WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:05.480 You're listening to an air wave media podcast. I considered 2 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.640 a lot of different ways to try to start this story. Finally, 3 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:10.800 I decided to just read straight from what many people 4 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.720 consider to be the definitive ride up of the subject 5 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.120 matter for this episode. What follows is a brief excerpt 6 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:23.359 from Close Encounter at Kelly by Isabel Davis. Late in 7 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:26.519 August nineteen fifty five, newspapers and radios all over the 8 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.879 country carried a UFO sty which is still one of 9 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.240 the most bizarre incidents on record, the alleged landing of 10 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:36.200 the little Green Men of Hopkinsville. The description was far 11 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.399 from accurate. They were not green, they were certainly not men, 12 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:41.799 and they were seen not at Hopkinsville, but some seven 13 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:46.719 miles north at Kelly, Kentucky. The stories were approximately as follows. 14 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.200 Shortly after sunset on the evening of Sunday, August twenty first, 15 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.320 a saucer landed in a field behind a farmhouse occupied 16 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:56.479 by a family named Sutton, and soon thereafter a group 17 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.479 of little men. In some newspapers, an army of little 18 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:04.000 men approached the farmhouse. The creatures were about three feet tall, 19 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:10.239 with oversized heads, huge luminous yellow eyes, big ears, long arms, 20 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:15.120 and big hands ending in talons. They glowed all over 21 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.519 with the silvery luminescence, and they seemed to float rather 22 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:23.120 than walk. For three or four hours they besieged the farmhouse. 23 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:27.000 Shotguns and rifles fired at them had no effect. About 24 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.280 eleven o'clock, the terrified family fled the farmhouse in two automobiles, 25 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:33.560 driving as fast as they could travel to the police 26 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.560 station in Hopkinsville for help City police, county police, State police, 27 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:43.000 military police from nearby Fort Campbell, The Hopkinsville newspaper photographer 28 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.120 and other investigators drove to the farm and searched the house, 29 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:49.959 the yard, and the fields, but found no concrete evidence 30 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:54.280 to support the family story. When the investigators left between 31 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:57.599 one and two o'clock in the morning, they were understandably skeptical. 32 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:00.359 Half an hour or so after they had. 33 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:06.480 Gone, the little men returned again. They approached the house again. 34 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:11.280 They were impervious to bullets. Shortly before sunrise they disappeared 35 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:15.840 for good. It's actually quite unlike anything we've ever seen before. 36 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:23.520 A giant, very creature in part apart in Luckness, a 37 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:26.280 twenty four a mile long bottomless lake in the Highlands 38 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.639 of Scotland get the creature known as the Luckness Monster. 39 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:56.439 Monstertal. Welcome to Monster Talk, the science show about monsters. 40 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:59.159 I'm Blake Smith. My co host Karen stoles No was 41 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:02.639 out this week, but'll be back soon. The Kelly Hopkinsville 42 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:10.240 case has many names. Variants containing Kelly Hopkinsville, Kentucky Goblins, Spacemen, 43 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:12.560 tub men, and little green Men can be found all 44 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:16.919 over the UFO, monster and paranormal literature. I personally like 45 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.560 referring to this as the Kentucky Goblins or the Kelly 46 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.280 Goblins case, or referring to the whole thing as the 47 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.599 k H Case. I had been intending to cover the story, 48 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:27.240 but had put it off because I wanted to get 49 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.719 time to dive into it and get back to as 50 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:32.599 many primary sources as I could. Like a lot of 51 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.400 monster stories, over time, the tale of the Kelly Goblins 52 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:38.759 has changed, and it has been dramatized, rewritten, and distilled 53 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.840 by retellings into something that may be a little or 54 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:43.879 even a lot removed from what went down that night 55 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:47.280 in August of nineteen fifty five. I should talk about 56 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.919 my sources for this episode. Much of the information available 57 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.719 about this case comes from an impressive document compiled by 58 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:56.680 the Civilian Saucer Intelligence Group. They were a band of 59 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.599 investigators founded in New York who tried to research the 60 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.360 field of UFOs from the time the phenomena began until 61 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.599 about nineteen fifty nine. Two of their lead investigators were 62 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:10.759 Isabel Davis and Ted Blecker. That's spelled Bloe c R. 63 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:13.879 And there may be other pronunciations, but the only folks 64 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:15.520 I was able to find with that name here in 65 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:18.319 Georgia say it like Blecker, so I'm going to go 66 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:18.680 with that. 67 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:20.759 Ted and Isabel's report. 