Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter (1955).
documentedclose_encounterLandmark High-Strangeness Cases
The 'little green men' farmhouse siege (21-22 Aug 1955, KY); eleven terror-struck witnesses reported hours of gunfire at small floating creatures. Classified a hoax by Blue Book.
The documented anchor is the police record: police chief Russell Greenwell found the Sutton family and Billy Ray Taylor genuinely shaken (one pulse at 140), an unusual filing for rural gun-owners. The entities themselves are a claim; the encounter is famous for witness count, duration and close proximity. The USAF Project Blue Book file classified it a hoax, while serious skeptics favor the owl explanation.