Somewhere in the Skies - Bite-Sized UFOs | A Second Mantell Incident?

Starting point is 00:00:02 Welcome to bite-sized UFOs, a show where we break down lesser-known UFO cases in 20 minutes or less. And now here's your host, Graham Rendell. Welcome to episode three of bite-sized UFOs. I'm Graeme Rendell, and it's my pleasure to bring you another little-known UFO story from the rich history of the modern-day UFO phenomenon. In this installment, I look at a link between the well-known Thomas Mantell case from January 1948 and another fatal crash that involved. a pilot from the same unit Mantell belonged to, flying the same sort of aircraft, but eight years later, an event which also apparently had an association with UFOs. I'm not going to discuss the Captain Mantell case here at length. It's well known. Suffice to say that the pilot, pictured here, was killed on 7th January 1948 in a crash in Southern Kentucky after being ordered to investigate a strange object that had been spotted over the state by law enforcement officers and Air Force personnel at Godman Field.

Starting point is 00:01:06 His was the only one of fourth F-51 Mustang aircraft to remain in pursuit of the object, and questions remained today as to the exact circumstances regarding the chase and his death, plus what he and his squadron colleagues were ordered to hunt down. However, note the name of the commanding officer of the 165th Fighter Squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard, on the memo on this page. Lee J. Merkel Born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Lee Joseph Merkel, enlisted in the US Army Air Force in 1941. He gained his wings the following year and served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France, flying over 140 combat missions during World War II.

Starting point is 00:01:53 He was also shot down over Italy but managed to return to his unit. After the war, he worked with the Veterans Administration before taking command of the 123rd Fighter Interceptor Group. This group included the 163th Fighter intercepted squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard, the unit that Thomas Mantell belonged to, and Merkel attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. On the afternoon of 31st of January 1956, Lee Merkel was killed when his F-51D Mustang 44-73091 crashed near Harrisburg, Indiana, for reasons which were not entirely clear at the time. According to one eyewitness, his aircraft exploded during a dive and then broke up at mid-air, but another stated that it came in at a 60-degree angle before ploughing a furrow across a field and then exploding. Others reported seeing the Mustang leaving a trail of smoke as it circled the area twice before crashing. They even stated the aircraft was so low at one point that it nearly hit a school.

Starting point is 00:02:56 According to local press reports, Merkel had taken the aircraft up for a routine test flight. When the official US Air Force accident report was finally put together, they provided no clues to why Lieutenant Colonel Merkel's F-51 had crashed, although a significant portion was redacted when it was finally released to the public. According to the report, the pilot had taken off from Stamford Field, Kentucky, in F-51D-44-73091, on a post-maintenance test flight. Such flights were routine and usually, although not always, uneventful. With an hour's flight planned, the aircraft had two and a half times that endurance in terms of fuel and its tanks, a significant safety margin.

Starting point is 00:03:37 There is no mention at all of UFOs in the Accent Report, which states that Merkel set course for Terre Haute, Indiana, and after having that location in sight, shortly after 1,500 hours, he returned south of 34,000 feet, climbing to 35,000. It also states in the document that he had on board oxygen supplies. of an aircraft approaching from the right, Merkel told a radar operator's that he could not see it, and the blip itself faded from their scopes. His last radio communication was at 1535 hours. A civilian source reported the crash of an Air Force aircraft to an Air Defence Command radar station near Terra Hort. This was Lee Merkel's F-51 Mustang. But what does this admittedly tragic incident have to do with UFOs? Well, just a few of A few months later, at the end of April 1956, information would be released to a New York-based

Starting point is 00:04:33 UFO group that Kentucky Air National Guard jets, either F-86A sabres as shown here, or some of the handful of unarmed T-33 shooting star trainers that the unit possessed, had indeed attempted to intercept an unknown object of a sudden Indiana on the afternoon that Lee Merkel had died. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Merkel himself was said to have joined in on the chase in his F-51 Mustang. The details were provided by the famous radio broadcaster Frank Edwards, who had a keen interest in UFOs and had a network of contacts with federal information. On 28th of April, 1956, Edwards delivered a lecture at a meeting organized by civilian saucer intelligence New York, where you told the audience about several.

Starting point is 00:05:23 unpublished incidents, including the Lee Merkel case. According to Edwards, he had been informed of the crash by his studio in Bloomington just hours after it happened. The following day, he discovered that jets had been sent up after a UFO, which had been spotted just south of the city, but their pilots had lost sight of it. According to Edward's source, the jet pilots vected Merkel towards the last known course of the unknown object, which he then soon saw moving along the top of the cloud bank above his altitude. The UFO was apparently luminous and blinking, and Merkel's Mustang was soon above the object, as he allegedly mentioned over the radio that he could see it and was gradually closing in. Edwards' informant said that that was the last message

Starting point is 00:06:11 that Merkel sent. This version of what happened ended with the F-51, exploding around 500 feet or so above a farmhouse south of Bloomington, scattering debris for some distance. how good a pilot was lee merkle philip audrey who had helped form the kentucky air national guard in nineteen forty six and then joined the air force reserve as a brigadier-general spoke highly of his fellow world war two veteran i've flown with him for years he was one of the best he said in fact merkel was considered one of the best pilots in the air national guard as a whole there wasn't just a link with the mantel ufo case according to the lecture that frank edwards gave his friend lee merkel had been also been involved in a previous attempt at UFO interception on 11th of November 1954, chasing an object that apparently made front-page headlines in Louisville. Former Marine Corps pilot and wartime flying instructor Donald Kehoe, who had been something of a thorn in the side of the US Air Force as far as trying to get facts about the UFO phenomenon was concerned, had already

Starting point is 00:07:17 mentioned Merkel in connection with another UFO sighting, this time on 11 November 1954. According to Kehoe in the Flying Sources conspiracy, Lee Merkel, after receiving tracking information from a radar station, had notified Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and they had dispatched a jet in pursuit. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Merkel and another pilot from the Kentucky Air National Guard had also gone after the UFO, but all failed to intercept it. Kehoe stated that Lee Merkel had said the object was moving against the wind so could not have been a balloon. Yet none of this information appears in the official Project Blue Book investigation into this incident. And this incident actually happened on the 12th November, not the 11th. What did happen to Lieutenant Colonel Lee Merkel on the last day of January, 1956? Had he simply gone out on a routine test flight, as stated by,

Starting point is 00:08:19 both the press and the US Air Force's accident report or was there another set of events that occurred which have never been officially acknowledged the accident report only refers to an unknown aircraft was this a euphemism for a UFO 90 years later there are still more questions than answers a chapter covering the lee merkel case at length can be found in my new book chasing shadows aerial UFO encounters 1955 to 1956 if you would like to read more about the the Thomas Mantel UFO pursuit itself. I've included a lengthy account of the case in my book, Dawn and the Flying Sources, Aerial UFO Encounters and Official Investigations, 1946 to 1949. And that's it for this third episode of bite-sized UFOs. Until next time,

Starting point is 00:09:07 remember, just the facts. This has been bite-sized UFOs with your host, Graham Rendell. Be sure to rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. a full video version of this episode, subscribe to the bite-sized UFO's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening. Whatever bike you're looking for from mountain to road, either pedal powered or electric, we've got what you want ready for super fast delivery. Quality gear at prices you won't find in your average bike shop. Bikeshomeline.com. Ride more for less.

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Somewhere in the Skies - Bite-Sized UFOs | A Second Mantell Incident?

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