The Kelly-Hopkinsville 'Goblins' Encounter

[Still Waters]

On the night of August 21, 1955, two Kentucky families claimed to have fought unknown beings. In a rural area of Kentucky, near Hopkinsville and Kelly, two families contend they battled extraterrestrial creatures. The event happened around the Sutton farmhouse, where the Suttons and the Taylors gathered for dinner.At some point during the evening, Billy Ray Taylor went outside to draw water from the well.

Taylor witnessed a huge, bright object land in the woods about a quarter of a mile from the house. He started towards the house with the water when he saw a strange creature approaching.Billy Ray dropped the bucket and ran into the house. Both he and Lucky Sutton picked up firearms and ran back outside. Taylor fired his .22 caliber rifle and Lucky fired his shotgun but neither weapon had any effect on the creature.

Sutton and Taylor described the aliens as three feet tall, with pointed ears, thin limbs, long arms and claw-like hands. They said the creatures looked like gremlins, hence they became known as the Hopkinsville Goblins. The beings were either silvery in color or were wearing something metallic. The strangest aspect of these creature was their movements.

The aliens movements seemed to defy gravity as they floated above ground and walked with a swaying motion like they were walking through water.

Read more...

[Agent. Mulder]

Yeah this one also sounded so weird when i read it. Its in a few books i have.

Not sure of its legitimacy.

[Stormcrow]

I know this story pretty well, it's not far from where I live. It was a very big to-do, and still is, especially around this time of year. The daughter wrote a book about it, even. A lot of people just think that they saw owls and were drunk, which isn't a very bad guess given the time and the area, but folks like that, I dunno. I do believe them. Supposedly the mother wouldn't allow drink in her home, which discredits the theory that they were drunk, and that too is believable if these people were good Christian folk as they're reputed to be. I suppose it depends on which side of the fence you stand on: Either you have a reason to believe them, or one not to, and really I don't think anyone could say 100% either way because I would bet that no one who would post on this forum knew the guys it happened to.

[111uminate]

I suppose it depends on which side of the fence you stand on: Either you have a reason to believe them, or one not to, and really I don't think anyone could say 100% either way because I would bet that no one who would post on this forum knew the guys it happened to.

That about sums it up. A testimony depicting an event that may, or may not have happened, with no way for us to know. Beyond that, the story itself makes for good entertainment if you're into that kind of stuff.

[Stormcrow]

It is a good story. Hopkinsville is an interesting place, they get all the good things. Heck, Edgar Cayce was born there. I bet the aliens came back for him but were ten years too late.

[111uminate]

Haha. Could be. Maybe they wanted to track him down for remote viewing them on the moon.

[Paranormalcy]

Definitely one of the creepiest stories from UFOlogy. I never made the Caycle connection. Interesting. Also never decided what to make of it. Found it amusing that Whitley Strieber's original pal and co-researcher into alien abduction phenomenon, who is bafflingly now considered to be so much of an asset that his stuff is included in MUFON material, is named Bud Hopkins. I know it's just coincidence but... *shrug*

[TheWhispererInDarkness]

This story is definitely one of my favorites. I absolutely do not believe they were making it up. They either saw something, or at least very strongly believed that they saw something. According to the report, they were terrified enough to shoot up their own home. That is real fear. Unfortunately, whether or not that fear was a result of actual contact with creepy space-goblins, we will never know.

[xXHellkittiesXx]

Any "eye witness" named Billy Ray anything is questionable in my book. I couldn't help but frown at the idea that their first order of business was to start shooting at them. Not to mention they kept refering to the encounter as a "battle", but they never said the "aliens" shot back, it just sounded like a bunch of hillbillies shooting holes in their own house! Wtf?

[lee-uk]

DarthGluttonous - Any "eye witness" named Billy Ray anything is questionable in my book.

Ha, ha. I agree.

In my eyes its fake.

I can't see any reason or evidence to be believe it.

