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XTRMNTR (pronounced "Exterminator") is the sixth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 31 January 2000 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 2 May 2000 in the United States by Astralwerks. It peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart.
In a departure from their earlier, more hedonistic recordings, the band took a more political stance on the album, attacking government, police, and multinational corporations. Its sound is more aggressive and forceful than Primal Scream's previous output, with harsh, electronic sounds reminiscent of industrial music forming the basis for many of its songs. Although Gary Mounfield (aka Mani) joined the band in 1997 and recorded a selection of tracks on their previous album Vanishing Point (1997), it marked the first time he shared songwriting credits with them, as well as his first full album since his time with The Stone Roses.
Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine was seen as a "semi-permanent member" of the band around the release of the album by performing live, helping producing the album and playing on songs. The album also features contributions from The Chemical Brothers and Bernard Sumner of New Order.
The album is notable for being the final full-length release on Creation Records, with the track "Accelerator" later lifted to become the final single released on the label.
Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 90, based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
NME magazine rated XTRMNTR #2 in its "Top 50 Albums of the Year 2000",NME (30 December 2000, page 77) and later at the NME Carling Awards 2001, it won "Best Album" of the year. Uncut, like NME, named it at #2 on their list of the best albums of 2000.
Over the years, it has gathered more praise, including appearances on lists of the top albums of the 2000s: NME placed it at #3 of their top 50 albums of decade list and Pitchfork placed it at #142 in its Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list. Metacritic placed it at #20 of the 40 best reviewed albums released 2000-9. In 2001, Q magazine named it as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time". Praising the production, Stylus Magazine included the album on their 2006 list of the "Top Ten Best Sounding Records, 1997-Present", and later ranked the album at number 10 on their "Stylus Decade" list of the "Top 100 Albums of the 2000s".
In October 2011, NME placed "Swastika Eyes" at #45 and "Accelerator" at #114 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". In 2014, they ranked "Shoot Speed/Kill Light" at #190 and "Accelerator" at #497 and in their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Referring to the 2013 update, the album ranks at number 160 in NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
In 2019, the album was ranked 65th on The Guardians 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
Primal Scream
Bobby Gillespie - vocals, guitar, samples
Andrew Innes - guitar
Robert Young - guitar, programming
Martin Duffy - keyboards, programming
Gary 'Mani' Mounfield - bass
Darrin Mooney - drums
Jim Hunt - saxophone
Duncan Mackay - trumpet
Additional musicians
Marco Nelson
Kevin Shields
Bernard Sumner
Phil Mossman
Darren Morris
Zac Danziger
Brendan Lynch
Greg Knowles
Gay-Yee Westerhoff
Keith Tenniswood
Production
Primal Scream - production (1, 2, 3), recording
Brendan Lynch - production (1, 2, 3, 11), co-production (1, 3), recording (2, 3, 11)
Kevin Shields - production (11), mixing (2, 9)
Adrian Maxwell Sherwood - recording (6, 7)
Jagz Kooner - production (4), mixing (4), programming (7)
David Holmes - production (6, 7), co-production (6)
Hugo Nicolson - production (8), co-production (8), mixing (8)
The Chemical Brothers - production (10), mixing (10)
Tim Holmes - production (11)
Dan the Automator - production (5), mixing (5)
Andy Wilkinson - engineering (2, 9)
Jon Weiner - engineering (6)
Alan Branch - recording (6, 7)
Charts
Chart Peakposition
Certifications
References
External links
Category:2000 albums
Category:Primal Scream albums
Category:Creation Records albums
Category:Industrial rock albums
Category:Albums produced by Dan the Automator
Category:Albums produced by Kevin Shields | {"Released": "2000 01 31 yes", "Genre": "Electro-rock\n shoegazing\n alternative dance\n electro-industrial\n experimental", "Label": "Creation\n Astralwerks", "Producer": "Brendan Lynch\n Primal Scream\n Jagz Kooner\n David Holmes\n Hugo Nicolson\n The Chemical Brothers\n Kevin Shields\n Tim Holmes"} |
Richard Gibbon Hurndall (3 November 1910 - 13 April 1984) was an English actor. He is best remembered for replacing William Hartnell in the role of the First Doctor for Doctor Who's 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors.
Career
BBC radio
Hurndall was born in Darlington and he attended Claremont Preparatory School, Darlington and Scarborough College, before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He then appeared in several plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. Hurndall acted with the BBC radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952. In 1959, he played Sherlock Holmes in a five part adaptation of The Sign of Four. He continued to play roles on BBC radio until about 1980, often as the leading man.
