Releases / 1 / X-84d87aa8eb

65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_003

Type

Document, 190 pages

Agency

FBI

Date

N/A

Place

N/A

Released

Release 1, May 8, 2026

Open the original on war.gov

The government's description

The FBI's 62-HQ-83894 case file includes investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and flying discs documented between June 1947 and July 1968. The records include high-profile incident accounts, photographic evidence from sites like Oak Ridge, TN, and technical proposals regarding potential propulsion systems. Additional topics include convention programs, researcher accounts, and extensive media coverage from the period. This file is partially posted on FBI vault with more redactions and some pages missing. Included here is the complete case file with several newly declassified pages and only minor redactions.

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STANDARD FORM NO. 114
, ~
..
•
Office··Memo; , ,dum , uNrTEn s1
$
Sept;Elllber 4, 1947
TO
Director, FBI
DATE:
FROM
SAC, San Francis co
A.IRMA.IL
SPECIAL DELIVfflY
SUBJECT:
REPORTS o aYING DISCS
,J..
~.....~
•
EncJ.oeed is a copy of a letter dated August 25, 1947, with
attachment frcm Lt. Col.. DONALD L. SPRINGER of A-2, Hamilton Field,
California. Even thoug)l Col. SPRINGER feels that Mr. JOHNSON may
have read somel/of his claims in a newspaper, Col. SPRINGER believes
that Mr. F. M JOHNSON should be interviewed in this matter.
In accordance with Bureau Bulletin No. 42, dated July 30,
1947, Portl.and is requested to exhaustively interview Mr. F. M.
JOHNSON, 106 N.W. First Ave., Part.land, Oregon, regarding hiB
alleged sighting of a "flying disc" on June 24, 1947. Copies or
the result of this interview should be furnished the San Francisco
Field Office tor distribution to the 6th Army Intellig«ica.
rmK:MR
Ehcls. 2
62-2938
cc Portland (F.hcls. 4) - .AMSD
...

NFIDZI~TiAL
i
Authority:
...,
NNO 90986
EEAJr.LUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE
Office 0£ tho Assi:;tan't Chief of Sta.i'f, A-2
!ntelli£er..ce
Ilamilton Field, California .
26 Aucust 1947
4AFDA.
SUl3.JECT:
Flyini;; Di so •
TO:
Special Agent in Char~e, FBI, U. s. Depart.ment of Juitioe,
Federal Office Building, Room 422, San Francisco, Calif.
l.
The attached true copy of a letter from 'r. F. M. Johnson
wae reoeived by thie officer 22 A~guat 1947.
2.
Your attention is invited to the similarity between Arnold 's
early report and this ~entleman'a report. A possibility exists that
Mr. Johnson might have read aome or this· 1n the newspapers when Arnold
was publ1cizod re this ma~tor.
3.
Thia headquarters doos not intend to investigate ~his incident .
It is requested that a roeult or nny in~erview you may make be furnished
this ~eadquarters.
'J.
1 lnolt (dup)
Ltr fr i;- . ·••
(True Cy)
~
Johnson
DONALD L-. SPRIJIGER
Lt. Colonel, GSC
AC of S,' A-2
)
I •
AUG 2'1
1

•
PORTLAND, OREGON, August 2oth l9t7
Lt. Col. Donald L. Springer . Aasietant Starr
Sir . Saw in the portland pnper a short time ago in rogards to
an artiol e 1n recards to tho so called f l ying diso having nny basi s
of £not . I cun say am a prospeotor and was in the lit Adams distriot
on June 24th the day K.:?,nne*kmol d of Boise Idaho claiMB he saw a
~Orl!!Ction of flyinG dtso. A nd 1 saw the samo f l yin& objeots at about
the :st:une 'time. Ihviu; r.. telot;c:>pe with rt'!t at tho +.:.mo i onn e.sure you
they are r~~l nnd notin~ lil=o tho~ I ovur 3aw before ~hoy did not pass
verry hir,h over whore l ,..-a.o ato.nding a.t the tho tii:no. ,?lobly 1000 .rt .
thoy rtero Round abo~t 30 root in dime.tor tapering sharply ton point in
tho bN1d end in en OVC'.l :lhnpo. with u brit;h"G top aur:!'acQ.
heor any noiao U3 :rou would ~on a plane.
! did not
But ther~ was an object in
the tail end looked like c. 6115 hanu or a block shi.f'ting !'ro:::i side to
side like a big magen~t. Thero spoed as rar as i know seoced to be
ereater than anythint I ever saw.
Lost veir, I got or tho objeots they
vere standing on edge 13&.rtkin~ in a Cloud.
Yours Respectfully
/s/
F. M. Johnson
106 No . West 1st Ave
Portland. Oregon
A
Lt . Colonel,
AC 0£ S, A- 2
L\. Urt
CONFIDENTIAL

STAN
RM NO. 64
Office· ¥en... ·,- · durJZ. UNITED S
Director, FBI
Atten: Assistant Director D. M. LADD
SAC, San Francisco
GOVERNMEN T
DATE:
AIRMAIL
REPCRTS oPFLrnm Discs
SUBJECT:
Septanber 4, 1937
Enclosed for your information are copies of two l etters
from Lt. Col. DONALD L. SPRINGER of A-2, Hamilton Field, California,
dated August 27, 1947, with attachment s reporting the sighting of
"flying discs" on Guam, and result of A-2 investigation at Tacoma
and Kelso, Washington.
DWK:MR
62-2938
~~
9vf
nt'
COPIES DES'T'W)YED
270 NOV ld 1~b4
~,
\V ......
.
~
Df
~
~
EJTCLOSURE ATTACHED
•
'

HEADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE
Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2
Intelligence
Hamilton Field, Californie

AAFDA 27 August 1947

335 .5/1208-1
62-

SUBJECT: Re Flying Disc.

TOs Special Agent in Charge, FBI, U. 5. Department of Justice,
Federal Office Suilding, Room 422, San Francisco, California.

1. Following is extract from the Weekly Intelligence Summary,
Air Transport Command, Washington 25, D. C., dated 20 August 1947,

_ Copy Noe 120, Article I, Pg ls

“PLYING OBJECTS IN GUAM: Unidentified flying objects have
boon observed by three American enlisted men of the 147th Air=
ways and Air Communications Service Squadron at Harmon Field,
Guam, The men report that at 1040 hours on 14 August 1947 the
two objects, which they describe es small, crescent shaped and
traveling at a speed twice thet of a fighter plane, passed over
them on a zig-zag course in a westerly direction at an approxi-
mate altitude of twelve hundred feet. The objects disappeared
‘into clouds and a few seconds later a similar object possibly
one of those previously observed, emerged from the clouds and
proceeded west. No further deteils have been reported."

Eg

2+ For your information.

Le SPRIN
Lt. Colonel, GSC
; AC of S, Anz

eel ey

HEADQOARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE
Office of the Aa•iatant Chier of Statf, A-2
Intelligenoe
Hamilton Field, California
UFDA
27 Augua'b 1947
333.6/1208-I
SOBJECTs
Investigation 0£ Flyin& Disc .
TOs
Speoial Agent in Charco, FBI, u. s. Department of Juatioe.
Federal Office B~ilding. Room 422 , San Franoisoo, California .
Atta~hed aunmiary rorwarded for your information .
l Inoli
Summary of In£orma.tion.
DONALD L. SPRINGER
Lt. Colonel , GSC
AC of S, A- 2
j

HEADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORC~
Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff. A-2
Intollic;enco
Hnnilton Field, California
4AFDA
27 August 1947
333.5/1208• 1
SUBJECT,
Investigation of Flying Disc .
TOr
Spooial Agent in Charge. FBI• u. s. Depar tment of Justioe,
Seattle , Washington .
Attached aUl'Ullary for11arded for your information.
1 Inola
DONALD L. SPRnTOER
Swmnary of Information.
Lt. Colonel , GSC
AC or s. A-2
I
.
CO~J~IDE1'JTIAL
~
\

e CO!'JFIDEN'TIAL.

J.

COPY

All!

COUE GSRVICE

D:TACimCmr
( 62d MF B'J)
oChord Field. r ~o • .aehlncton
la Au uat 1~7

SUB

CTt

r-o,

iw

italon RcPon

Comiandlug orr1ce~
Air ·••cu• Service
oDill Fi•ld, Florida

1.

JIIS IO?f mn.mm fhirtv• ine.

2.

JiATURE.

a. A'I 0400 P61' • 1 Au!rull't 47. ARtff P'LlGBT EP.VICE noti.f1•4 'llh1e'
dot c
nt t t n plane had beon Hetl to oraeh nd burn thirtoOl'l (la) Jll.11••
ou1:h or JCEL30 1 aab1n ton (4608 ••• 12.20f115' )~.

Acrron TAKE

't, AUS r•oeind 1ni'o
t1on rrc-o IMT. o.
•h•, thAt tho acono or tho crcoh llfll8 '
t1f'toon \16) to i; nty (to) dloe
ot .KELSO in the Yiclnity ct OO"aLE
OREEX . Th• tmLS0 CM.of' or olloo .,~ an ai:ror'ft!'v .'.t"ly low ovor tho tomi,
th n omah ruid but'll to
out. ~• ~lc:• .,,.,., abo\.lt 02$0 P..,i". A ohook of
••

l J.~ 4?. At 04,&0

c. Cl rk, loo 1 ah ritt nt &&LOO,

•••t

1.ror tt knOYn to 'bo in tho v1.o1ll1ty r•.-•d•cl -thllt -20 151G hnd dopartod
JICCHO'RD FIRU) e.t 0211 PS! tc.;r IL\.mL!O! PIELD, iCalifornS.e. . fhe woo.tnor
•
•
ol"tod aa CFR. A .full t)OO -.da vbibiltt.y •x~pUonally • od..
pilot •• l1llDe waa C.&.t>T. ,. C. lllVIDSOl'a the pl1uw ca.rrled threo ($) additionfll
por on■• !ha Saae Qi,el"a.tione Ott1oor encl llaa• PIO .-r• notU'1 4. Thie
detac
nt began orsanlaing • ground party or baae pol"aonn~l to eupplo nt
t.hat 'h4t1ng ronwd by the EtsO Chiet ot Polioe. .At OoOO PS! intor.ution
• ~ec iT•d troa Ill.SO by APS that groun4 fog in tho Y&lloye at th• aoen•
of tl10 orath n• pro"' Dti~ uound p&l"ty fNa 1ooat1n the plane. .Since
~o co=mm.cation had b•on recalYOd trom 8•25 lSlG, it wa• aaawc.d that i~
c tht plcno reported •• ora hod . AllS C-'-7 n.1 pre-tlichted. to 'lranapo1·1I
the Arn:, ground p0rty to REL-SO but a obeok 01' the field condl ion• there
4 me4 lt c4'rioablo to u
a e 11•~ airorart. or th• two C-45e available.

on

longing to AFS

• unaor•1ced at er a night tli{thts th othor, belonc•

inr; 'to MC&. • • :re dled •••n though o ro11pondhl• otricer ot hnt ort•n•
h&tion
• riot p1••••nt to authorhe the fU.&ht. F'o~ at K LSO pr•••n1.ed
t • -off until 0100 PST. The gound ~y. led by CI\Pi'. • I,. Ll!'IRELL und

CA?~. T. B. FOR6BEn~ . conaiotod or au ~n 1nc1ud1n& a

dic,al technician

e.nd a photographer . At 0600 PST" tho
UO Chlcr of Polio :not1f1 d PS
t a p 110n or or tho crci1h d
rplano • a in hi• ott1oe nd
d oont ncod

CONFIDENTIAL

m.,

be11et' thil\ ' tbo GR&h aa thc.t or tho unreported
2B. Tiie ••• ~ r#.
8 t. c. L. TAPP', ·or "'· l.AWTOJg, S&T?L.i. na 11~1Zlj\ll"OQ. but Nport 4 that
th
~ew oh1 t, r/., gt,. •• D.
rmms. was o.t a t m houoe nc r the eo•n• o!'
'ho ara•h and wa11 ir jnr•4• 8gt. TAFF ~hen 1•4 an o;abul ·new to ct• .
-1
wi:10 auba•~u•ntly ~ukon to• lo~ 1 hoaplt 1. At oe10 ~r t.n attecp,
11
4• :'\o iiel•phono Q.• 'S
JIAl-nLTO?i Plm.D bu\ no ananr
■ reoeiYOclJ
hc:rire\'Cr• it waa known tha.t HAUILTO?f APS ••• ••ar o!' t.ha inoident an4
would notl.fy Sq. D. At 0700 PST Ct.pt. LlTfifBW. departed 1n a C-46 tor
lilll.SO. t.t 0746 PST ~ 'WI\• ontaoted by ph~no ellii C1Yon
tl.oah roporti .
At 0905 PSf OA?!' Ll'l''me."Lt phonod an<i infenad th11i; he hn4 placed CAP'lAlR
FO!lS &RG in oharge of Arq por1ou~ 1 p rocffdtnr, tc the •oane ot the ora,h.
Co M. l aoa~ch waa· neoo8sary a o1Till•n• in the area know tho xao~
1 tion of tho craah nd h•d report.ec.l tin.din~ on• ( 1) bo~ in t.h~ ll'l'♦ ol- ••
CAPl'. LITTRELL prepared \o fly ttt'• 1'AFF o.nd MA'l'IffilYS to COHOHD FJ&LL
tor
d1o l att ntiou. arrh1ng a 03,5 PST. The 11urvhn,r-e et.ntud th t
~

thc-.1 bolioY- cl
1tbor ,ho l)Hot nor oo--p1lot. h.aa p re.ohutod f'roo tho
plo.uc. 'l'ht! o :taco of: 'th 1nc1dont
• flt tMo tiC".o deto1•mlnt1d to be a r1N
in tho l rt u:q;tn • CJ.Pt L!ffiU";J.t
8 inforr.od by Sgt;. fl.FF that h
belie~
oln1si!'iocl doctm nts hnd bean abocrd tho planc,1 C~f '.FORSlWRO
a 1natructod t-o telko n OOH&U")' pro0t/.ut1onn. An Mbu.ltinc
t the pl ne
a1: 'CCHO D FhLD onrry1ns h two 11urviT'1r8 and took: thc:n to tho hoGpltal.
Int rrotrt-tion Tavonled t~t tho l 1't •~ciuo hnd o u;ht fir 1u tho power
• ction and rlCl:llo Wl~
Gpro
to tho rll&ht dock AlJnodt 1ci:::ed•
1atoly.. The or-., oh1ot, llAT.tlffiJS 1 aa1et cl TAf!'F 11l e.tto.ching h1u ohaat
pool; d ~/Jt'F abundonc:,4 tho plano tan cst1=t d nlt1tudo or lO 000 rt
(eii• tot 1• 4oubto4 but la not conaidored11ZOooa1 r11y rol~vimtj.
TI ,S holped tho pilot nd oo-p11ot ttaoh their chaot
cka (nll por•
aomiol hnd '.»oo\'i
nr111r; th• blll'ndsa) and •• bo lort -th pk.no ,me •
r• th•~
th• CO"':S)iloti
• p paril'\8 to :follow. Trut pilot hM1 •tartod o leave &."'If!,
to th beet r•oollectio» ot • 1'llfils.
• pci.rtl lly -.to.n4iDG na holcU.ng
thD c nt:tol ~h ol vt1. t hi left
rid. W.i'iiti:7 • S •t•t•tl.ttnta rin 1 t t}; t
propor 03r ~ncy ~rooed~res hnd been porror:lo4 out that ho ~l
e bat n°"'lopcd the ~ntir• lei'\ a1do l!:!Oet i
diately. TAPf at t 4 \ t , beoauao
()t th
full moon nd goo4 1rl•S.bl11 ty• he so. UA'f'l!El'JS J avo tho ;,l~• Md
as bl to follow th plane to tile round ana thQt ho anv no ono ol••
lb il out. Tho •hip
• uv lop d in f'lamao and m. boc1nninc to f 11 a rt
botor hittins th ·round w'nor 1t exploded ond burud about on.o (1) ail•
trm wt.are )us• TAPP, leGed..
U t ill o. tn,o. end not l:r.owin~ how to
r leaae his paraohut or ho ~\llck-detaor.abl• kinct. out himaolt looH troa
tho t tio•a Y.ith hie pouet mire. Be kick d end ~trugglcd end eventually

ju

d ~o th• gro~nd, ~ooeiYin5

jolt oD i~aot b~t

8 unAble to gu•••

how t r ho ha4 !'c.llen. l!o thon tollowd a oow tb tor ~n e tin \ed twv
(2) ell • to a !'a.m h0\!1 • arr1v1~ rter
TJIBWS .
~ anwh11 ; a • T.EIE\7&
ol• r.-d th• plan~ ho t\arnad nd
tho plane 1triko tho round, e,:plod.e
nd burn. Juart be.fore or just at 'tbc 1m or 1tipac\ .be a . ~n obj11of;
-.l'iro thromt olo r or tho r,l no but did tot know whoth&r 1t ma
,p<1rc1J1l
or r rt at th~ pl•n•• ?4AfE :\iB alao 11~ in a tree, anct att~r rr 1ug h1:selt
~ hi
r- oaa, foll to 'tho uoiu.14 w..•r• he ~Jur d hl
ck.
lost
conoolou neae and on rocoverinz
ni. to tho burning planu, bout t'l.t'by

e<3Q;NFJ.DENTIAL.
Ubj Ota

Final l i&11tor. Rep,..·

"

4 Au5u1t 19'7

,.

(60) yard• •••Y•'
l&1t • wero ga1ng orr ams ll• tbo\l,,.h11 bee, 'to lcaw the
aoo~. :&• heard • etr4"ll:l nearby nd t'oll011Vd 1t uplill ho oer.w to a hou10 and
rou94>4 tl1 00011pant• •
oon !APF' arrivod o.ti tho "'
hou1c and. being un•
• l11j\lrod , n• irl••n tuto 1iO'lfll• Thon ti led an a'.'llb1.1lar.ce 'to et.reot tran ■porla•
Uoza or UAflillfiS to • ho:,;ii al. ~ MY1~1lo • a1v1 linn• -ro ohcd tho aoeno of'
he om.sh whoro ~hoy found one body. A, 0930 PGT, b c:e•••G• trom i D
lnrorra.od thet top ••orot ~t•rtcl • 1~ the ~AflgQtora ltlt and to requeat
GN..-flding Ct£1o•r llCCEORD :PttLD to expedite 11 ••nilable lnt'omot1on to
Co
adi?lJ? Ottioor tiAUIL'l'O :FIELD .
riwbil• • Q~'t l'llUIB RO om! :four (4 )
onU&i: d
n departec!l EUlO t 0930 PST !'or •o•n• ot the OP eh.
hoy W.N
t "'Qortod. by th fASIUJlGf-0 STATE: POt,lC ho lln•• th• e i,t loe!lt1on o~
the p lnr. (46009' • 1220,s• ) . 'rho groUDd ~ .-ty de-tsmlned upou arrinl
a th\'J oc M, th t ti.,o (2) bcdiej) were in the nNckAge. lndioation1 led -to
tho bcU. t tliot th'.) <io-a)1lot
o o.t"lr
en ho l•tt t
plnne o.n in1tant 4
batore 1cptlot. n1- p1lo~•s
1n• WON i'ound in the w.r CDt!:O• Pre•
Uminaey nnatigtltbn b)• OAPT PvBSIIERG diaolo• d tho pl n I l rt :wing
about on mm4r d
nt,• fiTO {128) yard• ~ro tho wldi:,ly • tt .,. ct portr•
tions tlt' the :i)lC:: • Tho loft w1n
, 1 to.ct nil hod pp£~ nUy torn
of-£ ju t outbOW"d of tho loft ngino
!'oro 1i'?lp ot. '71\e fon,.urd :portion '
ot thfi 'Wini; .wb
ltcd but the reu two thir!So 1nd1oat that it ho.d •
:ripl)6'1 loo e l"'0 tbe i ' : " ~
et1o~ of \?\c rir. • l'h win l dint adr,e
a ur.
god. 1'h1t fl.g•tio t1nd lrU:d1n 11 r,!';te
rll unhYokon . 1'h
lto~mi
UI
&Gd but the tlap 800~1on was CTU~b d. lo~dtug to th•
boliet that 1.ho willt: 1-truclc 1.
All ..~ion. From theae lndtoot1ono
1~ 1• b lieTed th• w1n rippod 'h!o the a1.rplane juet a.rter t!.AnDm8
ab donod the p lace . fh• rc,aultlng r:pin 11hu• prew:ite4 th re:r: 1n1ng
er
bor ■ tro
bailing O\lt lt.boup tihct co • p ilot rnsy h Yo
<m ln the
bfl1>ch e A ~-- chilian• 1"0r• in tho •re& when CAP1' POF.S13SRO JT1Ted
~d he took pr•oautio~a ~o pr.-v.nt th= rroQ di •tur b1Dg ho wt'Oebeo•

A'II :116'1 PS'l' CAPT µTTREt.L f'le• <lAP1' lUCf • H. c .• to KELSO. An twbulanoo
at petchcd fi'Olll CCtroRD FIEU> .
t th
at !Et.SO, ric) ,... led. t.G th• 10•1:2•
or the ere ah by tbe S'lAT POilIC ' . Th• bod1•• ...,.. rooo~red and tx-ane-

parted ln the ai!bulanc• i.o
CLO. 0 FIELD. CAPT Llf!ll Lt roturnod \o
mono U FIELD where oqping eQ\dp nt • • ~ repared to be d~op d. to the
ound
rty . CAPT LITTRELL,. do a auooeHful drop at dt.lak by aigh\1Dt;
on a al
l ,r 1re . 1'he erouad J"1;y' . .t up camp a\ th• wreolta
acene to
o.ot e.a cuua and to invteti t f1rth•T" tho tollow1n day. thy re

r l1ev c1 or roaponaibllity ot 11 reoonrod documonta by• CIC agon~ who
h d MriY d a out 1800 PO!.
b.

2 Aus 4.1.

..he uow,d arty: ro:ia1no4 at th• eGQno or th
o Aorl l aotiTity.

ora1h

nd1~~ rr101 1 eaour1nn ct hO 1.no1dent.
••

3 Au

47 .

cnon.o Ptnu:> 0perotion11 Otf'1c•r depano4 t 1000

PSI' to 1n•••t1gato tlw aoo1C:S.n"1
t 1600 PS'l'. lno1<1An"II oloeoa .

nd t,o relieve CAP? fOtlSBKRa, who rot\U"Decl

CONFIDENTIAL

~

bjeo, Final Uiae1on Rcpor~
a.
OROUJID ACTIVIff
(1)
,oul r:nn hour• by Mij Per101lll l 1n tiold
(2) Total a:.nn hourc by 0 her Arey Poraonr..ol
(eatl t )
(S) 'i"ot!ll
n
our 'b,Y civlli n poroonnol (o
(4) to. ct r.J.1 a dTlv n by Ji.r-y Vchielee
b.
c.
~00
) l~O
soo
AERIAL ACl'IVlfi
\
(1)
Total No . of 8QZ''ll1ou ·.rlom1
(3)
rotel hours tlcnm by An:;y a1r or«l~t
LOCAL l'UllCUASE3
(1)
none
• • Coopar tion ·r•o 1-v d from
to and xoellent.
•
12
on •
HOBER? Jf. W1 ONIIBILIER
Ce.pt in , Air Corp
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CONFIDENI'lAL
6

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!~..~~~...~!........................
DATE ... . ..
!:::~ r..,~~~·~ ·······-·~n~......~~~!..::1~1c1
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CAsE CLASSIFICATION • ••••• ~~~!~!!~~···························- -STATUS OF CASE - - -··········
.
P.ndl1\(L................. _............_ .........
l 1w•1;l • ..1o!l lnlt1at.d &1- the request or Air DotenH
r ~•Nooo 1\1" .;q " -• 4t0 '1 Jul 4?• tll• DUt. 611>• eubjt lnftstigatlOQ. ot
,REASON FOR INVESTIGATION:
. i Q ~•
'lylng 11100.
YNOPSISt
On 251 July 41, 'f!r. Arnold• Adaticm dlto.- or ~ Idaho
U7 & at;ecma, tel • ~
phono4 Lt. rown requ •tlnc he ro1.1.u•n to .&CO"OA aa\lao ~nold ooll•Te4 he bacl eom
veey -.t.tol into tlon oa th tl.vin4 41ao.
Lt.
Offl'l and Capt. Da-r14aon int rvlewd •
•r. wod 1.. C_rts::an and a
A. Dehl, elonz wtth Capt. Smi~h ot tho tJn1to4 Air Wnoa. ar.4
• AJ"'DOl • at
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the
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jor
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dut"lnt tho pcr1oc1 ot l!d.• report.
'lbo anon,n:ou• ey1ter,1 ull•r ln com ooald poa ■tbly be
•
•
COPIES
DISTRIBUTION
I,
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C:O ►•FIDENTIAl
y
eon l4eratlon
1
1 en 1md.8 tr

oN a 2
>. ;

/ i |

VENTURE PRESS .

) ©
| Mr. Kenneth Arnold,

204se, Idaho 2. Es: ae eh ( L i

Dear Mr. Arnold:

' Quite obviously you have been ribbed so much you'd like to |
f forget the flying saucers--but I'd sure like to have your
personal story, your photo, pio of your plane, ete, as I
asked before. And you won't he made to look silly, because

there's more to this than the rewspapers and the experts"
have made of it.

Besides the erticle, I have another propesition, You seem to
get around quite a bit, and if you can maka a trip to Tacome, }
Washington at #11 feasible, I'd be willing to pay expenses |
| plus 8 noice amount to make it worth your while.

~ Ita want you to see Mr. Harold A. Dahl, P. 0. Box 154, Fern |
Hill Station, Tacoma, and Mr. Fred Le Crisman, owner of the
Tacoma Harbor Patrol, Inc. Dahl, and two other seamen, on a
patrol near Murry Island, off Tacoma, saw six discs, one in
trouble, witnessed an explosion, saw falling stuff which f
smashed their wheelhouse end searchlight und lended on the
| beach, They seat me samples which Chicago U has failed to i
analyzes I want a picture of the beach and the stuff that
landed there (about twenty tons, they said). And I want
i somebody who'll get the trath, to find out if these boys are
} on the up and upe You could do thet. I hope youwill. If |
agreeable, please write and perhaps we can telk business. Fal
i I think you'd like to prove this thing tood

Anyway, I still wnt that erticle!

Sincerely yours,

Lua

|
Re A Palmer f
|
|
{

WESTERN WESTERN
UNION UNION

WESTERN
UNION

q

WUA41 PD i : J]
~ BOISE IDA JULY 29 1947 255P

LT FRANK M BROWN, A=2 (RPT A=2)

OFFICE 4TH AIRFORCE HAMILTON FIELD CALIF.
VENTURE PRESS 305 STUDIO BLDG 1718 SHERMAN AVE EVANSTON ILL, RA
PALMER. SENT ARNOLD $200 TO GO TO TACOMA TO INVESTIGATE FLYING
DISC REPORT THERE. SUGGEST THIS OUT OF LINE FOR PRESENT PUBLIC
INTEREST IN STORY AND BELIEVE AS | SUGGESTED ON YOUR VISIT HERE
VENTURE PRESS SHOULD BE CHECKED

DAVE JOHNSON

305 1718 $200
308P

-

f

Office _Memo \ .,,.,um • UNITED S1n. ... ..__ ;.ovERNMENT
7-29-47

TO
FROM
SUBJECT:

.