68 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:22.600 Is available online as a PDF that's in our show 69 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:23.920 notes at MonsterTalk dot. 70 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:24.439 Org as well. 71 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:27.639 In addition to that, I also looked at contemporary news reports, 72 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:29.879 some provided to me by listener Chris Henderson. 73 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:30.560 Thank you, Chris. 74 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.040 I'll put a lot of links to these references in 75 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:33.800 the show notes. 76 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.759 This is the first episode we've covered. 77 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.000 Where I'm genuinely nervous about getting all the details right, 78 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:40.800 and that's because there's so many details and so many 79 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.040 weird little variants out there that it's really tricky to 80 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.120 be accurate. But I'm going to do my best, and 81 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:46.759 if it turns out to make any mistakes, here. I'll 82 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.279 try to correct them in the follow up episodes because 83 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:52.040 this story has some sprawl to it. But keep in 84 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.040 mind there are conflicting bits of information in all these sources. 85 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:59.680 So let's begin by talking about the setting. I had 86 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:01.199 to pick make sure in my mind of where this 87 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:03.879 event took place. I'd always heard it described as taking 88 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.120 place in rural Kentucky on a tiny farm, but it 89 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:09.439 wasn't as far away from town as i'd imagine. The 90 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:12.279 farm lay about eight miles north of Hopkinsville and closer 91 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.399 to Kelly, Kentucky. Kelly's a small town. It was a 92 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:17.399 small town then and it still is a small town now. 93 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.680 It's unincorporated and I could find no census data for it, 94 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:22.720 though at the time it was reported to have about 95 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:26.399 one hundred and fifty residents. Hopkinsville was much larger. 96 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:27.879 In nineteen fifty five. 97 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:30.240 It had a population close to twenty thousand according to 98 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.079 census data, or about twenty six thousand according to the 99 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.240 incident report from the civilian saucer intelligence investigator who wrote 100 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.600 this case up, and that was about ten months after 101 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:41.240 the events. Now, if you're from a big city, that 102 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.319 may not sound like a big place, but I'm from Cartersville, Georgia, Salute. 103 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:47.639 And when I was a kid, we had about forty 104 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.240 thousand people in our county and about ten thousand people 105 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:53.120 lived in town. So Hopkinsville was at least twice as 106 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:56.000 populated as my hometown was. And it didn't feel small, 107 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:59.040 but it was. And so we're about seven to eight 108 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.920 miles north of a pretty good sized southern town here 109 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:05.040 in nineteen fifty five, one with a large military base 110 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.040 as well. This farm where all this took place, lay 111 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.839 close to Highway forty one, across a train track, and 112 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:13.519 off the old gravel road which forty one had replaced, 113 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:16.920 called the old Madisonville Road. Again, I find an eerie 114 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:19.120 similarity as I grew up across the service road from 115 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.240 Highway forty one myself. Only my house was in Georgia. 116 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:25.079 But unlike the family and this poor farmhouse, I grew 117 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.560 up with indoor plumbing and lots of electric lights, a radio, 118 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:30.519 and a TV. Not so for the folks here in 119 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:34.959 our story. This little Kentucky farmhouse was unpainted, wood shaded 120 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.839 by maple trees, surrounded by bare dirt under the trees, 121 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:39.959 and weaves where the sun would let them grow. The 122 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.800 farm had one bedroom with two beds, a living room 123 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:45.720 with two beds, a little kitchen with a little refrigerator, 124 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:48.720 but no radio or phone. Inside were a few electric 125 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.160 light bulbs described as being low powered, and also a 126 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:53.279 light on the front and back entrances to the house. 127 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:55.360 These were so meager, I'm not sure they could be 128 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:59.399 described as porches. The farm itself grew tobacco and vegetables 129 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:01.920 to feed the family, and there were some live stock, 130 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:03.839 And there was a lot of family packed into the 131 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:05.279 small rooms of that farmhouse. 132 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:07.199 I'll let Miss. 133 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:09.600 Davis's words introduce us to the folks who were there 134 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:14.079 that night. It remains to sort out the cast of characters. 