Radio Luxembourg
In 1958 he became the third host of the Radio Luxembourg program called This I Believe. (This show had originally been hosted by Edward R. Murrow on the U.S. CBS Radio Network from 1951 to 1955 and it was then edited in London for rebroadcast on 208 with a British style of presentation at 9:30 PM on Sunday evenings.)
Television work
Hurndall appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career. He appeared in 'Someone at the Door', a 1949 live broadcast TV comedy / thriller, which also featured Patrick Troughton (with whom he was later to appear in Doctor Who - see below). Other television shows of the era that he appeared in include The Avengers, The Persuaders!, Blake's 7, Whodunnit! and Bergerac. He played the suave London gangster Mackelson in the gritty 1968 drama series Spindoe and the following year had a recurring role as flawed senior civil servant Jason Fowler in the final series of The Power Game. He appeared in the comedy series Steptoe and Son in 1970 as Timothy, a gay antique dealer who takes a shine to Harold Steptoe, in Any Old Iron (series 5 episode 3, 20 March 1970). He guest starred in the third series of Callan. He appeared twice in the series Public Eye, first playing a distinguished entomologist who is unwilling to trace his missing son in "The Golden Boy" (10 January 1973) and later a priest in "How About a Cup of Tea?" (13 January 1975). He was Lord Montdore in Love in a Cold Climate (1980).
Doctor Who
In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, producer John Nathan-Turner planned a special event, The Five Doctors, a 90-minute episode to feature four of the five actors who had at that point played the role of the Doctor. William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role, had died in 1975. Hurndall eventually won the role of the First Doctor, playing him as "acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors." His casting in the role was approved by Hartnell's widow, Heather. When Tom Baker, who played the Fourth Doctor, declined to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was expanded slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the action.
Films
His films included Joanna (1968), Hostile Witness (1968), Some Girls Do (1969), Zeppelin (1971), I, Monster (1971), Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), Royal Flash (1975), and Crossed Swords (1977).
Death
In April 1984, Hurndall died of a heart attack at the age of 73 in London, less than five months after the first broadcast of The Five Doctors. Many sources, including Elisabeth Sladen's autobiography, state that he died before being paid for the role. However, Doctor Who Magazine writer Richard Bignell claims that this isn't true, saying "Hurndall had five different payments made out to him ... (four contractual, one expenses) and all were paid in 1982 and 1983, way before his death."
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1967 Deadlier Than the Male Suited Man at Judo Club Uncredited1968 Joanna Butler Uncredited Hostile Witness Supt. Eley The Avengers Farrer Episode: Legacy of Death 1969 Some Girls Do President of Aircraft Co. 1970 Steptoe and Son Timothy Stanhope Episode: Any Old Iron?1971 Zeppelin Blinker Hall I, Monster Lanyon The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes Lord Faber Episode: The Ripening Rubies 1972 Lady Caroline Lamb Radical 1972-1973 War and Peace Count Rostopchin 3 episodes 1972-1977 Van der Valk Picard/Magistrate 2 episodes 1973 Gawain and the Green Knight Bearded Man 1974 The Brothers Clifton Episode: A Bad Mistake Father Brown Father Superior Episode: The Arrow of Heaven 1975 Royal Flash Detchard 1977 The Prince and the Pauper Archbishop Cranmer Just William Great Uncle George Episode: William's Worst Christmas 1981 Blake's 7 Nebrox Episode: Assassin1983 Blue Peter First Doctor Doctor Who Episode: The Five Doctors
See also
This I Believe - 1957 second season on Radio Luxembourg
References
External links
Category:Alumni of RADA
Category:English male radio actors
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Category:Male actors from County Durham | {"Name": "Richard Hurndall", "Birth name": "Richard Gibbon Hurndall", "Birth date": "1910 11 3 y", "Birth place": "Darlington, County Durham, England", "Death date": "1984 4 13 1910 11 3 yes", "Death place": "London, England", "Education": "Royal Academy of Dramatic Art", "Occupation": "Actor"} |
Władysław Raczkiewicz (; 28 January 1885 - 6 June 1947) was a Polish politician, lawyer, diplomat and President of Poland-in-exile from 1939 until his death in 1947. Until 1945, he was the internationally recognized Polish head of state, and the Polish government in exile was recognized as the continuation of the Polish government of 1939.
