboro, Ky. of about the same size ane description. About 1345 or 1350 I sighted an object in the sky to the South of Godman Field. As I wanted verification, I called my Detachment Commander, 1st Lt. Orner, to the Tower. After he had sighted the object, he called for the Operations Officer, Capt. Carter, over the teletalk box from the Traffic Deck. He came up stairs immediately, and looked at the objects through field glasses in the Tower. He then called for the CO, Col Hix He came to the tower about 1420 (approx) and sighted the object immediately. About 1430 to 1440 a flight of four P-51's approached Godman Field from the South, enroute from Marietta, Ga. to Standiford Field, Ky. As they passed over the tower I called them on "B" channel, VHF and asked the flight leader, NG 869 if he had enough gas and if so, would he mind trying to identify an object in the sky to the South of Godman Field. The fourth plane proceeded on to Standi-ford Field alone. The three ship formation proceeded South on a heading of 210 degrees, climbing steadily, About the 1445 the flight leader, NG 869, reported seeing the object "ahead and above, I'm still climbing." To which the wing man retorted, "What the Hell are we looking for?" The leader reported at 15,000 ft that "The object is directly ahead of and above me now, moving about half my speed." When asked for a description he replied, "It appears metallic object of tremendous size". At 15,000 ft. the flight leader reported, "I'm still climbing, the object is above and ahead of me moving at about my speed or faster. I'm trying to close in for a better look." This last contact was at about 1515. About 5 minutes afterward, the other two ships in the flight turned back. As they passed over Godman NG 800 reported, "It appears like the reflection of sunlight on an airplane canopy." Shortly afterward, the same pilot and plane took off from Standiford and resumed the search. He went to 33,000 feet one hundred miles South and did not sight anything. I left the Control Tower shortly afterward. END OF TSGT BLACKWELL'S STATEMENT. (Shortly thereafter, the tower received a call stating that Capt Mantell's plane had crashed and the pilot was killed at Franklin, Kentucky. Alberto M. Aponte UC Berkeley [End] Hi Alberto, Thank you for this definitive text. It is greatly appreciated. Does your source indicate what was found at the crash site, i.e., what is recorded concerning the wreckage and Mantell's body. Does it indicate who examined the wreckage etc.? One obvious question. If it is claimed that Mantell passed out due to lack of oxygen, having knowingly exceeded safety limits by climbing to 20,000 feet, how do we equate the following, from the above report: "Shortly afterward, the same pilot and plane took off from Standiford and resumed the search. He went to 33,000 feet...." Cheers, James. ///////\ _/_/_/_/_/_/ |||||||::| _/_/_/_/_/_/ E-Mail: TEXJE@VAXB.HW.AC.UK _/_/_/_/_/_/~~~||||||| ~~~_/_/_/_/_/_/ Internet: JAMES.EASTON@ABACUS.ORG \\\\\\\/ From: RRickets@OnRamp.net (Ron Ricketts) Newsgroups: alt.paranet.ufo Subject: Re: Captain Thomas Mantell Date: 25 Oct 1994 04:34:13 GMT > Does your source indicate what was found at the crash site, i.e., what is > recorded concerning the wreckage and Mantell's body. Does it indicate who > examined the wreckage etc.? > > One obvious question. If it is claimed that Mantell passed out due to lack > of oxygen, having knowingly exceeded safety limits by climbing to 20,000 > feet, how do we equate the following, from the above report: > > "Shortly afterward, the same pilot and plane took off from Standiford and > resumed the search. He went to 33,000 feet...." > Mantell's oxygen mask was not found with the wreckage. The aircraft crashed in a straight nose-down attitude and buried itself several feet into the soft soil. Enough of Mantell was left that a positive identification could be made. Because he was so intimately intertwined with the wreckage, and due to the fact that the mask couldn't be found, it was assumed by the crash theam that he had disconnected it prior to attempting to escape the aircraft. However, no determination was made whether or not the canopy had been open prior to impact. Due to this, it made a convenient (and acceptable) reason for the accident; Mantell was in high-altiutude intercept - he had difficulties with his oxygen mask, causing anoxia, which inhibits judgement and reflexes. In final stages of anoxia he removes and presumably discards the mask. He then loses consciousness, falls forward on the stick, and powers into the ground. Hope this is of help. |----------------------------------------------------- | Ron Ricketts | rrickets@OnRamp.net | FMCS | My opinions are those of FMCS | Carrollton, TX 75010 | ron_ricketts@acd.org ------------------------------------------------------ "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger" - Nietzsche ------------------------------------------------------ From: lmerkel@BIX.com (lmerkel on BIX) Subject: Re: Captain Thomas Mantell Date: 25 Oct 94 06:20:28 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation RRickets@OnRamp.net (Ron Ricketts) writes: > >> Does your source indicate what was found at the crash site, i.e., what is >> recorded concerning the wreckage and Mantell's body. Does it indicate who >> examined the wreckage etc.? >> >> One obvious question. If it is claimed that Mantell passed out due to lack >> of oxygen, having knowingly exceeded safety limits by climbing to 20,000 >> feet, how do we equate the following, from the above report: >> >> "Shortly afterward, the same pilot and plane took off from Standiford and >> resumed the search. He went to 33,000 feet...." >> >Mantell's oxygen mask was not found with the wreckage. The aircraft >crashed in a straight nose-down attitude and buried itself several feet >into the soft soil. Enough of Mantell was left that a positive >identification could be made. > >Because he was so intimately intertwined with the wreckage, and due to the >fact that the mask couldn't be found, it was assumed by the crash theam >that he had disconnected it prior to attempting to escape the aircraft. >However, no determination was made whether or not the canopy had been open >prior to impact. > >Due to this, it made a convenient (and acceptable) reason for the >accident; Mantell was in high-altiutude intercept - he had difficulties >with his oxygen mask, causing anoxia, which inhibits judgement and >reflexes. In final stages of anoxia he removes and presumably discards >the mask. He then loses consciousness, falls forward on the stick, and >powers into the ground. > >Hope this is of help. >|----------------------------------------------------- >| Ron Ricketts | rrickets@OnRamp.net >| FMCS | My opinions are those of FMCS >| Carrollton, TX 75010 | ron_ricketts@acd.org So ... what's the source of your information, Mr. Ricketts? Your description of the crash attitude is different from the previous post about the plane resting flat on the ground as if dropped from about 25 feet. Are you getting this from a book? A report? Or what? By the way, my father, Col. Lee J. Merkel, was a good friend of Mantell and headed the Air National Guard outfit in Louisville, Ky., that Mantell was in. My mother, now living on Long Island, knew both Mantell & his wife. My father's F-51 crashed Jan. 31, 1956, in Bedford, Ind., in what seem to be mysterious circumstances. Our family was unable to get much from the government about it. They suggested ... oxygen mask problems. There have been some reports that he was pursuing an unidentified object at the time (I got a copy of a NICAP report; you'll also find reference to the crash in several books about UFOs, one of them by Laurence Fawcett and Barry Greenwood). I find it peculiar that 8 years to the month after Mantell's crash my father's plane was involved in a similar fatal mystery. -- Lee Merkel, Worcester, Mass.