METAL FRAGMENTS O SERVED AT WEST RUDGE, NE11 HAMPSHIRE, JULY 7, 1947
SECURITY MA.Tr.ER (X

Referenoe is made to Boston teletype to tho Bureau datod July 18, 1947.
Dean John M. Bunker, the original inf'or111ant, baa advi:sed that a speotographio
examination has boen oomplotod of tho metal partioles referred to. Thay were
determined to be of ordinary oast iron whioh bad boen aubjeoted to a very
high degree of heat. The heat caused aoales to be formed on the oaet iron
whioh were originally thought to bo of some metallic alloy.
The soientist examining the partioloa oonoluded that if they had oome through
the air from any great altitude in as small pieoea aa they were found th.en
most of the heat would have been taken from them by the time they reao~ed
the ground and fires 'WOUld not havo resulted. It ia noted they landed
approximately 700 feet from a railroad traok e.nd inquiriea were oonduoted by
MI'!' to determine whether or not the partioles oould havo been originally a
pa.rt of a liuer in a smoke staok or some other part of the steam engine. Theee
inquiries resulted in positive information -that the particles did not oome from
a train or looomotive. Measurements of the four pieoes examined revealed

that they had most likely been originally all part of one hollow oylinder,
eight inohes in diameter and three sixteenth• of a.n inoh in thioknesa. It
was felt that ono piooo falling from a great height would haw still retained
a good part of its heat and probably 11ould have mashed when 1 t hit the ground.
A aoiontiat, whom Doan Bunker did not identify by name, recalled that oast
iron oylindors of similar measurements had been used in New Mexioo on
roaearoh work on a guided missile projeot. However, this unidentified scientist
not so oonoludo to the exoluaion or all other possibilities.
OON P INi'T, '"
is intere l ting to note that the examination at MIT was a.otually oonduoted
b) (7)(0)
who furnished the Boston Office with an informal report similar~
in all major details to that supplied by Dean Bunker above. The man at MIT
,.
are gathering through friends all additional pieoes of the origin&l oylin ~
available. These will be turned over to the Boston Office. No further
examination is being oonduotad by MIT and no effort is ·being ma.de t
reoonatruot tho original cylinder.
•

- \t 1) ~

Unlesa advised to the contrary by August 15• 1947 the oston Offioe will
destroy these specimon,. In tho interim they will be transmitted to the
Bureau on speoifio Bureau instruotiona.
COPIES DQq~'llOYED