Early life and studies
Władysław Raczkiewicz was born in Kutaisi, the second-largest city in Georgia, at that time part of the Russian Empire to Polish parents Józef Raczkiewicz, a court judge, and Ludwika Łukaszewicz. He studied in Saint Petersburg where he joined the Polish Youth Organization. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Dorpat he was employed as a lawyer in Minsk. Upon the outbreak of World War I he served in the Russian Imperial Army, but after the Russian Revolution he joined the vanguard for Polish independence. Serving as the head of the Naczelny Polski Komitet Wojskowy, he helped to create the Polish I Corps in Russia. Later he served under future Marshal and chief-of-state Józef Piłsudski, who created the Polish Legions that ultimately aided Poland in re-establishing its independence.
As a volunteer, he fought in the Polish-Soviet War between 1919 and 1920. At first, he supported the Endecja faction, later joined the Sanacja camp headed by Piłsudski and his closest supporters. Raczkiewicz served as the Voivode of the Nowogródek Voivodeship from 1921 to 1924; government delegate to Wilno Voivodeship (1924-1925) and later as its voivode (1926-1931). After the Brest elections he was appointed the Senate Marshal (1930-1935) and Voivode of Kraków Voivodeship in 1935, and Pomeranian Voivodeship from 1936 to 1939.
World War II
When Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1939, he escaped to Angers, France, where the Polish government-in-exile was established. He lived in the nearby Château de Pignerolle from 2 December 1939 until moving on 10 June 1940 to London, where he joined General Władysław Sikorski and Stanisław Mikołajczyk in the relocated Polish government in exile. He was an opponent of the Sikorski-Mayski agreement.
In February 1945, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt held the Yalta Conference. The future of Poland was one of the main topics that were deliberated upon. Stalin claimed that only a strong, pro-Soviet government in Poland would be able to guarantee the security of the Soviet Union. As a result of the conference, the Allies agreed to withdraw their recognition of the Polish Government in Exile, after the formation of a new government on Polish territory.
Raczkiewicz died in exile in 1947, in the Welsh town of Ruthin. He was buried in the cemetery at Newark-on-Trent in England. In November 2022, the remains of Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski, and Stanisław Ostrowski were reburied at the Mausoleum for emigree presidents at the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw.
References
Category:1885 births
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Category:Presidents of Poland-in-exile
Category:Government ministers of Poland
Category:Senat Marshals of the Second Polish Republic
Category:Senators of the Second Polish Republic (1930-1935)
Category:Association of the Polish Youth "Zet" members
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Category:Polish military personnel in the Imperial Russian Army of World War I
Category:Polish people of the Polish-Soviet War
Category:Polish people of World War II
Category:Burials in Nottinghamshire
Category:People from wartime administrations in Poland (1939-1947) | {"Name": "Władysław Raczkiewicz", "Image caption": "Raczkiewicz in 1930", "Term start": "30 September 1939", "Term end": "5 June 1947", "Order 2": "3rd Marshal of the Senate", "President 2": "Ignacy Mościcki", "Prime minister 2": "Walery SławekAleksander PrystorJanusz JędrzejewiczLeon KozłowskiWalery Sławek", "Predecessor 2": "Julian Szymański", "Successor 2": "Aleksander Prystor", "Birth date": "28 January 1885", "Birth place": "Kutaisi, Kutais Governorate, Russian Empire", "Death date": "1947 6 6 1885 1 28 y", "Death place": "Ruthin, Wales", "Resting place": "Polish Aviators' Plot, Newark-on-Trent Cemetery", "Spouse(s)": "Jadwiga Raczkiewicz"} |
Nicolae Rădescu (; 30 March 1874 - 16 May 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre-communist rule Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 to 1 March 1945.
Biography
Early life and education
The son of small landowners (Radu and Zamfira), Rădescu was born on 30 March 1874 in Călimănești, Vâlcea County. He attended the Military School for Officers, graduating on 1 July 1898 with the rank of second lieutenant. He pursued his military studies at the Cavalry School, graduating in June 1900 and being promoted to lieutenant in 1903, and then at the Higher War School in Bucharest (1904-1905), being promoted to captain on 4 October 1909.