135 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.240 On the evening of Sunday, August twenty first, nineteen fifty five, 136 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:20.120 the farmhouse was occupied by eight adults and three children, 137 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:24.519 as follows, Missus Glennie Langford, age fifty, the widow of 138 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:29.759 Oscar Langford, her second husband, Elmer Lucky Sutton twenty five. 139 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:33.959 Missus Langford's son by her first husband deceased, Tillman Sutton 140 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:41.120 Vera Sutton twenty nine, his wife j C. Or John 141 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:45.480 Charlie Sutton twenty one, Missus Langford's son by her first husband, 142 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:50.879 Aileen Sutton twenty seven, his wife three children, Lennie Langford 143 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:54.560 age twelve, Charlton Langford aged ten, and Mary Langford age seven. 144 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.639 Billy Ray Taylor age twenty one, a friend of Lucky's 145 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:03.959 June Taylor eighteen, his wife op Baker, who was thirty 146 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.600 or thirty five and was the brother of Aileen Sutton. 147 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.319 Op Baker lived in Hopkinsville, but often stayed overnight at 148 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.399 the farmhouse, where the person with whom he wrote to 149 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.480 work could pick him up more conveniently than in town. 150 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.160 So the permanent residence of the farm where Missus Langford, 151 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.720 the J. C. Suttons and the three children, but the 152 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:22.720 Taylors and the Elmer Suttons had been staying there for 153 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:27.120 some months. These two couples had been traveling with a carnival, 154 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:30.560 and we need to introduce the guns. There were four 155 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:32.600 firearms in the house, three of which were said to 156 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:34.960 have been used. There was a twenty gauge single barreled 157 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:36.240 shotgun wielded by J. C. 158 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:36.799 Sutton. 159 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.759 There was a twelve gage shotgun used by Lucky Sutton. 160 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:42.799 There was a twenty two rifle used by Billy Ray Taylor. 161 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:45.320 According to Davis, and there was a twenty two pistol 162 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:48.279 which was unused according to Davis, but was used by 163 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:50.720 Taylor according to the local newspaper. I'm inclined to think 164 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:52.879 this was a mistake on the paper's part. These little 165 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:58.320 differences come up. But let's get onto the monsters. Well, actually, 166 00:08:58.320 --> 00:08:59.679 in this case, we need to start with the flying 167 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:03.279 sauce her In nineteen fifty five, there were a lot 168 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.440 of strange creatures landing on the earth if you believed 169 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.759 the reports. The Davis Blecker Report actually starts out with 170 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:10.799 the summary of the state of UFO claims. Since the 171 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:14.440 first flying saucer reports in nineteen forty seven, by nineteen fifty, 172 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:17.600 sightings of saucers and crafts with occupants were popping up 173 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.039 around the US and the world, and more than a 174 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.559 dozen example cases are listed, including the famous Flat Woods Monster, 175 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.960 which has several aspects in common with the Kelly Goblins. 176 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.080 In other words, while this was the first flying saucer 177 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:33.000 with occupants reported on this farm in Kentucky, it was 178 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:35.519 not the first such report to blow up in the media. 179 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:39.720 Around sunset that day, Billy Ray Taylor was going out 180 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:41.720 to get some well water and came back to the house, 181 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.120 seeing he'd seen the spaceship land in the gully behind 182 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.240 the house. Billy Ray was not trustworthy according to the 183 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:49.480 day of his report, and she includes several examples of 184 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:54.159 him giving outlandish testimony only to have to walk it back. Apparently, 185 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:56.159 the rest of the Sutton in the Langfords didn't even 186 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:57.720 bother to go look when he said he'd seen a 187 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:01.480 flying ship with rainbow exhaust landing out back. The sun 188 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:03.919 set around seven thirty pm on this hot August night. 189 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:06.879 A little after dark, the dog began to bark and 190 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:10.879 hid under the house. Lucky Sutton and Billy Ray Taylor 191 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:12.399 went out to look and see what was caused in 192 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:17.720 the ruckous. There they saw a strange thing approaching the house. Again, 193 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.639 we'll refer to Davis's report where she describes what Sutton 194 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:25.080 and Taylor saw approaching from the fields was a strange glow. 195 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.799 As it came nearer, they could make out what seemed 196 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:31.000 to be a small man, though a man not much 197 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:33.320 like any they had ever seen before. He was about 198 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.639 three and a half feet tall, with an oversized head 199 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:38.799 that was almost perfectly round, and arms that extended almost 200 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:41.360 to the ground. The huge hands had talons at the 201 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:43.960 ends of the fingers. The eyes were much bigger than 202 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.759 human eyes and glowed with a yellowish light. They were 203 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:48.840 directed neither to the front nor to the side, but 204 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:52.399 about midway between. The whole creature was seemingly made of 205 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.240 silver metal that gave off an eerie light in the darkness, 206 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.039 like the light from the radium dial on a watch. 