27 0

NOV ld Wb4

55C

~~~
--<1<.c:P ,

EX·64 ~ ~i ~ <t1P
j

'Ml-1

F

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I

•

t

It is noted that the original Boston teletype refleoted that this inquiry
was being treated aa •19cret" matter at MI T. (b) (7)(D)
has advised that
the comparatively Blll&ll number of research sci entists at LJ: T during the summer
are a l l oognizant of the incident and the results of the researoh. However,
no publicity has been given and it ia not anticipated that any will res\llt.
'!he Bureau's interest is not .known to the scientists at MIT. There ha1 been
no speculation that a guided missilo originating in a foreign land landed
in New Hampshire.
As indicated above, unloas tho Bureau requests spooi fioally further investigative
aotion. this oase is being olosed in the Boston O£tioe.

BSG:md

100-20698

..
i
.
1✓ ~
~ {l C-,·
FBI
FLYING DISCS.
~'
5-45 PM
8-15-47
E
URGENT
~
• L
VGW
~
ON INSTANT DATE A. c.>-,;RIE OF TWIN FALLS, IDAHo}J ~
I NFORMED LOCAL NEWSPAPER THAT COMMUNITY THAT AT ONE PM ON WEDN~DAY
LAST, AUGUST THIRTEEN, HE AND TWO SONS BILLIE, AGE TEN, KEITH, ~X
AGE EIGHT, SAW AN OBJECT NINE MILES NORTHWEST OF TWIN FALLS, RE­
SEMBLI NG FLYING DISC.
URIE STATED THIS OBJECT WAS PROCEEDING UXX
DOWN SALMON RIVER AT TERRIFIC SPEED ESTIMATED BY HIM AT ONE THOUSAND
MILES PER HOUR.
URIE AND SONS DESCRIBED OBJECT TO NEWSPAPERS AS
TWENTY FEET LONG, TEN FEET WIDE AND TEN FEET THICK, LIGHT SKY BLUE
IN COLOR AND ALSO OBSERVED FLAMES EMANATING FROM SIDES OF OBJECT.
AT TIME URIE AND SONS SA~J OBJECT THEY ALL HEARD LOUD SWISH WHEN
OBJECT DISAPPEARED FRIM SIGHT.
CURRENT EFFORTS BEING MADE TO INTER-
VIEW URIE AND SONS PURSUANT TO BUREAU BULLETIN FORTY TWO, SUB DIVISI ON
B, DATED JULY THIRTY NINETEEN FORTY SEVEN.
BUREAU Wi dL E PROMPTLY
✓
AND
BANISTER
I/
* IJ
END
PLS ACK AND HOLD
~
7-48
/t
PM OK FBI WA BW
I
Y- /vr
{
'
~
f

STANOAP~tF,OfiM NO. 64

•

'

·ojjce
M. e1)
. <

• dum
...

TO -

The Director

FROM

Mr. D. M. Ladd

GOVERNMENT

• UNITED ~
DATE:

August llH'/ : ~ ; ~
i:r: o ~ l e . •

er.

---

::r. N1 o s

\J: ~~;;::n__--:._=_--==--=

FLYING DISCS

SUBJECT:

..,

i.:r. Rosen

;;: ~~·~•a_ __

g: ~::;~~n·- _-_- _-_-_In connection with your request to be advised as to the facts
concerning newspaper reports of flying discs in the Portland area and the t;:: ~~rn:.,~_
reported conference of army officials in Portland concerning flying discs , [;~•i1e=:~'--=----_-_-_"
11
the Portland Office has advised that Leaveritt G. Richards , a~tion
_l_!:_r_.!_~___
editor of the "Oregonian, '1 has stated that Captain Willia"'ll. L~vidson
and Lieutenant Frank i ~~wn. of the Fourth AAF Headquarters, San Francisco,
~
were in Portland on J~-27, 1947 . \Toile in Portland they interviewed Dick
~nkin, an experienced pilot, who had reported that he observed, on June 11,
a· fonnation of ten flying discs over Bakersfield, California .
Richards added
//
that Davidson and Brown had also interviewed the following four ~xperienced
•pilots who vrere among the first, t~ report seeing discs , K~:met~rnold, b1l.sinessman
from Bo2f.e , Idaho; Captain E. J . 1\'omith, a co- pilot; Ral~tevens, United Airlines
and Dav~Johnson, aviation editor, Idaho 11Statesman. 11 In order to determine the
purpose of t ~ese interviews Richards contacted Major General Twining of Wright Field,
Ohio , and frQ~ him gained the impression that the A.AF instituted this investigation
to wash out the disc reports since they a re definitely not of AAF origin.

l

1

On Friday, August 1, the plane in which AAF investigators, Captain
Davidson and Lieutenant Brovm, were flying, crashed at Kelso , Washington and both
were lci.lled. The wreckage was screened by AA:F Intelligence from McChord Field.
The 11Tacoma News Tribune 11 and through them t'.le United Press put out a story that
the plane vias carrying parts of a disc which had struck a boat owned by Harold
Dahl and ?'red Chrisman. It has also been inferred that this plane was sabotaged
to prevent these disc parts from being examined.

STATUS
Investigation by the Bureau has reflected th.d.t this plane was definitely
not carrying parts of a disc and t 11ere appears to be no substantiation of a sabotage
charge.
For your further information t here is attached a blind memorandum setting
forth in more detail the results of the investigation surrounding the above plane
crash. No further inquiry is being made in this matter.
ACTION
Air Force Intelligence has been advised of the results of our investigation.
RECORDED

I ___-.,

&
INDEX EI>

.RGF:mjp
COPIES DESTROYED
.27 0 NOV 18 1~o4

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...

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August 14, 1947
FLYING DISCS
The 11 Tacoma News Tribune" and through them the United Press put out
a story that an anny plane which was allegedly carrying parts of a disc which
had struck a boat owned by Harold Dahl and Fred Chrisman had crashed on August
1, 1947, killing two Air Force Intelligence officers who were interviewing
persons who were alleged to have seen flying discs .
Harold A. Dahl and Fred Chrisman, when interviewed by Bureau Agents,
advised in a signed statement on August 7, 1947, that in the early part of June,
1947, they picked up some strange rock formations from a gravel pit on Hauri
Island, Washington. They sent a cigar box of these formations to one Ray Palmer,
editor of the Venture magazine in Evanston, Illinois and also editor of the
Fantasy magazine in Chicago, Illinois . According to them they requested Pal'!ler
to make only a chemical analysis of the rock formations . Palmer then wrote
asking for additional samples stating he had been unable to analyze the material.
Dahl and Chrisman rem~rked that a few days after the flying disc stories appeared
during the latter part of June1 Pa.lmer contacted them by telephone saying he would
pay for an exclusive story if the materials they had sent him were fragments of
a flying disc . Dahl said he wrote Palmer a letter in which he represented the
material as being a part of a flying disc , and both Dahl and Chrisman admitted
that this statement was entirely false.
Dahl and Chrisman then received a call from one Kenneth Arnold of
Poise, Idaho who requested them to meet him at the Winthrop Hotel in Tacoma on
July 31, 1947. According to them Arnold called in ar:ny intelligence officers
from Hamilton Field, California and one Captain Emil H. Smith of United Airlines
of Seattle , Washington to attend this meeting. Dahl and Chrisman maintained
they told the intelligence officers Captain Davidson, Lieutenant Brown, Kenneth
Arnold and Emil H. Smith exactly how they got the rock formati ons and that they
had no connection with any flying discs . Dahl and Chrisman stated that they then
furnished some of the rock formation to the intelligence officers as samples .
Captain Davidson and Lieutenant Brown left Tacoma, Washineton in a B-25
to return to Hamilton Field, California about 2: 30 A.M. August 1 , 1947 , and were
killed when t heir plane crashed at Kelso, Washington, after the l eft engine
burqed out an exhaust stack which in turn caught the left wing on fire which caused
it to break off. The crew chief and each officer parachuted to safety.
Ernie Vogel, an Associated Press wire.man at Tacoma advised that two or
three days after the flying disc story started he contacted Dahl to check the story

COPIES DESTROYED

270

NOV 18 1964

.·

,,

. r

•

•'

that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer had received from the Fire Chief at
Harbor, Washington, to the effect that Dahl had some flying disc fragments.
At this time Dahl admitted to Vogel that the entire story was f alse .
Relative to Arnold, Dahl and Chrisman stated that he was paid by
Ray Palmer of the Fantasy magazine and possiblf the Boise 'statesman' to come
to Tacoma and obtain a story from t hem regarding the flying disc fragments.
On July 31 and August l , a total of five anonymous calls were
received by a Tacoma Times reporter and the United Press Wireman at Tacoma
giving information regarding t he meeting at the Winthrop Hotel over the disc
fragments and stating that the B-25 had been shot down or sabotaged which
killed Captain Davidson and Lieutenant Brown, inferring that t his was done
because the intelligence officers were carrying disc fragments in their plane .
Dahl and Chrisman stated that these calls could only have come from
themselves, Arnold or Smith, wi10 , they stated, had a friend on the Chicago
Times and was possibly selling the story to the Chicago Times through this
friend . Dahl and Chrisman denied ma:o.ng these calls.
Smith, upon interview, stated that reporter Iantz of the Tacoma
Times and Morello of the United Press office in Tacoma had informed him that
Arnold had several anonymous calls and from the accuracy of the information
transmitted Smith believes they wer e made by either Dahl or Chrisman.

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Dlelaeral i!illtreau ~f fnuestigat \
..

lltnitecl ftates ilepartm.ent of Ilustir.e
407 U. S. Court House
~eattle 4, iashington
August 18, 1947

0

DIRECTOR, FBI
ID;:

0FLYT ',. r-~;10.S SIGPT3D BY FRED
CRISMAN and HAROID A. DAHL,
TACO ...il' ••\SHINGTON
SU - X

Dear Sir:
The following, i n ~ r a l, are the facts }'~garding the
flying disc story that started by F:l
vRI S'. ~ •r and 1-LROID A.-f.U1rnL which
subsequently resulted in news stories~ the acoma TLnes , the ~oise Stateaman
and th~hicaeo Times that a B- 25 carrying Army Intelligence officers was shot
down 'or sabotaged over Kelso~ ,ashington on August 1, 1947 because it was carry­
ing so~e flying disc fragments .
The original story, as related by FRED CPIS!WJ and .l:L\ROLD _
DAHL, was to the effect that DAHL, while patrolling in his boat near .:.:aury
d land, ,ashington, sighted six flying discs, one of which fluttered to the
~ earth and disintegrated, showering his boat with fragments ,,nich caused some
damage
the boat and killed his dog . H.,ROID D•.HL wrote a letter to RAY A.
r Pl,I;IER of •ff- Davis Company which publishes fantastic adventure magazines in
~ Chicaeo, sen· g him f:r;pgments of the flying disk and relating the above story.
. ~ -..,AL.:.!ER requested---1:rans- Radio ~.rews in C1 .icago to verify the story as related
by H.~ROID DAHL and FRZD CPIS:.W~legraphed RAY i .1,L'..IER confirming DAHL I s story.
RAY PAU.::ER then engaged im!f\TE
. r'NOID,, . Boise, Idaho , who was the first to report
sighting the flying di sc and w om Ri,Y P,-.Il '.ER had previously made a contract for
a story regarding the flying disc , to come to Tacoma and check the story as -"1_.
related by FRED CRIS:UN and HAROID DAHL.

t3

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KEI-J::ETH .\t,NOLD came to Tacona, ..ashington July 30, 1947 and
arranged for a meeting the following day, July 31, with FRED C"'.IS!.:Ai.' and H.\ROID
DAHL in his room 502, ,iinthrop Hotel, Tacomq,, :15.shington. KE:!NEJH' .•ttNOID also
called to attend the meeting Captain ~~v;r): S'ITTH, United Airlines Pilot who
had also reported seeing flying disc fragments , and Army Intelligence to attend
F.Ef10H.D-mD

E{•54 nu>:XED
A

COPIES IJ;•r-;rrr O ri-; D

270

NOV 181!fo•,

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August 19, 1947
this meeting. KENlffi:TH ARNOLD, Captain EMIL J . .S: ITTH, FRED CRI ~~, Hi ;'OID
DAHL, Captain DAv.:::DSON and Lieutenant BROHN of Army A- 2 Intelligence from
Hamilton Field, Califor nia, all met in ARNOLD 1 s room at various times during
the afternoon and evening of July 31, 1947 and discussed the flying di sc
stor y as related by CRIS!JAN and DAHL. The Army Intelligence Officers, Captain
DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BROWN, left about 2 :00 A. ~,. the morning of August 1,
1947 to return to Hamilton Field, California for Air For ce Day in a B-25 and
were carrying some of the reported disc fragments . The left engine on the
B- 25 burned an exhaust stack which in turn caught the left vdng afire, the
wing subsequently breaking off and tearing off the tail. The B- 25 crashed,
killing Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BRO IN . However, the Crew Chief and
a hitch- hiker parachuted to safety. Intelligence Officers at ~cChorcl Field,
Washington advised there was no indication of any sabotage . The pl ane crashed
at Kelso, .,ashington approximately 2 : 50 A. H. August 1, 1947.
Five anonymous calls were received by a reporter, Tacoma
Times, and the United Press ,;ire.man, Tacoma, between 11 :30 A. '.!., July 31, 1947
and 5:30 P. 1f. , August 2, 1947. The first call was to a Tacoma Times r eporter
approximately 11:30 A. 11., July 31, in which the caller stated that there was
a meeting taking place at that time in room 502 of the ','linthrop Hotel concerning
the disc fragments found on Maury Island. The second call war received between
ll :00 A. '!. and 12:00 noon, August 1, 1947 by the Tacoma Times reporter in
which the caller advised that at that moment a big meeting was taking place
in ARNOLD ' s room nwnber 502, ~,inthrop Hotel; that the B- 25 which crashed was
carrying disc fragments and that UcChord Field officials had stated it was
shot down or sabotaged . The third call was received Friday, August 1, 1947
at 5:.30 P. M. by the United Press nireman, Tacoma, in which the caller stated
that the B- 25 which crashed at n.elso, -.1ashington was carrying flying disc
fragment s and that the dead officers were Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant
BROvlN, A- 2 Intelligence Officers at Hamilton Field, California. This call
was prior to the release of the dead officers ' na~es by Army authorities and
the caller indicated that when the names were released, it would verify the
infol:mation he was furnishing was correct., The fourth phone call was received
at approximately 6:45 P. ''. , Friday, August 1 by the United Press ·rireman in
which call the caller stated the B- 25 was definite}rshot down and that if he
contacted Army Intelligence officers, they would not deny it. The fifth phone
call was received by the United Press 'ireman, Tacoma, at 5:30 P. ~:. August 2,
1947 at Vlhich time the c,n}ler stated the B-25 was shot down from the air with
a 20 m.m. cannon; that the 1 hrine plane found recently on :•t . Rainier had also
been shot down and that Captain SHITH woul d be taken to ~iright Field Tuesday
morning. ~!hen the Army authorities released the names of the dead Intelligence
officers which verified the information as given by the anonymous caller, the
Tacoma TL~es printed this story on August 2, 1947 and carried several articles
thereafter inferring that the B- 25 had been shot down or sabotaged because of
the fact that it was carrying disc fragments . DAHL and CRIS!i.AN have admitted
that the material which they sent to RJ..Y PAUfER had no connection vd.th any
flying discs and have given a signed statement to that effect which are being
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August 19, 1947
forwarded herein. DAHL and CRI~AN deny, however, that they actually started
the flying disc story and their actual part in the story. United Airlines pilot,
EMIL J . S, ':TH, states that DAHL and CP.ISHAN on July 31, 1947, both related their
original flying disc fragment story. Infonnation gathered would indicate that
the anonymous phone calls were possibly made by FRED CRI$WI in order to build
up the flying disc story to the point where they could make a profitable sale
of the story to RAY PAI1:ER, Chicago, Illinois . No facts have been developed
which would definitely prove that CRIS!.!AN made these calls. However, from all
facts and infonnation gathered, it appears he is probably the most likely to
have made the anonymous calls . The detailed interviews of the persons contac­
ted in regard to this flying disc story are being set out below.
The following investigation was conducted by Special Agent
DAVID A. MacCULLOCH at Tacoma, T:ashington on August 6, 7, 1947:
ER.~EL, Associated Press 1ireman, Tacoma, .ashington,
advised that in the early part of June, 1947 he was requested by the Seattle
,- ~ ---w.ot::Lcci±c:....,..Jiu:nu:t..e.elJ.i.e.encer to check on a story which he was informed had been obtained
from the Fire Chief at Harper, 71ashington. The story was supposed to have
originated with FRED CRLS1AN. Mr. VOGEL stated that the story was to the effect
that DAHL, while patrolling in his boat near Maury Island, saw five or six
flying discs, one of which fluttered toward the ground and finally disintegrated .
Fragments of the disc were reported to have showered down on the boat of HAROLD
DAHL, causing some damage and killing his dog. 'fr. VOGEL stated that he went
to the home of HAROI.D "f}AffL on 3903 North Gove, Tacoma, ,:ashington to check with
him on this flying disc story. He stated that as best he could recall, this
was just a few days after the first flying disc stories had appeared in the paper
and was on a Sunday evening. He believed it was the early part of June. He
stated that DAHL took him in the kitchen and proceeded to talk about this flying
disc story in low muffled tones. He stated that DAHL acted rather suspicious
and that shortly his wife came into the kitchen and was in a considerable rage,
telling DAHL to admit that the entire story was a plain fantasy which he had
dreamed up. He stated that after his wife told DAHL to admit the entire story
was false, that DAHL then admitted that there was nothing whatever to the story
and it was an entire hoax. VOGEL stated that in view of the enraged condition
of DAHL's wife, he immediately left and reported to the{ieattle Post Intelligencer
that the entire story was a hoax and that they should not print it in any way,
He further stated that he advised the Seattle Post Intelligencer that DAHL was
a mental case and that nothing which he had reported should be carried as far
as a news story. Mr. VOGSL stated that since that time he had received repeated
requests from the Boise Statesman requesting information as to the flying disc
stories reportedly originating with FRED C1llSMAN and HAROID DAHL. VOGEL stated
that he had never, in his experience, had such pressure brought upon him to
release a news story and that he repeatedly advised the Boise 3tatesman that
the story of seeing the flying discs by DAHL and CRist,AN was a complete fabri- 3-

a.

August 19, 1947
cation and should be in no way, carried as a news story and refused to furnish
any infonnation regarding these reports . He further stated that he advised
the Boise .Statesman shortly before, or at the time KENli"ETH ;L"qNOLD left Boise
to come to Tacoma to check on the flying disc stories with DAHL and CRIS!~N,
that ARNOLD should not come as the entire story was a hoax.
The following information was obtained from PAU~TZ,
4513 South 7th, Tacoma, ·'Tashington, Proctor 8416, a ~porter for the Tacoma
Times:
It .ia.s the Tacoma Times paper which first 4 ssued a story
on August 2 ~nd subsequent stories intimating that the B-25 which crashed at
Kelso, '7ashington on the early morning of ~ugust 1, had been sabotaged or shot
down because of the fact that it carried flying disc fragments . L.UITZ stated
that on Thursday, July 31, at approximately 11:30 A. r . he received an anonymous
phone call in which the caller stated that iG'"ff'ETH ARNOLD and Army Intelligence
officers were meeting in room 502 of the Finthrop Hotel to check on the flying
disc story from which fragments were obtained on Maury Island . LANT'l stated he
turned around to speak to his editor and ,·,hen he picked yj:Y'the phone again the
line was dead. He stated that the caller asked for BUW":}1crnJR.TIE, a reporter
on the Tacoma Times who was out at the time of the call. He stated that BURT
.rJc~lliRTIE called ARN0ID at room 502 in the ,,inthrop Hotel and Vias advised by
ARN0ID that he could furnish no infonnation as he was there on a Government
mission. LANTZ stated that on Friday, August 1, between 11:00 A. 11. and noon,
he received another phone call for BURT Mc '1JRTIE in which the anonymous caller
stated that he might have some info:nnation for him. LlliTZ asked the caller if
he was not the same party that had called the previous date and he said yes.
The caller then related that at that moment there was a big meeting in progress
in ARNOLD ' s room, 502, in the ,rinthrop Hotel; that the B- 25 which crashed that
morning in Kelso was carrying flying disc fragments from California and that
llcChord Field officials had stated the plane was sabotared or shot down. The
caller then hung up after making some statement to the effect that he was a
switchboard operator. LWTZ stated that he v1ent to the ,finthrop Hotel on Friday
about noon and found that there was no male operator on duty. He stated he then
went to room 502 and ARN0ID answered the door and that Captain IlUL J . SMITH,
United Airlines pilot, was on the phone . Li\NTZ stated that he heard ...JITH make
a statement to the effect that the infonnation must be very strictly confidential.
He stated that there were one or two others in the room besides S"'ITH and ARNOLD,
but that he could not identify them. He stated that ARN0ID told him he could
maRe no statement and that he had attempted to check the story with various people
on ~aury Island with negative results . He stated that about 3:30 P. l'. , Friday,
he wrote a story regarding the mysterious informant and called ARNOLD at his
hotel room, stating that he had written~hi story and that ARNOID had better
check it. He stated that he talked to
.:CRRELLO, the United Press a'ireman,
Tacoma, who advised that the story soun ed fantastic . LANTZ stated that about
5:30 P. M. , Friday, August 1, an anonymous caller called TED 1 iORRELLO, the

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August 19, 1947
United Press .1ireman, stating that Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BRO::N
were the Intelligence officers that were killed in the crash of the B- 25 and
that civilians and the sheriff had been kept away from the wreckage vn.th the
Anny guarding it. He stated the anonymous caller then said that the names
had not been released yet by the Anny and that this would verify his statements .
PAUL LANTZ stated that the follovn.ng morning, Saturday, August 2, the Anny
verified that the officers killed were Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BRO,l'N
and two days later verified that they were Army Intelligence officers . IJI.NTZ
stated that the anonymous caller again later contacted TED ~fORRELLO, calling
him by that name, and at this time stated he did not call the Tacoma News
Tribune or the Associated Press and denied calling PAUL LANI'Z or BURT Mct!URTIE.
In this call the anonymous caller stated that, 11Don•t think I'm doing this for
you. 11 He then asked if the story had been put on the wire and when HORRELLO
said yes, the caller stated, m·.e want this to get back to New Jersey. 11 The
caller further stated that the B-25 was shot down by a 20 m.m. cannon and that
the marine plane which was recentl_y found wrecked on the side of !{t. Rainier,
having been missing for several months, had also been shot down. The caller
stated to '~ORRSLLO th::it he should get in touch with a flyer named HORGAN with
United Airlines who, he stated, was with Captain Sll.ITH when they were shot at
over Montana. The caller then stated, 11 1 1 11 see you Tuesday. I 1m going to
San Francisco. 11 LAJTCE stated that he had checked with Captain :c::IL Sl.:ITH of
United Airlines who denied knowing any pilot by the name of ''ORG.',N; denied
ever having flown over l'ontana. LANTZ stated that l:ORR1ILO received another
anonymous call in which the caller stated that STITH would be sent to "'Tright
Field on Tuesday and that Saturday one of the men who found fragments of the
flying disc was to be flovm to Alaska. LA"JTZ stated that in view of the fact
that the information as to the Intelligence officers on the B-25 had been as
furnished by the anonymous caller, had subsequentl_y been verified by the Army,
the story was released that the B- 25 was carrying disc fragments returning to
Hamilton Field, California and furnishing the inference that the plane had been
sabotaged or shot down. LANTZ stated that about 8:00 P. H. on Sunday, August 3,
he contacted Captain E'IL S!:.,..TH at his home, 3027 .. est Laurelhurst Drive,
Seattle at which time S:ilTH stated he had not given any story out to the Post
Intelligencer at Seattle; stated that he had gotten a telegram to call a number
in Boise and when he called and found out it was the Boise statesman, he had
hung up. He stated that the Boise 3tatesman then contacted him, at which time
he admitted he had seen the disc fragments, but that he did not take any of
them.
This time ~ITTH infonned LANTZ that he had been with Uajor GEORGE
S..NDERS, Public Relations Officer from 1.!cChord Field, all afternoon until about
3:45 P. M. S?.IITH informed L.~~!TZ that he had told the Army authorities every­
thing that he and ARNOID knew about the flying disc fragments story from the
time that l\EN~".ETH ARNOID left Boise, Idaho and he had left Seattle, Washington.
This time 9.!ITH admitted that there were some of the supposed disc fragments
in ARNOID I s room at the ,linthrop Hotel and that CRISMAN and DAHL had been in
the room Thursday afternoon . On l!onday PAUL LANTZ stated that he called
HAROID DAHL who advised that if this were not used in the paper, he and FRED

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August 19, 1947
CRISlJ.AN would see him after lunch. LANTZ stated that about noon DAHL and
CRISMAN contacted him at which time DAHL stated that he and his son had been
exploring a gravel pit on Maury Island and found some strange rock fonnations .
He stated they picked up some of these samples and that FR.ID CRISMAN later
saw them and they went back over to Uaury Island at which time additional
samples were obtained and that CiUSI'.WI sent these to a friend of his at the
University of Chicago to have analyzed . They stated that they received a
report and that apparently this frien.d had asked a newpaperman to find out
where the rock formations were obtained . CP.IS1tAN and DAHL told LANTZ that
sometime after the first flying disc story had appeared, they received a tele­
gram from Trans- Ocean Press from Chicago wanting infomation on the flying
disc fragments . FRED CRISMAN stated that they had at no ti~e indisat~the
rock formations were a part of a flying disc and that Captain ]2.1J:~TH and
KENNETH P.RNOLD were not interested in the rock fonnations and they denied
giving them to SMITH and ARNOW.
TED H0RRELL0, a United Press \fi reman, Tacoma, •..ashington
furnished substantially the same information that was obtained from PAUL LANTZ,
the Tacoma Times reporter, regarding the anonymous phone calls which he had
received. He stated further that the first call he received was on Friday,
August 1, at around 5:30 P. ~. At this time the call er stated that the B- 25
which crashed at Kelso, ·;ashington was carrying disc fragments and that the
two officers killed were Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BRO"N, officers with
Ar-my A~2 Intelligence at Hamilton Field and that the fragments were top secret
material. He stated the caller indicated that when the Army released the names
of the dead officers it would verify that the information he was furnishing was
correct . 1:0RRELLO stated that the second call he received at approximately
6:45 P. M. Friday, August 1 at whicq time the caller stated that the S- 25 was
definitely shot down and that if he contacted Anny Intelligence A- 2, the man
in charge would not deny it. M0RRELLO stated he thought the man said to con­
tact Colonel GUYS, but it was found out it was Colonel GR.EDG who was in charge
of Anny Intelligence A- 2. The caller further stated that the Sheriff ' s Office
had been kept away from the crash and that no civilians had been allowed near
the plane . !rORRELLO stated the third call he received at 5:30 P. H., August 2,
and that this time the caller stated that one of the men who had been conferring
with Captain 'I~TH and ~r~JEI'H .PJ:OID was taken to Alaska that day. The caller
further stated that the B- 25 was shot down from the air with a 20 m.m. cannon;
that the l!arine plane found recently on !!t. Rainier had also been shot down;
that Captain ~~ITH would be taken to ''right Field Tuesday morning and that a
United Airlines pilot by the name of HORGAN flew with Captain Sl:ITH when they
were shot at over Montana. The caller stated he was ieaving for San Francisco
encl would be back Tuend'y.
PAUL LANI'Z and TED ''ORRELLO both stated that they had made
very little effort to question the anonymous caller to obtain his identity as
they felt it was useless and that if tney started questioning him he would

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August 19, 1947

refuse to furnish any further infonnation.
On August 5, 1947 Special Aeent DAVID A. ~acCULLOCH was
contacted in the resident agency office, Tacoma, ,/ashington by _RSI) CRISMAN.
At this time CRISI:AN asked if the .3eattle Office was investigation the crash
of the B- 25 and he was infonned that no investigation was being conducted by
the Seattle Office. CRI~L\N at this time related in a rambling story that he
had picked up some strange rock formations v. '1ich he had forwarded to a f riend
of his in the University of Chicago to have analyzed and that later, in some
manner unknown to him, these rock formations had been reported as being frag­
ments of a flying disc.
On .'\.ugust 7, 1947 FRZD CRIS.MN and H.' ROID DAHL were inter­
viewed at the Tacoma resident agency office. Both DAHL and CRISJAN at first
denied any knowledge of how the rock fonnations which they had picked up to
have alalyzed became connected with the flying disc stories. Both denied
making any statement to anyone that these rock formations were portions of a
disc fragment . It v;as apparent from the start of the interview that DAHL and
CRIS'JAN were not telling their complete and true connection with the flying
disc story. They refused to give any definite infonnation as to what they said
or had done which caused them to become involved in a flying disc story, but
gave evasive answers and repeatedly stated that they had nothing to do with it
and were at a loss to understand ho~ they became connected with the flying disc
story. After considerable questioning, they stated that in the early part of
Jun¥they sent to R PAU:ER of t~ Ziff- Davis Publishing Company which published
t~Fantasy magazine in Chicago and the Venture magazine in Evanston, Illinois,
some rock fonnations' v,hich they had found on ~Jaury Island. They stated they
sent these fonnations, asking PAI.LlER to have them analyzed. They stated that
later PAIUER wrote and asked for more samples, advising he had failed to analyze
the samples. CRIS:1AN and DAHL stated they have never sent any additional samples
and that the next they heard regarding the rock formations which they had sent
PAillER was when he called HAROLD DAHL and asked if the rock formations could
have come from a flying disc. DAHL stated he made some remark that they possibly
could have come from a flying disc and that he immediately sat down and wrote
a letter to PAlliER, which was in the latter part of June in v1hich he stated
the material could have been portions of a flying disc . DAHL claimed that he
thought he told PAll!ER over the phone something about being in his boat vihen
he obtained these rock formations, but stated he could not recall what he had
written to PAI.MER and claimed that he passed the whole thing off as a joke.
CRI~:AN and DAHL were questioned at length in an attempt to obtain specific
inforraation as to exactly what each one had done with regard t o the rock forma­
tions. However, each stated that the only thing they had done was tell RAY PAI11ER
the formations could have come from a flying disc in vie~ of the fact it appeared
11 that ' s what he wanted them to say" .
No definite infonnation could be obtained
from either DAHL or CRIS:AN as to what each specifically had done to start the
f l ying disc story.
The signed state:nent which was obtained from CRIS!IAN and

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August 19, 1947
DAHL and in which they admitted the rock formations had no connecti on with
any flying discs is being forwarded to the Bureau herewith. The statement
contains no infonnation of value and therefore is not being set forth herein.
Regarding the meeting which was held in the 'Winthrop Hotel
on Thursday, July 31, CRISL'.AN and DAHL stated that they both met KENNETH ARNOLD
there about 1:00 P. :J.
They stated that they all left ARNOLD I s room about
3 :00 P. M. and that CRISMAN took A:lliOID to Berry' s Airport at Tacoma and
ARNOLD flew his plane to Seattle where he picked up Captain E1!IL S'ITTH. CRIS­
