76th anniversary of the first UFO-related death

Cpt. Thomas J. Mantell

Captain Thomas Francis Mantell Jr. (30 June 1922 – 7 January 1948) was a United States Air Force officer and a World War II veteran. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for courageous action during D-Day, and an Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters for aerial achievement.

On J­anuary 7, 1948, Kentucky Air National Guard Capt. Thomas F. Mantell, Jr., died when his F-51 crashed after chasing what he called, in one of his last radio transmissions, “a metallic object of tremendous size.”