Events

Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter (Kentucky, Aug 21–22, 1955)

Unproven Handling What these labels mean →

Eleven or twelve people (Sutton and Taylor families; five adults, seven children) fled their farmhouse to the Hopkinsville police at about 11 p.m. They said small glowing creatures with large ears and eyes had besieged them for hours while the men shot at them. Police found a frightened family, bullet holes and spent shells, but no creatures or craft. The fear and the gunfire are well documented. The creatures aren't. Joe Nickell's great-horned-owl explanation fits much of the description (a 'floating' approach, glowing eyes, ear tufts) but not everything.

Ties

To	Role	Years	Verdict	Source
Pascagoula (1973)	law-enforcement-documented fear		Concept
Suppression pattern	case: DELAY (file opened only before a 1957 magazine article)	1955–1957	Documented · occurred Handling	ufologie.patrickgross.org
Project Blue Book	not investigated in 1955; a file was created in 1957 before a magazine article	1957	Documented · occurred	ufologie.patrickgross.org

Tied from

From	Role	Years	Verdict	Source
Suppression pattern	case: DELAY	1955–1957	Documented · occurred Handling

Notes

Item	Record	Verdict
The family fled to police at ~11 p.m.; officers (and reportedly Fort Campbell MPs) searched	Police, press	police response
Bullet holes, shells, a torn window screen; no creature remains	Police observations	gunfire
Billy Ray Taylor had earlier reported a 'saucer' landing in a gully	Family account; no independent sighting	craft
'Little men' with large eyes and ears, floating, glowing silver	Consistent family testimony; Isabel Davis's 1955 interviews	creatures
Owl explanation (Nickell, 2006)	Plausible fit for eyes, ears, floating and night behavior. Doesn't account for the 'silver glow'	owls
Blue Book: no contemporaneous investigation; file opened in 1957	Case card	late file

Why it matters

The origin of 'little green men' in the press (though witnesses said silver). A strong-fear, weak-evidence template.

How it was handled