MAN stated that he picked up ARNOID and SMITH at Berry' s Airport about 5:00
P. M. and that HAROLD DAHL came to JRNOID ' s room about 7:00 P. 1!. CRIEMAN
stated that he and S'!ITH left about 8 :30 P. :'. when he drove S:!ITH to Seattle
to get his car and thL>t DAHL went home at this time. CRIS!!AN stated they
returned about 11 :30 P. U. at which time the Army Intelligence offi cers were
in ARNOID ' s room and that CRISMAN left about midnight. He stated that he
returned to ARNOID 1 s room Friday afternoon for approximately one- half hour
from 2 :30 to 3 :00 P. t~., at which time ARNOLD and SHITH were still there and
neither seemed to be able to recal l if DAHL was in \RNOID 1 s room on Friday,
August 1. The best that could be obtained from CRIS!Wr and DAHL as to what
took place in ARNOLI' ' s room was to the effect that most of the talk was about
flying, that no one seemed very interested in the rock fonnations and that
they had no connection as far as they knew vd.th any flying disc . CRIS~~AN
Stated that KZNNEI'H AfNOLD wanted to obtain pictures of the olace where the
rock formations ~ere obtained and that the Ann.y Intelligence officers did not
appear to be interested in any manner whatever.
HAROID DAHL operates the Commercial Lumber Company at 235
Millwater Avenue, Tacoma, ifashington and FRED CFIS!:AN has recently been
_,;
working with him buying timber. They have also been associated with tJ)e~r bor
Patrol Association at Ta.coma, ,lashington which furnishes patrol and police pro­
tection to parts of the harbor area which are not patrolled by Tacoma police
or Sheriff ' s officers. FRED CRIS'...iAN re sides at 125 iloodl and, Tacoma, ·.:ashington,
Ann.y serial number 0- 758-951. During the war he was a pilot and it is believed
presently holds a Reserve Officer ' s conrnission as a Captain.
Regarding the B- 25 which crashed, killing Captain DAVIDSON
and Lieutenant BBC\'JN of the 4th Aire Forces, Captain ROBERT G. BJORNI NG, A- 2
Officer, l!c Chord Field, advised that this investigation of the crash reflected
an exhaust stack had burned out on the left engine which in turn caught the
left wing afire and that when the left wing broke off, it also broke off the
tail.
The plane at the time of the crash was carrying Captain DAVIDSON,
Lieutenant BRm,'N, the hitch- hiker and a man as Crew Chief to take care of the
ai rplane. The Crew Chief and the hitch- hiker parachuted to safety, but Captain
DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BR<J.JN were killed. He stated that their investi gation
reflected no indication of any sabotage whatever,
A check of the records of the ..inthrop Hotel at Tacoma,
..ashington revealed that KENNETH ARNOW, giving his address as Route #1, l'ount­
view Drive, Boise, Idaho rented room 502 from July 30 at 7:43 P. M. until

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August 19, 1947
August 3. A record of t~'t)hone calls made from room 502 during this period
was made by Hiss S~JGBERG. This record reveals that KENNEI'H ARNOID on
July 31 called PA~ at AN- 5200, Evanston, I l linois, coll ect. On the same
date called Lieutenant BRO~'N at 5800 Hamilton Field, Cali fornia, collect •
.ARNOW also called 0109- J in Boise, I daho on July 31. On August 1 ARNOID called
LON- 4936, Portland; PALMER at Dearborn 5200, Chicago; and SJITH called RODDY
at Dearborn 2323 at Chicago. Both Chicago call~ were collect . The remainder
of the calls appear to be personal calls and are not being set out . A record
of the phone calls made are being retained as an exhibit i n the Seattle Office .
The following information was obtained by Special Agent
PIERRE H. LEVEC in interview on August 12, 1947 with Captain FlrIL J . SMITH,
3027 Hest Laurehurst Drive, United Airlines pilot : It should be noted that
Captain SMITH has pr eviously received publicity for having supposedly seen
flying discs or similar objects on July 4, last while on a routine United Air­
lines flight out of Boise, Idaho in company with his co- pilot &'.I.Pf'rjSTEV?J1S,
concerning this incident. Captain a'.:ITH states that they took off from Boise,
Idaho at 8 :12 P. M. and headed Northwest at 300 deg~ees and while still climbing
at 8, 000 feet , co- pilot STEVEMS called his attention to some objects in the
sky ahead of them about ten degrees left which neither one could identify.
&ITH states that he called a CAA radio operator at Ontario, Oregon and reques- 1
ted him to step outside his radio shack and see if he could see any of these
objects overhead. The CAA radio operator replied in the negative.
Captain ~.!ITH states that he first met K'E!mETH ARNOLD on
July 5 in the offices of the Seattle Post Intelligencer where both were being
interviewed concerning their sighting of flying discs . S::I'IH states that he
next met AFJTOLD about three weeks ago in Boise, Idaho at which time he, .TiITH,
was on another flight through Boise, Idaho and had a ten mip~t,e lay-over there.
On this occasion _!:1:!'1~ was in company of Captain ·1:LLI~r ~-D.\VIDSON and
Lieutenant FRANK ~~o.m, Army Intelligence officers, and a reporter JOHNSON
of the Boise Statesman. S:~ITH 1 s next contact with ARNOLD was on Thursday,
July 31, last when he received a telephone call from APJ-TOLD calling from Tacoma
in the early afternoon at which time he asked S.:ITH to come over to Tacoma and
join him as he ,,as investigating a flying disc story for 11 someone back East"
and some fragments v,ere involved which SHITH might be interestec1 in seeing.
After some discussion :1.:IT:-I agreed to join ARNOLD in Tacoma and AR!JOLD told
SMITH he would fly over and pick him up at Boeing Airport at 4 :00 P. !-1. SHITH
met ·.RNOLD at Boeing Field at about 4:00 P. !.l:. and they flew to Berry ' s .tdrport
at Tacoma, fashington where they were met by FRED C~IStf,.AN. The three of tha~
proceeded in CRIS'~ 1 s car to the /inthrop Hotel where ARNOID was occupying
room 502. AhNOLD ordered something to eat and during this time either ARNOID
or CRIS:.'..'\N called a HAROID D.1\HL and invited him up to the room. By this time
S:~ITH states he had learned from ARUOLD that CRISMAN and DAHL were the parti­
cipants in the latest flying disc story and SHITH states that he had no previous
acquaintance with either of these men before meeting them in Tacoma on this date .
,fuile in the Hotel Room .'Rt:OLD sbov,ed S:ITTH a letter which he had received from
RAYMOND L.ViER of the Venture Press of Chicago requesting that ARNOID investigate
1

- 8 -

August 19, 1947
the CPISZ.!AN- DAHL story in Tacoma. A'lliOID informed S:ITH at this time that
after receiving this letter he had called PAL2::R by telephone in Chicago
as a result of which call PALMER had forwarded him ~200 . 00 expense money
for covering the story. Shortly thereafter, at about 7 :YJ P. 1'. HAROLD n~HL
arrived at the Hotel room and the discussi oh began among the four men present
as to what DAHL and CRISllAN had seen on Maury Island. DAHL professed reluc­
tance to tell the story, claiming that several unfortunate incidents had
occurred subsequent to his seeing the flying discs and he believed the entire
incident had brought him bad luck. In this connection he stated that four or
five days subsequent to his sighting the flying discs, a man called at his
home and had a conversation with him the course of which DAHL was warned to
forget all about everything he had seen on or near kaury Island. In addition
to that, DAHL stated that his sixteen year old son had run away from home
following the incident and had been picked up by the police somewhere in
Montana. After some further discussion DAHL finally agreed to tell hi s story
of the flying disc incident in front of SUITH after eliciting a promise from
SttITH that he would not discuss the matter for at least two weeks . It should
be noted that DAHL had previously told his story to A:'..NOLD and GRISHAN. At
this point DPJ!L related the incident which has already been described and which
he alleged had taken place on or about June 23 or 24. ~'hile relating the
incident DAHL mentioned that he had taken pictures of t he fl,ying disc vhich
he had seen but that the printed films were marred with ,vhite spots. ;hen
DAHL had concluded his story, CRimiAN related that he had gone the fol lowing
day to 'faury Island to verify what DAHL had told him concerning the fragments
and had at this time picked up several fragments and taken them with him. At
this time CRISMAN related that he also saw one of the flying discs hovering
over the Isl:and but that it had disappeared into a cloud. ,ben DAHL and GP.IS.IAN
had finished telling their story ARNOLD told the group that he had earlier in
that evening called Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BROfl~, Army Intelligence
officers and that they vrere on their way to the Hotel room. At this point DAHL
protested that he did not wish to tell his story before anyone else and he
was advised by ~ITH that if such was the case why didn' t he just leave and not
be there when they arrived. CRISUAN, DAHL and :::UITH then left the room and
went downstairs . DAHL departed alone. CRIS'!'!AN drove SllITH back to Boeing Field
near Seattle where &.'ITH desired to pick up his own personal car, which he did.
They then returned to the Hotel where they found Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant
BRO.IN in room 502 with KZNNETH ',P.NOID. .ARNOLD met them at the door and seemed
excited, explaining to S!~ITH that Captain DAVIDSON had just drawn a reproduction
of a freak disc which had supposedly been seen by a woman in Arizona and that
this drawing was an exact reproduction of the flying disc which he, ARNOLD, had
seen several weeks before, nearing lft . Rainier. SBTH states that shor tly after
this c:.n~rAN seemed very anxious to tell his and DIBL 1 s story to the Anny offi­
cers. Before this was done , however, s..aTII· had a discussion with Lieutenant
BROdN, infonning him that they had promised DAHL not to release the story for
t,,o weeks and that if CRIS!lAN were allowed to tell the story at this time, Bno·m
and DAVIDSON must agree not to release the story for one month. Following this
agreement, CPISUAN related D.JfL I s and "tis story of the flying discs over !fa.ury
- 9 -

August 19, 1947
Island to BRC;'?T and DAUIDSON. Following this recitation, Lieutenant BR071N,
in ans,,er to a query from '::''!TB, said that he and Captain !),'.VIDS0flT were of
the opinion that there might be some truth in the current flying disc stories,
but that their immediate superiors (presumably A- 2 at Hamilton Field) did not
agree with them. BRCt..'N and DAVIDSON then held a brief discussion as to whether
they should return that same night to Hamilton Field and they decided that
they would. All five of the men then went down to the lobby where BRO.,N
detached himself from the group and entered a phone booth to call for a car
from :~cChord Field. SMITH also left the group and met BRO\'IN outside the phone
booth llhere they held a short discussion relative to the credibility of CRIS­
~~N and DAHL I s story.
B::10 IN indicated to Sl !ITH that he should attemt to find
out if the story was on the level and that BRO.m 1r1ould call him the following
day regarding this matter. The group then proceeded to the front of the Hotel
at which time CRISI.f.AN brought his car to the front of the Hotel and took from
his trunk a box of the alleged flying disc fra~ents picked up on 1-:aury Island.
He offered them to BRO i'N and DAVIDSON and when the Army car arrived from 1.::cChord
Field the box of fragments was placed in the car vlith the officers. CFis:.i.AN
departed alone and 1JUiCLD and ~~ITH went in search of something to eat and later
returned to the Hotel for the night.
On Friday morning, August 1, 1947, ARr0ID received a call
from GRISHAN informing him that a B- 25 had crashed during the night and it was
believed to be the same plane which BR0i-iN and DAVIDSON were flying. Following
this call CRISUAN and DAHL came to the Hotel room and from the room CPI:1.fAfJ
again called McChord Field in an attempt to get infonnation about the crash.
S!!ITH took the phone from CRISMAN and spoke to a Colonel GR.EX;G, identifying
himself and asking if the B- 25 which crashed was the only one which had taken
off from HcChord Field the previous night. GR.EriG told him that it was . Follow­
ing this call ...JcNOI.D called RAY-LIO.ND PAD!ER in Chicago and informed him of the
previous night ' s conversations and the fact that D.1-l.VIDSON and BRO.IN were believed
to have been killed. PAL..!ER told ARNOID to discontinue his investigation of
the incident and that he, PAll~R, was no longer interested. SMITH then took
the phone from ARNOLD and asked PAll.:ER if he could shed any light on the
situation. S~ITH was unable to sa.y what PAll1ER 1 s reply to CRISl,!AN was . Fol­
lowing these telephone discussions a:ITH says that he called :.1AURICE .Ji;JPJDY whom
he identifies as a personal friend of his and an aviation editor or"the Chicago
Times . ~ITH states that he had prefiously made an agreement with RODDY in
Chicago that should he ever run across any flying disc stories which showed
promise of news value, that he would contact RODDY and this call was a result
of that agreement. Shortly afterward, Colonel GRF.GG called him from McCrord
Field stating that Hamilton Field had requested that ARN0ID, S:~ITH, CRI SMAN
and DAHL submit their addresses to Hamilton Field for convenience of any Army
investigation of the incident which may be forthcomine . After this call the
four men went to a restaurant for lunch. During the course of this meal s:.:ITH
excused himself from the table and attempted to call SAC BOBBITT of the Portland Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation with ,vhom he claims acquain­
tance. BOBBITT, however, was unavailable and S>:ITTH was unable to complete the
- 10 -

. August 19, 1947

~

call. After returning to the Hotel room, a Tacoma Times reporter called
attempting to gain information, but they did not give him any. Later, a ~r.
~'OPJBILO of the United Press called and ~~ITH spoke to him on the telephone
but refused to give out any infonnation. s:rITH further relates that while
the four men were in the room at this t~~e, an envelope was shoved under the
door and that he retrieved it from the floor . s.J:ITH states that the appearance
of this envelope seemed to startle CPIS?.!AN considerably and tbat in fact, CRIS:UiN
turned white as a sheet until s:;ITH read the note unsigned ,,hich was a commu­
nication to the Hotel advising that a strike of Hotel employees was eminent and
that guests should not expect room and telephone service much longer. Shortly
after this incident DAHL and CRI~U~N left the Hotel room after promising to
take f.fu'JCLD and S''ITH to !!aury Island the following morning, (Saturday) . ARNOW
and SiITTII then went out for dinner and on their return, ruITH found a note in
the box requesting him to call a certain telephone number. Pe did this from
the Lotel room and was answered by LANTZ, Tacoma Times reporter who requested
SMITH to go out and call him from a !)ay station. SUI'rH compl ained and was.
informed by L:'1.NTZ that two anonymous telephone calls had been received by
him that a discussion regarding flying discs had been taking place in room 502
at the ,finthrop Hotel which involved ~nny Intelligence officers . From the
information which LANTZ had received, s::ITI-i was convinced that the anonymous
caller must have been present at the discussion also, as L.i\NT~ was seemingly
in possession of pertinent remarks which had been made in the room. S!.ITTH
states that he did not give L.NTZ any further information and that in conclu­
sion of the call, he returned to the Hotel room and he and ARNOID retired for
the night .
On Saturday morning, august 2, 1947 ~IITH redeived a tele­
phone call from ~• .UFICE RODDY in Chicago, but l,as unable to give him any
further infonnation. en 'ITH advised him, ho,·1ever, that he would call him back
at 2:30 that afternoon. DAHL then called from a coffee shop nearby and ARr'OID
and S!.:ITH joined DA!'L, CRI.51.!AN and an unknovm man in the Coffee Shop for
breakfast . The unknown person was discussing some lumber business with DAHL
and left after breakfast. On leaving the coffee shop, S:lITH asked D;J-IL about
the negatives of the photographs wrich he claimed to have taken of the flying
discs. DAHL said the negatives were in the glove compartment of his car, but
a search of the instant elove compartment was fruitless .
The four then pro­
ceeded in CRIS:.!AN 1 s car to the dock where they were to embark for Haury Island.
The boat, however, could not be started and the trip was postponed until later
in the day.
"hile at the dock, however, s:lITH asked to be shown the damage
to the boat which had allegedly occurred when the fragments showered dovm on
:.ra.ury Island. CRIS1:Af'! pointed out what may have been repairs to the windshield
and lights on the boat, but S!.!ITH was not personally sat isfied that these repairs
were made as a result of any such incident . C1Is.>:AN and DAHL then drove APr,rom
and ~IITH back to the Hotel at approximately 10:45 A. U. and CRISiiAN told them
he would call them later on and that they would go to !!aury Island . On return­
ing to the Hotel, S:lITH called LA'JTZ at the Tacoma Times as a result of llhich
call he and ARNOLD met L\NTZ at th.e Coffee Shop across the street from the
- 11 -

August 19, 1947
/inthrop Hotel. S:'ITH stated that the purpose of this meeting was to try to
find out something more about the anonymous phone calls which LNTZ had told
him about . He and ARNOID still refused to give out any further information
regarding the Thursday evening conference to Lil:TZ and were infonned by LANTZ
that the Tacoma Times was afraid of being scooped on the story and was going
to print something on that day . ~·tTH and AR~TOJ.D then returned to the Hotel
and shortly thereafter received a phone call from CRIS!fAN but the call was
cut off by the switchboard operator since it was not an ekergency call. SJITH
and ARNOID t hen returned to the Hotel lobby where they found a telegram from
DAHL asking them to call him at either Broadway or Proctor 7733, g!ITH is not
s ure of the exchange . ~TH called t~is number, but DAHL was not there . si,rrTH
states that he went then to the •·:estern Union Telegraph Office and dispatched
a collect telegram to '1-.URICE RODDY at the Chicago Times -which contained a
brief resume of the incidents which had occurred and which requested RODDY to
wire s:rrTH a telephone number where RODDY could be reached after 6:00 P . !!.
Si.ITTH states that he has never received an answer to that wire. Following
this, ~:ITH states that he and ARNOID that he and ARNOLD were sitting in the
lobby of the Olympic Hotel when IJ.!ITZ entered and gave them each a copy of the
latest edition of the Tacoma Ti~es which contained a story hinting at sabotage
in the crash of the Anny B- 25 which killed Captain DAVIDSON and Ll.eutenant BRQ;;N.
S:"ITH stated that he and APJ-10LD continued to occupy seats in the Hotel lobby
most of the afternoon inasmuch as they were unable to receive calls in the Hotel
room due to the Hotel employees• stri~e . He relates that he received a call
in the late afternoon from L..NTZ advising him to call LU:TZ that evening at
8 : 30 as L.4.!,ITZ ha.d further information regarding the anonymous calls . s.:ITH also
received a telegram requesting that he call Boise 6000 which he did and found
that it was JOHNSON. of the Boise Statesman. He refused to eive JOHNSON any
further information at this time. However, shor tly thereafter, JOHNSON called
from Boise and advised S:JITR that the Anny had released a story through Brigadier
General SHRAM revealing the confidential assignment \'rhich BRO lJ and DAVIDSON
had been engaged on. In view of this release, JOHNSON requested S:!ITH to answer
one question for him which was, 11 .1ere they carrying any alleged disc fragments
on the plane? 11 and S? ITH answered, "Yes, they were . " Following this S'~TH
caJ led Li.UITZ as per his earlier request and was infonned that MORR.ELLO of the
Unit ed Press had received another anonymous phone call at ,1hich time 11the voice 11
said that the Army B- 25 carrying Captain D.tiVIDSON and Lieutenant BRO:~ had
been shot down with 20 m.m. shells and that the . ~arine plane found on '!t .
Ra'.inier had also been shot down with 20 m.m . shells . ·The voice went on to state
that S!.rITH would be called back to ,right Field on Tuesday. :hen !~vRRELLO
asked why he was giving out this information the caller replied that it was
not for the benei'it of the newspapers , but that he was interested in seeing
that the information got back to New Jersey.
The voice also infonned PORREU.O
at this time that one of the two persons who had been talking to ARNOLD and
S'illTH had now left for Alaska. As a result of t'.is latter bit of information
S~ITH decided to find out if CRI SMAN or D.nHL had left town . He located DAHL
at the Sunset Theatre and D1\HL came to the Hotel and met £.8:TH and ARNOLD .
They v1ere unable to locate CRISMAN by phone and DAHL left saying that he would
try to find out where CFIS!.1AN was and that he would call them tomorrow (Sunday)
and that they vwuld go out to Maury Island at that time . After DAHL left,
T

- 12 -

'

. .

'

'

August 19, 1947
S..!ITH and ARNOID went to the Tacoma Times Office where a reporter met them
and took them to '!ORRELLO in the United Press Office. There they read the
latest press releases and had a discussion with ~ORR.ELLO regarding the anony­
mous phone calls . In the course of this discussion 1iORRELI..O mentioned the
name of ~fajor GEORGE 3ANDERS, Public Relations Officer at !.~cChord Field. as
being one of the officers interested in the investigation.
Following this discussion with VORRELLO, at which time
S'.ITH states they still refused to divulge any further information, ~ ITH and
ARNOID returned to the Hotel for the night .
On Sunday morning, August 3, 1947, DAHL aupeared at the
Hotel room and told them that he had received a letter from CRISMAN which said
in effect, 11Take care of my business . 1 1 11 be out of town for three or four
days. 11 DAHL had a letter with him but he did not show it to S..ITH or ARlJOLD.
The three men then drove to DAHL 1 s secretary ' s house in South Tacoma and
picked her up and the four of them then went to breakfast on the South Tacana
highway. ,'lhile the four of them then went to breakfast SMITH excused himself
and called 'fo.jor SANDERS at u!cChord Field and arranged an appointment to meet
him at the Hotel lobby at 11:00 A. ~. They then took DAHL 1 s secretary to her
home where DAHL picked up a typewriter and then drove Si.ITH and ARNOLD back
to the Hotel. They asked him if he was going to take them to l~aury Island that
day and he replied that he was not . He further stated that he was sick of the
entire business and that if he was ever contacted by the Army or the authorities
he was going to deny ever having seen anything and claim to be 11the biggest liar
that ever lived" . Shortly after returning to the Hotel, S!.Tl'H met Hajor SANDERS
in the lobby and they went in S: CTTH I s car to a coffee shop in South Tacoma ,,here
s:.iITH proceeded to tell !!ajor S..-.!TI)ERS the entire story of the incidents which
had occurred in Tacoma regarding the CRISl.:AN and DAHL story since Thursday
afternoon. Following this, S!HTH took :fajor SA.'IDERS back to the Hotel and intro­
duced him to ARITOID and suggested to .~RNOI.D that he also tell Major SAI'!JERS the
entire story of what had occurred. ARNOID did so. 'fajor SANDERS after looking
at the fragJnents ,:hich were still in the room suggested that they drive out to
the Smelter near Tacoma as he believed the slag at the Smelter would bear a
distinct resemblance to these fra&nents . The three nen then drove to the ::melter
and t'1e slag was noted to be definitely si j lar to the fragments ,1ri cl-J. CRISMAN
and DAHL had left in the Hotel room. They then r~turned to the Hotel room and
:!ajar SANDERS left them. After packing their bags, S''ITH took JdJJOID to Berry I s
Airport where his plane was parked and then S:ITTH drove himself back to Seattle.
About an hour after his arrival in Seattle, which was
approximately 7:30 F'. 1'. , LANTZ of the Tacoma Times appeared at S::IT'T's home
with the newspaper containing the \ssociated Press story which had originated
in Boise, Idaho in the .ooise Statesman and which was written by JOHNSON following
.::, ITH' s admission to him that fragments had been carried by Lieutenant BRC, ,1T and
Captain DAVIDJON on the fatal B- 25 flight . o"TTH at this time continued to
refuse to give any statements for the Press and told L.~.TZ that he had placed

- 13 -

...

August 19, 1947

all of his infor.nation in the hands of the Army. $'£.ITH stated that a couple
of days later he called .iajor S~NDERd at ,.,.cChord Field and asked him if there
was any recent information concerning the incident. a!ITH states that •.fajor
SMTOERS infonned him that CRISJA}T had not yet been contacted, but that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation was "setting a trap for him". S'ITH further
advises that on Friday, August 8, 1947, he appeared before Lawyer JOHN NOLAN
at the County-City Building, Seattle and made a deposition of the facts relating
to the incidents in Tacoma from 'l'hursday afternoon, July 31, last until Sunday
morning, August 3, last .
A copy of this deposition is now in possession of the writer
and is being forwarded herewith to the Bureau. It should be noted that this
deposition is in no way as complete as the statement taken by the writer above
and any setting out of this deposition in this communication would be superfluous .

Copies of this communication are being sent to the Butte,
Portland, San Francisco and Chicago Offices for their infonnation only. Unless
advised by the Bureau to the contrary, instant investigation is considered closed
by this office .
For the infonnation of the Bureau, Captain R. G. BJORNING,
Intelligence Officer, ~1cChord Field, Ft . Lewis, .,ashington advised at the weekly
O.P. I.- S. I .D.-F. B. I . Intelligence conference that the Public Relations Officer
at McChord Field had received a telephone call from an individual at Army Air
Forces Headquarters at ,;ashington, D. C. , during wh.ich call the Public Relations
Officer was requested to obtain a signed statement from DAHL and CRIS?'iAN which
could be published and thus publicly close the matter. Captain BJCRNING further
related that he had no additional information in this matter and that he did
not handle it.
Very truly yours,
,.

£et~~
~

Special ~~~~f~

ENCLOSURES
DAM;PHL: 11:EK

100-18945
CC - Butte
Portland
San Francisco
Chicago

- 14 -

harge

August ti, l<:14?
I:uffi<,L:) A.

D.ri.HL and FRED C.rlL..........i... mal~e the follor;rng f'oluntary st teront
to ~J-1. L.-1.VID .,•• •..AC m.. LLtel. of the Feder 3.l Bureau 01· I nvestigation.

I c t he eii~' r ar t <.." J une l ~"'i' \ e 1icked up some strange rock f or;1iations
fro. a gravel pit on lli8ury I sland , 11ashington. ,1e sent a box (cigar )
of these fragments to RAY PAili.lER of Venture kagazine s t Evanston I llinois
to have it anal yzed.
Later P.AIMER wrote and asked for aduitional samples stating that he had
failed to have them analyzed.
Around the later purt of J une a few days aft er the first disc stories
start ed ~AIMER cont acted us by phone . He told us not to tell the news­
papers a:iout the f r agments and he would pay for an exclusive story if
the fragments could be from a f l ying disc .
One of us tol d hi r the fragr.ients could have been from a flying disc.
J ust after our phone conversati on HAROLD DAHL wrote a l etter to RAY
PALMER setting out some notes et c . regarding the fragments and
indi cating t hey coul d have come from flying discs.
The next thing we heard was about the fir st of J uly when v1e got a
Trans Ocean Press telegram from Chicago asking lmll:t about these flying
disc gragment s . We tol d them t o gor get t he entire mat ter.
The next we heard of these fragments was when we were called by
KENNETH ARNOLD to meet wt.th him in the Wint hr op Hotel on llluly 31 , 194?
We t ol d hin exactly how v;e had found the f r aements and had forwarded t hem
to FA.llll!R to be a nalyzed.
The above is the entire and true story as regards our connection with
riginated over the ore samples whi ch
the flying disc s t orie e etc . ·w
we sent to be analyzed.

-

1/~

~cf'

If~~~~

r.4.£ ~~ifr~?

dJ)t:4 &...I

STATE OF

ASHlNG'l'ON )

COUNTY OF JU?G

~ ss

J.E. SMITH, being firs~ duly sworn, on oath, deposes
aiid says:

Thi·s ls a narrative statement as to what took place 1A
Tacoma i'rom Thursday, July 31 until Sunday, August J .
Thursday I received a telephone call trom Tacoma trom a

Ke.nn.eth Arnold. The gist ot this conversation was that he thought
i t wou1d be a good idea tor me to come to Tacom14 and listen to the

story of t.wo 11e.n. whose names were Fred Crismon and Harold Dahl .
This Ke.nneth Arnold I had met two times previous - o~oe on Juiy 5
a t the ottlc e ot the P . I . in Seattl.e tor a very brief time and the
second time in Boise, Idaho Y&en I was passing through on one ot
my trips.

In this conversation with Arnold on tb.e phone , I made the
s t atement tha t it v1ould be impossible tor me to go over to Tacoma
due to 11J3 going out to Salt Lake City the next morning. He said
that he would tly over trom Tacoma a nd pick me up at Boeing Field.
I agreed to this proposition trom Arnold. At 4 o•olock I met
Arnold at the Boei.ng Field and we tlew back and landed at Barry•s
Airport.
e were picked up at the airport by lrred Crismon, who
drove the two ot us into the inthrop Hotel .
e went up to Room
502 -- Crismon,. Arnold and myself' .
!'red Crismon put a telepbo_ne call into Harold Dah.l and
asked him would be come up to the room. A half hour later Harold
Dahl made his appearanoe. At tb.is t .i me there were tour men in the
room - Crismon, Dahl, Arnold, and myselt. Ur. Arnold asked Mr.
Dahl to relate his story as to hat took place on June 24. Ur.
Dahl was very hesitant about telling the story to me. Arnold and
llr. Crismon were already aware ot the statements that Dahl had made
previous. Mr. Dahl made the statement to me tha t it any statements
he ~ould make rela tive to h1.s story. it I oold keep it confident1a1
for two weeks, that he felt definitely that I ~ould want to forget
the whole thl.ng. I made the statement to Mr. Dahl that as tar as I
was concerned. I woold keep any statements he made to me oonfldential
tor at least two weeks.
Here is Dahl ' s story: On June 24 (this date to be checked
later) he was ln a boat owned by Fred Crismon, who owns the Harbor
Patrol in Tacoma . They - - Ltr. Dahl, a Kr. Knight, and Hr. Dahl's
son age 16, were cruising around Maury Island looking for logs that
had broken away trom booms. They were tairly close to shore of
Maury Island when they saw four or five obj ects 1n the sky a t an
altitude ot approximately 1500 feet . He said tb.ese objects were

Page #2
100 feet 1n diameter, circular in shape, a.Ad it appeared that
there was a hoJ..e in the center ot each as he could see the sky
through this hole. He al.so mentioned that on the inside ot the
circle or the hole, ~ t portholes were visible . Their speed was
negligible as tne1 appeared to hover over a give11. spot. One ot
these objects appeared to be in trouble. Another object came
over and appeared to make contact. Attar making this oon tact tor
approximately two minu~es, it rose to its original position.
At this time the obj eot that appeared to be in trouble
seemed to throw a lot ot debris from one ot the portholes. Those
objects then disappeared trom view. Some or this debris that
landed broke 1.o. the wheelhouse of the boat, the spotlight, and
th.o kl:axo.o..

Yh.ilo this dobris t:a:; 1'nll1ng• '03- boy

nd :Jr.. Knight

got ott the boat and h!d under some logs . This debris that tell
killed our dog and a sea gull. I asked Ur . Dahl what was done with
the dog. He ma.de the statement they threw the dog into the water .
This story was told to !Ir. Crismon. who the next day
went out to this Island to check on this story. He verified the
taot ot the damage to the boat. also to the fact that there appeared
to be quite a tev, pieces ot ai.ther rock or metal on the shore. Ur.
Crismon also stated that while he was over there investigating on
Maury Island, b.e also saw a disk. This disk was of the same sha,Pe
and contour as the objects explained by Mr. Dahl.
At this point Kr. Arnold clarified for me as to the reasons

as 1.11vest1gat1.ng this story . Jlr. Arnold stated that he reoo!ved
a lett er from a Ur. Raymond Palm.er. supposedly editor or the Venture
Press, Bvanston; Illinois. The gist of this letter was that Ur.
Palmer received a l.etter from Mr. Dahl and J!r. Crismon,_ also a