Second Balkan War and World War I
In the summer of 1913 he saw action with the 1st Cavalry Division in the military campaign in Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War. He was promoted to major on 1 April 1916, and served in World War I during the Romanian Campaign of 1916 with the 5th Regiment Călărași, fighting against the German forces at the Carpathian mountain passes. For his bravery and skill at the Battle of Sălătrucu, in the Topolog Valley, he was awarded on 10 January 1917 the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd Class. In April 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel; he served as Chief of Staff for the 2nd Cavalry Division until 1 September 1918, and was promoted to colonel in April 1919.
The Interwar period
On 27 May 1920 Rădescu was appointed adjutant of King Ferdinand, after which he served as military attaché in London (1926-1928). Upon his return, he was promoted in March 1928 to brigadier general. He served as commanding officer of the 4th Brigade Roșiori, after which he was attached to the Inspectorate-General of Cavalry, and then commanded the 1st Cavalry Division (1931-1933). He resigned from the Army on 5 February 1933 and transferred to the retired reserves. Upon presenting his resignation, he accused "profiteering politicians" and King Carol II's camarilla of commercializing military life.
That same month Rădescu joined the People's Party of Marshal Alexandru Averescu. In the mid-1930s, he became involved in nationalist politics; he supported a far right movement called Cruciada Românismului ("The Crusade of Romanianism"), aimed at the cultural "Romanization" of Germans and Hungarians in Transylvania. This short-lived movement was a splinter group of the Iron Guard, created by Mihai Stelescu. After Stelescu was assassinated in July 1936 by an Iron Guard death squad, Rădescu became a leader of the movement, which quickly faded afterwards. Because of his political stances and his opinions regarding the royal camarilla, he started being monitored by the secret police (Siguranța Statului).
World War II and the rise of Communism
thumb|Rădescu and King Michael I listening to Simion Stoilow, Rector of the University of Bucharest, at the opening celebration for the 1945-1946 academic year
After King Carol II abdicated in September 1940, Rădescu charged dictator Ion Antonescu with collaborating with the Nazis. As noted by ex-President Emil Constantinescu at a memorial ceremony, Rădescu opposed the advance of Romanian troops beyond the Dniester River after Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina had been recaptured in 1941 from the Soviet Union. In 1942, Rădescu wrote an article critical of the German ambassador Manfred Freiherr von Killinger and his constant intrusion in the internal affairs of Romania. He was interned as a political prisoner in the Târgu Jiu camp. On 23 August 1944, immediately after Antonescu's downfall in King Michael's Coup, Rădescu was released from prison. On 15 October he was appointed Chief of the Romanian General Staff at the insistence of the Soviet government, which favored him for his independence and his reputation as an ardent anti-fascist who was respected by the people.
He became prime minister on 7 December 1944. The Soviet government initially supported him; on a visit to Bucharest, the Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Vyshinsky, publicly expressed Soviet confidence in the Rădescu government. Soon after the situation changed, as conflicts over the armistice agreement emerged, especially over Moscow's demand for $300 million in reparations; Rădescu also resisted the Soviet order to deport Germans from Romania to the Soviet Union. To assist with the imposition of a communist government, the Soviet NKGB and the Romanian communists supported the Patriotic Defense Guards; these paramilitary organizations, which appeared after August 1944, were placed under the command of Emil Bodnăraș. On January 15, 1945, Rădescu ordered the dissolution of the Guards, but Teohari Georgescu and Bodnăraș ignored the instructions. At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Petru Groza, anticipating the imminent agrarian reform, encouraged the peasants to forcibly take the land of the big landlords.
On 24 February 1945, the Communist Party of Romania and its allies organized a mass rally in front of the Royal Palace to call for his resignation. As the protest carried on, communist agents opened fire from the Interior Ministry building situated across the street, killing several people. In a radio address later that day, Rădescu blamed the attack on Ana Pauker and Vasile Luca, calling them "hyenas" and "strangers without kin or God". The next day, the Communist Party orchestrated an unprecedented propaganda campaign against Rădescu. His son, Nicu, who had participated at the rally (he had been recruited into the Party in 1940), wrote an open letter to his father; the letter, published in Scînteia and România Liberă on 28 February, accused Rădescu of issuing the order to shoot peaceful demonstrators. Radio Moscow called Rădescu the "Butcher of Palace Square". Concomitantly, Vyshinsky arrived in Bucharest and demanded from King Michael the resignation of Rădescu; at the direction of Joseph Stalin, he warned that the Soviet Union would not allow Northern Transylvania to be returned to Romania if Rădescu were to remain prime minister. As a result of all these pressures, Rădescu resigned his position on 1 March.
