The Fatal Pursuit: Thomas Mantell and the Explanations That Followed

Part 22 of a series reassessing the documentary record behind the 1933 Magenta narrative. TL;DR The crash: On January 7, 1948, Captain Thomas Mantell of the Kentucky Air National Guard died after climbing toward an unidentified object over Kentucky. The accident investigation attributed the crash to loss of consciousness from oxygen deprivation, followed by loss of control and an airborne breakup. The observations: Godman Field personnel described a bright white object, sometimes cone-shaped...