A Documentary for the Age of Disclosure
We are living in strange days. With the looming possibility of UFO files being released and after multiple U.S. presidents publicly acknowledged the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena. The timing feels right to revisit this mind-bending documentary centered on the mysterious Thomas Mantell crash.
The film opens at the crash site itself, immediately grounding viewers in a real historical event I admittedly had never encountered before. What follows is less a simple retelling and more an excavation of one of the most controversial incidents in American aviation history.
A Deep Bench of Researchers and Witnesses
The documentary assembles a wide range of experts and investigators, including Dewey Edwards, museum curator and folklorist Elanor Hasken Wagner, author and researcher Zach Poehlein, museum curator Kyle Kadel, and Military.com editor Blake Stillwell. Their collective testimony paints a portrait of a mid-20th century world gripped by unexplained aerial encounters.
The film suggests that the 1940s and 1950s were saturated with UFO sightings, raising the unsettling question. Were these events connected to the global upheaval and mass death surrounding World War II and the Cold War?
The Sky Was Crowded in the 1940s
The documentary carefully builds its case by presenting a series of bizarre aerial encounters.
In October 1944, witnesses reported small, shiny disc like objects roughly five to six feet in diameter, surrounded by halos of light. RAF squadron leaders Brian Frowe and Ronald Clarridge reported radar failures over France. Followed by multiple motionless objects that suddenly accelerated at impossible speeds.
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A B-17 bomber crew observed a black teardrop shaped craft flying near their aircraft. Pilot Arthur Horton reportedly claimed he was pursued by UFOs. In several cases, military forces even opened fire on these objects with no apparent effect.
These accounts continued well into the Cold War, painting a picture of skies filled with sleek, shadowy craft lacking wings, seams, or recognizable propulsion systems. Watching the documentary, one cannot help but see parallels to modern drone phenomena. The unexplained technology of one era becoming the accepted mystery of the next.
Dogfights with the Unknown
Among the most astonishing cases discussed is pilot George Gorman’s pursuit of a UFO that appeared to toy with him, executing maneuvers beyond known aviation capabilities. On July 27, 1948, two pilots described encountering an object resembling something from a Buck Rogers film.
The documentary presents extensive public records, research archives, and eyewitness testimony. It reveals just how much information has existed in plain sight for decades. One begins to wonder what still remains classified.
American UFO Hotspots and Forgotten Lore
The film also explores the geography of UFO activity. The hollers of West Virginia are described as persistent hotspots for orb sightings, while Asheville, North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains are linked to repeated unexplained aerial events.
This regional folklore gives the documentary an almost mythological texture, part military history, part American ghost story.
The Thomas Mantell Incident
At the center of the documentary lies the tragedy that brought national attention to the phenomenon. The Mantell incident.
Air Force pilot Thomas Mantell pursued a mysterious object over Kentucky and, according to the film’s account, opened fire before being shot down in return. The documentary provides a detailed portrait of Mantell’s life, career, and final mission, presenting the event as both a personal tragedy and a historic turning point in UFO discourse.
Today, the official explanation for Mantell’s death states that he was chasing the planet Venus. Yes, Venus. One almost expects the report to include the classic fallback explanation of swamp gas.
Between Science and Scripture
Some of the encounters described in the film feel almost biblical in tone, luminous objects in the sky, impossible movements, and overwhelming human encounters with the unknown. The documentary does not claim definitive answers, but it forces viewers to wrestle with a deeper question. Are these extraterrestrial events, advanced undisclosed technology, or something stranger still?
Final Verdict
The filmmakers leave no stone unturned in exploring the Mantell UFO incident and the broader history surrounding it. This is a documentary that trades certainty for inquiry and comfort for curiosity.
I highly recommend Lost Contact: UFOs After Wartime. You will leave with more questions than answers, and the uneasy feeling that Mantell’s final flight still echoes through history.