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Sighting
Kelly–Hopkinsville, United States

Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter reported by Sutton family

Eleven members of an extended family in rural Kentucky report being besieged through the night by small, silver-coated humanoid figures. The Hopkinsville Police, Kentucky State Police, and U.S. Air Force investigate.

What we know
Record type
Sighting
Primary source
linked
Named witnesses
0
Media

On the evening of 21 August 1955, members of the Sutton family at a farmhouse near Kelly, Kentucky, reported a brightly lit object descending into a nearby field. They subsequently described being approached repeatedly throughout the night by small humanoid figures with large heads and silver, reflective skin.

Family members fired shotguns at the figures from inside the house and on the porch. After several hours, eleven witnesses drove to the Hopkinsville police station and reported the events. Hopkinsville police, Kentucky State Police, military police from Fort Campbell, and personnel from the U.S. Air Force investigated the property that night and again the following day.

The Air Force found no conclusive physical evidence and attributed the report to a possible misidentification of great horned owls. Project Blue Book carried the case but did not formally file it. The Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter is the most-investigated 'humanoid' close-encounter case in the U.S. record.

Primary source
Declassified

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Further reading
See the full library →
  • The UFO Experience: Evidence Behind Close Encounters, Project Blue Book, and the Search for Hidden Truths
    J. Allen Hynek
  • The Hynek UFO Report: The Authoritative Account of the Project Blue Book Cover-Up
    J. Allen Hynek
  • UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record
    Leslie Kean

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