207 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:01.279 Fronted with this weird. 208 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:04.600 Entity, they went for their guns. Lucky grabbed the twenty 209 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:07.399 gauge and Billy Ray got the twenty two. The creature 210 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.600 was approaching with his hands raised, but when they got 211 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:11.679 within twenty feet of the back door, they both fired 212 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.600 at it. They said it flipped and then scurried away 213 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:17.679 into the darkness. The men went to the living room 214 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:19.720 to join the women and saw a creature in the window. 215 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:22.600 They fired through a screen at it. This point gets 216 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.639 a little confusing by now J. C. Sutton is also armed, 217 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.279 apparently with the twenty gage shotgun, which I assume means 218 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:30.039 that Lucky's now switched to the twelve gauge. 219 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:31.840 JC fires through. 220 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.720 The screen no more than two feet from the window 221 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.279 at the thing outside. Billy Ray also fires with the 222 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.360 twenty two. Let's return to Davis to describe what happens next, 223 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.200 the men decided to go outdoors and see whether they 224 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:46.600 had actually hit the creature. As they started out the 225 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:48.759 front door, there occurred one of the most talked about 226 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.759 and terrifying incidents of the story. Taylor went through the 227 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.039 doorway first. As he stood under the small overhanging roof 228 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.840 about to step down into the yard, those behind him 229 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.799 in the hall saw a claw like hand reach down 230 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.200 to touch his hair. They screamed at him, and the 231 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.879 lean suddenly seized him to pull him back into the house. Lucky, 232 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.759 close behind Taylor, pushed past him into the yard, turned 233 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.360 the twelve gates, shotgun up towards the creature on the overhang, 234 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:16.600 fired and knocked it over the roof. There's one up 235 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:19.080 in the tree too, Billy Ray said. It was on 236 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.159 the limb of the maple tree to the right as 237 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:23.799 you leave the house. Both Lucky and Taylor shot at 238 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.679 that one, knocking him off the limb. He floated to 239 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.519 the ground. They shot at him again, and he too, 240 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.399 scurried off into the weeds. Almost at the same time, 241 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:35.919 around the northwest corner of the house, right in front 242 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.480 of Lucky came another one or the same one that 243 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:41.679 had been knocked off the ridgepole. Lucky shoots at that 244 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:43.600 one it close range with a twelve gage, and it 245 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:47.240 just flips and scurries away again. Apparently befuddled by the 246 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:49.759 ineffectiveness of the weapons. The men retreated to the house 247 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.519 to decide the next course of action. The matriarch of 248 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.039 the house, Missus Langford, points out that the creatures, whatever 249 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:58.240 they are, haven't harmed anyone. All of this first wave 250 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.879 activity is more than a little bit confusing. Davis describes 251 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:06.120 what happens next understandably the sequence of events was and 252 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:09.639 remains confused. No one was keeping a log. Missus Langford, 253 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.120 for example, when interviewed by mister Andre in nineteen fifty nine, 254 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:15.679 thought the incident of Taylor's hair being touched a curt 255 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.440 around ten thirty pm. She said that at first she 256 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:20.480 did not pay attention to the boys, thinking they were 257 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:22.840 only joking and shooting for the fun of it. She 258 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:25.039 and the other women were busy with the supper dishes 259 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.559 and putting the children to bed. We thought the boys 260 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.799 were only kidding. Although they were coming into the house 261 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.879 and telling about seeing and shooting at the things. I 262 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:36.759 did not take them seriously until about ten o'clock when 263 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:40.360 Aileen came in terrified, white, nervous, shaking, saying that she 264 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.399 had seen one of the little men. She was terribly upset, 265 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:47.200 and her nervousness continued for several days. I suggested to 266 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.240 the boys that we turned the lights out, which we did. 267 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:51.960 