package ot these tragments that iere tound on Maury Island . Kr .­
he

Pal.mer also made the state:nent 1n the letter that the Chicago
University tailed to ana.J..yze these tragcients and that. would Ur. Arnold
please investigate the story. lb.". Arnold was sent a /estern Union
check tor $200 .00 to take care of any expense that he might incur
while making this investigation_.

Mr . Arnold had made a telephone call to Hamilton ?ield to
contact a Captain Davidson and a Lieutenant Brown. who were with
A-2 Intelligence at Harnflt on 71eld, asking them would they make a
trip to Tacol,'0.8. to also listen to this story of Dahl and Crismon.

When Mr. Arnold acquainted me with the fact that he had made this
phone oall in front ot Mr. Dahl, llr. Dahl made the statement that
he would not tell this story to anybody in Army Intelligence . I
mo.de the stat ement to llr. Dahl that it he felt this way. that he
should not be ln the room when these two Intelligence offioors
arrived. Mr. Dahl thought this was an excellent idea.

Page #3
11r. Dahl, Ur. Crismon, and myself lett the hotel room to
go downstairs as Kr. Crismon wanted to get some metal. th.at ms in
the baok ot his car that be had picked up on llaury Island, to
bring back to the hotel room. Mr.. Harold Dahl departed.

At this time I mde tho statement to llr. Crismon that I
sb.ould like to pick up my oar in Seattle. llr. Crismon drove me to
Boel,Qg Field• Seat tle. Att er l eaving me at Boeing J'iel d, he drove
baok to Tacoma and I drove my onn car back to Tacoma . After I bad

put my oar in. tb.e garago at Tacoma, I went up to the lnthrop Hotel
and i.n the room at that time was Mr. Arnold, Jlr. Crlsmo.o., and Captain
Davidson trO!!J. ArI1J3 Intelligence. Lieutenant Brown was downataue
getting sandwiches and coftee.
hen Lieut . Brown came back the
stories were again related and Lieut. Bron made a statement that
all the facts or theso stories ould be hold in strictest colU"idence
until released by llr. Dahl .
Atter Mr. Crinmon had told all the facts , relating not
only his own story but that at Mr. Dahl, he asked tor the opinion
of both oftioers as to what they t.hought . Lieut. Brown made the
statement that he would like to obtain some ot these fragme..o.ts to
take back to Hamilton field .

At this time capt. Davidson and Lieut . Brown were debatl.ag
the thought as to whether to stay over night in Tacoma or leave for
Hamilton ~ield immediat ely, as the B-25 they were nying was
supposed to be at Hamilton Field the next day for the Air Show.
The five ot us then lett the hotel room and went down to
the hot el l.obb,- where Mr. Brown made a telephone cal.l to JJcChoi--d
P'leld asking them to aoo.d a driver to pick up Capt . Davidson and
himselt . Lieut. . Brown came up to me and made the statement that he
and capt. Davidson wero going baok to Hamil ton Field and that he
would get in tQuoh with me tomorrow and if a.ttor I had seen the
tragm.ants on Yaury Island-. U I th.ought 1n my QWn mind that this
was authentic, they would lmmecllate-1y leave llWllilto.n l1'1old an.d
return. I was to hold th1s statement by Lieut . Br0\1n ln the
s trictest ot oontidenoe from the other group ot three (Dahl , Crismon,
and Arnold) .

e then we.nt down to the street where Mr. Crismon drove his
car up in ~ron.t and took out a box ot fragmon~s an.d gave this box to ·
Davidson and Brown..
hile waiting for the driver from UcChord Field,
Lieut. Brown and I discussed Paol~ic operatlo.na and t hings not per­
taining to this misoio.n. Capt . Davidson and Lieut . Brown departed at
approxilnately 12:45 A. U. J.tr. Arnold an.d I went back to our hotel

room atter having a midnight snack.

-,

Page #4
P'.r1day the l ·s t: At approximately 8 o ' c1ock 1n t..he
morning, Mr. Crismon oalled up our hotel room and acquainted us
with the tact that the B- 2.5 had crashed. Also that he had called
MoChord 1'1eld and from intormation he received also verified the
taot that the t wo men in the ship were Cs.pt . Davidson and Lieut .
Brown, plus a f1lght engineer and a hitch-hiker. This left both
Mr. Arnold and myself ln a very bad sta(;e of concern. Approximate-·
ly an hour later Mr. Crismon and Mr. Dahl made their appearanoe in
the hotel rocn. I still wasn't sure t hnt this was the same B-25
that the two Intelligence ottioers had left in last night. Yr.
Crismon then again called McChord Field and talked to a Colonel
Gregg. and the tact was verified again tha ~ the two pilots were
Davidson and Brown.
Atter an hour or so Yr. Crismon and Ur • . Dahl le!'t the
hotel room. with a plan in mind ot the tour of us meeting the next
morning (Saturday) tor breaktast and going out to Maury Island.
That evening (Friday) there was a message tor me to call
this part1oular tel-ephone number that as on the message . I called
this .number and was asked by the party to please call thEm from a
pa,ystatlon,. This party was a Mr. Lantz, a reporter on the Tacoma
Tim.es. He told me, "I most certainl1 am doing myself out of a good
story but I thought you ought to know that somebody has been oalllng
this paper and giving us a bloa-b1•blow description ot all that bas
taken ·p lace 1n your roan since you arrived. " To verily this , 11.r.
Lantz repeated back to me discussions that I felt had only been
taking place 1n our .room.
Mr. Lantz also made the statement that there was a leak
eit her tram t he switchboard operator or our room had been tapped.
I asked Ur. Lantz why he was tipping us otf with this infonnation.
He made the statement that he dld.Jl't mind doing this if in return
that any l.ntonnation that I may let out woul.d be given to him..
Atter this conversation with Mr. Lantz I went back to our room and
told Ur. Arnold, mat took plac~ on the telepho•e•

Saturday morning: Mr. Arnold and I met Mr. Dahl and
Fred Crismon tor breaJd'ast.
e then drove out to the boat to go
to the island. The boat as unserviceable at the time so we went
baok to the hotel. Ur. Crismon said that he would call later on
in the day and let us know when the boat would be repaired . That
was the last time I saw Ur. Crismon.
Approximately 11 o'clock Saturday morning Mr. Crismon
phoned me and made the statement it would be impossible for him to
keep this appointment with me . le were cut off by the switchboard
operat or as this \las classified as not an Emergency oall. The
reason we were cut ott was due to a strl~e in all the Tacoma hotels .

Page 1/5
llr. Lantz called up and said it I would call him. at
8:30 that evening, he would have some additional information for
me. I called Mr. Lantz at 8:JO that evening. lle told me that
this anonsmous caller bad again called a Mr. Marlllo of the
United Press and said that one ot the parties tha t Mr . Arnqld and
I had 0-ome down to see \?as tlown to Alaska. Al.so he nade the state­
ment Mr. Smith would be called to tlrlght ,1eld Tuesday. Th!a
anonymous ealler made the statement to Mr . ?Jarlllo that this B-25
was sb.ot down. Ur . Uarlllo asked this person calling wha. t h1s
interest as. This anonymous caller made a stf:}tement - "Don't think
I am doing it tor the newspapers. All I am interested ln ·ls seeing
that ;~ls j.ntormatlon gets back to New ~ersey."

Attar I tinished the conversation with »r. Lantz , I went
over to the United Press and talked with Mr. )(arillo and .bad him
read baok to me the conversations that he had had 1th this
anonyc:ous caller. But no opinions at this time were voiced either
by me or Mr . Marilla.
Bunday morn!Jlg I called a I.Jajor Sa.a.der ot 8-2 MeChord
Pield and asked him to meet me at the inthrop Hotel at 11 o•clock.
I met this Ce.jor Sander at 11 o'clock and we drove to a small cottee
shop on the Tacoma Highway where this complete story was related to
him by me. \le then drove back to the lnthrop Hotel where f.!ajor
Sander was introduced to Mr. Arnold by me 0.Jld again listened to
Mr. Arnold's story. Mr. Arnold and I departed trom the Winthrop
Hotel Sunday afternoon at approximately 4:30.

This is to certify that the toregoing statement was taken
before me, a notary public; that prior to making said statement, the
witness as tiret sworn to tell tlle ;;h ole truth and nothing but the
truth; that the statement ,as then reduced to writing and signed by
m~ on the _ _ day or August , 1947.
1

IN ITNESS 11iEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and official
seal the day and year last above written.
Notary Public In and for the state
or aahington, residing at Seattle•

•

Affidavit of EUIL J . SMITH
Re:

FLYING DISCS SIGHTED BY FRED CR:::::bMAN and HAqOID A. DAHL,
Tacoma, '·ashington
SM - X

f

Signed vtatemert of Fred L. Crism
Re :
and Harol . . Dahl
FLYITG DISS SIGHTED BY FRED CRIS AN and
Tacoma, ashington
Sll - X
ROLD
. "J~HL

. ' - .-
-~ . .
STAN04'RD FORM NO. 04'" ...
- ,.
J -
.
•
l •
•Office. M emorandum • UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT·
TO ~
Director. FBI - AIR KAIL
-
FROM
•
SAC, San Fo
I►
cl
DATE: August 26, 1947
cisco
nea. ---··-·
SUBJECT:
PORl'S OF FLYING DISCS
There are being tranamitted herewith to the Bureau photostatic oopies
of three reports received from Lieutenant Colonel DON.AI.,0,-M>RINGER, A-2, Fourth
_Air Foroe, Hamilton Field, California, involving reported aightings ot flying
~
disoe.
~ ,#
The Los Angeles Offioe is being furnished with a photostatio copy ot
the report ot Lieutenant Colonel SPRINGER dated August 18, 1947 concerning the
investigation conducted at the Muroo Flight Test Base, Jluroo, California.
'l/
The Butte Office ia being furnished with a photostatic copy ot the
report of Lieutenant Colonel SPRINGER dated August 20, 1947 which sets forth a
letter received from Mr. R. J4"'1tADDEN, Division Pl&.¢ Engineer, Paoif'io Telephone
and Telegraph Company, Helena, Montana.
Thia office ia maintaining contact with Lieutenant Colonel SPRINGER
and will furnish the Bu"au with a subsequent report from him concerning the ob­
servations ot Mr. RAY A.,.ewlTZER, Sacramento, California• who has reported
certain observations wbiob he believes may involve a flying disc at Plaoen-ille,
California, on August 14, 1947.
HMKaEMB
Enolo•ur•• - 3
co Los Angeles (with enolosUN)
Butte (with enclosure)
f b:) _ f 3J'Jf- l
~ ~
'lJ

ae LIPTUIN Lar ye cede Sia see
<2 SSNFIDENTIAS
> AADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE
ConTROLLING OFFICE -
PErrop coverEeD
Case CLASSIFICATIO!
STaTUs OF CASE __._.
‘Teld.
: REASON FOR INVESTIGATION: Investigation initiated at request of Air Defense Command
| reference ltr Hq ADC, dtd 7 Jul 47, file D333.5 ID, subj: Investigation of Flying Disc,
i SYNOPSIS:
i On 8 duly 1947, approximately 1000 hours, two incidents ocourred in the vicinity
of Muroc Flight Test Base.
No further investigation of these incidents is being considered by this headquarters.
i
a AUG 21 1947
/ j
eee es Bg soa SS
1946
form D.. 0. C. §, Form No. 19, whic
Pete SG tat bo esod wpa Teccipt of ths seriion)

nt giver en hy: sy Colone
Muroe Army fir Fiel. ¢
). Black, ‘Intelligence officer, on un

Colonel Gilkey, stated that the ‘object he saw, he pelioved at the
time to be paper and of no ‘significence or the objects not important
zh to be reported. There was nothing clearly enough seen by the
nel to make any further reports dustifiable. —

This oral statenent was given freely end voluntarily without any

threats or promises under7duress. This statement consists of ons (1)
: page, and is the truth to fa best of my Recmiecee and belief.

s/s harry d. black
CAPT, HARRY D. SLACK, BAC

he followi
Office of Chief of
Muroc, California, statement given on 11 duly 194

At approximately noon
object in the air by Colonel
eight (8) miles to the North wi
It appeared to be metallic becaus:
the sun to reflect like an apparent]
moved from an intermediate altitud
the surface of the ground and then

altitude and moved

peared to be the size of a purs
conventional plane. The that the
eight (8) minutes. thi

This statement }
or promises under duress.
the truth to the best of
corrections deemed necessar:

object was seen

atte

by my

aused

object

IFARTTATINTOA TO
PAOINE PS EN Dees
~~ ee

APE LDAV IT i

STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF KERN )

The following is a statement given by lst. Lt. Joseph ©. MeHenry,
Billeting Officer, Muroc Army Air Field, Muroc, California, statement |
given on 11 July 1947, to Mr. Thomas A. McMillan, CIC S/A. this Station. }

The following statement concerning the actual observance of what hes |
been termed as a “flying Disco" or a "flying Saucer" is true and correct and |
it will be noted that the above mentioned observance was made by me per-
sonelly while enjoying complete health in mind and body.

On Tuesday 8 July 1947, at approximately nine-thirty A.M“. (09:30) |
T was in conversation with versonnel in the Post Exchange Office. My part i
of this conversation was as follows:

"Someone will have to show me one of these Dise before 1 will |
believe it.” |

Upon leaving the Post Exchange, I went directly to my Office and be-
fore entering heard one of our local aircraft in the traffic pattern.
Leoking up, as I elways do I observed the aircraft, and looked slightly
to the left, whereupon I observed two (2) silver objects of either a
spherical or disc-like shape, moving about three hundred (300) miles an
hour, or perhaps less, at approximately eight thousand (8000) feet, heading
at about three hundred twenty degrees (320°) due north.

When I first observed these objects I called S/Sgt. Gerald ©. Nauman,
T/Sgt- Joseph Ruvolo and “iss Jamnette Marie Scotte who immediately cane
to where I was standing. I pointed in the direction of the objects and
asked them the question “fell me what you see up there." Whereupon, all
the three (8) with sundry coments stated, "They are flying Disc". To
further verify my observance I asked them to tell me in what direction the
objects were traveline, without indicating their direction myself, and again,

_ all three (3) in a consistent nature stated thet the objects were moving
toward Mojave, California.

Thad time to lock away several times and renew my vision of the objects
to make sure that there were not any results of eye strain, or in any nature
an optical illusion. The objects in question were not repeat, were not air-
eraft, the objects could not have been woather balloons released from this
station, since they were traveling against the prevailing wind, and since
the speed at which they were traveling and the horizontal direction in which
they were traveling, disqualified the fact that they were weather balloons.

I
ispensary to
own curiosity, the
I reached the back porch
nurse, and about

object of a
thousand (8900)
ects to the
el standing near
out of seven (7)
mes to make sure
an optical

circle end
It could not have been
created when the object
bean a local weather
@lloon would stay at the
s lon Sle i , nt nature as did the

above mentioned object.

eely and

thout any threats
statement consists two (2) pages, and

knowle i belie I have initialed all

John Paul
resented a distinct ovular
surf 1ich ht have
fece
at intervals, suggest-
2 observer.
servation truck, four
ople include:

+
7

T
J

PAG
hte
es

fea oa
r

r

ART TOT
QONEL
i

ah

a

APOE DAV LF

STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF KERN )

The following is a statement given by S/Sgt. Gerald *. Sauman,
4144th AAFBU, Nuroc Army Air Field, Muroc, California, statement given
on 14 July 1947, to 1st Lt. J. ©. Mcllenry, Billeting Officer.

On the eight of duly 1947 at ten o'clock (10:00) in the morning
I observed personally two (2) flying dise, flying in a north west direction
at an estimated altitude of seven or eight thousand feet, traveling at
approximately three or four hundred miles per hour.

dust a few minutes before this I was in the Silleting Office and
First Lieutenant Joseph ©. “Mellenry, called me and two (2) others out-
Side. He then asked us what we saw. I saw two (2) objects with my own
eyes, and I am now snd was then in perfeot physical condition. I have
20-20 vision and I am positive these two (2) objects could not have been
Aircraft, weather balloons or birds. Due to the altitude in which they
were flying, they gave off a definite reflection from the rays of the sun.

In eddition to these two (2) dise I saw another object a few
minutes later at the same altitude doing certain maneuvers such as flying
ina tight circle. The two dise had already disappeared. This object to
my knowledge of aircraft could not have been an airplane because of the
very tight maneuver it was undergoing. I have been flyinz in and heve
been around all types of aircraft since 1943 and never in my life have I
seen anything such as this. If necessary I can and will swear to this
statement.

This statement has been given freely and voluntarily without any
threats or promises under duress. This statement consists of one (1)
page, and is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief. I heve
initialed all corrections deemed necessary.

s/s te. Ce robinson
PFC T. CG. ROBINSON

WITRESS :

s/s thomas a. me millan
“TH Ae UC

rrr
CARDING A
WAS I
*
T Tt
ViVi LAL ~
rt
UNYDENTIFIED OBJECT
4AF-1208-1
20 August 1947
MEMORANDUM FOR THE OFFICER IN CHARGE:
1. On 20 August
interviewed Mir. Ray A.
David Way, Sacramento,
afternoon of 14 August
1947, this agent and Special Agent Hubbard
Switzer, Insurance Adjustor, at his home, 3431
California, and he stated in substance: On the
1947, he was driving his automobile from Placer=
ville, California, on the Cedar Ravine Road. Mr. Switser's wife was in
See ee Save oes |
the front seat of the automébile and Mrs. Switser’s mother and the two ]
Switzer children were in the back seat of the car. At about 1600 hours
they were at a point approximately five miles southwest from Placerville
when Switzer saw a white smoke trail out of the corner of his eyes In |
searching for a rocket ship (P80) he saw an object, four to six feet in |
length, ten to fourteen inches wide, and of a metal color, bright like
highly polished chromium. In relation to the travel of the automobile
the object was first seen at 1030, and when the object reached a
point at approximately 1200, it was engulfed in a puff of dark gray smoke
about ten feet in diameter. The object was traveling at a terrific rate
of speed and seemed to be in a very shallow dive. When the puff of smoke
appeared, the object disappeared completély and there were no particles
seen to have fallen from the smoke. The point where the object was en-
gulfed in the smoke was about eight hundred yards distant (in front of)
Switzer with no possibility of the object being hidden from view by vege=
tation or terrain. The object appeared rectanguler in shape except for
one very short period of time it appeared to have a top surface that was
very slightly curved. Mr. Switzer turned to tell his wife about the
object and found her with her mouth open in an effort to say something
and with her hand in a pointing gesture toward where the object had dis-
appeared. The object was not very high in relation to the terrain and
seemed to be following the contour of a canyon.
2. Ina separate interview Mre. Switzer concurred in the information
ebtained from Mr. Switzer with the following exceptions: The smoke trail
and the puff thet engulfed the objeet sppeared dark gray in color and there
was no change in the color. Mrs+ Switzer estimated the object to be about
five feet long and'ebout a foot wide with the top surface being slightly "
curved. The object appeared to be some larger in front than in the rear, —
AGENT'S NOTES: At the time this object was seen, the sun was to the Switser's —
back, the sky was clear and the object gave off a very bright reflection.
Mr. Switzer has been connected with the field of insurance investigation for
the last eighteen years and appears to be man not desirous of publicity.
The other passengers of the car did not see the object. Mrs Switzer is in
the process of moving to a ranch near Placerville,.Celif.s, and his new.address
will be Box 45, Aukum, Eldorado County, Calif. a ngeete have been mide 3
to meet Mr. Switzer at 1400, 26 Aug 47 at Raffeld’” » Placerville, Galif.,
for the purpose of roing back over Cedar Ravine Road +: Uae 1887 point
where the object disappeared. | wl i
Bryden E. Moon, Special Agent, 4AF CIC
CONTINENT
NJ LM EL LILLIAN
GAM FRewCiel +

Se ¢ 3 AONNTIGINGNATT 7 AT
5 . SON DIA AGIN LAER

= ad

HEADQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE
Offiee of the Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2
Intelligence
Hamilton Field, California

| 4APDA 20 August 1047
33505/1208-1
SUSJECTs Flying Dise.

TO: Special Agent in Charge, FBI, U. S. Dept. of Justice,
Federal Office 3uilding, Room 422, San Francisco, Calif.

1. The attached letter was received by this office from ir.
Re Je Madden, Division Plant Engineer, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
Company, on 16 August 1947.

Be Wo further investigation will be made of this reported inci-

heli

Ss
a Incls It. Colonel, oS e
As indicated. AG of S, Aa y v
“pTrs
=
é toe +1
Z Army + 1 cy
if PSI +1 cy

\

ere Sea
TCR Gr HES RAT

«| uSDE -« i ;
AUG 21 1947
SAN FRANCISC(

“Roures To i ae

427 H. 34 Avomue
Spokane, Washington
August 8, 1947

Wlitary Intelligence Division, U.S.A.
hord Meld, Washington

entlemen:

ollowing the reading of an secount of the visit of “re Kenneth
Arnold, Soise, Idaho, as published in the Spokesman Review under date
of August 7, 1947, the undersigned considered the enclosed account of
&n odbservetion of a "flying saucer" would be of interest to yous

This account hes not been given to any newspaper or other publice
ation as yet.

Yours truly,

Re Je Madden
Re Je MADDEN,
Division Plant mers
The Pace Tele & Tels

KALB

Us 8, DE . 3
AUG 21 1947

SAN FRANCISC«
ROUTED TO

i

ee

As the car came to « stop, Steve, Karl and Sob, simulteneously, saw the
followings

Direstly ahead, (NeW) 2 to 3 miles distant and approximately 3000 ft.
above the ground, « bright dise hovering and fluttering in the sir. Descend-
ing end rising through a vertion] distance of fifty or « hundred feet for a
period of about five sevends then, while et the tep ef an ascent, the "disc"
suddenly swoeped to the Northeast et tremendous speed and disappeared inte
she clear air within © distenes of 200 ft. That is to say it did not pass

beyond en obstruction to further visibility but “melted inte thin air” as if
because of tremendous speeds .

This aise was, from the viewpoint of the observers, apperontly 3 ft.
in diameter, cireular and of no great thickness + approximately 5 or 4 inches.

The sky was blue with senttered omall sleuds, the sun was shining
brightly end the disc gleamed and shimmered in the bright sunlicht as if
esvered with highly polished nickel.

After the “diec" disappeared from view, the sedan ond its occupants
proceeded northwesterly the rond, but sould discern no evidence of |
‘the presence of the "disco" or adjacent to that thorofare.

It is to be remembered that the dimensions as stated above were as

~ ~~~
•,
M NO.~
~
•
•
~ -Office Memorandum • uNITEn sTATEs GovERNMENT
TO
//,.~FROM
I"~
1>
: DIRECTOR
:
SAC San Francisco
'
SUBJECT: REPORTS
K-1-
r.
DATE: 9-15-4 7
olir.nn G DISCS
Reference is made to my letter dated August 26, 1947. Enclosed is
a copy of a letter dated September 9 , 1947 from Lt. Colonel DONALD L. SPRE:-GER ,
of A2, with a memorandum prepared by BRYDEN E. MOON , 4th Air Force CIC on
AU§Ust 20, 1947 and August 26, 1947. The memorandum contains information
regarding observations of RAY A. SWITZER of Sacramento , California.
Also enclosed is a letter dated September 10, 1947 from Colonel
SPR l uGER with attac".ment dated September 9 , 1947 •
For the i nformation of the Bureau, KEllNETH ARNOLD of Boise, Idaho ,
who has been repeatedly interviewed in this matt er by A2, has expressed his
intention to A2, of selling for publ ication his detailed account of hi s
investigation of flying discs.
62- 2938
DWK.
REOOBDED
3 CT2 1947

_~
: MONETAEN:
PaP Atak fe at

HEADQU?
Office of the Assist
belt

Hanilt
GAPDA
$85.6/1208-1

SUBJECT: Investigation of Flying Lise.

TO: Special Acent in
Room 422, Federal

Attached MOIC for your information.

Enel?
MOTC, Moon, dtd 20 Aug 47.

1080 hours 18 August 1947
Telephone message received from lire Al Keck, City Sditor, Oskland Iribunes

Sire Ray As Switzer, S451 David Yay, Seeramento 2, Calif, end insurance
oxeoutive with the firm of Meduire end Vallis, of Sacramento, reported the
essen ineldents

“ie Saha, ae Maca: 1A, Wakik Brbaok Gk Geele Havine teed, 445 ©
wiles southeast of Placerville, Salif, he, accompanied by his wife, observed
 “yspor” trail movi: movins from nerth to southe Closer observation revealed a
pisos of “shiny metal’ at from 500 40 1000 feet altitude moving at a “high
rate of speed"s The objeot appeared te be nore "rocket<simped” than diso=
nhapede Eesojearod to be aoprantontey Feet tx Hngth ana ma “aes
in a sont-oirele”.

is sah dau us Gl OIE sk Aas he aaaie
feet below the top of hill which was approximately 750 feet ahoad of the
automobile driven by the obesrver. Jn Iintervenins eanyon prevented tnvesti<
gation of the looation where the objeet was observed to heve lendede

The observer is able to identity the location where the object was
observed to lands

Ole Switeer ‘te « Galedrelty ot Celtimaa. graduate, Suk Se pacbonkdly.
kmown by nonbers of the Oriland Tribune steff. He is a brother-in-law of
Cole Gray of the Marine Hospital of Southern California)

a Sle 8 Se oats

MEMORANDUM FOR THE OFFICER IN CHARGE:

1. On 20 August 1947, thia agent and Special Agent Hubbard ies:
interviewed lire Hay As Switser, Insurance Adjustor, at his home, 5451
David Way, Sacramenyo, California, and he stated in substances On the
afternoon of 14 August 1947, he was driving his automobile from Placer=
ville, Cslifornia, on- the. Codar itevine Road. Mr. Switzer's wife was
the front seat of the automobile and Mrs. Switzer's mothe:
Switzer shildren were in the back seat of the car.

when Switzer saw 8 white smoke trail out of the corner of his” pag
searching for a rocket ship (?80) he saw an object, four to six !
length, ten to fourteen inches wide, and of & metal: color, bri;
highly polished chromium. In relation to the travel of the au’
the object was first seen at 1050, and when the object. reached
point at approximately 1200, it was engulfed in a puff pf dark
about ten feet in diameter. The object was travel. ata
of speed and seemed to be in a very shallow dives the
appeared, the object diseppeared completely and there were no |
seen to have fallen from the smoke. The point where the

galfed in the smoke wag about sight hundred yards distant (ir
Switzer with no possibility of the object being hidden from v!
tation or terrain. The object appeared rectangular in shape
one very short period of time it appeared to have a top surface
very slightly curved. fir. Switzer turned to tell his wife
object and found her with her mouth open in an effort to say
and with her hand in a pointing gesture toward the objest ig
@ppesred. ‘ihe object waa not very high in relation to eat terrain
seemed to be following the contour of a canyons

2. In a separate interview Urs. Switzer ‘aiacarees in ae
obteined from Mr. Switzer with the following exceptions: the
and the puff thet engulfed the object appeared dark cray in co.
wos no change in the colors iirss Switzer estimated the object
five feet long and about a foot wide with the top surface being |
curved. The object appeared to be some larger in front than in -

AGENT'S NOTES: At the time this object was seen, the sun wis
back, the sky was clear and the object gave off a very bright re
lr, Switzer hes beer connected with the field of insurance Anvest
the last eighteen years and appears to be a man not desiro:
The other passengers of the ear did not see the objects Ur,
the process of moving to a rerich near Placerville, Califs,
will be Box 43, Aukum, Eldorado County, Calif. Arrangements:
to nest Mr. Switzer at 1400, 26 Aug 47 at Raffels Hotel, Pla
for the purpose of going back over Cedar Ravine foakeo. ‘locate
where the object disappeared.

Sryden 5. Moon, Speoial Agent, aap 01 :

“

\ PW LIN 1b eed

UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT
44F~1208<1

Be On 26 Aucust 47, $/A Hhbbard and this agent contacted Mr. Ray
Switzer, Insurance Adjustor at the Saffels Hotel, Placerville, California.
After travelin; Cedar Snvine road to @ point nine miles southeast of
Placerville, knowm Buck's Sar, Switzer decided thet the place from
where hv head observed the object on 14 Aug 47 was nearer to Placerville.
After a thorourh check of the road, Switzer believed the spot where be
had observed the object to be on the ridre just north of Webber Creek
where the road breaks over the summit. This point is two miles from the
Raffele Hotel, Placerville, California, on the Yedar Navine Road. As
the road epproaches the summit it curves to the left which would provide
an observer from an sutomobile a sweeping view throuch 40° of the canyon
and the herizon on the south side of Webber Creek. ‘his point of cbserva-
tion lies 387 42° 45" North Latitude and 120° 47! 16” liest Lonritude.

The elevation at this point is 2,000 feet above ses level. The horizon
from this point in the south is formed by a series of mountain peaks which
lie generally throuzh 38° 39' 45" and which are on the south side of Squaw
Hollow Creek, a distance of four miles, end rangine in elevation from
2,500 feet to 2,500 feet above ses level. Switzer was not definite as to
what part of the field of view he had seen the object and indicated that it
ould have been as far as the horizon. Any object, or particles of sn
Object, that Switzer saw, if on the ground on the field of view, would be
fn a six equare mile eren of wooded, mountainous terrain whish 1s full of

canyons and ravines.

AGENT'S WOTES: This arent believes that Switzer could have seen an aluminum
@urfaced eonventionsl type aircraft which, due to the distance at which he
observed it, distinguishing features wore not seen because of the bright
Feflection and the short period of observation. The aircraft would have been
coming from the left Switzer turned to the left, thereby giving the effect
of a mich creater speed than the object was really travolin This agent has
no explanation as to the smoke treil observed by Switzer. connaisance
is desired of the aren to see {f anything can be located on the ground, this
agent sugeests that a small type aircraft similar to an L~5, bo used in low
level flight between the hours of 1100 to 1300, Switzer was very cooper=
Stive and expended mich of his own time in an effort to be of as much service
as possible, Switser will communicate with the AC of S, Aw2, Headquarters
Fourth Air Force, Hanilton Field, Californie, in the event of any report of

aircraft wreckage in the area.

4e On 26 Aug 47, a check with Ranger Dixon, St Porest Service,
Camino, Celifornie, and George 3, Younc, Forester, Federal Forest Service,
Plseerville, Californie, provided the following information: ‘here hes
been no forest fires or reported aircraft crashes in the area in question
within the last month.

Bryden T. Hoon, Spsciel Agent, 4AF CIC

os a

nee ee ae!

q NaN A eZ RAY 2 ERE

kar-1208-2
Incident .
9 September 1947

MSMORANDUM FOR THE CFFICRR IN GHARGEt

wr. Ward L. Stewart, 12h2 Milvia Street, Berkeley, california, ws
interviewed 3 September 19,7 at his place of employvent, the Hearst Mining
Building, University of Galifornia, concerning flying objects he
to have acen on 29 July 1947 while with Captain William H. Ryherd of the Z
4lSth saF BU (RT). Mr. Stewart stated in substance that he was a lst Lt 3 |
in the Reserve and that on the 29th of July 1947 after az noon he |
and Captain Ryherd had just landed fro a routine flight when; q
Captain Ryherd called Mr. Stewart's attention to an unidentified ‘flying Peogt: Beak
object that was following a P-80 aircraft at a terrific rate of ae of
Mr. Stewart estimted the P-$0 to be flying at approximately ex
per hour on a preliminary approach to landing at Haailton
Stewart's estimation the object he saw following the P=80 main’ a
speed of three to four tines that cf the aircraft. A moment later a
second object appeared and flew 4 course described as some’
to a fighter aircraft's maneuvers when accenpanying heavier
left to richt movement, over tie object first sichted. ur. Seen aceade
that this maneuvering continued until the objects ware out of sight.
estimted the tise to be acproximately 15 secords, the course ap.
120 degrees. “ir. Stewart could not estimate the size of the obj:
actual altitude, though he did not believe thea to be beyond six |
feet. Mr, Stewart described the objects as being milky white in i
and unlike any conventional type aircraft he had ever seen. When questioned
whether he was finiliar with the Navy "Flapjack", Mr. Stewart stated that
he was, and that he was certain the 3 objects he reported seeing were not
