Today in UFO History

August 21, 1955 - Near Kelly and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, USA:

The Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter

On the night of August 21, 1955, two families at a farmhouse near Kelly and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, reported a terrifying encounter with strange humanoid creatures.

The incident began when Billy Ray Taylor saw a bright object streak across the sky and apparently descend into a nearby field. About an hour later, Taylor and Elmer "Lucky"

Sutton spotted a bizarre figure approaching the house.

The creature was described as roughly 3–4 feet tall, with an oversized head, huge glowing eyes, large pointed ears, long arms and a thin body. The witnesses opened fire, but claimed the creature simply flipped or floated away. Throughout the next several hours, similar beings allegedly appeared at windows, approached the house and climbed onto the roof.

Terrified, the group—five adults and seven children—fled to the Hopkinsville police station around 11 p.m. Police, sheriff's deputies and other authorities searched the property but found no creatures or spacecraft, although evidence of gunfire was present. After authorities left, the family claimed the beings returned and continued appearing until near dawn.

A leading skeptical explanation suggests the "goblins" were great horned owls, whose glowing eyes, ear tufts and wings could account for several features described by the witnesses. However, supporters of the case argue that this does not adequately explain the lengthy encounter or the testimony of multiple witnesses.

The incident became one of the most famous humanoid cases in UFO history, and the creatures became popularly known as the "Hopkinsville Goblins" or "Kelly Green Men"—despite the witnesses apparently never describing them as green.