I decided then to see just what it was they 268 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:54.440 were seeing. I went out into the hallway and crouched 269 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:56.960 down next to Billy and asked him, now, just what 270 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:02.639 have you been seeing? He replied, way, and you'll see. 271 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.679 We remained crouched down about three feet from the screen 272 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.600 door the front door for about twenty minutes. When I 273 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.679 saw one approaching the door. Billy and I remained crouching 274 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.080 until it came right up to the screen. It looked 275 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.000 like a five gallon gasoline can with a head on 276 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.320 top and small legs. It was shimmering bright metal, like 277 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:23.200 on my refrigerator. I tried to get up from my 278 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.759 crouched position to move back further from the door. I 279 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:27.440 did not make it, as I am heavy and my 280 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:29.840 legs have become stiff from remaining in a crouch position 281 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:32.279 a long time and being in the dark. I lost 282 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:34.600 my balance and fell flat on the floor, making a 283 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.799 thud like noise and letting out a shriek. At the 284 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:39.120 same time, the thing jumped back into the yard and 285 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:42.279 Billy shot at it right through the screen. That would 286 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:44.279 be Billy Ray Taylor, who was using the twenty two, 287 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:45.159 which is a very. 288 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:46.159 Small caliber rifle. 289 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.279 By eleven PM, the family had enough and they piled 290 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.399 into two vehicles and headed a high speed for the 291 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.799 Hopkinsville Police Department. They arrived at the station and explained 292 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:59.240 their situation. Whether or not the police literally believed every 293 00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:02.039 word being told them by their family members, they could 294 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:05.080 tell that the fear these people had was sincere. The 295 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:08.039 Suttons would not return home until the police had given 296 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:12.080 the all clear. For a few hours, the farm swarmed 297 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.440 with policemen, a few interested onlookers, some military police that 298 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.799 were on duty that night in Hopkinsville, a newspaper photographer, 299 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:23.720 sheriff department officials, and eventually the Suttons. The police didn't 300 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:27.039 find any silvery spacemen or any feathers, nor blood, nor 301 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:30.000 liquor bottles. They did find a few spent shells, a 302 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.559 few beer cans, and they spent some time calming the 303 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.279 family down to the point that when they left everyone 304 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:38.360 tried to get some sleep. This was about two am. 305 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:42.279 Around two thirty am, the matriarch, Missus Langford, looked up 306 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:44.559 and saw one of the glowing figures in the window. 307 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.039 She alerted Lucky, and after. 308 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.960 Some protestation from her, he fired at it through the window. 309 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:53.440 This apparently had no effect. The creatures continued to be 310 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.720 intermittently spotted until about four forty five am that morning. 311 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.399 This was the last time they were seen on the farm, 312 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:02.000 but the family story. 313 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:02.720 Was about to blow up. 314 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.360 The next day, despite being sleep deprived, Lucky Sutton and 315 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:09.159 Billy Ray drove eighty miles away on some errand or 316 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.039 another that had to do with delivering a truck or 317 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.919 possibly delivering furniture. It's a little bit unclear, but the 318 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:16.000 rest of the family started having to deal with the 319 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.919 curious and the days that followed, newspaper and radio coverage 320 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.919 told of the war with the Little Green men on 321 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:25.720 the Kentucky farm. Curious onlookers just descended on the land, 322 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.480 looking for monsters, looking for evidence, looking to make fun 323 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.200 of people, looking for who knows what, but they would 324 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.480 not go away. By the time the crowds finally dispersed. 325 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.679 The Sutton family had not made any money, they were ridiculed, 326 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:39.879 and they generally seemed to have been ill treated by 327 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:43.080 the community, at least as far as the court of 328 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.039 public opinion goes, and in the respect of privacy, one 329 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.840 might be due when having suffered some kind of traumatic experience. 330 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.879 When Isabel Davis came to Hopkins Filter research the report 331 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:55.639 that became close encounter at Kelly, she was hoping to 332 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.960 talk to the original witnesses. What she found was that 333 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.399 the family had grown quite sullen and read to talk 334 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:03.600 about the case. This seems unremarkable given the treatment they 335 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.960 had at the hands of their own community. Davis was 336 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.279 able to talk to missus Langford, but also to many 337 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:12.319 people who were involved in the investigation, including reporters, a 338 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.839 deputy sheriff, the police chief, state troopers, relatives of the family. 