this nature. ;

AGWNI'S NOTES: Mr, Stewart is a former officer of the U.S. AAFP and = ey
pilot of considerable experience, wr. Stexart dees not convey in- AG
pression of being the kind of person who would "imgine” that he was seeing
objects, nor has he any apparent desire for publicity. Sr. Stewart is in —
charge of machine shops at the University of California, Berkeley, esritesiaas?

LESLIE S. HU5BARD, S/A, CIC ADC Lar

# Y PRE Ee Ty ror

Co. NE Baa ae

i
FBI BUTTE
t
8-15-47
/4cTOR, FBI
OFLYING DISCS.
,>5-50 PM
VGW
URGENT
ON INSTANT l.lM£•nxx DATE, AL W~AWKINS,
COMMISSIONER AND EX SHERIFF, TWIN FALLS, IDAHO, AND
BROWN, IDAHO STATE WAREHOUSE INSPECTOR, SAME COMMUNITY, ADVISED
THAT ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST THIRTEEN LAST, AT APPROXIMATELY
NINE THIRTY AM WHILE FISHING IN RIVER APPROXIMATELY FORTY MILES
SOUTHWEST OF TWIN FALLS, IDAHO, IN ISOLATED COUNTRY, THEY SAW
TWO OBJECTS FLYING THROUGH AIR AT GREAT HEIGHT, WHICH kl!ftttrtXXX
APPEARED TO BE DISCS, AND AT SAME TIME HEARD ROAR SIMILAR TO NOISE
CREATED BY MOTOR TRUCK.
INFORMANTS ADVISED OBJECTS MOVING VERY
RAPIDLY
THAT THEY EACH APPEARED TO BE APPROXIMATELY SIX
FEET IN DIAMETER.
OBJECTS QUICKLY DISAPPEARED FROM SIGHT AND HAVE
NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE•
AVAILABLE .
NO FURTHER DESC~ THESE OBJECTS PRESENTLY
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
. i CONDUCTED BY THIS DIVISION
PURSUANT TO BUREAU BULLETIN Jt(l~TY TWO, SUB DIVISION B, DATED
JULY THIRTY NINETEEN !~~~~~N.
CF ALL PERTINENT DEV'E~f~
BANISTE
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7•54 PM OK FBI WA BW
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BUR}AU WILL BE PROMPTLY INFORMED
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STANDARD FOAM NO. 114
,
I
•....,.
Office Men"C/r ~,tdum • UNITED
TO
:
DIRECTOR, FBI
W eM
:
SAC, SAN FRANCISCO
~CT:
,
-
•
~ J. ..... ~ _
GOVERNMENT
DATE: August 28,
~~ .
0
REPORTS OF FLYING DISCS
ATTENTION:
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR D. M. LADD
On August 27, 1947, Lt. Colonel DONALD SPRINGER, A-2, Fourth Air
Force, Hamilton Field, California, advised that the Area Intelligence Require­
ments Division Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2 Headquarters, re­
quested that one WILLIA»-fmOADS of Phoenix, Arizona, be completely :interviewed in connection with a report that he had seen on July 7, 1947, what
he believed were flying discs. RHOADS is supposed to have taken several pic­
tures of the discs with a 620 Box Camera.
A previous report of this reported sighting of flying discs was
forwarded the Bureau on August 8, 1947.
Colonel SPRINGER has advised that GEORGE F. FUGATE, Jr., an
intelligence agent of A-2 stationed at Long Bach, Cal ifornia, would arrive
in Phoenix, Arizona, on or about September 2, 9 1947, and would be instructed
to contact the Phoenix Field Division Office.
In accordance with Bureau Bulletin No. 42, Series 1947, it is
felt that an agent from the Phoenix Field Division should interview WILLIAM
RHOADS at 4333 North 14th Street, Phoenix, if RHOADS has not already been
interviewed. Colonel SPRINGER indicated that Mr. FUGATE should, if possible,
sit in on this interview.
A copy of the report from A-2 dated August 4, 1947, along with three
photographic prints of the pictures allegedly taken by Mr. RHOADS, is being
enclosed for the Phoenix Field Division.
WWR/jo
62-2938
2 cc Phoenix (Encl.) (AMSD)
pOORDED
AifiliAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY
&
h 1 _ {3.£/i_ __ II()
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£r-s6 3
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•

.I
~MDARD FORM NO. G4

•

~ Office Men~~, o;,,,dum • UNITED
65- 477

I

Dir ector, FBI

GOVERNMENT
: August 27. 1947

SAC, Butte
)

F~TG DISCS SIGHTF"1 BY
.
FPB
ERISJWJ' A1\Tr &\F0LTI "i,..,.__ l}ABL,
TAC0V , ''."AS>fDTGTCltJ
·· · ~
SECURITY ,~ATTER - X
Re Seattle teJsAugust 7, 1947 . and Pugust 12, 1947, in the above
captioned matter.
K:ENNET"'lNiP"r,TOL'\ Route 1 , "ountain View Drive , Boise, Ida.ho, was inter­
viewed at the B~is;)esident Agency , Boise, I daho , by SA J0SEPF E. JETTE on
August 19 . 1947. Hr . AR~0LD advised that he received a letter from RAYHCTJl) A.
PALMER, Editor , Venture Press , Evanston , Illinois, dated June 26, 1947, in which
Mr . PAU':!:R advised thet he was interested in publishing an article in his magazine
concerning the flying discs seen by J{r . AP'~T0Ln near ~'ount Rainier on June 24 , 1947,
which letter is being enclosed to the Bureau . vr . AF~0LD stated that he did not
give nruch thourht to PALMER' s letter until PALHER wrote him again and informed
him that FRET" ' iRISHA.'tlT and HAR0L"' A• ..,AHL of Tacoma, Washington , had sent him
fragments of a flying disc and that he would like hiro (ARN0Ln) to go to Tacoma,
Washington, and contact CHRISMAN and DAHL to find out if there was any truth in
A their story about the disc fragments . He ste.ted that he did not answer pAI,i~ r s
~ letter, but inquired of sever al friends for their opinion in the matter , and
C that they all tol d him if PALMER desir ed to pay his expenses to go to Tacoma,
i=, Washington, and look into this matter, that they did not see where he had anything
r-< to lose. He informed that he gave a talk at the Boise Ad Club on July 25 , 1947,
< about the flying discs he had seen, and also of the request contained in PALMER's
t5 letter to go to T~coma to investigate additional information regarding the f i n d h
iing of d;i.sc fragments by CHRISMAN and DARL .

3...)C'-' ~ • ~AR!rnLn advised that following his talk , he was approached by a person

)

who said he lmew both CHRISJ~~ and DAHL and that they were very reliable
individuals . He stated that after thinking it ovor , he called PAI,MEP by telephone
and at which time he informed PALMER that he would contact CflRIS~W1 and DAHL and
investigate the matter regarding the disc fragments , if P~L'flER would send him
~200 . 00 expense money . He also advised that he received l200 . 00 expense money
from PALHER via Western Union the next mor ning . He informed that he left for
Te.come., Washington , vie. his personal plane on July 30, 1947 . Upon arriving at
Pendleton , Oregon , he told his story to E~CH. CM- lns_pector from Portland,
Oregon, who advised him to go e head with his.J-nve~tfifat~on . ~1 I). f
_
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• '· ~

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He stated that he l anded at Barry s Airport 3li
coma ::!Fd o~ ine a:_a
room at the Winthrop Hotel. He informed that he then ca e 3Q-rr.SEi:P :t4li~-Pi]one to
make arrangements to talk to him regar dinr the ~~c 1r ~
ts . He advised that
~lHL insisted on coming to the hotel room innneai" e l j . --v~''r /e.rriving at Wr. AR 0LD' s
hotel room, lAHL stated that he wanted to forget a~q_uj; th~ discs as too many things
had been happening to him , and advised J(r . ARl'0L1 -"~'r-~\fn home and forget about
the discs. lfr. AFJ'0LT stated that he informed JAHL that he wanted~o
o tain all
COPIES n•--.r;-,,r,-c-"~TED
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.,

•

Director, FBI
Re: Flying Discs - Tacoma, Vin.

•
August 27, 1947

of the information available regarding the disc fragments and that he understood
that DAEL had told the press about the disc fragments, stating there was nothing
to the story and-thet it was a phoney. DA:iL immediately replied that his story
was not false or phoney, but that what he had seen and what had happened to him
was so unusual and fantastic that he wanted to forget about the disc fragments .
DAHL then agreed to tell Ur. ARNOLD the foll~Hing story, providing his name and
t he Harbor Patrols woul d be left outs
DAEL stated that his dog had been kill ed and his boy hurt and that
the wheel mount on his harbor patrol boat had been struck by disc fragments ,
and that about twenty ton of this material had fallen on the beach at ~uri
Island, and into the bay, and that a day after this incident, a man about forty
years of age had contacted hi m and told him, 11 1 know what you saw at ltauri Island
and I'm telling you in a nice way to for get about it and keep your mouth shut . 11
nAHL stated that he had obtained a larre number of the fragments and had taken
them home , but that F~CKJ.fAN , his superior officer, had told him to send
the fragments to RAYMO~D PALMF:R at Chicago; that PALr"ER woul d analyze the specimens
f ree of charge. 1).AHL continued stating that on the afternoon of June 21, 1947,
he was on patrol with his boy, dog , and two seamen near a cove on the east side
of Yauri Island . He stated that" he looked up through the windshield of the boat
and at a height of about 1, 000 feet , he saw six round circular grey objects
that looked like l ar ge inner tubes slightly squashed . These objects appeared
to be about 100 feet across and in t he center was a hole about twenty-five feet .
f',AHL said he assumed they were some type of a balloon . The object in the center
was lower than the rest of the other objects, and the other objects were circling
around it. The object in the center seemed to be descending while the others
followed. As the objects descended he saw port holes around the inside of the
object and what appear ed to be windows . He stated that t he object in the center
descended to about 500 feet, and that suddenly one of the circling objects came
down and touched the object in the center and remained in this position for a
few minutes , while the other objects continued to circle above . The object
which had descended and touched the object in the center and which was lower,
then rose and took its pl ace with the other objects .
}11 of the objects then started to rise an d wha t appeare d to be news ­
papers came out of the center of the object in the middle of the circling object .
Then the sky seemed to rain lava, the lava coming from the object in the center
and DAHL headed the boat for shore . He sta te d that the lava coming from the
object in the center appeared to be a white metal, and as it fell into t he water,
clouds of steam rose from the water . He state d that some of t he lava l ande d on
the beach , He also stated that his dog was killed a nd a l so a sea gull in addition
to his boy being hurt by the fallin g lava. Mr. ftB~ OLD continued stating that
rARL had said that he had taken pictures of the object and that i f Mr . AW1 0LD
wanted them, he could have the ner:atives .
A. U, took ' !r . Am OLD to t he home of
his secretary t ha t evening a nd showed him some of t he disc fragments he had
picked up , which were smooth on one side e.nd rou srh on the other, accordin~ to
l ir . AP"" OLf •
- 2-

.,.

•

•

August 27, 1947

Director , FBI
Re : Flying Discs - Tacoma, Wn .

Mr . AR OLD stated he received a telephone call from the press upon
returning to his hotel room, and that the press wanted to know about the flying
disc fragments , and he told them that he was not talking until he had proved
it. He stated he did not know how the press ever knew he wes in Tacoma. or had
seen DAHL.
Mr .· ARNOLU informed that at 9:30 A.M. the next morni ng , July 31, 1947,
~AHL and CHRIS}~\N appeared at his hotel room and nAHL again asked him to uo home
and forget about the discs, that his story was not false , but that he had had
enough trouble . DAHL said that his boy had been missed one morning a~d had been
found at Lust, lfontana, waiting on tables in a cafe; that he did not know how
he had got there and that too many things were happening . ~fr . AR\OLD stated
that when l)Afil, and CHRIS,IAN came to his hotel room, they had an armful of
fragments , and that CHRISWAN had then informed about how he had seen an object
resembling those seen by DAHL. CHRISMA""1 stated he had talren the patrol boat
on July 23 , 1947, and had gone to ¥8.uri Island and had found the beach littered
with lava . CERIS'~N stated he had looked up and had seen a bal loon- like object
with port holes and windows , which had disappeared into a large cloud. ARNOLD
stated that he asked DAHL again to see the pictures of the objects ; that llAHL
had again agreed to show them to him. Mr . AR''OLfl informed that he had then
asked ,Am, and CHRISt•AN if it would be all right for him to call a friend ,
Captain SMITH, who had also seen some flying discs and let him s~e the fragments
and hear ur . DAHL ' s story .
rAHL dissented, however , CHRISMAN readily agreed .
He also stated that he had placed a call to Lieutenant BR0""1 ard Captain
DAVI~SON , Army intelligence officers at Hamilton Fie l d, and had asked them to
come to his hotel , as they had previously instructed him to report to them any­
thing of an unusual nature or of interest regardin~ the flying discs .
He stated he flew to Seattle and got Captain Sl'ITH, and that Lieutenant
-~r. A.-q' OLD
advised that he he.d asked Lieutenant BRO'lffl just what he had found out regarding
the discs • and Lieutenant BRO,IN had confidentially informed him that they had
obtained a picture of a disc , which appeared to be authentic, which picture
was taken by a man in Phoenix , Arizona. The picture , according to Lieutenant
BRO.~. was of a circular object with a hole in the center, and of another object
that looked like a flying wing . He stated that when Lieutenant BRO:,'ft-T told him
this that he immediately thought of the object seen by DAHL. He stated that
after hearing DAHL' s story• Lieutenant Bl?0':1 ar d Captain DAVIflSON' s attitude
had changed immediatel y, and that they appeared disinterested . It was then
suggested that they all go to Ma.uri Island and look for the disc fragments.
Lieutenant BRO,'(N and Captain DAVIDSON stated that they had to return to Hamil ton
Field immediately . Mr . ARNOLD stated that Lieutenant BR011N and Captain AVIDSON
were very careful to gather up all of the fragments which had been brought to
the r oom by DAHL and CHRIS':Af-1 .
ffP011N and Captain DAVIDSON had come to his room about 4:00 P. M.

- 3-

r

•

•

'lirector , FBI
Re : Flying Dis cs - Ta.coma , w•n .

August 27, 1947

He stated tha.t the next morning he received a call from CHRIS:~N,
who told him that Lieutenant BR011"" and Captain nAurnsor had been kil led in a
B- 25 crash . He stated he does not know how C'tfl'-?IS~1,AP knew who had been in
the olene befor e anyone else . He also stated that during the above conference
numer ous telephone calls were received from the press , wanting to know about
the conference . He stated that someone kept tipping the press off as to what
was going on and what was being said daily verbati m. He informed that PArL
LAND and MORELLO, United Press men at Tacoma, appeared to know all that took
place during the confer ence , and even kr:t.ew of the ere.sh of the B- 25 and those
aboard , before the Army released this information. lKr . ARNOLD informed that
when he received news of the crash, that he and Captain SYITH fully expected
to be contacted by Ar my Intel l igence , as they were the l ast people with
Lieutenant BROrr' a-d Captain DAVI!'S0t1 , however , they were never contacted .
He further stated that he and Captain SMITH wer,t down to the United
Press to see wh~t the survivors of the era.sh had informed about the crash and
that l'0BELL0 had told them that the myster ious informant who had been calling
had tol d him that the B- 25 had not crashed, but had beens hot dpwn, also that
MORELLO' s Army informant he.d said that an observer at I elso , ~1ashington , had
seen the plane throw out a landing flare after the two survivors had jumped
from the plane , and that the plane had gone into a steep dive and dove into a
hillside , and further that one engine had been on fire , but that the fire
appar atus , protecting the engine, had failed to function . Hr . AFi0LP stated
that DA 1L then came to see hi m ard Captain S!HTH and told them to ~o home a nd
forget about the discs , that such things as the B- 25 crash had been happening
to him all along .

Mr . o\.lffl0LD stated that he then called l'r . PAUKER e.t Chicago and to l d
him that the deal was off a:rid that if he wanted his ,J200 . 00 back, he could
have it; ths.t two men had been killed and he was f etting frightened of the
whole thing- . He stated that PALl...V:R informed hi m that it was all ri ;i-ht with him
to keep the i200 . oo, however , he would send him a n additional check for the
trouble he had put to . Mr . ARN0Lr advised that previous to this telephone cal l ,
Captain si•ITH had called hi s friend , M0~~I~ R0DrY , of the Chica.go Times and had
tol d him that he did not have any faith in Army ~ntelligence and for RODDY to
conduct an investigation on PALMER and get to the bottom of this disc fantasy .
~r . ARNOLD also advi sed that previous to the two above telephone calls , he had
asked the pr ess to investigate PALJ~R, as Army Intelligence had informed him th!t
they could not f i nd PALMER and knew nothing concerning him, and appeared not to
be interested in PALfER, who seemed to know more a.bout the flying discs than
anyone e l se .
' 'r . ARNOLD stated that he personally thinks that PALMEP 's business is
a blind for something· else and th~t DAIL and CiffiIS1~·· will do anything that
P4.LllER asks him to and will not talk unless PJL'f8R tells him to . Mr . AR"0LD
stated that he still wanted to ret to the bottom of the disc fra~ment story
so he and Captain S~!ITF had decided to ,·o to 'l.'.a.uri Island on Sunday, Aurnst 3 ,
- 4-

•
'\

•

•

August 27, 1947

n:lrector , FBI
Re : Flying Discs - Tacoma, "n .

1947, however , when Cr ISMA.N was approached in this regard, and they had gone
to the boat house v-.here CHRIS !Al kPot his boat, CHRISMAN could not seem to
make the boat run, nr-d after m4kitg some excuses that he hnd to rettrn to his
office, had stated that he woula return in a.bout an hour, and by thet time
his mechanic should have tre boat repaired and they could all proceed to Wsuri
Island .
r . 'QNOL informed that CHRIS' never returned, end thrt they were
unable to locate CHRISllA at any of the telephone numbers he had ~iven them.

They located inAEL in a movie, accord'ng to AR 'OLD, and that DAHL,
after making so~e efforts to locate C~IS
, ,~d informed them the.t CHRIS'
h~~ le't town for a few days . He furt ,er inforned that about this time the
oress contacted them and told them an inform~nt had called and told them
1~'
~son his way to Alaska ir an Army pl ane .
+hRt
r . ~ OLD advised tt- 11 t Captain S T"' had informed him th<J.t he had
~~de an appointment with lajor ANDERS at McCord Field and intended to tel l
~jor SANDJmS the complete stor: . Q.iring the afternoon, Capta·n SITH and
ajor SANDERS came to the hotel roo~, eccording to AF OLD, and some of the
frs nents the.t DA 1L had brought to r . J. ~OLD' s roor.i, followin5 the conference ,
vere shown to llaior SAND3RS . Upon vievrinl" +he f r agments , l"',jor S.U -p5 , accord ­
ing to ·r . AR OL~, st,o,ted that tr.ey were roting but slag fro~ the coppAr ~il l ,
however , before A. jor SAP :t'PS left, he t1thPred up every fragment in the room ,
accorr i ,., to 'r.
"L , and took them with hi.., .
·r . AR OLD stated that he
then left for Boise, Idaho .
r . ARNOL produced a letter dAted August 5, 1947 , from PALMER
in which PAL!:ER attempts to encourage r . A~ OL to continue his irives•ig tion
into the flyinl discs . This letter is lllso beirg enclose l to the .burnau.
r . ARNOLD also rave SA JETTE a oopy of the article sent to r . PAL,~::P and
to the Comrrw.nd1nl"'. General, ••ri ht .l.'"iel , :1,;ayto , Ohio, re •11 r ling his sighting
of the ~ine discs near ~owt Painier on June 24 , 1947 . This article is also
being enc l ose I to the Bureau .
. ARt1 OLD advised that he is vitally interested
in this matter and knows that ther e nn1st be somethin~ to the flying discsstory
He st~ted that he will do everything in his pov;er +o help tre Bureau in this
matter. ·e also advised that he has no conr.ectio:1 wh1>tsoever vlth the :!oise
StatesmPn . He stated that the Boise Statesman has never p-id him for any
information he has given them . He i nfonned that he sincerely believes that
the Boise Stites'"' n is attemptin@, as ha is , to get to the bottom o~ tle flying
discs story . 1T . AM'OLD stated thqt he has told the above story to Army
Intelli ence a d 11\jor SA1 DERS ar. to no one else , w 1th the exception of
SA JET~., .
DAVE JOIDSOO , Boise Statesman, loise , Idaho, advised.that the Boise
Statesman has never paid r . AR OLD for any news item he has given them, and
has never approached him in this ,nanner . lie stated that the Boise Statesman
is riot attempting to push t.~e flying discs story , but Ill':?rely attempting to
- 5-

.

'

..-

•

•

•

August 27, 1947

Director, FBI
Re: Flying Discs - Tacoma, \,:!" .

get to the bottom of the flying discs story as they sincerely believe there is
someone who knows the story of the discs and that they actually exist, and
that the Army, when approached for information, merely state that they know
nothing concerning them . JOfil'S0'1 also informed that Lieutenant BRO"l,1' and
Captain •AVIDSON had contacted him on July 20 , 1947, at Boise , Ldsho , regard­
ing the discs and that is how he met them .
Unless advised th the contrary, no additional investigation is
being conducted in this matter , and it is being considered as Referred Upon
Completion to the Seattle Office .
•
JEJ:FPMc
Encs . (RE~ISTERED)
AIR 'f~IL

SPECIAL DELIVERY
cc - ~eattle

.,. /

..,
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFIClAL BUSINESS

It..

Encs. to Bureau
Re: Flying Discs
Butte file 65-477

ENTURE PRESS
3 □ 5
STUD! □
171B SHERMAN
EVANSTON,
._,
.....--.....
BUILDING
AVENUE
ILLIN □ IS
\
T.--:::::::.1
((_~ -- =---Mr. Kenneth Arnold,
Boiee, Idaho
All It I c_,
------
'

VENTURE PRESS
305 S TUDIO BUILDING
1718 S H ERMAN AVENU E
E VANS TON,

ILLINOI B

Au&1t 5. 1947

!Ar. Kenneth Arnold.
Box 387,

Boise~ Idaho
Dear Mr . .\rnold:
It seems that Mr. Maurice Roddy of the Chicago Times got the
atory from Mr. Sir.1th, because he oslled me, told me he was
running it. I knew only 'What you'd told me over the phone.
Now, it seems the newspapers a.re pestering th~ very devil out
of all ycu fellows. cr1sma.n wired me for inst1uotions. and I
told him to cay nothing tb the newspapers, because he'll look
silly if the army explains th1~ as •meteors~ or something like
that.
I don't blame you for being alarmed, but I trust you've had no
trouble i n your flying since then. Let's get that straight-­
there 's no horrible plot 1n#olved. It's probably true that the
t\llO m<,n killed were just aaoidents. It could be true th..'1.t it
wo.s not an aooident , but I don •t think there was any connect ion
with the disks. or anything of that nature, nor is the material
from Murray Island to blame.
Certainlt I don 't think you'd suffer from completing your report
on your mission, and send in0 me iour affidavit. Also, you'll
have some money coming for that, and no sense to tossing the.t out
of the window. It i s unfortunate that the thing seemed so big
you had to call in army intell 1genoe, but 1t lit 11 take them a
long tiJae -co proceed to the point (I've reaohed 1nthis disk mystotY•
You see, you aren't the first to see them. They've been known
for nearly forty years, and I have amplo pr~of of that. But
jOur experienoe was the first real break toward a solution .
I 'd
hate to have you drop t he matter when al 1 reaa1ning to do is to
file your report with me.
Crisman is willing to contri bute his share. I hope you ~111 too.
This tl ing 1.1ust not be hushed up and fo r gotten. It's muoh too
important t<'.> the people of Amerioa, if not the 110rld. Antl no
censorship of the matter is logal. You needn 't fee.r that angle.
You certainly did a bang-up job of investignt1ont also you wrote
one of the best article a about your aune 24 experience I 've ever
seen. Piease do the same on t h is last business. Yuu On it to
those two men 1rho were killed.
I 'd also like to know what developed on those pictures you took
of those ndacks", or whatever they were.

I •

In short. I'd like to have you continue to aeep in oontaot
with me, and relay to me anyth1r.g furt!l'! r you learn.
In turn, I'll give you the whole story, 'Which I 'm just about
ready to break (not in the newspa:;ers). And ir it was as
dangerous as _you seem to suspect , I ' o afraid I ' d have been
a oorpsa long agoJ
But . and this is all you need remember. those disks ar o not
red oorpusoles in 1our eyec~11 1 and they are not something
we can forget about nth an ostrich in the sand attitude.
ie•ve got to solve them , publio hysteria or no. AR for that
hysteria~ if laughing is hysteria. that ' s all the ~ysteria
I've noticed :
By all means, I want to thank you f or the Y.c rk y ou •ve done.
You know :1ow- business , and you handled it like a major .
But I'm hoping /OU do the easy part now and get that report
on paper.

A oheok for your June 24 artiole is going out to you.

Sincerely yours,

R. A.

Palmer

-

VENTURE PRESS
305 STUDIO BUILDING
171 B

SHERMAN AVENUE

E VANSTON,

ILL INO I S

June 26. 1947

Mr. Kenneth Arnold,
Boise, Ide.ho
Dear Mr. Arnold:

I have just read an aocount in the Chicago Tribune oonoerning
an aerial train composed or at least 9 units shaped like a
pie-plate and silvery in color, traveling at 1200 m.p.h. near
Mount Ranier, as witnessed by you while flying in the vicinity.
This is quite important to me, because I have in my possessjon
numerous independent confirmations of what you saw. although none
in as great detail as your account. I am interested in publishing
an article in our magazine, written from a personal aooount by
yourself, and accompanied by pix of yourself. plane, and rough
sketches by yourself, of what you saw.
If you oare to do this for me, I am prepared to pay our usual
rates of 2¢ perword, plus $5.00 for each photograph you can
provide, or for each sketch which can be used by our art staff
to illustrate the article.

Included in this material, we'd like a short biographical
sketch of yourself as •author background• material. The
article anuld appear under your by-line.
If you are not interested, I w,uld at least appreciate a
letter from you, confinning the newspaper story.
Very truly

yours,{ ~

A. Palmer
The Venture Press
In your reply, please use airmail.

! ~ born I!n.reb 29, 191$. S.n il,,,."'>boxo., :5..nm3oot.'.l.
uao ~'Pd
• Arnoldi my ootbor' s I:L:lidon n:u:-.o
ta.tbcr' D ltl!'le
.o Bc1•t...li,~
•
al"{l'Jn.
I
tr.1S c. rooidsnt of tli.mtosot:l until I ms Gix yoai·s old :r.ben ey: f'onily
----.a to .ucoboy,
tirnold also bmX)st:.o
,
tw- c,.~amrc.t..1l01-, Rolmta ..c.
nttun., fJhoro t!loy bo20..to:idod.
ibey, &nt.tul.:!., nnd boo nc ,qui.to ~ n t
d in
in poUti.c:a. circl-e3 cl.onz;
th W:rton
•
ntdna
SO.."mtor.
I
to credo school and hi.ch school at Llinot, Jorth lb .:ota..
0'1Tb3rcd ..coutinz at t-.-rolvo year..; or a.._. and achiovc.d tho r.:mk of
I
z].o
scout before I T1li.O fo-.irtoon. t\Y fo .:!Or scout oxc tivo tr.lS B. H. Prescott,
nm a ro3tonu cot.cinsionor ror tho Boy ..,oouto in
:ns .., City, Itan~as.
intoro tod in nthlotic::; end uns oloctca
all- tatc end in 1932 tmd 193.3 in the suite of li01-tl1 ~ t a.
the U. ~. O~c t.r1al.d in fmicJ <livirliJ in 1932; I
Rod CroGn Id.fo
\T.l5
'ltJ1ner duri.n t.bo ycJ!U"3 of 1932, ' 33 and ' 34.
I entered
I
divine --t 'GCOUt e nps mx1 tbo tnmicip.µ. pool i.n t1:in::>t,
toutht iGtii~
..01·th lhkob.
I u.,nt to tho Univoruity oi' imxmotn., mwr. I mm; Mld did £a.ncy di.vin'1
uncbr I.oils Thorpo, l3nd ol o plcyod .footb::lll undor Bor-.ai.o Biemnn, but
upon .ontorinJ collo._. I t.n:1 llJUblc to eo tir.i a
i'ootb!lll cn.raor bocauso
of on iJljurcd knee. ~ hit;h school !'ootlxlll ~ch •
Olonn L. Jarrett,
'Oho is n:r.r tho 1lo"'d foott ru.l co ch of the Un.tvor~ty 0£ orth Dcltoto..
h:l.d l itt.1.a or no fin:lnco!l,
I
cy
ti.on in iurthoi:'inu cy oduc1tion 1n
coll.OJ) \1!la 1..hrOu.:;h ey c.tbletic!l.
tis e boy in Lanot, I.ortb Il:w-..ot- , I did
e e,.'OOd do:Jl ot do.,. sled r c'"
1':i.rot
th oy do.., in 19.30 in tho
Lion' s Club lb.... ::rt,y.
In 1938 I r.an~
n c:i..'11.lfoot.uror or ~
---orl~
c
l_fM' ~~ .Littloton, Col orc'.?.do,
~ ~~
di~tri ct o.:nn~r for th,, ovor c. p ~ of tho
"'If• In 1939 I u.:w n..,do
3tcrn at.ates, .ond in 191':l

:13 Life d:l.ta on ~ nnDtll
•at,;0 2 -
ld
~
n wrkinz oo
• I h:i.vo
:l :t
o... em Fire
indcoondc t, £iro co
l
sinco, and a: fumdlo, di tx·ibute, oll end install. all typos or
f.'ichtint equipoont in ths rur.il.
au
"'aD over fivo
"'tern stat.en.
£lyine ~rlenca sto.rtod ti'" n boy in
I took
Ore.at
£i~ t £1.yinr; lo on
w.o, tbntaltl.
l Ii. Vane ,
DJ.o t.o :tl o
o n ~ £rom
:;]0
• e}1 co3t o.t that ti!:O, I
Ul']jble to
continue cy ~ and ·a not fey of aw r;re t con o:zu;enco until 1943.
eivon rry pP.ot certificate by • lb ch, o. senior CAA inspector of
I 'lT.::
o.i."tlond, Oreeon, and i'or
covorin""
entire
e lnSt throe ~ s ";'/ omied
rritoey H.h s
drod hours por amth ince.
1'1y.S.?1£: £rot: forty to on hull-
Due t.o t.hc f ct
airplaJX?
rk, in J;umary or this yoar I pure
ent:i.roly in ey
0-;;r1 nirp1.aho
nm C:ul.nir
e.i.rplanc, ti'hic io on nS.rpln.ne desiG11Cd for bidt altitu.
't3k
££s e:rd
shOrt 1'04~ field us~ •
In too type o r ~ I do, it tokes
in
t PW ea;;
injur1n Yo1,W eirpla.no; U\O ~
• 0.?'0 Vu%'/
judiJlCnt to bo nblc to 1
1rin'¥
d:l
hi.en in so::ia of the fields and pl.ac
, I hn.vc landDd in 823 eot1
a tho otllld
v
t.
il. of pr ctieo o.nd
nd
t out m. nout
al itude ia
:I
.,turas :in raountain ~~·' 9
a ati.t ts.re has b an cy ~ :to t asb..."'l).
ond in o,,-cr

'i'he foll.er.ii;: .., tory of mi: t I obsor.rod ovor t.bo C ac::.do bOUntains,
mpon:;iblo a: it. o w , ~, io pooitivol::, t.rug .
I It3VOr iwkcd mr
ted
aey n:>w11.oty tor ju3t nccid...~tly beinu in the right f1p0t at the ri~t.
t:Lt10 to ob...Ol'11'0 \iii t
:ud bn.ve ronort.od.
I raportod sO!lOtb1113 th t I knon any
I did .
I rum •-t -t.!link
lot
rt in OJV ~ cy obscrv: tion ms
clne to ~ aonsitivit,.y of cya oicht or jud:,µmt th:m
• Jo> nJ. for any pilot•
•
On Juno 24th, fuesdey, 19li7, I h=:d finiohOd er:, • rk for tho Centrnl.
··r oornco at Cheh.il.io, aa!lington, and t dbout tt:o o ' clock I
,, hin.,.:tton, cirport tilth th3 intention of' ~inz to Yokl.tn,
i'ro!il Challall ,
bin,cton.
00k ot£
113' trip nao deJeyod i"or o.n hour to
o~h f'or n larce r.iarim
-tr:.YlSport that ou~scdly ,.ant do..n ne:ir or oroim:l tho oout.lroest Cide o£
Ct. Bainior in tho state of m.onin,;tDn.
(ibis tranaport Ins been di -
eovorod o.t -:1:,he t.ir!o of tbio urit.ine--Jvly 29, 19h7. )
I fl.cr.7 Mroctly to, ::?.rd
• Raimor :artcr roo.chiJm
11
t.itudo of
o.bOut 9 , 500 foot, ffllich io We pproxiroto olOVQ.tion of tho bieh pla.tob.u
i".ro ffilieh
• Rtinie.r: ri o:J.
I h!ld. oodc ono aa:)Op of thio hi.eh plnteau
i.o the nos~,
8:lrebinz all or thO v rious riQ.!!On for this- ~..no e..lu.p
end nm1 to
:lt dm7a mid r.car tho ~ sido or tho eapyon Jihor.c
A :ahtord, ~u-ton, 16 loe::ited.
Un=-..bl
360
11\1
to ace o.eyth:i 3 th t locmcd like tho 16.:.t.. obip, I tndo a
turn to t rlcht and abovo th3 llttlo ci y of tli.nor.:U.., a•--•-~ to
d llt. Iloinier. I cl:i.tlbcd b ck up to an altit;11cle of
JrOO
o.pprox1mtoly 9, 200 foot.
'ibe nir
oo D!JOOtb tho.t dcy that it
mid, 23 mo t ~t~
r,tor altitude, I ~
~ t~
u~
tl~
a. roal pl s u r e ~
y 01•3 ~ z o.t a
.i n t.11 !direct.ion of Ynkinn,

.J
2
waition end o~ly oot
in
plano o b ~ the o y ruld the 'tet•rnin.
'lh-..nm ~ o. DC-4 ,to the 1 ~
to tho roar or na approx:il:a:tQJ.¥
f'lftcon oUos dismnt, end I should 3Ude , t lh,000 foot el.ovation.
i'ha ilry 01i4 cir uere cs cleru: ns ccystol.
'! had not no.m mro
a. bri(;bt i'lnoh ra~lectod on
t'bo.n tw-o or t.hroo ttl.rnltco on q;- cooroo
l thoucllt ! ws too c"looo to one <>t.hor
airer: r •
I looked avery plc.co in
rafigction ht.d co;:o
o :, end couldn' t find Tihoro tl.
until I 1oolrod
Hai or mcro .I ob -rvod
~ ot nine ~culil'U" looli:inc oircr.Ji't £J.y:i.nz
!rob north to :outh o.t B .rox:lcatc)y 9,500 foot olcv tion and oinz,
°'-1ooinclY, in n dofinite direction or urout 170 do.:;roos north t.o oouth.
o.ssunod tl)ey rore jot ~
Ulyho':I, I discovered
.
.
tho ronection bad ccr.....o frO , no t.TA:> 01· throe of th83 evc1-;. ferr seconds
wuld dip or c ~ their cour. e sli(;h.tly,, just cnoudl, for th:> GUn t o
atrikG thod c.t en an~c that rotl.octod ibrlehtlj' on cy lune.
G Qbj ct, boinu.qui Ct
to
,
~ out t.h...~r
it. ~ o r ,
ir for. :tion.
h...."'1)0 or
..,;,S very pocillo.r trot I
wt n:riuocd thcy' 1C'DrO
typo of jot plc.no.
, ao I lnd ~
could clock
ro.
e :mcw
V~ry hor~y t.llQY' J'P!'Oachcd
td I ,obsorvoi! t· 3ir O\.ttlino ~ t the sn:r., qui.to p)rS~.
1 t ~ t 1t
tbc1r ~
. , I lm.-· una lo .for
couldn' t find tboo.r W1s
l
:,.o
tomi od to cloc·
finite po1Jltc_!, :t. &inier ilnd t .
&:::5-
I
by end tho o.i.r
objcctb and doter.
tMir
ppi'Oxicato o npa and aizo
t ti.L"lOot. fifty
nUos.
I ~ dititi ct:cy tbat ey 6.1?0P cocond liand on
cl.De:t, 'U'ai.c lo lo~tod on cy inst-...,.,..,...·:t p:ll'lOl, re3d ono
