The Invasion of the Hopkinsville Goblins

The year was 1955.  The place was a rural area of Kentucky near Hopkinsville and Kelly.  That night, two families may have battled extraterrestrial creatures.  The event happened around the Sutton farmhouse, where the Suttons and the Taylors gathered for dinner.  At one point, Billy Ray Taylor went outside to draw water from the well.

Suddenly, Taylor saw 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 alien 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.  What was really strange were their movements.

The aliens’s movements seemed to defy gravity.  They floated above ground and were seen in high places, and walked with a swaying motion like they were walking through water.

The two men returned to the house.  However, another creature appeared at the window and the siege was on.  The two families realized they were up against something extraordinary.  So, they ran from the house, got in their cars and headed to Hopkinsville.  There they sought help from police.  The police followed them to the farmhouse and searched the area.

Although they found no evidence of the creatures, they did find that the farmhouse had been shot up by the humans during the battle.  The police left.  But the aliens returned and the battle resumed.  The humans’ guns continued to have no effect.  A few days later, the Air Force investigated the event but could find no solid evidence. 

At first, the public thought that the incident was a hoax.  However, the Suttons and the Taylors never profited from the encounter and there were dozens of eyewitnesses to the event.  In addition to the families at the farmhouse, there were law enforcement officers who saw strange lights in the sky.  There were several wild explanations for the incident.

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.  A  French UFO researcher named Renaud Leclet opined that a pair of Great Horned Owls may have been misidentified as aliens.  However, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the famous UFO investigator,  believed the incident was real.

The case still is being investigated today.