On September 25, according to the tale, a colonel and a master sergeant from the intelligence office at McClellan Air Force Base interviewed the witness. In reality, it seems, according to the Blue Book file, that it was a captain named McCloud and a Senior Master Sergeant R. Barnes, who conducted the interview. The real point is not the ranks of the individuals, but that someone with an official standing from the Air Force did, in fact, interview the witness.
In their report, they wrote, "Mr. [name blanked in original] is a local resident and… married and recently employed at a local missile production plant. He appears stable and consistent in telling his story and believes that the [events] occurred as described."
Before the Air Force personnel left, the witness provided them with a map of the area and one of the arrowheads which they promised to return. It should be noted that he never received the arrowhead back, and it should also be noted that the Air Force had forwarded it to the University of Colorado UFO project, that is, the Condon Committee, for analysis.
The Air Force eventually solved this case, at least to their satisfaction. According to them, after abandoning their attempts to convince the witness he had seen either Japanese tourists or teenage pranksters, the witness had seen "owls and/or other mundane creatures of the woods" and let his imagination supply the rest of the details. It was, in effect, a retreat to the "psychological" category.
Yet there seems to be evidence that the Air Force took a more active interest in the case than they let on. According to the witness, about a month after the sighting, he, along with his brother and his two hunting companions returned to the scene of the stand-off. It appeared to them that someone had "raked over" the area. They found cigarette butts from many different brands, along with cigar butts scattered. Other than that, the area appeared to have been cleared, although the site was remote and inaccessible.
Paul Cerny, the NICAP field investigator, was brought in when the witness' wife wrote to the organization's national headquarters. Cerny interviewed the witness in July 1965 and was given the remaining two arrowheads. Analysis, however, revealed nothing. It had been hoped that metal from the robot might have become embedded on the arrowhead, but nothing was found. Cerny said that there had been a platinum colored smear on one of the blades, but it was possible that it had been worn off or dislodged during transit.
Cerny, who stayed in contact with the witness and his family long after the event was over, was impressed with his sincerity and sanity. In fact, in November 1995, Cerny added an "epilogue" to the case. In a boxed addition to an article in the International UFO Reporter, Cerny wrote, "Having just reviewed the case files on this fascinating and unusual encounter, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this incident is factual and authentic. I have spent considerable time and many visits with the main witness, and along with the testimony of the other witnesses, I can rule out any possibility of a hoax. This also includes the involvement of the USAF investigation team.
"The psychological effects on [the witness] were extremely convincing and traumatic due to the aftereffects of his experience. Also noteworthy were the unusual detail, proximity, and reactions of the Alien Crew."
What is most surprising in this case is the fact that the Air Force actually investigated. For the most part, they managed to stay away from reports involving the occupants from the craft. In the Barney and Betty Hill case, Blue Book almost refused to acknowledge its existence. Then, in the file, noted that officers at Pease Air Force Base conducted the investigation which was a telephone call to Barney Hill, or rather, the results of a call from Hill. The entire file is made up of little other than magazine articles and newspaper clippings.
In August 1955, the Sutton family in the Kelly-Hopkinsville area of southern Kentucky, reported that their farm house had been assaulted by small alien creatures. The siege lasted through the night with the men shooting at the small beings with shotguns. Eventually the family deserted the farm house and drove the sheriff's office to tell the tale. Because a UFO had been seen, and because the creatures were apparently alien, there were those who believed that Project Blue Book would be involved in the investigation.
But, according to the case file, Project Blue Book did not investigate. They had no real interest in the sighting, although the Blue Book files do contain documents that suggest one active duty officer, and possibly more, did some sort of investigation. This one was "unofficial."
Without any sort of physical evidence, or proof that the Kelly-Hopkinsville tale was true, most of the people were quite skeptical. The media reflected that attitude. The Air Force, though still claiming there was no investigation, issued two statements. The Air Force told all that they were not investigating the case and that there was no basis for investigating it. In other words, the case was so unimportant that the Air Force wasn't going to waste its time or limited resources on a family of "hicks" who thought that alien beings had landed near their farm house and attacked them through the night.
Although it seems that military personnel, from Fort Campbell, Kentucky did visit the house, and interviews with the Sutton family were conducted in 1955, an investigation by the Air Force didn't take place until two years later. According to Project Blue Book files apparently, in August 1957, prior to the publication of a magazine article that would review the case, someone decided they should "investigate."
In a letter from the ATIC at Wright-Patterson, to the commander of Campbell Air Force Base, Wallace W. Elwood wrote, "1. This Center requests any factual data, together with pertinent comments regarding an unusual incident reported to have taken place six miles north of Hopkinsville, Kentucky on subject date [21 August 1955]. Briefly, the incident involved an all night attack on a family named Sutton by goblin-like creatures reported to have emerged from a so-called 'flying saucer.'"
Later in the letter, Elwood wrote, "3. Lacking factual, confirming data, no credence can be given this almost fantastic report. As the incident has never been officially reported to the Air Force, it has not taken official cognizance of the matter."
The matter was apparently assigned to First Lieutenant Charles N. Kirk, an Air Force officer at Campbell Air Force Base. He apparently spent about six weeks investigating the case before sending the material on to ATIC on October 1, 1957. He researched the story using the Hopkinsville newspaper from August 22, 1955 and September 11, 1955. He also had a letter from Captain Robert J. Hertell, a statement from Glennie Lankford [the matriarch of the Sutton family] and a statement given to Kirk by Major John E. Albert [who unofficially investigated the case in 1955] and a copy of an article written by Glennie Lankford.
Albert's statement provides some interesting information. Remember, the Air Force was claiming that the case had not been officially reported and therefore the Air Force had not investigated. It seems that here we get lost in the semantics of the situation and the question that begs to be asked is, "What the hell does all that mean?"
It sounds suspiciously like a police officer who, seeing a robbery in progress, then ignores it because it hadn't been reported to the station and he wasn't dispatched by headquarters. A police officer can't ignore the crime and it seems reasonable to assume that the Air Force shouldn't have ignored this case. The sighting was reported in the media including on the radio. Newspapers from various locations around the country were reporting what had happened on that hot August night. Although the Air Force officers at Blue Book or ATIC must have known that the sighting had been made, they chose to ignore it. If the sighting wasn't reported through official channels, then it didn't exist. Since no one reported this case through official channels, the sighting never happened.