339 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:20.160 He knew many details and Whop radio engineer Bud Ledworth, 340 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.440 who had conducted interviews and made drawings of what the 341 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:26.559 witnesses described shortly after the events took place. Led with 342 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.079 sketches are the iconic images which most people recognize as 343 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:33.880 the true shape of these goblins. This show is monster 344 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.720 Talk and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that 345 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.160 I'm mostly interested in the goblins in this story, more 346 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.000 so than any other mysterious phenomena that kicked off events. 347 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:43.839 But we need to talk about that. The story all 348 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.240 starts when Billy Ray Taylor comes into the Suton Hoouse 349 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.839 claiming he had seen a spaceship land in the gully outback. Taylor, 350 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:52.200 as I mentioned at least in the days report, comes 351 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.440 across as an unreliable witness. That being said, there were 352 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:58.920 meteors seen that night. The kapp of Signets meteor shower 353 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.079 had just peaked a few days before. Whether these meteors 354 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.319 were from that shower, I don't know, but other witnesses 355 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.160 did see them. But if those other witnesses saw streaks 356 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.640 of light, why did Billy ray Taylor claim he saw 357 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:14.000 a craft shooting rainbow exhaust I've linked to close Encounter 358 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.200 a Kelly in our show notes, and you can read 359 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.440 through it yourself if you're curious. It's a very interesting 360 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.160 detailed account. One thing that will stick out through the 361 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.359 whole thing is that it's written in the time when 362 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:26.039 the belief in saucers was very much a popular item. 363 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:28.799 I'd suggest you check out our coverage of the long 364 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.400 John nevill radio show back on episode one oh nine. 365 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:32.680 This was the time when. 366 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:35.480 Talk of saucers filled the late night airwaves of New York, 367 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.319 and Davis and Blecker were keenly interested in the topic. 368 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.480 While the report does eventually get down to the creatures 369 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.839 and experiences of the Suttons, it does so well placed 370 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.480 in the context that this was the time when the 371 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.559 country was experiencing a very large interest in saucers and 372 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:51.480 their occupants. 373 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:53.440 I actually just. 374 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:56.519 Changed the word to occupants instead of aliens, because whether 375 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.680 these saucers came out of outer space, are inner space 376 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.200 or other space was and still is a big debate 377 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.920 among interested parties. We'll talk about that in our subsequent episode. 378 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.240 I wish Karen was here with me to discuss this, 379 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:12.400 because it's definitely more fun to review these topics as 380 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.000 a conversation. This is a bit of a side here, 381 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.880 but I'm gonna go ahead and mention it and then 382 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:19.720 get back to these pesky goblins in order to prepare 383 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.160 a monster talk, and honestly, in just in keeping with 384 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:24.920 a lifelong passion for the weird, the bizarre, and the unusual, 385 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.960 I listen to and consume a lot of paranormal literature 386 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:30.519 and media. One show I enjoy a lot is the 387 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.519 podcast Astonishing Legends, which is hosted by Scott Philbrook and 388 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:36.519 Forrest Burgess. They recently did a three part coverage of 389 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.240 the Kelly Hopkins Fiell Goblins, and part of why our 390 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.319 coverage of this case will likely be three episodes as 391 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.119 well is because of some things that got covered in 392 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.319 their conclusion. We'll get to that, and I'm in discussion 393 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:48.799 with Scott and Forrest to try and have them on 394 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:50.599 to talk about it, and I believe we'll manage that. 395 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:51.440 Pretty soon as well. 396 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:54.200 It turned into a very interesting lesson for me as 397 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:57.519 a science advocate and a proponent of critical thinking. I 398 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.839 believe a positive outcome has happened and that further positive 399 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.720 outcomes will happen as a result of these conversations. I'm 400 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.319 also planning to have the skeptic most noted for working 401 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.279