Alien Abduction in Kentucky: The Stanford Case

Scientists and mental health professionals typically try and explain away alien abductions as being the result of false memory syndrome, sleep paralysis, suggestibility or deception. However, many abduction cases simply rule these out. In particular cases with multiple abductees interviewed by various professionals tend to lead to only one real conclusion. Something strange and unexplained did occur and modern science simply cannot explain these. 

In today’s article we will examine an abduction case with overwhelming evidence that something truly bazaar happened to these women. And as we will see, it wasn’t the result of sleep paralysis, suggestibility or any other medical explanation. 

On January 6, 1976, three women decided to drive 35 miles from their home in Liberty, Kentucky in order to have dinner at the Redwoods Restaurant, which was located between Stanford and Lancaster, Kentucky.  Louise Smith, Elaine Thomas and Mona Stafford wanted to celebrate the 36th birthday of Mona Stafford. The women had an enjoyable dinner and none of them had any alcohol. After dinner, around 11:15, the women headed back home expecting to return around midnight. 

As the women began driving home, a bright red object appeared in the sky, which Mona believed at first thought was an airplane that caught fire. Soon though the object would descend from the right side of the road to directly ahead of them. As this was occurring, they could see, that this was not an airplane, but much bigger, gigantic and larger than two houses. The object stopped about a hundred yards in front of them, stretching across the road on both sides. It began rocking back and forth for a couple of seconds, and then shifted off to the left.

The woman kept driving though and assumed that whatever it was had kept going.

However, it had not moved on. Around a quarter of a mile up the road, a blue light appeared through the rear window of the car. At first, they thought it was a police officer going to pull them over but soon they came to realize that the flying object had circled around and came up behind them. 

Suddenly, something took control of the car away from Louise Smith. The car speeded up even though Mrs. Smith took her foot off the gas. They were soon going 85 mph. Mona Stafford seated in the passenger seat, tried to help Louise regain control of the car, but couldn’t. 

The women’s eyes began to burn, and the ignition lights lit up on the instrument panel, usually an indication that the car’s engine was stalled, but the car was still speeding down the road. 

Soon, they saw a wide, well-lit road ahead of them, and then, momenta later, the scene became Highway 78. They recognized they were just outside of Hustonville, and oddly they were a full eight miles from where they had just been. 

Even more strange, as they checked the time, they discovered that an hour and twenty minutes had passed.

They got to Louise Smith’s trailer in Liberty at 1:25 am, almost an hour and a half late. They went inside to gather themselves and calm down. When they did, they found that they each had a red mark, similar to a burn on the backs of their necks. 

Also, all the women had burning, irritated eyes. 

Louise Smith went into the bathroom and removed her watch to wash her face. As she did, astonishingly, she saw that the hands of her watch were spinning much quicker than normal. When she splashed water on her face, she discovered that contact with water caused pain in her hands and face.

They went next door to their neighbor to let them him know what they had seen. Mr. Lowell Lee had them separately sketch the object they had seen, and the sketches were extremely close. At that point, they called the police and the local navy office, but neither showed any interest in their story.

In the coming days, Mona Stafford had more problems with her eyes than did the other two women, and she sought medical help for severe conjunctivitis. 

Louise Smith’s pet bird was now inexplicably terrified of her. When Smith first arrived home after her experience, instead of her usual happy greeting, she received a frightening reaction from her parakeet. It flew into the side of its cage and fluttered its wings in a wild display of fear. Smith proclaimed that since the first night home, her parakeet had ignored her. Later investigators tested her pet and found when other people, came close, the bird acted normally, but became terrified around Smith. 

Smith’s car also started to develop mysterious electrical problems.

As word spread, the navy allegedly gave information about the story to the media, and the story was soon in the newspapers. 

MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) investigator Jerry Black would hear the story, and soon began investigating.  He called the three women asking for an interview, but the women were reluctant at to relive the event. 

(Did a train crash into a UFO in Kentucky?)

After more phone calls from Black, and him offering his sympathy and compassion, the three witnesses agreed to an interview. Also, Black would invite Peggy Schnell of Blanchester, Ohio. She had experience with these kinds of cases and Black felt that the three would feel more comfortable with a feminine presence.

As the five of them met, Black learned several things. Black knew that the three women were all in physical pain, and all were chain-smoking, which they blamed on the experience. Also, he learned, they all had an unquenchable thirst, and alleged extreme weight loss since the event. 

The women gave some details of their observations of the UFO, its structure, and how it moved. 

They also discussed how the object affected them. These memories were painful to all three, and they struggled to recall details and hoped that someone might be able to help them.

As the women were distraught over the missing time, they were assured that they would be able to undergo regressive hypnosis and uncover the lost time It was believed this would alleviate some of their emotional stress. 

After the initial interview, the investigators knew that the three women’s story was disturbing, yet solid as could be.

Although from Wyoming, Dr. Leo Sprinkle, a well-respected ufologist and physician, heard of the case, and came to Kentucky. 

(The Alien Abduction of Luis Carlos Serra- read here)

Sprinkle would go on to perform extensive hypnotic regression session with all of the women. The sessions revealed that during the lost time, the women were taken on board the object they had seen. In the craft, they were medically examined by shadowy beings that they later identified as being similar to depictions of aliens.

In July of 1976, Lexington Police Department detective James Young separately gave each woman lie detector tests regarding their experience. They all passed with no problems.

The Stanford Abduction has all the classic components of a UFO abduction: strange lights, lost time, physical and emotional pain, and lost memories. As such, it’s one of the most well-known Alien Abduction cases to occur in the southern US in recent memory. There was much strange activity that occurred, and even more, it really shows the psychologic and physical pain that alien abductees experience.

(Kentucky’s Little Green Men- read here)

Although skeptics would say the woman did sell their story to the National enquirer and were motivated by financial incentives, we should note the women were struggling financially and emotionally and the money was really needed due to the experience. It’s also important to remember that these women were considered reputable and passed lie detectors. 

We’ll probably never know exactly what happened that night. Why were they chosen? Or whether the craft didn’t mean to appear. However, it’s clear something did happen, something strange and disturbing. This case has overwhelming evidence, multiple witnesses, interviews by multiple professionals and one the skeptics will struggle to explain away.