Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955
E653400
The Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 is a famous alleged close encounter in which a Kentucky family reported being terrorized by small, glowing-eyed creatures, becoming one of the most influential and debated cases in UFO and cryptid lore.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7286025 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
Target entity: Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 Context triple: [Hopkinsville, Kentucky, hasHistoricEvent, Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955]
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A.
Bama massacre
The Bama massacre was a deadly attack in 2014 by Boko Haram on the town of Bama in Borno State, Nigeria, in which hundreds of civilians were killed and widespread destruction occurred.
-
B.
West Memphis Three case
The West Memphis Three case is a notorious 1993 criminal case in which three teenagers were controversially convicted—and later released—for the murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, sparking widespread debate over wrongful convictions and satanic panic.
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C.
Altmark Incident
The Altmark Incident was a 1940 World War II naval confrontation in Norwegian waters, where British forces boarded the German tanker Altmark to free imprisoned Allied sailors, heightening tensions during the early "Phoney War" period.
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D.
The Algiers Motel Incident
The Algiers Motel Incident is a nonfiction book by John Hersey that investigates the racially charged 1967 Detroit police killings of three Black teenagers and the brutalization of several others during the city’s uprising.
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E.
Tapani Incident
The Tapani Incident was a major 1915 anti-Japanese uprising in southern Taiwan, led by local religious and militia leaders, and is remembered as one of the most significant resistance movements during Japanese colonial rule.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
Target entity: Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 Target entity description: The Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 is a famous alleged close encounter in which a Kentucky family reported being terrorized by small, glowing-eyed creatures, becoming one of the most influential and debated cases in UFO and cryptid lore.
-
A.
Bama massacre
The Bama massacre was a deadly attack in 2014 by Boko Haram on the town of Bama in Borno State, Nigeria, in which hundreds of civilians were killed and widespread destruction occurred.
-
B.
West Memphis Three case
The West Memphis Three case is a notorious 1993 criminal case in which three teenagers were controversially convicted—and later released—for the murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, sparking widespread debate over wrongful convictions and satanic panic.
-
C.
Altmark Incident
The Altmark Incident was a 1940 World War II naval confrontation in Norwegian waters, where British forces boarded the German tanker Altmark to free imprisoned Allied sailors, heightening tensions during the early "Phoney War" period.
-
D.
The Algiers Motel Incident
The Algiers Motel Incident is a nonfiction book by John Hersey that investigates the racially charged 1967 Detroit police killings of three Black teenagers and the brutalization of several others during the city’s uprising.
-
E.
Tapani Incident
The Tapani Incident was a major 1915 anti-Japanese uprising in southern Taiwan, led by local religious and militia leaders, and is remembered as one of the most significant resistance movements during Japanese colonial rule.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (59)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
American folklore event
ⓘ
UFO incident ⓘ alleged close encounter ⓘ cryptid encounter ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Hopkinsville Goblins case
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Kelly Green Men case NERFINISHED ⓘ Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| annualCommemoration | Kelly Little Green Men Days festival NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
"little green men" trope in popular culture
ⓘ
UFO folklore ⓘ alien visitation theories ⓘ cryptozoology ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| county | Christian County NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| creaturesDescribedAs |
goblin-like creatures
ⓘ
little men ⓘ small beings ⓘ |
| creaturesEarDescription | large pointed ears ⓘ |
| creaturesEyeDescription | large glowing eyes ⓘ |
| creaturesHeight | about 2.5 to 3.5 feet tall ⓘ |
| creaturesMovementDescription |
seemed unaffected by gunfire
ⓘ
strange, almost weightless movements ⓘ |
| creaturesSkinDescription | shiny or metallic skin ⓘ |
| culturalImpact |
became a classic case in UFO literature
ⓘ
helped popularize the phrase "little green men" for aliens ⓘ inspired festivals and tourism in Kelly, Kentucky ⓘ |
| date | 1955-08-21 ⓘ |
| debatedBy |
folklorists
ⓘ
skeptics ⓘ ufologists ⓘ |
| duration | several hours during the night of 1955-08-21 ⓘ |
| initialTriggerReported | sighting of a bright object in the sky ⓘ |
| involvedGroup | Sutton family and friends ⓘ |
| involvedPerson |
Billy Ray Taylor
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Elmer "Lucky" Sutton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| location | rural farmhouse near Kelly, Kentucky ⓘ |
| near | Hopkinsville, Kentucky NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| numberOfWitnesses | approximately 11 ⓘ |
| policeInvestigationResult | no bodies or physical evidence of creatures found ⓘ |
| policeObservation | numerous bullet holes and damage at the farmhouse ⓘ |
| policeObservation | witnesses appeared genuinely frightened ⓘ |
| primaryWitnessFamily | Sutton family NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| reportedTo |
Christian County police
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Fort Campbell military police NERFINISHED ⓘ Kentucky State Police NERFINISHED ⓘ local media ⓘ |
| skepticalExplanation | effects of alcohol or heightened fear ⓘ |
| skepticalExplanation |
exaggeration or misperception in low light
ⓘ
misidentification of great horned owls ⓘ |
| state | Kentucky ⓘ |
| statusInFolklore | legendary event in Kentucky folklore ⓘ |
| statusInUFOCommunity | one of the most discussed close encounter cases ⓘ |
| subjectOf |
documentaries and television programs about UFOs
ⓘ
numerous UFO books and articles ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 1950s ⓘ |
| witnessesClaimed |
creatures approached the farmhouse repeatedly
ⓘ
creatures peered into windows and onto the roof ⓘ creatures retreated into the darkness but kept returning ⓘ family fired guns at the creatures for several hours ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Subject: Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 Description of subject: The Hopkinsville Goblins incident of 1955 is a famous alleged close encounter in which a Kentucky family reported being terrorized by small, glowing-eyed creatures, becoming one of the most influential and debated cases in UFO and cryptid lore.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.