On 6 March 1945, the first Communist-dominated government of Romania took office under the direction of Petru Groza. Over the next few years, the Communists completely consolidated their power.
Exile in the West
One of the first decrees of the Groza government (issued on 7 March 1945) was to impose mandatory domicile for General Rădescu. Pursued by the Communist authorities, Rădescu sought refuge in the British legation, stayed there for about two months, and was then handed over to Romanian authorities, who had guaranteed his safety but placed him under house arrest. On 17 June 1946, he managed to flee on board a plane to the British Crown colony of Cyprus, where he was detained in a refugee camp by the authorities until the Paris Peace Treaties were signed in 1947. Via Lisbon and Paris he ended up in the United States. Once in America, he and other exiled Romanian political figures, including , Mihail Fărcășanu, Grigore Gafencu, and Constantin Vișoianu, came together to form a united anti-communist opposition in exile called the Romanian National Committee. In 1950, after disagreements within the committee, he was one of the founders of the Liga Românilor Liberi ("The League of Free Romanians"), together with Grigore Gafencu, Nicolae Caranfil, Mihail Fărcășanu, Carol "Citta" Davila, Viorel Tilea, general , and Vintilă Brătianu.
Rădescu died of tuberculosis on 16 May 1953 in New York City; he was buried in the city's Calvary Cemetery. At the initiative of Prime Minister Mugur Isărescu, the remains of General Rădescu were brought back to Romania in 2000. Following the wishes expressed in his testament, he was reburied at the Orthodox Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest on 23 November 2000.
References
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Category:Burials at Bellu Cemetery | {"Name": "Nicolae Rădescu", "Nationality": "Romanian", "Term start": "7 December 1944", "Term end": "1 March 1945", "Order 2": "Minister of Internal Affairs", "Prime minister 2": "Himself", "Predecessor 2": "Constantin Sănătescu", "Successor 2": "Teohari Georgescu", "Birth date": "1874 03 30 y", "Birth place": "Călimănești, Romania", "Death date": "1953 5 16 1874 3 30 y", "Death place": "Manhattan, New York, New York County, New York", "Spouse(s)": "Gizela Ettingerhttps://revista22.ro/eseu/oana-demetriade-cnsas/fiul-impotriva-tat259lui-securistul-nicu-r259descu-vs-primul-ministrul-nicolae-r259descu Fiul împotriva tatălui. Securistul Nicu Rădescu vs. primul ministrul Nicolae Rădescu Demetriade Oana Revista 22 ro 29 October 2013 22 May 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20140723140735/http://www.revista22.ro/fiul-mpotriva-tatalui-securistul-nicu-radescu-vs-primul-ministrul-nicolae-radescu-32871.html 23 July 2014 live", "Resting place": "Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest", "Alma mater": "Higher War School", "Battles fought": "Second Balkan WarWorld War IWorld War II", "Awards": "Order of Michael the Brave"} |
On January 7, 1948, 25-year-old Captain Thomas F. Mantell, a Kentucky Air National Guard pilot, died in the crash of his P-51 Mustang fighter plane near Franklin, Kentucky, United States, after being sent in pursuit of an unidentified flying object (UFO). The event was among the most publicized early UFO incidents.
Later investigation by the United States Air Force's Project Blue Book indicated that Mantell may have died chasing a Skyhook balloon, which, in 1948, was a top-secret project that he would not have known about. Mantell pursued the object in a steep climb and disregarded suggestions to level his altitude. At high altitude, he blacked out from a lack of oxygen; his plane went into a downward spiral and crashed. In 1956, Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt (the first head of Project Blue Book) wrote that the Mantell crash was one of three "classic" UFO cases in 1948 that would help to define the UFO phenomenon in the public mind, and would help convince some Air Force intelligence specialists that UFOs were a "real" physical phenomenon.Ruppelt, p. 30. Ruppelt's other two "classic" sightings in 1948 were the Chiles-Whitted UFO encounter and the Gorman dogfight.Ruppelt, pp. 44-45.
Historian David M. Jacobs argues the Mantell case marked a sharp shift in both public and governmental perceptions of UFOs. Previously, the press often treated UFO reports with a whimsical or glib attitude reserved for “silly season news.” Following Mantell's death, however, Jacobs notes "the fact that a person had died in an encounter with an alleged flying saucer dramatically increased public concern about the phenomenon. Now a dramatic new prospect entered thought about UFOs: they might be not only extraterrestrial but potentially hostile as well."Jacobs, p. 45.
