The Kelly Hopkinsville Incident

This incident is one of the most fascinating in the history of the UFO phenomenon. At the time it made news headlines nationally and locally in the USA.

On 25th August 1955 in the quiet hamlet of Kelly in the state of Kentucky in USA, the Sutton family were terrified by a visitation of strange creatures which started at approximately 7pm and continued for several hours.

A family member reported that a very brightly lit but silent flying object hovered above their farmhouse then landed nearby. When the rest of the family heard of this they initially laughed.

Approximately an hour later another two members of the family saw a small creature about 3 feet tall emerge from a strange glow on the ground. It had a large head, large prominent ears and long arms. It was dressed is some kind of reflective metallic costume which glowed slightly. Frightened, the Suttons fired a shotgun at it and it somersaulted and fled apparently unharmed.

Soon another similar creature appeared near a window and was again shot at, and again it somersaulted and fled unharmed.

Another creature reached down from the roof and touched the hair of a Sutton family member. It was again shot at and floated down to the ground before fleeing.

The Suttons stayed indoors for the next few hours and heard scratching sounds from the roof and around the house. At approximately 11pm, thoroughly frightened, they then ran to their cars and drove to nearby Hopkinsville police station.

The police were struck by how terrified were these normally straightforward farming folk. Police checks back at the farmhouse found only discharged shotgun cartridges.

The Suttons suffered a lot of abuse after their story became public. It was suggested for example that they had mistaken owls for aliens, which was ridiculous as they were from generations of farmers, and knew owls when they saw them. Also owls do not emerge from large airborne craft, nor do they glow in the dark or have metallic feathers. Also it was suggested that the family had consumed a lot of alcohol but alcohol was not permitted in heir farmhouse.

It is interesting that the Suttons shot first without attempting to communicate with the creatures, and were very frightened of them. This kind of fearful public reaction might be what led government officials to play down and dismiss UFO reports in the immediate post World War II period - the fear of public panic.