an too first Obj~~ ' d
.Ro:i.nior.
•
'iM~ora~~.,·~ •thorn ~ oJ: •
I m ~ o~ t 7 i'~
~rest on I bad nowr
fora
obsorrJ'od ~ ~ oo cl.ooo to the DOtllltnin topo, flli-1.ne directly

south to couthoaot-O.Cr. :n 1:.110 .hoe' s b=1c • of
munt.3.in r,.-mzo.
I F;O"j],.d
ost.1.rnto tbt.lir olcva.tion cmild htlv -wr-100. a thousnnd £eot one ,-:,;y or
nm
r up or do.m, but t,hey' r.oN pretty
ch on tho hoi1.zon to cc mlich
n::ruld indicn.to the tmro nD!lI' tho snne el~ t!on
'n10Y flcu liko u:uw t ·
dio.eobt\l ehair.- liko 1100
I ! :vc ob
d eeose to £.q in o. r ...thor
if t?ley ~ linlroc.1 toeot.hor.
i'boy cOQ.:Xld to
hold a definite d:i:1-ection but r ....t her m-renoo in and out or thO hi
Ul.1n petiko.
i'hofr ~ at the
CilUS~ I ~ -t!nt
il3t ke t
..
did
our~ and cir forcos bad pl.nr..o
botb.Otinc e
I
~
bat u.::nt ·very taot.
O.ip nnd £1.a.bh in tho oun
tchod
rlijit along thG1r path ~ M feet tmt :t oouldn 1 t
cure t.Mt cm:;- pilot could jw)t.~
1:o out any t.-ill on
ro tlmn o. ocond loo''
nt sue o. planO.
qui.to !>lm.nl3, end I ~tinate
Iob::crved
cil03 .
<liotanco fro::th ,
I kner1 they
"', ovon on ... clenr a ~ 03 tt
.,t i'\.to:icmy. In tact, I c -
~
pired o. zmw ~ tenor or cottline; tool I bad in qy pockot mth thre - hold­
inu it up on the and ho1dj.;ng i t ~ on the DC-4 tlut I could ob crvo at.
quite n dictrulee to qy loft. - mid they c...o::.ed A":,.Qllor t.l12n t.hO
I Dbbtild judto t.hoir ~ 'U0"'1ld l
on c::ich oi
4; bt1t
VO boon as m.do as t.hO furth'31'0!lt en:,.ncs
or tl.13 fu!l3li.lG of tho 00-4.
I obsorl8d tho
c.ccnstoood
objects, tho nore u. ot I
~13.nr '01th
tb tho eround or at bizbor cl.tifudo •
! oo crvo
c3alil or the 0
mxr. -covored ridev :in ~
ridZo tho l..l.'lt obj ~
ontoririz
t O~
• Rainier
p:iso.. nu t.110 south cre:rt of tbio
tho :Lr.
3: as ~
c :::o, cs I
110rthern ere t or 'tho ri
c~
~
.
icw.nr ri~, I t'1CaO'tlrE)d
1t mid round i t to ) ~ ~Y ~cl.l.o~ )p l could ni:e:cy assu.ne
'that t..110 c1uin 0£ t.hoso omcor-like objocUJ
1"0 a.t least fivo oil.cs l.On3.

l could quite ce:ur....to:cy- o
no t,bb·r po;
0y dim to tbo £act. t
thoro r.oro novcJ'al ihioi pe ra tb.:l.t. , ro n li vtl.o this i" of tl o
11 aa hi
1• pc3ko on ttio ot
r
C:J
do of t."ioir ~t..~.
l!iSt unit of this ro~ tion PO,'J od too rorthorn-:JOst hiah
As
6IlO'u--COvorod crest of lit. M.o:.!s, I 1oo!md at cy O'JOOP oeeond h.ond mid it
Ghoued t!ut. they had 'trovolled
conds.
n at tho t:ir.o t-!ti.o t.ir.une
d not up ct ca no I felt .....
nt. nfter I lanclod thoro '10"Jl.r bo o ,o ox lo.rntion of tf113t l.
__
rr;r.
:t :I rilct1t h...."'VC be:m
OOOi.ili! ro1'lections or oven a
as I ob5crvod
:.lCC• ~d.e I kno.r to be h oJ.uto]J fa.lso,
o objvets not ohl3 t.hi-ou,:h t.ho c).nos of ey ~
bn turned s:w ~ e i ~
ti
ere I could open cw :r.i.nckm mia ob orve
ui.tru.a co:ipl.ew),y unobstructed viccr.
thoueb tm D.II1.tten
s liL."O a very Dhol"t tico
pil.Ot can ob orvo
crc3t ~
-Udn bis Oieht, or vioion prQbn.bly a:.
oo fitey
;i1, in ffio air in tro n:inuto
t.~n...s nd ~
tico
or 1xt:, t.iooD.
I continU.od
GO~h for tho
t..--:.mty r..:imttco and ,1'£lllo
~
:tiri:r."O pl.r:no or a.not r £il'tocn '<>r
•!lJ for this
:t I Ind junt
o ~ L.-opt t,"Oi: i throu_j;\
I COtilil even l'ollo.1 bY t
tt7o nnd 0
r. di turbod.,
ir 1'1.n.shos
hili or thr.a6 tu.nUto -
r.
•
cl.tbouj1, by the
o£ vinion
or £01-m. Of courso,
nn tho D'Un roll otod fro
thc=e um.ts, thW a:
o.ro to bo COC!I)loteJ.y l"'OUr.d; ~c.1.t., .l
clrarr.lJ;le to t.he oos't ot r:r:, nbili~y, rmten I
I obs"1Wd bo:io oe
11
...• Rainier.
o arto:r
~ ~odv
0110 or bit> or throe or
includlll~, tlfl to thO hape
J cov-.JrO<l. rtd.:;c, ao

n thc:.o objccto 'rl'8I"8 ny1ng app.~tely str.J.i :1t mid levol,
they "DOr;J just o. bla.c:: thin lino ond
to
t
w fliPilOd ~
Only' t
ir size.
Th!l!lo objecto n:n~ hold:{nz en a1"'!0at co
tarlt elcva.t&m; t.hoy did
not ooon to be eoin.1 11,l> or tb bo -•'"-'•C do•m,
of :mckot:J or ~ o c y ahdlla.
h
ul.d oo tho c;i o
a
I o:J conviI::cad in r:ry omi ci.nd thn.t tnoy
uith ....
mre so::o type of airpl,3%10, even tixfu.r,b thoy did not canto
~ of ~
tl'-.:lt I
I
oan.;r aopccw 'Oi the co1wO!ltioJ;WJ..
tm.-ou~t tho
.h..-ivo bc..."1 nix or
nitod -.1til.ton.,
T.rltten by SO?lO of tho e o):> Ol"'l
-> that I
have
d!.l~cr:tptioro of "".:.ho
1 ~ or Ceder City, Utcll, tho pilc,t frO!l
O:Jtcrn Air Linc:J
'Cklaliona City,
evon other accounts
c:m
o :.o thinn tl t I did; pzrtieular~,
tb:roo
I:nm7.
l0CO'.::OtiVO
rc:tnoer in Ill.itloia,
• Jolm Corlett 0
United Press corrospond..nnt of Boice, I<bl¥), D:lvo Johnson,
~ cdiwr o.t
tbo Boi. o Do.iljr to.to ::::m, Contain lil1. h-Oo-:Ulot o ~
ty
rron of Um.tad. A.tr Linea, nnd Cnptain Ch::rl.c F . Gcbinn end Jack llo.rvoy
of United Air I.d.nro both 0£ d
only l..aot ni.Cht, July 2 , 1947, r..Me
thoir o~crv: ti.on on United Air ld.ro 1'll. 1t 10S '10stbound out or Bo
•
It ia ey c,pini.on th1t clesenpti0Il3 JCO".lld mt be voey accurate
taken ~ tlJe ground u.~s t,
D-ucor-1.il.--e di 'ro wr,~ at (l'tli'.-tc a c,-eat
m-lr)lt .nd tho:ro in a i:x>ooibility trot all of, b) poo,Plo ffllO o
pqcU:Uar objects could hwo ocn
been ~ d.Uficult.
I did; but• it t10 ild
~ to o
t
or fivo ooconda, w.d there io
...rvod
01'\TO tlle -;o ;!'or
re th.1.n four
338 the po:mibil.ity or t • sp}mric
a>ioturb .nnd du.3t 00.'.lr thb ~ ttllich c:,-Jld distort ono'a vioion tihilo
air obsorvorn I \10ti.l.d jµd,.,.no to oo very nccu.roto.
Ih:vcin
and ~ froil p,,,;,~
rei~ othor portiol'~
po:;so oion let ro 1:ro all ovor 'the United -,t,:itoa
;~r
'M
.,,,,
lO 1~
.:.
~ ~ 11..."VO boon obsGNad
~ ~tfdon, Ber.~, and

C:li£omia.
't ~ b1n.:; th:lt d:J;, w h:rm bud n
I l70Uld i :ve 0,von cl.:
c. lOro m.th o. telephoto l0n.J anil fro m
o. I 5.1.l rover be 'ff.lt.ltout one--
bat, to contmuo !\lrtbcr m.th ey otory.
I lnndod at Y~, ns:dn~
ton, airport I do3cribcd "1
dlo :l.ri tha Gorroml ~
t I lt.ld ooon to cy very I>Od fr:i.Olld, Al Boxter
~--or or Cont.rcl. Af.rci~ Cro~.
<li.&i' t
Jl'}.ticntl:y and TI:W vory courtoo ~ but. in c jokltie
I did r.p't
' .
.mns until I l.m'Mk
mt
O::!.Otlro tho d:Lot.:'.r.
tcly
li.'3\7
'•
-rr
'
,.. v rocn tlta~ vzt>
t Pcnfiloton., Oro~n tlnt oo;::o d:q
•
..-
ro I told a
r of tt1.ot i'ricncb of
GOO.ff or l.au 1i bt..~ aa~Dted they
mu.
~
lI.c lio
In fc.ct, •
0
""'7lcrrw..
• ch:t ba V,lidctl ~sn o... or c
oth:lne
roroor Ar::i:/ pil.9ts inforcod 0G tlot they~ bocn
brlofcd bo:foro Coin,c into 00!:lbat ovor:;o~ ~ t they moit ace objects of
ns ! <roscrib 6. nnd o.ssured
sim:iJl"r eh pe c...~ <bSi
~ or o,1nr:; cr.....,7.
I quct.o Solley' Robi
n, n rem r Ar~ Air Forco p;Uot ~ is
oper. ~ du tinj opcr: ts.om nt Pondleton, Oro ~n « ..t you o'boorvod, .I
o
tJilX) or jot or rocl.-et pi: pellecl hip tmt 1.., 1n the
proco30 of' bine tc tcd by our eovorn::-"'ll1i or even it could pg :::ibly bo by
oo.JC f'orci,er1- e o - : ~11 •
;{)}. 10W, t.bo ra .::: that I · rod' o b ~ tllo a u ......--.:d ~ rapi~
a."ld before tho llisb,t r.:,.o over I
roco vine tolopliono cruJ.G fro: ell
, to date I h w not rcOOivod one tolop 10
01.. one let
of co£~ or d!Dbclicf.
T110 only dioooliof thot I
I look nt tldD ~lo brdod.l c.s not o
have ~
it 011t to be.
&>cs not md.st.
ln~
mo.r
tbin3 .1\m1\Y.
it._;hty oori.O'UD and Cinco I ovi.clcntly
'.i'o J'.10 it i
did cb38rvo SOwOthine t.ru.>r:t at le t
to /,ndro.s on tbo e
ea.ll
. Jo.
~
Doo
-~
treat eo1"1'.:0r or
."
t.h.t. 1.t
1:Non thoueh I oponl.y lJ:::tod aJ lmiGstieaUon 'tty tho

7
roI
.to
aui;.ncntici y oi'
to
~~".u.,..,'
ti
-·-ti.on.
Invallleonc
tot7or
I ~vv0~.." - m ~01"0!.t.
fo
ko oftar
I till1
~ m
rozx>rted
tho n:5.tod
OCQ!l;"
n~
I
mtion bun~, tbey
., :~
very fi.r
. ,.
ul.d
to
int.hia
it
it is j
t
tbo
I
fl throe
t of:
cd,
tmrld.
oCJ.l.1c.roirplc.no,
~
iD
l.o:ld h1p ~ t io dooJ.t,lO(l end !.Cl'lUfactur.ld
cxtl~""X!l,y:
tor
~
11.
cortUi :t of
.

Juzy 29, l9'i
,,
I
I
...
,.
,
.~
~
(;
,•
::r.
305
1718
I~
~
no~;:-;-:.i'i.
pl10to~n!i::J
180
al.DOtori.al.tch
you0£
tod totpthor
l1£
hi tor • • th
touro v r •-·"-
-__;;;,,,~::d ~
~.:/*(?~
op::~
I
..

Fonn3811
Bev. I ~
RETURN RECEIPT
Recdoed from the Postmaster the Registered or l mured Article, the, original
number of which appears on the face of this Card.
•
Date of delivery _____
;J.._r:___:~_(____
~-
----•
1~ -J
111-12421
----

=«•tee ""
"JO eparunent
't 1rU7
,tpO»
,0
S
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
.
4
/
- C 7 ',,._:l'EIW-TTf'O • PRIVATEUSl!YOAVOIDPAY,.ElfTOHO,;TAGE.$.llll
~~
NS
r..
. <(;
"' .Jll l l •
5" PM
,9,7
L ,.,, = ILi..-·
REGISTERED ARTICLE
•• I .:Z yo.........
INSURED PAR CEL
BOISE,
IDAHO.

'1f
't
FBI SEATTLE
8- 14- 47
~RECTOR FBI
ROUTINE
BlllJCEARMS TR ONG , , M, A,
/2 ~
~t!J,,,,,,_,I-
F
5-18 PM
-'fil CHOLS •
.
/ .!.,
FLYI!!§_ DISCS
INTERNAL SECUR\T)'- ~
NEWSPAPER SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER CARRIED ARTICLE ON AUGUST
~ --7,
TWELVE OF REPORT OF FLYING DISCS SEEN BY ONE BRUCE ARMSTRONG OF
BOEING AIRCRAFT COMPANY, AND M. A. NICHOLS, ONE ONE TWO FIVE, SOUTH
WEST ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND STREET, SEATTLE .
INVESTI GATION OF
' "\
►
SIGHTING BY ARMSTRONG REVEALS OBJECT TO HAVE BEEN PIECE OF
l#ICBURN~,
PAPER WHICH HAD BEEN SEEN BY CONTROL TOWER AT BOEING FIELD.
IN-
/) VESTIGATION
0& SIGHTING BY M. A. NICHOLS INDICATE~ OBJECT WAS
(/ A WEATHER BALLON .
LETTER TO FOLLOW . \
✓
/
A AND H PLS
lB"'
T~
I;; 5-
.U,Vl1.i.KE]J
i)
9-19 PM OK FBI WASH DC GAR
~ !{3_i_/. I/-_,, WILCOX .
31 SEP ~/
4- \)S
f.X.. 8;; •
'
t..
•'
I

Mr. T Ison
Mr.EA. f
f
Mr. Oleg;
.,y
Jr.
I~
Mr
r.t• "<I
G;
8 -1 5 - 47
PORTLAND FBI
gto
E~T
■ mm
(r{]ifG-. ·-,
-1 -46 Pt1
;
L
V!JIRECTOR
FBI
( ' 'FLYING DISCS
-
SECURITY MATTErt DASH X .
AGATE BEACH , NEAR OCEAN LAK[ ,
I
\l.
Ar
A MR JOHN~TLETT , w
U
6
Ol<EC-01~ HAS REPORTED THAT THE EVEQ-'Jt'iG
OF AUGUST SEVEN ,
.J ,v~...
AT ELEVEt-., THIRTY Pf~ HE SIGHTED WHAT HE BELIEVED
,, ~
T9 BE A DISC BRIGHT IN COLOR WHICH HE WAS ABJE TO qn~~E,FOR
/
.
ONLY A SHORT TIME BECAUSE OF I ~
.c~R~~
~ -
BOBBITT
"'1:f!D~ HOLD PLS
)
n,,✓
J:;
-r.xED
IB~/~.m
10 L:: {w~RVIEHED .
/\
0~
c;r;· , , ,
9: .::
n_)., h I ~
EX,4,
\ff(
V
(Vt (
I
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1-1,:..
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5- 50 P~ OK FBI UASH DC L
'"

t
I
tt.utJIAL IIUHl:.AIJ Of fitvt&llliATll\o..--__,~~
U, S. OEl"ARTMEIU Of JUSTltE
COMMUHICATI~
ECTIOI
AUG ~
11
TELETYPE
n
t
M r Q,1
mm
..
Mr. I'<
WASHINGTON 17 FROM PHILADELPHIA
~RECTOR FBI URGENT l l /_i
1
DST
i)
I
-n_ YING OBJECT REPORTED OVER PHIL A . AUGUST SIX, NINETEEN FOP.TY - SEVEN.
SABOTAGE .
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ON AUGUST SEVEN, NINETEEN
FORTY SEVEN CARRIED ITEM CONCERNING FLYING OBJECTS OBSERVED OVER
PHl.U,. ON EVENING OF AUGUST SIX, FORTY SEVEN .
OBSERVING SUCH INTERVIEWED BY PHILA.
FURNISHED FOLLOW ING INFORMATION.
NINETEEN FORTY SEVEN,
OFFICE,
PEOPLE REPORTED AS
f'
AND SUBSTANTIALLY
AT TEN FORTY FIVE, AUGUST SIX,
A BLUISH WHITE FLAMING OBJECT WAS OBSERVED AT
A HEIGHT OF ONE ffietfS"~ THOUSAND FEET OR MORE OVER PHILADELPH~
}.
PROCEEDING FROM A NORTHEASTERLY TO A SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION .
THIS OBJECT LEFT A
TRAIL OF SNOKE ~~~ilff'L;STED FOR
ABfJ.1~1'1 4 ;J
7
TWO SECONDS AND W HISSING OR BUZZING SaffiD @~S~ AUDIBU:: 1tEJ:.P! .:.f.'.Jil;.,
~ IJ \
• - .lt1~
~
J(
SIGHT OF SUCH OBJECT .
PEOPLE OBSERVING THE SA11E ti!fMEl)
~JSIBLE AND
~
RELIABLE, AND INCLUDE A Yl'-lm=:s; FORMER ARMY AIR COP.PS
DOES NOT BELIEVE ABOVE MENTIONED OBJECT
SINCE THE ACCOMPANYING SOUND UAS
PROPELLED PLANES .
END PAGE ONE
T
•
I
HE
Wfr':>
PROPELLED PLANE
nor AS LOUD AS THAT MADE BY JET
HE ESTIMATED ABOVE OBJECT TRAVELED AT A RATE OF
EX-4l

'
I
••
PAGE TIJO
ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED TO FIVE HUNDRED MILES PER HOUR .
INQUIRIES BEING
MADE BY ARMY AND NAVY INTELLIGENCE FORCES, PHILA . ON THE REQUEST
OF THE PHILA . OFFICE TO DETERMINE IF EITHER ARMY OR NAVY ARE DOING
ANY EXPERIMENTAL WORK ON NEW TYPES OF PLANES IN VICINITY OF PHILA.
THEY WILL ADVISE PHILA . OFFICE IN NEXT SEVERAL DAYS .
LETT-ER OF
DETAILS WILL FOLLOW .
BOARDMAN
HOLD PLS
•

'
REC:\\'t;O
-EL.:iYPE
UI IT
1
-
~UG
7 9 35 Pli\ 't\7
.
oEP1• o• JUS1\C E.
r.S.t
••
.
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..
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•
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'

A
~
STANDARD FORM NO. $4
~ •.Office Memurandum. •
65-480
TO
:
('J )°:f/1:otor FBI
FROM
~
SAC Butte
•
.,.
UNI TED STl\.1..1.:,..., _.- OVERNMENT
DATE:
August 20, 1947
0~
FLTING DISCS
SUB/jJ:
' 1 - ~ ,;L
/ -
~
Enclosed please find the newspaper account carri ed by the Twin Falls.
. ~aho "Times Nen" on August is. together with a sheet of paper on whicll • c.
~ attempted to sketch his impressions of the instrument which he claims to
have seen.
.
{',
Refer tel~type to the Bureau dated August 16. 1947~
Concerning URIE•s sketches, it nay be noted that be beliewd the
rolled outer edge which he attempted to create in his drawil'.lg to have been about
a toot through. URIE lik»wise believed that the tubing or exhaust flame which
be and his sons claim to have seen was about a toot through and extended at
least to the ba.ok end of the device. The flame did not appear to taper ott nor
to widen out toward the back.
BI~Y and ~ I E stated that they could see a knot on the side ot
the device tran which the !'lanes were shooting, and that they could see day­
light between the exhaust flame and the side of the device. The flames did not
leave a.ny smoke or odor•
A
The URIE boys thought that the "side view" sketch should show that
k:J the device was more sharply angled from bottan to top, while URIE himself
C thought that it was more streamlined and curved. URIE said that the instruf ment came to a pointed or rounded top.
.-Bt:"f, ERP ,
~
In his notations• URIE mistakenly said tmt he had seen it on Thurs­
During interview, he stated that it a ctually had been on Wednesday,
August 13, 1947, when he and his sons saw the oontrivanoe about 1:00 P. Me
day.
...
tJ!
\
__.
URIE explai:md that he had sent h is boys to the river to get some
rope f'ran his boat. When he thought they were overdue, he v.oent outside his
tool shed to look for them. Be noticed them about 300 f'eet away looking in
the sky and he glanced up to see what he called the flying disc. He said he
could only see it f'or a JDOJD9nt before it disappeared behind a hill which
.. £'
obscured his view.
...,~~.,;.,'
URIE further stated that the contrivance was about seventy-five
f'eet in the air• URIE r ides in the depths ot the Snake River Canyon. which
is about .four hundred
et deep and twelve hundred .teet across at that place.
According to his ace
t, the contrivance was about three hundred feet below
the rim of the oan
and,, he saw it against the steep walls ot the canyon on
the tar side. - e ~ its color as sq blue and stated that he doubted
if it could be
e
a
t the sky. He likewise said that it was purely by
COPIES 1q~oe,...,:t~
,,
I did not spin like a ~
.k,i..lJ.l!,.l>
.
) Cl:/
27 0
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1
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M SEP ). ,j 154),
{X be
~
,i, ;:,

...
BT 66-480

As the machine went by the URIE place. the trees over which it almost
directly passed (Korman Poplars) did not just bend with the wind as if' a plane
had gone by• but• in URIE•s worda• "11plD1 around on top as it they were in a
vacuum.."

KEI'l'H URIE• eight yea.rs of age. said he first saw the machine coming
canyon. heading from east to 11est and following the contours of the
ground. BILLY• age ten. saw it almost imnediately. Both watched it .fly out
of' sight behind a tree in a matter of' momenta• They said they then ran to
their Father and learned that he too had seen the machine•
dc.Ml the

URIE seemed completely sincere about the inoiden-t. He said his wife
and daughter ware in the house at the time and had not seen the macbi.D&. He
questioned his brother• who also live• in the canyon. but his brother bad been
eating at the time and had seen nothing. URIE and his two boys maintained
that they had never before seen one ot -the discs. URIE. when interviewed• ap­
peared to be a sober. m.dqle-E\ged man.

JOHJrlmc)sNAU. the "Times Newa" reporter who originally .t'urnished
Special Agents with information about the incident• likewise stated that URIE
appeared cmpletely sincere about the machine.
,.....,
,, Ho f'urther attempt -was made to locate L. w. HAWKINS, inasmuch as
J. H. BROWN• who was with HAWKINS at the tilll3• was intervi8?i8de BROffll's ~
was withheld trc:m the newspaper because HAWKINS and BROWN -were fishing at Sal•
m.on dam while BROWN was supposed to have been workit1g in Twin Falls.

BROWN said simply that be and HAWKINS could bear a roar. They looked
up and could see two instr\lDBnta flying at a great height. which BROWN mentioned
might have been between four thousand and six thousand feet. However. he said
he had no idea how large the devioes ware and consequently• they ma.y have been
several miles away. He said tlat he and HAWKINS were satisfied they had seen

aouething and they were very doubtful that they had seen two planes.
RJGaFo•s

Eno. (2)

Newspaper Serving
TWIN FALLS, IDAHO, FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1947

Heads Up, Follis! The Discs Are Flying A
['
ii

»
~ ~❖'
ajf.... .... ( •. ~:.;~t ~-¥."';;:,, ~

~

t .~..

<

,~
-

". JIIIC'ila. .,

This Is an artist's con ception of the flying disc t hat A. C. Urie saw
sweeping- t hrough Sna ke river canyon six miles west of Blue Lakes
ranch. It seemed t o be powered by jets emitting a fiery glow on both
"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

I

sides, a nd could well be t h e inspiration for something new in women's
hats, such as a "flylnr saucer" creation. (D rawing by Vic Goer tzenstaff engraving)
"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

"'

If.

Flying Saucer Reported Flashing DoWil Canyon
At 1,000 Miles Per ·Hour; Two Others Are Seen
the fast-flying objects the nation scription of the flying discs seen by come concerned about what was de­
By JOHN B ROSNAN
him and his son, Keith, 8, and Billy, laying them, and had walked down
Just as Magic Valley and the has yet produced.
The flying saucer Urie saw was 10:
toward the river to see tl they were
nation were starting to let go o!
"I obtained a close-up view o! all right.
lampposts after reeling under a. skimming along through Snake river
"I had a side view at a distance
welter of flying saucer reports, two canyon at a height of about 75 the flying saucer as It passed by the
more Twin Falls county men re­ feet at 1 p. m. Wednesday. At 9:30 trout farm at l p. m. Aug. 13 going o! abo'.lt 300 feet and almost on a
vived speculation on the mystery a. m. the same day, L. W. Hawk­ down Snake river canyon at a height level with the thing," Urie con­
with vivid descriptions of discs they ins, Twin Fa11s county commis­ of about 75 feet from the canyon tinued. "Two of my boys, Keith
sioner and former county sheriff floor. I would estimate the speed and Billy, were below me and they
saw.
also saw it at about a 45-degree
~ From A. C. Urie, who operates from Filer, also saw two circular at about 1,000 miles per hour."
Urie explained that the incident angle. They both got a bottom and
I.he Auger Falls Trout farm six objects soaring along at a great
miles west o! Blue Lakes ranch in height near Salmon dam 40 miles occurred while the two boys were a side view, and we were a11 look­
com.Ing across the river from the ing at It from the south side of the
• • ke river canyon, came perhaps southwest of Twin Falls.
Here is Urle's eye-witness de- north side in a boat. He had be~ most detailed account of one of

TIMES-NEWS, TWIN F ALLS, IDAHO

Twin Falls News in Brief Four Parleys

Set on Cassia
School Pia

To Visit Here
Marriage License
AureHa stark, Portland, Ore., is Kenneth Miracle and Esta Jay
arriving here soon to visit Mr. and Pearson, both of Twin Falls, received
Mrs. Phil A. Snow.
ffrom Pace c:>ne)
a marriage license Thursday at the
courthouse.
Sublet t ; 14, Almo; 24, Hazel;
Births
+1
Blidt!e . ;;n, ;5puugdaie; 31, View ,
A daughter was born Thursday Rector Returns
32, Moulton.
to Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Wageman, • The Rev. E. Leslie Rolls, rector of
The above districts would be
Filer, at the Twin Fl!-lls county the Eplscopal Church of the Ascen­ corporated into one district w •): I a
slon, and Mrs. Rolls returned would elect five trustees. Tru~, . J a
general hospital mat ernity home.
Thursday from Tacoma, Wash., districts would be divided tht•s:
Return From College
District 1, all of Burley school dis- a
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Van Engelen where they spent their vacation.
trict west of Overland and the Bur!
and Fred Van Engelen have re­
ley-Oakley highway; district 2, all
turned from Moscow where they at­ Return to Kansas City
of Burley school district east of '
tended the summer session of the
E. L. Hoffman and his son, Overland and the Burley-Oakley
University of I daho.
Eugene, with Lucille Gahr, has re­ highway; district 3, present districts
turned to Kansas City after visiting of Declo, Albion, Springdale and
BREV
Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Hogue. Mrs. View; district 4, Oakley, Basin,
Miss Povey Visits
Hogue Is his mother.
Moulton; and district 5, Heglar,
Kathleen Povey, former Spanish
Malta, Elba, Sublett, Almo, Bridge
instructor at Twln Falls hlgh school, On Trip to East
and all present unorganized terri­
Is visiting here this week. She now
Mrs. John Hawes and her nephew, tory.
teaches Spanish in a high school at Pat
Boland, have gone to Boston
South Pasadena, Calif.
and New York City on a two-week's
vacation to visit relatives.
Auto Recovered
rs.
Clifford J . Roth, 529 Fifth avenue Visiting Sister
ert
north, reported the theft of his
for two automobile from near the Legion
Mrs. Robert Swanson, Denver,
WENDELL, Aug. 15 - Graveside
e to at­ hall to Twin F alls pol!ce at 5:42 p. Colo., if vlsltln~ her sister, Mrs.
done at m. Thursday and 18 min utes later Kenn=," Kail. Mrs. Swanson is a service.!/ were held Thursday eve­
ning for Marian Kay Ems, Wendell.
utworms. reported he had recovered the ve- !o~r:1' r resident of Rupert.
The infant daughter of Mr. and
past two
Mrs. Kenneth Ems died at birth
done con­ hlcle.
__
i,1;1,
Permit
fields in Visits Schuberts
Al,,)licatlon for a permit to build Thursday morning.
•i s>l1 >\S 25
She is survived by her parents; a
Agnes Schubert, Monterey• Par k, a 12 by 20-foot private garage of
. ~- •., Iields.
Calif., ic, ,li,lti.ig her brother and· .:-.. i:.m;, cvuo~l'l.wtlo11 " "" filed Frldt<Y 1>rothe!', Kenneth Ray, !!:? month~,
,•
age Is done to the sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Mel in the office of the city clerk by and a sister, Janet LaRae, 5. Bw·ial
pods, he explained, as the insects Schubert, this month. Miss Schu- Lola M. Vazquez, 350 Elm street, in the Wendell cemetery was under
burrow into a pod at night, eat into bert, former art instructor at Twin who estimated the cost at $400.
the direction of the Frazier mor­
t he seeds, drop to the ground the Falls high school, now teaches in
tuary.
next day, and enter another pod California.
Moose to Meet
the nPxt night. He recommended
Members of the fellowship degree
use of five per cent DDT dust Attend Funeral
of the Moose lodge will meet at
at the rate of 20 pounds per acre,
Out- of-town persons who attend­
and said the first appllcation should ed the Donald Spencer funeral in ­ 12:30 p. m. Sunday at the Moose
be on now.
clude Mrs. Geor ge Robbins, Ingle­ hall, officials announced Friday.
Next speaker was W. D. Hay of wood, Calif.; Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Refreshments will be served by
WENDOVER, utah, Aug. 15 (/PJ­
the PMA federal-state seed labora­ Adams, Mr . and Mrs. Ernie Vldun, Women of the Moose.
Ab Jenkins, holder of most of the
tory at Sacramento, Calif. He dis­ Wayne and Dorothy Adams, and
world's land speed records for dis­
cussed the movement of bean seed Mrs. Norma Lou Veneman, all Po­
tances of 50 miles or more, may be­
in interstate commerce, how the catello; Mrs. Sarah Adams, Mrs.
gin late tomorrow test runs in prep­
seed should be labeled, how to name Will Severe, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman
aration .for his newest record as­
different varieties, and the validity Adams, Mr. and Mrs. Orvil Adams,
sault.
of name assignments.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Adams, Mr.
BUHL, Aug. 16-Harry S ylvester
Bud Winfield of Los Angeles, de­
Carl Blackburn, of the Idaho Crop and Mrs. Ellsworth Adams, all Oak­ P iper, 71, Buhl plumber since 1926,
Improvement association, discussed ley; Mrs. J udson Tolman, Logan, died at 9:20 p, m. Thursday at the signer of the low-slung Mobil spe­
the general organization of that Utah, and Mrs. Alice Miller, Salt Twin Falls county general hos­ cial that Jenkins will drive, pro­
group and spoke of its measures for Lake City.
pital from complications following nounced the car "ready to go."
seed certification.
The runs will be made on an 11 ½
an emergency operation.
The delegates then a.djourned to
Mr. Piper was born June 6, 1875, mile circular track on the Bonne­
Clear Lakes resort for a fish fry.
In Emporia, Kans., and came to ville salt flats, 120 miles west ofi
Salt Lake City. Jenkins, former Sait
Idaho in 1926.
He Is survived by his wife, Mrs. Lake City mayor, hoped to make
Nettle Clussman Piper;
three his official runs early next wee~
William H. Munger, 38,305 Locust daughters, Mrs. Harry Kinter, Buhl;
street north, died at 11 a. m. Friday Mrs. James F. Percha!, Twin Falls

Funeral Held for
Infant at Wendell

I

Jenkins May Try
Run Tests Friday

Harry Piper, 71,
Claimed by Death

The Hospital

William Munger,
38, Passes Here

•

•

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

.,
OFFICIAL BUSINESS

ENCLOSURE TO BUREAU
Butte File 65-480

'Saucer' Seen
~lying Down
Snak.e Gorge
(From Pa,:o Ono)

river facing toward the north. The
boys saw it coming about ha!! a.
mile up the canyon, and we all lost
sight of it in less than a mile."
While the impression was still
vivid in their minds, the three got
together and made rough sketches
of what they had seen. These, in
turn, were the basis for the artist's
conception of the strange affair by
Vic Goertzen of Twin Falls for the
Times-News.
"It was all one color-sort of a
light sky blue with a red, tubular
~fiery ~low a.t the side of the top or
' hood," Urie continued.
··'.1he canyon floor is rough at
hat '1)articular point, and it rode
up and down over the hills and hol­
lov.s at a speed indicating some
typi:. of control faster than the
reflexes of man. It Is my opinion
that it is guided by instruments and
must be powered by atomic energy,
as it made very little noise-just a
s -w-i-s-h as It passed by."
Urie described. the size as about
20 feet long by 10 feet high and
10 feet wide, giving lt an oblong
shape. It might be described as look­
ing like an inverted pie-plate or
broad-brimmed straw hat that had
been compressed from two sides.
Pressed for his candid opinion of
just what it was, Urie said that he
was convinced that there was some­
thing to this flying saucer situation.
"I know a number of the people who
have also seen them and I know
that they're not just imagining
something or trying to get their
names in the paper," Urie com­
mented.
"I do know that it scared the boys
and made me feel pretty uneasy,"
he added.
Tracing down a rumor that County
Commissioner Hawkins had seen an
unusual object in the air on the
same day as Urie's experience, the
Times-News called him at his Filer
home.
"Yes, I did," he replied without
hesitation. "I'll have to admit I've
been skeptical all along until I saw
it with my own eyes. I can't say
what It was, but I can say there's
something in the air."
Hawkins related that while at
Salmon dam Wednesday morning,
a sound resembling the echo of a
motor caused him to look upward,
and there he saw two circular ob­
jects that reflected light. They were
traveling at a great speed and
hlgh,;,r than most airplanes, accord­
'ng t.o Hawkins.
Aslde from this, he declined to
add d'etails, except Lo say, ''There's
something in the air."
His general description, however,
corresponded closely to those of
hundreds of persons who reported
seeing flying saucers after Kenneth
Arnold, Boise businessman, had
touched off the deluge by telling of
coming upon nine disc-like objects
whlle he was flying in his private
plane in Washington.
Thereafter, the nation became in­
creasingly flying saucer conscious,
creating a state of mind that made
It possible for four 'teen age Twin
Falls boys to cause a mild sensa­
tion when they built a model flying
disc and tossed into a. local yard
July 10. This was subseuently re­
vealed as a. hoax, following investi­
gation by the anny and FBI.
Thereafter the saucer reports
tapered off Into a few scattered in­
cidents until the question was re­
vived by this week's occurrences.
Speculation has ranged from
mention that the discs could be
army or naVY guided missile experi­
ments, or that they could be similar
experiments by some foreign coun­
try, to "something out of this
world."
Whatever, they are, a lot of people
have seen "something."

,.
OUT OUR WAY
SIDE GLANCES
C09lt. 1946 BY lil!A S!RVICI, I
"If you quit driving to wor
save enough money to buy Ju
the yard I"
CARNIVAL
-
·'

UNITED S
GOVERNMENT
DATB:
SUllJBCT:
August. 20, 1947
AuthOfity:
NND 90986

OC.APN/KDS,cp
24 July 1947

#3724- I
l.fEM.OR}.NDUM TO THE SECURITY OFFICER, OCJ.MA, TINKER FIELD.

SUBJECT:

BYRON B. SAVAGE, Field Engineer, Radio Corporation
of America, Dall as, Texas. Residence: 416 N. W. 29th Street,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.)

RE:

Flyind Disc.

On 23 July 1947 , BYRON B. SAVAGE was interviewed at his residence,
416 N. Vi. 29th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, relating to his alleged
viewing of a flying disc over the vicinity of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Subject, whose age is 38, advised he is married and has one child,
wd is presently the holder of a · Private Pilot's License, No. 39101
(Single Engine , Land) . Subject averred he has extensively studied electron­
ics , sound engineering and aeronau'ti cs , and }tis present occupation, which is
Field Engineer for Radio Corporation of J.merica, offices of which are
located in Dallas, Texas, is that of instal l ing theater sound equipment.
SAVAGE stated that between the days 17 May to 21 May 1947, just after dusk,
he observed an object which he believed to be a small aircraft in the south.
SAVAGE advised that the sun had just 6one down and the moon had not arisen
on the horizon. SAVAGE related that he and his wife had just departed
their residence and had started to enter their car in the driveway at
416 N. w. 29th Street, Oklahoma City. He judged the time to be between
8s30 p. m. i;.nd 9:00 p.m., and the lights from the city of Oklahoma City
appeared to be shining on this object when he first saw it. He judged the
object to be about 160° in the south when he first saw it, and as it moved
toward him he remarked to his wife that "a big white plane was coming over."
SAVAGE stated that when this object was at a 45° angle from him, he
realized it was not a conven~ional type aircraft, and it appeared elliptical
at first end as it moved closer it appeared perfectly round and wes flat.
S/.VAGE advised the object, which appeared to him as a disc, had no appearance
of being spherical and had a ratio of diameter to the thickness of approxi•
mately 10 to 1, appearing thicker in the center , but this could not be
positi~ely ascertained. SAVAGE judged the object to be at an altitude of
between 10,000 and 18,000 feet, and it left no trailing effects. SAVAGE
related tha t it appeared to be in bulk as big es the bulk of six B- 29s et
an altitude of approximately the same height. SAVAGE advised that the object
was in his vision approximately 15 to 20 seconds and travelled at a speed
which he judged to be approximately three times tha t of jet- propelled aircraft.

\

~

a.

~

File

Memo: to the Security Officer, OC-.Al!A,
3724-I.

SAVAGE stated that there were no protrusions on this object and as it
went by he listened for a sound of noise, etid at one time thou~ht he dis­
tinguished a swishin~ sound like the rushing of air. This swishing sound
occurred a few seconds after this object had passed him. SAVAGE aV-erred
this sound was not very loud and did not last very long, and it is very
possible that the sound could have been his ima&ination or expectation, as
he was not sure of the sound . SPVAGE related that he called his wife to
see this object but it had disappeared before she could focus her eyes on
it. Subjeot stated that the objeot appeared to diminish in size and
speed as it movffirffl:1• and it we.s moving in a direction of 350° to the
north. Subj ect7stated that the object appeared to be frosty white in