[Juanita Rose Violini]

I totally believe this story. We were having a discussion last night about how Native Americans couldn't see the Spanish ships when they first arrived because they had no reference that such things existed. I think it's exactly like that with UFOs. People have no reference point for such things so they just don't see them.

[PaoloWillente]

I totally believe this story. We were having a discussion last night about how Native Americans couldn't see the Spanish ships when they first arrived because they had no reference that such things existed. I think it's exactly like that with UFOs. People have no reference point for such things so they just don't see them.

This could be true if such unidentified objects were inter-dimensional, because I personally would have no idea what that would look like.

But in terms of 'machinery' I think our concept of reality and what is 'normal' and 'foreign' is much greater now than what it would have been pre modern technology.

[lee-uk]

"Native Americans couldn't see the Spanish ships"

Eh?

[~TheBigK~]

I'm ashamed that I've never heard this story before. It's very strange to say the least.

The youtube video mentioned that they were deemed sane and not under the influence of anything, and police saw lights in the sky. This makes it seem like they did witness something and weren't just fabricating it. It just seems too precise and strange to be made up in that short amount of time and it sounded like they seemed legitimately scared when they were with the cops. As for what it really was, who knows. That I have no idea where to begin a guess.

[farandaway]

I believe these people saw something that scared the stuffings out of them. I don't see why 'simple farm folk' would want to draw this kind of attention to themselves otherwise. They shot up their own house, and when they couldn't solve the problem themselves, they went to the authorities. I don't believe they would expose themselves to that kind of ridicule for a hoax, after all, they would have to live with the consequences for many years. A very interesting story.

[69dinner42]

Not sure if this has been brought up before but is it possible that their house was on top of or near a natural (methane)gas leak and all their stories were just hallucinations?

Does anyone know if this part of Kentucky is near or on top of swamp land? I wonder if they go back to the area today and perform some sort of gas detection tests, what they would find.

[The Skeptic Eric Raven]

I remember reading this story when I was about 9 yearas old. It scared the crap out of me. Gave me nightmares for a week.

[Eldorado]

Great story!

I especially like the "silver monkey" explanation.

"In 1957, Air Force Major John E. Albert concluded that the case resulted from the witnesses observing a monkey painted with silver that had escaped from a circus."

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2010/10/kelly-hopkinsville-goblins-encounter.html

You think the Major was serious?

lol

[Myles]

Great story!

I especially like the "silver monkey" explanation.

"In 1957, Air Force Major John E. Albert concluded that the case resulted from the witnesses observing a monkey painted with silver that had escaped from a circus."

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2010/10/kelly-hopkinsville-goblins-encounter.html

You think the Major was serious?

lol

I think it is as believable as a spaceship full of aliens floating around and battling a couple of Kentucky families. leaving zero evidence of their arrival.

[Eldorado]

I think it is as believable as a spaceship full of aliens floating around and battling a couple of Kentucky families. leaving zero evidence of their arrival.

Very true!

(I so want to see a silver monkey now)

Edited October 12, 2010 by Eldorado

[booNyzarC]

Very true!

(I so want to see a silver monkey now)

Must have been this cute little guy...

[JonathanVonErich]

I saw a documentary about that case many years ago. They said basically that it was monkeys from the Circus who was in town at that point.Other people said that the family was drunk. To me the family was credible and I still think they saw something amazing that night.

[Mantis914]

I suppose if it happened in NY or Vermont to someone with a northern name it would be more believable? So I guess you fully believe the Betty and Barney Hill case just based solely on geography? I suppose if you're under attack by something, you just stand there and let it have its way with you?

Any "eye witness" named Billy Ray anything is questionable in my book. I couldn't help but frown at the idea that their first order of business was to start shooting at them. Not to mention they kept refering to the encounter as a "battle", but they never said the "aliens" shot back, it just sounded like a bunch of hillbillies shooting holes in their own house! Wtf?

[Eldorado]

An actual silver monkey! (I never knew they existed...probs little cousins of the those awesome silverbacks)

[JonathanVonErich]

So you found a picture of our Prime Minister, El...Good job.