Paranormal Kentucky: An Uncommon Wealth of Close Encounters with Aliens, Ghosts, and Cryptids

by Marie Mitchell, Mason Smith

Overview

Encounters with Wolfman and Goatman. An Air National Guard captain who tragically lost his life in pursuit of a peculiar UFO. The Goblin Incident of 1955. Hauntings at Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Spanning these and other out-of-this-world topics, Paranormal Kentucky is an investigation into more than twenty cases—some famous, some more obscure—of the supernatural across the Commonwealth. Kentucky sightings and incidents featuring iconic cryptids like Bigfoot and Mothman, which are rumored to lurk elsewhere in Appalachia and the continental US, are also explored. Coauthors Marie Mitchell and Mason Smith approach each case with nuance and offer in-depth details from multiple perspectives, providing rational explanations alongside the "true believer" claims and mysteries that remain. In addition to field investigations and witness interviews, the duo shares stories of their own experiences with "high strangeness." Mitchell and Smith use wry humor to place Kentucky history and folklore at the forefront of their work. Paranormal Kentucky reminds us that perhaps not everything is as it seems—and that fact can often be found in fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781985903159
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	10/07/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192

About the Author

Marie Mitchell and Mason Smith enjoy tracking cryptids, searching for Little Green Men, and chasing ghosts around the Commonwealth. However, these former journalists and retired Eastern Kentucky University professors have never been haunted by spirits themselves. They've never actually seen Bigfoot, nor have they ever been abducted by aliens—that they're aware of. But they are fascinated by eyewitness accounts from people who believe they have experienced such phenomena. What the couple found through their travels and research was too entertaining to keep to themselves, so they invite you to join them on this journey into Kentucky's paranormal activity.

Marie Mitchell is a former journalist, retired Eastern Kentucky University communication instructor, and coauthor of numerous plays, novels, and short stories alongside her husband, Mason Smith. She also writes a column for The Richmond Register.
Mason Smith, semi-retired from Eastern Kentucky University’s English department, has enjoyed a lifelong interest in the paranormal. In addition to writing novels, short stories, and plays with his wife, Marie Mitchell, he has lectured for the Kentucky Humanities Speakers Bureau on paranormal and historical topics. Smith is also an amateur watercolor artist.

Table of Contents

Opening
1. "Who Ya Gonna Call?": Ghost Hunting in Kentucky
UFOs
2. Kentuckians Battle Against Wartime Fear
3. "I'm Closing on It": War Hero Dies Chasing a UFO Over Central Kentucky
4. Alien Attack: A Christian County Farm Family Shoots At "Little Men" from UFO
5. The Longest Road Home: Three Casey County Women Reportedly Abducted by Aliens
6. All Aboard! Did an Eastern Kentucky Coal Train Actually Collide with a UFO?
Civil War Ghosts
7. The Never-Ending Struggle: Ghost Soldiers Still Fighting Perryville Civil War Battle
8. Searching for Wraiths in All the Wrong Places: The Battle of Richmond and Camp Nelson
9. Civil War Casualties: Spirits of Soldiers Occupy Octagon Hall in Franklin
10. Mary Todd Lincoln, Lexington's Grief-Stricken Former First Lady, Seeks Solace in Séances
Haunted Historic Homes and Places
11. The Hand on the Railing: Cassius Marcellus Clay, the Lion of White Hall, Still Roars
12. The Gray Lady: Frankfort's Liberty Hall Remains Home to a Helpful Aunt
13. Still Hanging Around: Outlaw Jesse James, the Blue Lady, and Uncle Fred
14. Dark Tourism: How Haunted is the Anderson Hotel? And, Do Ghosts and Bourbon Mix at Buffalo Trace Distillery?
15. The Search for Appalachian Ghosts in the Mountains and Coalfields
16. The Tragic Tale of Meade County's Battletown Witch Who was Burned Alive
Other Monsters
17. Bigfoot Boogie: Is There Really a Squatch in These Kentucky Woods?
18. Witnesses Claim a Vicious Man-wolf Stalks Land Between the Lakes
19. Devious Goatman Lures Victims onto Active Louisville Train Trestle
20. Water Monsters: Odd Creatures Spotted in Herrington Lake and Kentucky's Rivers
21. Mothman and Demon Leaper Swoop Around Kentucky
Ending
22. The Truth is Out There... Somewhere
Epilogue: The Little Red Hen
Acknowledgements
Notes

Editorial Reviews

Set against the backdrop of several a 'dark and stormy night,' Paranormal Kentucky provides a unique perspective of events and happenings that have very mysterious circumstances. Mitchell and Smith take a journalistic approach, combining entertaining stories with interesting state history, research, and commentary on Kentucky culture. This book will make readers want to sit around a campfire and share haunting tall tales on a chilly evening.

Blair Thomas Hess

Mitchell and Smith peered into dark corners, asked questions, and listened to the answers. The result is a balanced perspective—replete with pop culture references to The X-Files, Star Trek, and Spider-Man—on seventy-five years of strange incidents from all around Kentucky.

Charlie Sweet

What would you do if you spotted a UFO and aliens? How would you react to a Sasquatch or a spirited gray lady? Where do you stand when it comes to credible witnesses recounting incredible events? Paranormal Kentucky will certainly help you define your stance and provide you with intriguing cocktail conversation and eerie tales to tell.

Hal Blythe