Incident
thumb|Three F-51D Mustang of the 165th Fighter Squadron, the unit in which Mantell was serving
On 7 January 1948, Godman Army Airfield at Fort Knox, Kentucky, received a report from the Kentucky Highway Patrol of an unusual aerial object near Madisonville. Reports of a westbound circular object, in diameter, were received from Owensboro and Irvington. At about 1:45 p.m., Sergeant Quinton Blackwell saw an object from his position in the control tower at Fort Knox. Two other witnesses in the tower also reported a white object in the distance. Colonel Guy Hix, the base commander, reported an object he described as "very white," and "about one fourth the size of the full moon ... Through binoculars it appeared to have a red border at the bottom ... It remained stationary, seemingly, for one and a half hours." Observers at Clinton County Army Air Field in Ohio described the object "as having the appearance of a flaming red cone trailing a gaseous green mist" and observed the object for around 35 minutes. Another observer at Lockbourne Army Air Field in Ohio noted, "Just before leaving it came to very near the ground, staying down for about ten seconds, then climbed at a very fast rate back to its original altitude, , leveling off and disappearing into the overcast heading 120 degrees. Its speed was greater than in level flight."
Four F-51D Mustangs of C Flight, 165th Fighter Squadron Kentucky Air National Guard—one piloted by Captain Thomas F. Mantell—were already in the air and told to approach the object. Blackwell was in radio communication with the pilots throughout the event. One pilot's Mustang was low on fuel and he quickly returned to base. The other two pilots accompanied Mantell in steep pursuit of the object. They later reported they saw an object but described it as so small and indistinct that they could not identify it. Mantell ignored suggestions that the pilots should level their altitude and try to more clearly see the object. Ruppelt notes that there was some disagreement amongst the air traffic controllers as to Mantell's words as he communicated with the tower: some sourcesquoted in Michael D. Swords' (2000) "Project Sign and the Estimate of the Situation " reported that Mantell had described an object "[which] looks metallic and of tremendous size," but according to Ruppelt, others disputed whether or not Mantell actually said this.Ruppelt, p. 48.
Only one of Mantell's wingmen, Lt. Albert Clements, had an oxygen mask, and his oxygen was in low supply. Clements and the third pilot, Lt. Hammond, called off their pursuit at . However, Mantell continued to climb. According to the United States Air Force, once Mantell passed he blacked out from lack of oxygen and his plane began spiraling back towards the ground. A witness later reported Mantell's Mustang in a circling descent. His plane crashed on a farm south of Franklin, on Kentucky's border with Tennessee.Peebles, p. 23. Firemen later pulled Mantell's body from the wreckage. His seat belt was shredded and his wristwatch had stopped at 3:18 p.m., the time of his crash. Meanwhile, by 3:50 p.m. the UFO was no longer visible to observers at Godman Army Airfield.
The Mantell incident was reported by newspapers around the nation, and received significant press attention. A number of sensational rumors were also circulated about the crash. According to UFO historian Curtis Peebles, among the rumors were claims that "the flying saucer was a Soviet missile; it was [an alien] spacecraft that shot down [Mantell's fighter] when it got too close; Captain Mantell's body was found riddled with bullets; the body was missing; the plane had completely disintegrated in the air; [and] the wreckage was radioactive."Peebles, p. 24. However, no evidence has ever surfaced to substantiate any of these claims, and Air Force investigation specifically refuted some claims, such as the supposedly radioactive wreckage. Ruppelt wrote that, "I had always heard a lot of wild speculation about the condition of Mantell's crashed F-51, so I wired for a copy of the accident report. [It] said that...Mantell's body had not burned, not disintegrated, and was not full of holes; the wreck was not radioactive, nor was it magnetized."Ruppelt, pp. 52-53. Mantell was the first member of the Kentucky Air National Guard to die in flight. According to John Trowbridge, historian of the Kentucky National Guard, "There is a real X-Files twist to this, too. Mantell lived almost his entire life in Louisville, but he was born in a hospital in Franklin, only a few miles from where he was killed."
Venus explanation and rejection
The Mantell crash was investigated by Project Sign, the first Air Force research group assigned to investigate UFO reports. Ruppelt noted that, "The people on Project Sign worked fast on the Mantell Incident. Contemplating a flood of queries from the press as soon as they heard about the crash, they realized that they had to get a quick answer. Venus had been the target of a chase by an Air Force F-51 several weeks before and there were similarities between this sighting and the Mantell Incident. So...the word 'Venus' went out. Mantell had unfortunately been killed trying to reach the planet Venus."Ruppelt, p. 49. An Air Force major who was interviewed by several reporters following Mantell's crash "flatly stated that it was Venus."Ruppelt, p. 50.
