Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter
- Date
- 21 Aug 1955
- Place
- Sutton-Lankford farmhouse near Kelly, Christian County, Kentucky, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
On the night of 21 to 22 August 1955 five adults and seven children from one farmhouse drove to the Hopkinsville police station saying small glowing creatures from a landed craft had been attacking the house for nearly four hours and that they had fired at them repeatedly. Sixteen officers, from city police, state troopers, sheriff's deputies and military police from Fort Campbell, searched that night and found broken windows and holes in the screens from gunfire, but no creatures, craft or traces; the family said the creatures returned before dawn. The witnesses' fear was described by officers as genuine. Project Blue Book filed the case as a hoax without comment. Skeptics, including Joe Nickell and Brian Dunning, attribute it to a territorial pair of great horned owls seen at night by frightened people, with a meteor as the earlier 'craft'.
What officials concluded
Resolved
Hoax (Project Blue Book file)
Strongest ordinary reading
Great horned owls misperceived under fear and darkness, with a meteor seen earlier (Nickell, Dunning)
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Kelly-Hopkinsville encounteren.wikipedia.org
On the map
36.79° N, 87.49° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map