High above the field, three P-51 fighters climbed with swift urgency. Heading south, they quickly vanished. The clock in the tower read 2:45. Colonel Guy Hix, the C.O., slowly put down his binoculars. If the thing was still there, the clouds now hid it. All they could do was wait. The first alarm had come from Fort Knox, when Army M.P.’s had relayed a state police warning. A huge gleaming object had been seen in the sky, moving toward Godman Field. Hundreds of startled people had seen it at Madisonville, ninety miles away. Thirty minutes later, it had zoomed up over the base. Colonel Hix glanced around at the rest of the men in the tower. They all had a dazed look. Every man there had seen the thing, as it barreled south of the field. Even through the thin clouds, its intermittent red glow had hinted at some mysterious source of power. Something outside their understanding. It was Woods, the exec, who had estimated its size. Hix shook his head. _That_ was unbelievable. But something had hung over Godman Field for almost an hour. The C.O. turned quickly as the loud-speaker, tuned to the P-51’s, suddenly came to life. “Captain Mantell to Godman . . . Tower Mantell to Godman Tower . . .” The flight leader’s voice had a strained tone. “I’ve sighted the thing!” he said. “It looks metallic—and it’s tremendous in size!” The C.O. and Woods stared at each other. No one spoke. “The thing’s starting to climb,” Mantell said swiftly. “It’s at twelve o’clock high, making half my speed. I’ll try to close in.” In five minutes, Mantell reported again. The strange metallic object had speeded up, was now making 360 or more. At 3:08, Mantell’s wingman called in. Both he and the other pilot had seen the weird object. But Mantell had outclimbed them and was lost in the clouds. Seven minutes dragged by. The men in the tower sweated out the silence. Then, at 3:15, Mantell made a hasty contact. “It’s still above me, making my speed or better. I’m going up to twenty thousand feet. If I’m no closer, I’ll abandon chase.” It was his last report. Minutes later, his fighter disintegrated with terrific force. The falling wreckage was scattered for thousands of feet. When Mantell failed to answer the tower, one of his pilots began a search. Climbing to 33,000 feet, he flew a hundred miles to the south. But the thing that lured Mantell to his death had vanished from the sky. Ten days after Mantell was killed, I learned of a curious sequel to the Godman affair. An A.P. account in the New York Times had caught my attention. The story, released at Fort Knox, admitted Mantell had died while chasing a flying saucer. Colonel Hix was quoted as having watched the object, which was still unidentified. But there was no mention of Mantell’s radio messages—no hint of the thing’s tremendous size.