In 1952, USAF Captain Edward Ruppelt, the supervisor of Project Blue Book, Project Sign's successor, was ordered to reinvestigate the Mantell Incident. Ruppelt spoke with J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer at Ohio State University and scientific consultant to Project Sign and Project Blue Book. Hynek had supplied Project Sign with the Venus explanation in 1948, mainly because Venus had been in the same place in the sky that Mantell's UFO was observed.Ruppelt, p. 51. However, by 1952 Hynek had concluded that the Venus explanation was incorrect, because "Venus wasn't bright enough to be seen" by Mantell and the other witnesses, and because a considerable haze was present that would have further obscured the planet in the sky. Ruppelt also noted Hynek's statement that Venus, even if visible, would have been a "pinpoint of light", but that eyewitness "descriptions plainly indicated a large object. None of the descriptions could even vaguely be called a pinpoint of light."Ruppelt, p. 52.
Skyhook balloon explanation
Having rejected the Venus explanation, Ruppelt began to research other explanations for the Mantell incident. He was particularly interested in a suggestion by Hynek that Mantell could have misidentified a United States Navy Skyhook weather balloon. In Madisonville "the object was seen through a telescope [and] identified as a balloon by one observer."(Peebles, pp. 23-24) Additionally, between 4:30 and 4:45 PM an astronomer at Vanderbilt University "watched an object in the sky...viewed through binoculars, he said it was a pear-shaped balloon with cables and a basket attached."(Peebles, p. 24)
However, others disputed this idea, noting that no particular Skyhook balloon could be conclusively identified as being in the area in question during Mantell's pursuit. Despite this objection, Ruppelt thought the Skyhook explanation was plausible: the balloons were a secret Navy project at the time of the crash, were made of reflective aluminum, and were about in diameter, consistent with the description of the UFO as large, metallic, and cone-shaped. Since the Skyhook balloons were secret at the time, neither Mantell nor the other observers in the control tower would have been able to identify the UFO as a Skyhook. But this was never proved, as Ruppelt wrote. However, it has also been reported that an astronomer at Vanderbilt University saw the balloon through a telescope.
Inexperience with the P-51
Researcherssee Clark, 1998. have also noted that while Mantell was an experienced pilot, he was rather new to the P-51, and that this relative inexperience could have been a factor in the crash. This does not, however, account for the identity of the UFO.
Thomas Mantell biography
Captain Thomas Francis Mantell Jr. (30 June 1922 - 7 January 1948) was a United States Air Force officer and a World War II veteran. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for courageous action during Operation Market Garden, and an Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters for aerial achievement.
Career
Mantell graduated from Male High School in Louisville. On 16 June 1942, he joined the United States Army Air Corps, the preceding organization to the Air Force, finishing Flight School on 30 June 1943. During World War II, he was a C-47 Skytrain pilot assigned to the 96th Troop Carrier Squadron, 440th Troop Carrier Group, which air dropped the 101st Airborne Division into Normandy on 6 June 1944 and participated in Operation Market Garden.
Mantell, then a lieutenant, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism while flying over the Netherlands on 18 September 1944 during Operation Market Garden. While piloting a C-47 named Vulture's Delight, which was towing a glider, his plane came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. All but one of the rudder and elevator controls were disabled, and the C-47's tail was afire. Mantell's crew chief fought the fire with live ammunition detonating. Rather than release the glider, Mantell decided to continue with his mission. The glider was released at the correct location, and Mantell returned to base. Upon inspection, the C-47 was so damaged that it appeared to be unable to fly. Mantell was nicknamed "Shiny" by his comrades for his "constant well-scrubbed look." He was also described as "able to think fast and act quickly."
After the war, Mantell returned to Louisville and joined the newly formed Kentucky Air National Guard on 16 February 1947, becoming a F-51D Mustang pilot in the 165th Fighter Squadron.
Following his death in January 1948, Mantell's remains were sent to Louisville for burial in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.
He was survived by his wife Peggy and their sons, Thomas and Terry Mantell.
thumb|Captain Thomas F Mantell, Jr. Marker in Franklin, KY about the crash of his aircraft and death in pursuit of a UFO in 1948.
