Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 5
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Kelly-Hopkinsville, Hopkinsville goblins |
The Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter was a reported siege of a farmhouse near Kelly, Christian County, Kentucky, on the night of 21–22 August 1955, by small, strange creatures. The occupants said they fought them off with gunfire for hours. The case is a classic "close encounter of the third kind" and helped popularise the phrase "little green men", though the creatures were not described as green at the time.[1][2]
The reported events
On the evening of 21 August, Billy Ray Taylor, visiting the Sutton family farmhouse near Kelly, said he saw a bright light streak across the sky and disappear behind trees. Soon afterwards, the household — including Glennie Lankford, her sons, their wives and the Taylors — reported small figures, about two to four feet tall, appearing at the doors and windows. Family members fired shotguns and rifles at them, saying the shots seemed to have no effect and that the creatures floated rather than fell. At about 11 p.m. twelve people drove to the Hopkinsville police station to report that they had been attacked.[1][3]
Investigation
City police, state troopers, sheriff's deputies and military police from nearby Fort Campbell went to the farmhouse that night. They found broken windows and holes in screens, consistent with the shooting, but no other evidence. By the next day the families had left. Researcher Jerome Clark later wrote that Air Force officers investigated, but skeptic Brian Dunning found no corroboration. Project Blue Book listed the case as a hoax.[1][2]
Details such as glowing eyes and clawed hands appeared in later retellings, and the green colour was added in some later stories.[1]
Explanations
Investigator Joe Nickell has argued that the creatures were great horned owls, which are nocturnal, silent, about the right size, have yellow eyes and large ear tufts, and would aggressively defend their territory; he linked the bright light to meteor activity that night. Others have suggested that alcohol played a role, though contemporary reports said there had been no drinking, and Dunning suggested a glow reported in the woods was foxfire, a bioluminescent fungus.[1][3][4]
Legacy
The case inspired films and became part of popular culture. Kelly holds an annual "Little Green Men Days" festival.[1]
References
- Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Brian Dunning, "The Kelly–Hopkinsville Encounter", Skeptoid #331 · skeptoid.com · archived copy
- Joe Nickell, "Siege of 'Little Green Men': The 1955 Kelly, Kentucky, Incident", Skeptical Inquirer · csicop.org · archived copy
- "Hauntings, homeopathy, and the Hopkinsville Goblins", PubMed Central (2014) · ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
No discussion yet.