On 29 September 2001, the Simpson County Historical Society unveiled a historical marker in honor of Mantell in his hometown of Franklin. The marker is located at the exit off Interstate 65.
Awards
Pilot Badge
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Distinguished Unit Citation
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two campaign stars
World War II Victory Medal
Legacy
The Mantell incident is one of the earliest UFO incidents to attract widespread public attention. It is considered one of the "classic" UFO incidents from the late 1940s.
The Mantell incident was featured in the 1956 quasi-documentary Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers. The film helped spur public interest in UFOs and speculation that UFOs were of extraterrestrial origin. The Mantell incident was the second UFO event mentioned in the 1953 film Invaders from Mars. The incident was also featured in the 1975 Toei Animation film Kore ga UFO da! Soratobu Enban (これがＵＦＯだ！ 空飛ぶ円盤), albeit with several inaccuracies--for example, the UFO is shown as a disc rather than a cone.
The Mantell incident inspired the 1956 kaiju film Rodan.
An episode of Star Trek: The Original Series called "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" has a similar story to the Mantell incident. Although the aircraft broke apart when it got hit by the Enterprise's tractor beam, the pilot survived.
See also
List of reported UFO sightings
Project Mogul
List of unusual deaths
References
Additional references
Jerome Clark. (1998). The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, Visible Ink,
David Michael Jacobs. (1975). The UFO Controversy In America, Indiana University Press,
Philip J. Klass. (1974). UFOs Explained, Random House, hardback ; Vintage Books, paperback
Curtis Peebles. (1994). Watch the Skies! A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth, Smithsonian Institution,
Edward J. Ruppelt. (1956). The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Doubleday Books
External links
UFO Casebook: The Death of Thomas Mantell (includes official documents)
1948-Death of Thomas Mantell:By Billy Booth, About.com
Category:1948 in Kentucky
Category:1948 in military history
Category:Alleged UFO-related aviation incidents
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Kentucky
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1948
Category:January 1948 events in the United States
Category:North American P-51 Mustang
Category:Simpson County, Kentucky
Category:UFO sightings in the United States
Category:United States Air National Guard
Category:Kentucky National Guard | {"Born": "Franklin, Kentucky, U.S.", "Died": "near Franklin, Kentucky, U.S.", "Allegiance": "United States of America 1912", "Awards": "Distinguished Flying CrossAir Medal"} |
Steve Grand OBE (born 12 February 1958) is a British computer scientist and roboticist. He was the creator and lead programmer of the Creatures artificial life simulation, which he discussed in his first book Creation: Life and How to Make It, a finalist for the 2001 Aventis Prize for Science Books. He is also an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which he received in 2000.
Grand's project from 2001 to 2006 was the building of an artificial robot baby orangutan, with the intention of having it learn as a human baby would. This is documented in his book Growing up with Lucy.
Projects
Creatures
One of the best known projects created by Steve Grand is Creatures, an artificial life simulation, which his company Cyberlife released in 1996.
Lucy, the Android
His project from 2001 to 2005 was Lucy, a mechanical baby orangutan. Lucy was an attempt at simulating the mind of a human baby.
Sim-biosis
Grand worked on Sim-biosis, a computer simulation game in which complete artificial creatures could be built from functional, structural units. It is available on SourceForge under the name Simergy.
Grandroids
In February 2011, Grand announced a new project, Grandroids, described as "real 'alien' life forms who can live in a virtual world on your computer".
Bibliography
Creation: Life and How to Make It (2001)
Growing Up with Lucy (2004)
What is the Secret of Consciousness? (2014) TEDxOporto presentation
References
External links
Transcript of Steve's keynote speech, "Machines Like Us," given at the Applied Knowledge Research Institute's 2002 Biennial Seminar
Steve Grand at the Creatures Wiki
Feature article on Steve Grand's anthropoid orangutan, Lucy
Steve Grand quotes
Steve Grand's discussion with Johnjoe McFadden
Cyberlife Research Limited
Steve Grand's Machines Like Us interview
Grandroids: Real artificial life on your PC a project by Steve Grand
Category:1958 births
Category:Artificial intelligence researchers
Category:British roboticists
Category:Creatures (video game series)
Category:English computer scientists
Category:Living people
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Researchers of artificial life | {"Name": "Steve Grand", "Birth date": "1958 2 12 y", "Nationality": "British", "Occupation": "Computer scientist\nroboticist", "Awards": "Order of the British Empire (2000)", "Website": "http://grandroids.com/"} |
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