color at all times .
SAVAGE advised that he has held a pilot's certificate since 1934 and
has been flying since 1929. He advised that he v:oulcl be :!;lad to answer any
further inquiries and will cooperate in every way possiole. SAVAGE stated
he was sure this object was not a meteor and in his opinion it must be
radically built end powered, probably atomic.
J

K.AUd.P.N D. SIMON

c.r .

u.s. Army

COPY
\

Incident
41.F 1208 I

16 July 1947

MEMORANDW FOR THE OFFICER IN CHARGE ,

1. On 12 July 1947, Mr . Kenneth Arnold, Box 387, Boise, Ide.ho,
was interviewed in regard to the report by Mr. Arnold that he saw 9
strange objects flying over the Cascede Mountain Range of Washington

State on July 25th. Mr. Arnold voluntarily agreed to give the interviewer
a written report of exactly what be had seen on the above mentioned date.
The written report of Mr • .Arnold is attached to this report as Exhibit A.
AGENT'S NOTES: Mr . P.rnold is a ma.n of 32 years of age, being married aid
the father of two children. He is well thought of in the community in
which he lives, being very much the family man end from all appearances
a very good provider for his family. Mr. ~rnold has recently purchased a
home on the outskirts of Boise. recently purchased a $5.000 airplane in
which to conduct his business to the extent of which is explained in the
attached exhibit. It is the personal opinion of the interviewer that Mr.
~rnold actually saw what he stated that he saw. It is difficult to believe
that a man of' Mr. Arnold's character and apparent integrity would stete
that he saw objects and write up a report to the extent that h~ did if he
did not see them. To go further, if Mr. Arnold can write a report of the

character that he did while not having seen the objects that he claimed he
saw, it is the opinion of the interviewer that Mr. Arnol d is in the wrong
business, that he should be writing Buok Rogers fiction. Mr . Arnold is
very outspoken and somewhat bitter in his opinions of the leaders of the

U.S. Army }~r Forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigati~n for not having
made an investigation of this matter sooner. To put all of the statements
made by Mr . Arnold in this report would make it a voluminous volune. However,
after having checked an aeronautical map of the area over which Mr. Arnold
claims that he saw the objects it_wes determined that all statements made by
Mr. Arnold in regard to the distances involved, speed of the objects, course
of the objects and size of the objects, could very possibly be facts. The
distances mentioned by Mr. Arnold in his report are within a short distance
of th~ actual distances on aeronautical charts of this area. although Mr .
~rnold has never consulted aeronautioal charts of the type the Army uses.
Mr. Jrnold stated that this business had suffered greatly since his report
on July 25 due to the fact that at every stop on his business routes, large
crowds of people were waiting to question him as to just what he had seen.
Mr. Arnold stated further that if' he, et any time in the future, sew anything
in the $ky, to quote Mr. P.rnold directly, .,if I saw a ten story building

FRANl< M. BROWN, S/A, CIC 4th AF

Incident
4AF 1208 I
flying throu~h the atr I would never ea7 a word about itn. due to the
fact that he has been ridiculed by the press to such en extent that he
is practically a moron in the eyes of the majority of the population of
the United States.
l Incl:
Exhibit "A"
FRi'.NK M. BRO~N, S/A. CIC 4th AF

• COPY
SOME LIFE DAT.A ON KENNETH PRNOLD
I was bor n March 29 • 1915 in Subeka. Minnesote. .
~y father ' s
name vras Edward Erb Arnold; my mother t s maiden name was Bertha
E. Barden.
I was a resident of Minnesota until· I was six years
old when my family moved to Scobey. Montana. where they home•
steaded .
My grandfather, Role.nd C. Arnol d also homesteaded in
Scobey. Montana , and became quite prominent in political circles
al ong with Burton K . Viheel er , the famous Montana senator.
I went to grade school and high school at Minot, North
Dakota .
I enter ed scouting at twelve years of age and achieved
the rank of Eagle scout before I was fourteen.
My former scout
executive was H. H. Prescott, now a regi onal commissioner for
the Boy Scouts in Kansas City, Kansas .
>s a boy, l was inter ested in athletics and was sel ected
as an
all- state end in 1932 and 1933 in the state of Worth
Dakota .
I entered the U. S. Olympic trials in fancy diving in
1932 ; I was a Red Cross Life Saving Examiner during the years
of 1932 , ' 33 and
1 34.
I taught swimmin~ and diving at scout
camps and the municipal pool in Minot, North Dakota.
I went
to the University of Minnesota, where I swam and did fancy
diving under Neil s Thorpe, and also played footbal l under Bernie
Bierman, but upon entering college I was unable to continue my
footbal l career because of an injured knee.
My high school foot­
bal l coach was Glenn L. Jarrett , who is now the head football
coach of the University of North Dakota.
I had little or no
finances, and my ambition in furthering my education in college

... ·.,

--· . 2
. p age

was through my athletics.

As a boy in Minot, North Dakota, I

did a good deal of dog sled racing, placing first with my . dog
in 1930 in the Lions Club Dog Derby.

In 1938 I went to work for Red Comet, Inc. of Littleton,
Colorado, a manufacturer of automatic fire fighting apparatus.

In 1939 I was made district manager for them over a part or the
western states, and in 1940 I established my ovm fire control
supply known as the Greet Western Fire Control Supply.

I have

been working as an independent fire control engineer since,
and I handle, distribute, sell and install all types of auto­
matic and manual fire fighting equipment in the rural areas over
five western states .
My flying experience started as a boy in Minot, North
Dakota, where I took my first flying 1 es son .from Earl T. Vance,
who was originally from Great Falls, Montana.

Due to the high

cost et that time , I was unabl e to continue my flying and did
not fly of any great consequence until 1943.

I wss given my

pilot certificate by Ed Leach. a senior CAA inspector of
Portland, Oregon , and for the last three years have owned my
o;,m airplane ooverin; my entire territory with same and flying
from forty to one hundred hours per month since.

Due to the

fact tha t I use an airplane entirely in my work , in January
of this year I purchased a new Callair airplane, which is an
airpl ane designed for hi6h altitude take-offs end short rough
field usage.
In the type of flying I do , it takes a great deal of

- NliiD:mNTI A"-'

cow
Page 3- Some Life Data on Kenneth Arnol d
pr actice and jud1911ent to be able to land in most any cow
pastu.r e and get out without injuring your airplane ; the
runways are v13ry limited and the altitude is very high in
some of the fiel ds and places I h~ve to go in my work .
To
date, I have landed in 8~2 cow pastur es in mountain meadows .
and in over a thousand h ou rs a fla.t tire has been my greetest
mish ap.

•
I
FBI SEATTLE
\
5-21 PM
8-14- 47
URGENT
/4RECTOR FBI
L. R. BRUMMETT.
SID'l}ECKER .
~
FLYING DISCS .
I NTERNAL SCURITY-X.
AUGUST FOURTEEN INllflffHXK NINETEEN FORTYSEVEN SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER
PUBLISHED ARTICLE TO EFFECT THAT L. ~UMMETT, BOX TWO FIVE FOUR RED­
MOND, WASH, AND SIDNEY DECKER BOX TWO NINE SI X REDMOND, WASHINGTON HAD
SIGHTED TWO DI SCS AT APPROXIMATELY NINE AM AUGUST THIRTEEN NINETEEN
FORTYSEVEN .
UPON INTERVIEW DECKER STATED THAT TWO VERY BRIGHT OJECTS
'\
TRAVELING AT AN EXTREME RATE OF SPEED WERE NOTICED BY HIM AS H~WAS
STANDING NEAR THE REDMOND POST OFFICE .
DECKER DESCRIBED THE OBJECTS
AS HAVING NO WINGS, NO TAIL, AND BOTH ENDS WERE TAPERED .
DECKER ADDED
THAT THE OBJECTS RESEMBLED A BELLY TANK AND THAT THEY WERE NOISELESS .
THE OBJECTS WERE VERY BRIGHT AND TRAVELING IN A NORTHEASTERLY DIRECTION
OVER REDMOND, WASHINGTON, ONE A BIT BEHIND AND A LITTLE ABOVE THE ◊,HER
1'rv-/
MAINTAINING EQUAL RA TES OF SPEED FOR APPROXIMATELY EIGHT SECONDS A
WHICH TIME THEY DI SAPPEARED FROM VIEW.
DECKER ADDED THAT THEY WERE
HIGHER THAN A PLANE GENERALLY TRAVELS.
BRUMMETT ADVISED THAT HE NOTICED
THE OBJECTS AND CALLED DECKERS ATTENTION TO THEM AND ALSO POINTED THEM
OUT TO A MRS MAMIE ENGLISH .
BRUMMETT STATED THAT HE SAW THO OBJECTS
t~
/Ir}
L - ~ /f
FLYING AT A FORTYFIVE DEGREE ANGLE NORTHEASTERLY OVER REDMOND
,V
71
T.iIO'H00([8 I ..Y-
\ ~~
F ..
~~ . .,34 SEP~
J~1941 E

•
PAGE TWO
TRAVELI NG AT LEAST THREE TIMES FASTER THAN A PLAN .

BRUMMETT ADDED THAT

HE WATCHED THE OBJECTS FROM FI VE TO EIGHT SECONDS AT WHI CH TIME THEY
DISAPPEARED FROM SIGHT.

ACCORDING TO BRUMMETT THE OBJECTS WERE DESCRIBED

AS BEING NOISELESS, HAVI NG NO WINGS OR TAIL , LIGHTER THAN ALUMINUM,
TAPERED AT BOTH ENDS AND ONE STAYED A LITTLE BEHIND AND A BIT ABOVE THE
OTHER AND BOTH MAINTA I ND EQUAL RATES OF SPEED .

FROM BRUMMETTS OBSERVATIO

HE WAS UNABLE TO DECI DE WHETHER THE OBJECTS WERE FLAT OR ROUND .
MAMI~

MRS

LISH STATED THAT WHEN BRUMMETT CALLED HER ATENTION TO THE

OBJECTS SHE TOOK A PASSI NG GLANCE AT THE SKY AND COULD OFFER NO
DESCR I PTI ON OTHER THAN THEY LOOKED LIKE TWO SI LVER BALLS TRAVELING
AT A FAST RATE OF SPEED .
WILCOX
END
SHOLD PLS
9- 28 PM OK FBI WASH DC GAR

s:r-;,»:> FORM-:NO, 64

.

•

.y

1
GOVERNMENT !

.0-fkce
. UNITED s.
'JJ" Memorandum
., '

/

Director , FBI

TO

~
~~

OM

: (jJ
SAC ,

SUBJECT:

DATE :

~

September 20, 1947

Chicago

FLYING DISCS
RIC~RD P . S!½A.VER -

Informant

Reference is made to your letter dated august 11, 1947 in the above captioned
matter.
Sheriff FRED Bl\U, t:c Henry County, ,loodstock, Illinois, advi sed that he had
received no reports of f]ying discs in the communit y of Lily Lake , Illinois .
He further stated that he had no record or knowledge of RICHARD F. SHAVER of
Lily Lake .
Deputy Sheriff FR.Af1K KELIER, Li~ Iake, Illinois , advised that he was per­
sonally acquainted with RICf!A..~VERJ whom he described as a successful
writer of mystery stories . He sa id he had no information to the effect that
SHAVER was mentally unsound and he believed him to be a substantial citizen.

N

0:::

:l!'s . R. UurnES, Lily lake Realty Company, advised she had sol d property to
ST11\VER on two occasions and was well acquainted with SI-Itt.VER and his wife .
She knew of no derogatory information conce rning him.
RICHARD SHARPTTHA~ was inter viewed at Lily lake > Illinois and advised that
he was the featured wr iter of mystery s t ories f Q.J:..!f1tmazing 11 magazine, which
magazine is edited by .EAYJ .mf:r.I'1iJJ...l!.~ of t ~
f -'Davis .Publishing Company,
Chicago, Illinois . SP.AVER at the outset stated that P.1:>.L,JER had told him thy
FBI would contact him r egar dine flying discs .
..,_
-.. ~ ,
1
$¥.AVER indicated that the telegram received by the i1ar Depa.rt~ent, r eferred
to in r eferenced letter, was probably sent by one of his readers, unknovm to
him. I~ said that he ,rrote mystery stories based on his firm conviction that
under the earth are var ious caverns formerly inhabited by a super race , who
have since fled to other planet s . This region of caverns he calls Lemuria .
~ stated he believes there is valuabl e machinery and other r esources i n these
caver ns . He therefore explained flying discs , which he calls "space ships ",
as the mode of travel of the Ieourians coming f rom other planet s to reclaim
the valuable nachinery. &.{A.VER indicated that his theories had aroused a
/
wide following among readers of 11Amazing 11 magazine .

,.

sunta:"F

SHA iER exhibited an article from an edition of the 11 Chicago Times" for
/"ugust B, 1947. The article stated that on June 24, 1947, on Murray Island,
off the .Tashington Coast, there had occurred a mysterious explosion which was
believed to have been caused by a guided missile or rocket . It furthefi ~ t ed
that t he date of the explosion vras the same date on which one l\l.,'Nirn'.Cf~HOLD,
a private pilot, siehted the first flying disc at Boise , Idahq. 1 'y ~ / -

V
t.

(\.~\ l' -

~~1 ) ,

Of _/flSQ

COPIES DESTROYED
2 7' O NOV 18 1964

~1,!~ oO~~

¾A·IO~ ~~ '

~

JEi'
SfP 24 ,qt.
{

/0
1

tJ

•

...

•

Director, FBI
Re : FLYING DISCS

September 20, 1947

The article went on to state that it was believed at the time that there was
some correlation between the flying disc and the kurray Island explosion, and
that RAYl'OND PAU:'.ER, Chicago magazine editor, had employed APJfOLD to investi­
gate and 11 cover 11 the 1!urray Island explosion.
The articl e went on to state that on August 1, 1947 , at Tacoma, Washington,
there was a conference among officials of the Army and Navy, who discussed
the possible relation between the i;urray Island explosion and the appearance
of flying discs . ARNOLD was supposed to have been in attendance at this
conference . At the conference, authorities br ought samples of a lava oxide
metal, allegedly taken from the scene of the ~urray Island expl osion.
'lhe article stated that following the conference, two pilots left by plane
for Hamilton F'ield, California , carr ying samples of the lava oxide metal .
The article further reported that the plane crashed near Hamilton Field,
California, and it w·as conjectured that the plane had exploded by reason of
the combustion of the lava oxide metal it carried.
From the above ne,vspaper article, it should be noted that RAYLOND PAIJ.lER.,
SHAVEF 1s employer, was from the start 11 exploiting 11 the appearance of the
flying dis cs , possibly to enhance the appeal of SHA.VER 's stories . It is
possible , therefore, that the entire flying disc theory was conceived by
PAI.MER and SHAVE't .
OAG: lab
100-18999

- 2 -

)
-
_.........o~Ro FORM NO. 64
•
•
. ...
· Office Memorandum • UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
t ;
. -
/k ••
I
' ;J
D:!rector, FBI
To
SA.C, Anchorage
SUBJECT:
('D
,.., c..
},'lying Disks
~
e.r:
Reference is made to Bureau Bulletin No. 41. dated July 30,
1947.
This is to advise that two arIJ\1 officers reparted to the
Office of the Director of Intelligence, headquarters Alaskan Departnent,
at 1'' ort Richardson, Alaska, that they had witnessed an object passing
through the air at a tremendous rate of speed which could not be judged
as to miles per hour .
The first officer stated that his attention was attracted to
this airborne object, and he in turn pointed it out to the second of­
ficer. The object appeared to be shaped like a sphere and did not give
the inpressi on of being saucer-like or co~arable to a disk. The first,
officer stated that i t would be impossible to g:i,ve minute details con­
cerning the object, but that it appeared to be approximatel y two or three
feet in diameter and did not l eave any vapor trail in the sky. ,--
~ z- -
*
Both officers atteapted to determine the approximate altitude
of the object, and from a weather group stationed nearby it was de­
termined that cloud .formations at the time the object was sighted were~
" scattered above 10,000 .feet. 11 The object was noted to be traveling
belc:M' the cloud formation .
The first officer stated that in his opini on the object ap­
peared to be metallic and was silver in color, nuch like the color of
many airpl anes .
•
The second officer stated substantial ly tbe same facts and
also pointed out that the object renained within his vision for ap­
proxi.nately 15 to 20 seconds. When sighted, the object was traveling
due south at a speed considerabl y in excess of any plane . The second
officer stated that the object appeared to him to be approximately 10
feet in diameter and compared it to half the size of a full moon on an
ordinary night . The seco~ officer based the altitude at approximately
the same as the first officer except for the fact that due to the size
be believed the object to be, he estimated the altitude to be only
approximately 3,000 or 4,000 feet . The object appeared broadside to
the second officer, and no evidence of a spinning motion or reflection
was noted. As to the color, the s e c o x t ~ pointed out that it
appeared to be a dull retal finish.9 ~ -. . (J
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OPIES DESTROYED
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•

Letter to Director, FBI
Re: Flying Disks

•
9-17-47

In concl usion, the seccnd officer pointed out that one of
the rene.rkable features of this object was that it was definitely
traveling against the wind.
The exact date of the sighting of this object was not fur­
nished this office, and inasmch as it occurred previousl y to the re ­
ceipt of Bureau instructions in this matter, no further investigation
is being corxiucted by this office unless specifically requested to do
so by the Bureau.

100-1403
HLM:GWH

STANDARD •FORM NO. 64
•
•
-. Office Memorandum • UNITED STATES GOVER~
'
I'
Director, FBI
D ATE :
T
September~47
SAC, Philadelphia
SUBJE CT:
FLYING OBJECT REPORTED OVER PHILADELPHIA
AUGUST 6, 1947
SABOTAGE
Remytel August 7 last.
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Miss ELEANOR"NADDLE, 2114 Hobart Street, Philadelphia, who is employed
by the GEORGE rt.GREENlfALD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 1524 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, advised as follows:
~•
fr"""
& i i r •• R?:i-
Between 10:30 and 10:~-P~• on August 6, 1947, she was sitting on
the steps of her home with CECELl¥FINE. She was facing north and observed
a large white object traveling a~ a very fast rate of speed to the-.south.
There -was a buzzing sound, not too loud but plainly audible, just after this
object passed through the air. This white object left in its traj.__r a-. thin
streak of smoke, which was grayish in color.
~
Miss CECELIA FINE, 5617 Arlington Street, Philadelphia, who is em- Ir
ployed by the PRESSMAN & GUTMAN COMPANY, INC., Room 1140, P.S.F.S. Building,
Philadelphia, stated she -was sitting on the steps of Miss NADDLE's home on
the evening of August 6, 1947, around 10:45 p.m. engaging in conversation
with Miss NADDLE, when Miss NADDLE al:ruptly stopped in the· middle of her con­
versation and appeared to be frightened. Miss FINE at that time was sitting
in a position in which she was facing south. She did not see any object in
the sky after noting Miss NADDLE's change of expression, but she did hear a
slight buzzing sound.
I
\
JOHN SNYDER, 1440 Vankirk Street, Philadelphia, an insurance agent,
who was a former pilot of B-24 ' s in the Army Air Corps, advised as follows:
He was sitting on the steps of his home around 10:45 p.m. on August
6, 1947, with his wife; and his neighbors, the KELLY family, were sitting on
their steps next door to the residence of SNYDER. All of the above parties
were facing east. SNYDER noticed at this ~ime an object, emitting a bluish­
white flame, passing quickly through the air. The object was traveling from
northeast to southwest. Using his experience in the Army Air Corps as a guide,
SNYDER estimated the above object was between 1000 and 3000 feet in the air
and traveling at a rate of between 400 to 506 miles an hour. This object d1a ,
not lose elevation as it passed through the air and left either smoke or a
condensation trail in its former path, which sted for about two seconds .
·s object. This sound was moder- "'>
A hissing sound accompanied the pas1~ng
ate and not nearly as loud as th~~ a ompanyi.ng the passage of a rocke~t
ship.
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Director, FBI

September 18, 1947

JOHN J. KELLY, 1442 Vankirk Street, who is a retired police officer
of the Philadelphia Police Department, advised as follows:
Around 10:45 p.m. on August 6, 194?, he and his wife were sitting on
the steps o~ their home, when KELLY noticed an object, resembling to him a
giant firecracker, pass quickly through the air. KELLY heard no noise, but
the object had completely passed from view in a southern direction within a
split second. It left a fiery trail for about 100 feet. August 6, 1947,
was a clear night, and no storm was brewing. KELLY was sure the object he
saw was no falling star, and he noted the above object did not seem to be
falling but maintained the same altitude.
The wives of SNYDER and KELLY verified the accounts of their husbands
as to the above-mentioned object.

'\

It is to be noted that the SNYDERS and the KELLYS live in Northe~t , ,
Philadelphia near Oxford Circle, which is about ten miles removed from the
residence of Miss NADDLE. Ml.ss NA.DDLE's residence is located in the western
part of Philadelphia. The Misses NADDLE and FINE are not known to the above­
mentioned KELLIS and SNYDERS. rt is further noted the observation of Miss
NADDLE, the KELLYS, and the SNYDERS roughly correspond. All of the above
persons seem reliable and not the type to seek publicity or to spread rumors.
Miss NADDLE and JO~LLX .c alled the "Inquirer", Philadelphia news­
paper, and inquired if it could offer any eJq)lanation as to what they had
seen. A representative of that paper had advised Miss NADDLE and KELLY that
the object they saw may have been some product of an oil refinery or chemical
company in their neighborhood.
Both the Offices of Naval Intelligence and Army Intelligence in Phila­
delphia were requested by the Philadelphia Office to ascertain if either the
Army or the Navy was doing any experimental work on new types of planes or
equipment, in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Such was done wi. th negative re­
sults. The Office of Naval Intelligence indicated that an explosion had oc­
curred at the CHARLES LENNIG CHEMICAL COMPANY on August 6, 194?.
S. A. GIMBEL, Safety Department of the CHARLES LENNIG CHEMICAL COMPANY,
INC., 5000 Richmond Street, Philadelphia, advised.as follows:
The above company is a manufacturer and distributor of chemicals.
A fire had occurred on a dump of the company on August 6, 194?, but was
quickly gotten under control. Such fire was confined to the company's prem­
ises and could not have been observed from outside the plant. The CHARLES

..
- 2 -

•

'

Di.rector, FBI

September 18, 194?

LENNIG COMP.ANY is about t~o and one-half miles southeast from Oxford Circle.
The account of the fire does not seem to fit into the general pattern of the
above-mentioned flying obj~ct, for itis noted that the flying object was
allegedly traveling from a position northeast of Oxford Circle to a south­
westerly direction in Philadelphia. GIMBEL pointed out that, to the best
of his knowledge, there are no oil refineries and chemical companies located
around Oxford Circle or north of such, but that all of the companies of this
type are several miles south of Oxford Circle.
All logical investigation having been conducted, no further action
will be taken on the instant matter unless advised to the contrary by the
Bureau.
FFB/ctg
98-1?62

- 3 -

•
..
SeptembGI' 27, 1947
JA0
l!ajor Gezs.eral George c. MoDonald
leaiatant Chief ilr statt - 2
The Pentagm
ilaabin~~ D• c.
RECORDED { ~
--
/
ear General JloDo
The Federal Bureau of Inftst1ga.t1on baa been requeated
by your oitice to aes1at in the 1nveatigat1on ot reportod. aiptinga of tl.ying di■oa.
U, attention baa been called to 1Datruot1on• disseminated
by the Air Foroea rel&tiw to tbia a.tter. I have been ad"fiaed
that these J.natructioJlS 1nclicat.e that the Air Foroea would inter­
Tin reaponeible obaervere •hi:le the FBI would inwstipte inoidenta
or diaoa to\Dld on the ground, thereby relleri.Dg the Air Foroea or
rumiing down inoidenta which 1n mn,y ca.sea turned out to be •uh
oan covera. toilet aeat■ and whatnot."
ID Yin ot the apparent underat:anlling by the 'Air Foroea
or the poaition ot the Federal.Bureau ot Investigation in thia
matter, I OAIUlOt pel"Jlit the J>8N<mnel and time ot this organisa­
tion to be 4iaa1pa:ted in this manner.
I &m advising the Field D1Tia1cma ot the Fede?'&l Bureau
ot Inveatigation to diaoontinue all 1nvoat1gative aotirlty regard-
r~-,~
ing the reported aightinga of flying di1011, and am instructing them ·,.-to reter all oampl&inta reoe1nd to the a ppropi-iaw Air Foro.
•
repreaentat1f t in their area.
t.
Sincerely yours.
J, 11c£er Ho Vt,,l
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STANDARD FORM NO, 84
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~ffi~e,Metnorandum . UN ITED STATES GOVERN MENT
DATB : September 25, 1947
TO
Ill'. Tolson
FROM
Ill'. E. J.. ~
Ill'. Cl egg~
Ill'. Glav i n~
D. M. IA.DD
SUBJECT:
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FLYING DI
t)
wr. Rosen
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, . . Harbo - -
d by the Air Forces Intelligence to assist: r.~r ~
the Air Forces in attempting to arrive at an explanation of the above
rei.~~~.,r....
phenomena. The Air Forces indicated that the alleged
sightings
of
flying
l
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•
Illes Gandy
discs might have been made by i ndividuals of Commum.st sympathies for the ___
-_
-_-_purpose of causing ma.ss hysteria in the United States over the fear of a secret
Russian weapon. The Bureau agreed to assist in the investigation of the reported
sightings, and the Field was advised in Bureau Bulletin No. 42, Series 1947, dated
July 30, 1947, that they should investigate each instance which was brought to
their attention of the sighting of a flying disc in order to ascertain whether or
not it was a bona fide sighting, an imaginary one, or a prank. The results of the
investigation conducted by the Bureau Field Offices in this matter have failed to
f reveal any indication of subversive individuals being involved in any of the
1) reported sightings.
==
The Bureau has received a communication in the captioned matter from
the Special Agent in Charge at San Francisco, dated September 19, 1947, which
attached a "restricted" letter that was furnished confidentially to the SAC at
San Franoisoo by Lieutenant Colonel Donald L. Springer, A-2, Ar-my Air Foroes,
Hamilton Field, California, a copy of which is attached hereto. It is noted
that the letter, which is dated September 3 , 1947, is signed "By Command of
Lieutenant General Stratemeyer 11 by Colonel R. H. Smith, Assistant Chief of Staff
Intelligence, Headquarters, Air Defense Command, Mitchel Field, New York, and is
addressed to the Connnanding Generals of the various Air Forces. This letter is
entitled "Cooperation of FBI with A.AF on Investigations of 'Flying Disc' Incidents. "
This letter states in substance that it was the original intent of the
A.C/AS-2, Headquarters, Arrey A.ir Forces that whereas the ADC A.ir Foroe s would
interview responsible observers, the FBI would investigate incidents of so- called
discs being found on the ground. Further, it indicates that the services of the
FBI were enlisted in order to relieve the numbered A.ir Forces of the task of
tracking down all the many instances which turned out to be "ash can covers ,
)
toilet seats and whatnot. "
vfV::_
\
RECOMMENDATION s
0' .,
It is reoonnn.ended that the Bureau protest vigorously to the Assistant
- ~ Chief of .Air Staff - 2. It is also reoommenct'ed that the Buraau discontinue all
activity in this field and that the Bureau Field Offices be advised to discon­
tinue all investigations and to refer all complaints received to the .A'ir Forces.
( A proposed Bulletin is attached for your a pproval. $J)
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HEADQUARTERS
AIR DEFENSE COW.AND
Mitchel li i e ld, New York
In reply
refe r to s
D333.SEX
3 September 1947
SUBJECT,
Cooperation of FBI with Ail' on Investigations of "Flying
Diso" Ino idents •
TOr
Commanding Genrals, First, Second, Fourth, Tenth, Eleventh
and Fourteenth Air Forces
ATTENTIONr Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2
1.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has agreed to assist Air
Force Intelligence personnel in the invest!. gation of "flying disc"
inoidents in order to quickly and effectively rule out what are pranks
and to conoentrate on what appears to be a genuine inoident.
2.
It was the original intent of the AC/AS-2, Headquarters,
Army Air Foroes that whereas the ADC Air Foroes would interview respon­
sible observers whose names would be furnished by AAF, the FBI would
investigate incidents of so called "discs" being found on the ground.
The services of the FBI were enlisted in order to relieve the numbered
Air Forces of the task of tracking down all the many instances which
turned out to be ash can covers, toilet seats and whatnot.
3. It is requested that each A-2 informally coordinate and
cooperate with the FBI, generally keeping the FBI informed of any
proposed calls that intelligence personnel will make on this subject.
Ve ry shortly, with the separation of the AAF' from the War Department,
a firm polioy will be established to clarify the liaison arrangements
between A-2•s and FBI Speoial Agents. Presently, it is considered
inadvisable to promulgate a formal interim policy - only to have it
replaced in a month or so by another.
BY COMMAND OF LIEUTENANT ~ HERAL STRATEMEYERr
/s/ R.H. SMITH
R. H. SMITH
Colonel, GSC
Asst Chief of staff-Int ell.

•

•

Office Men.,v, vv,Jdum • UN I TED STATES G OVER N MENT
TO

MR. IADD

I ~'✓IJJ'L

DATE:

E. G. FITCH ~ r

SUBJECT:

INSTRUMENT FOUND ON FARM NEA.R
DANFORTH., ILLINOIS
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llr. Tolson
Ur. C.A. ~

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FROM

SEPTEMBER 23, 1947

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-~-=:---:: ~~=1~-w=nReference is made t o a memorandum t o Mr. Harbo from Mr . Baughman ~i.~uJ~~..wr. Nease
on the above-captioned matter, dated September 3., 1947. The reference
~::~
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memorandum indicates that the instrument has been examined by the Ia.boratoi,~r~~H-c±-..,...
and the laboratory had contacted a. Mrs. Whedon of the A.rrrry- Engineers and she If
I)
indicated that the instrument had been used by the air Forces on tests which / ~ ~ ~
were classified as "Top Secret."
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The memorandum indicates that Special Agents. w. Heynolds of the Liaison
Section contacted the Intelligence Division of the Air Forces and was advised that
Mrs. 'Whedon alluded that the instrument was used in "Operation Mogul." The instru­
ment was loaned to the Intelligence Division of the Air Forces who in turn forwarded
it to Wright Field. The report was received from Wright Field indicating the
insti·ument had no connection w i ~peration Mogu l " or any other operation at Wright
Field. It was classified as a ho'b: in view of the a pparent .discrepancy between
information developed from Mrs . Whedon and ~nfonnation received from Intelligence
Division of the Air Forces that t he Bureau might wish to pursue thi s matt er f urther.
Mr . Zinnners of the Technical !Aboratory advised Mr . Reynolds of the Liaison
Section that Mrs. Whedon had told him that a Major Hopkins handled the Liaison in
\'jlshington for the tests in which this instrument was used. Id.eutenant Colonel George
Ge.rrett of the Intelligence Division of the Air Forces advised Special Agent Reynolds
that he contacted Major Hopkins. He advised t ha t Major Hopkins has had a great deal
of experience in radio and a l ong technical lines. Major Hopkins advised Colonel
Garrett that the instrument could not have been used in the "Operation Mogul. " Hopkins
indicated that from the pictures and particles r ecovered., it a ppeared to hi m t o be a
part or portions of an old- type radio loud speaker.
/
In view of the informati on received from Major Hopkins, Colonel Ge.:rr~
'
stated that he was at a loss as to how to explain the actions of Mrs . Whedon other
than to say that she per haps gave a false impression as to her knowledge of the
1'\
instrument and the "Operation Mogul. " Garrett pointed out that in view of the
r eport received from Wright Field., together with the statement made by Ma j or Hopkins.,
he felt that there was sufficient evidence that this instrument was not used in any '
Wat Bep~r-tmte~t classifi ed project and that in all probability it was j ust a hoax.
flu~ F o.-ce..

RECOMMENDATION:
the Technical Ia.boratory

·-

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RECEI VED
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25 August 1947

F.lying Saucer.

Authority:
NND 90986

i'O:

Co:mnanding General
A?'i!tY' 11:r Forces
'fash1n,<:t1'n ~5, D,

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Afi'N s AC/AW

.

Lt Cvl George OGJTOtt
1.

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The specil111nis of an alleged ltfl.ying Saucer• brought to thia
CaammC,. b7 Co1onel. 'B. • cC07, which were o'titilried°o,' the FBI and gi:nu
to Lt. Col Oarret.t, .were exa:m.ined to determine thei.r connection, 1:t' Brl1',
1llS. th tibe ea-called "n,-1.ng Saucen,e, or an, project at 1q .us:;, right
Fi.eld. fbe speoiJilfllo were earerul.17 eD3lined ib7" both tecbnic1.o.na ot the
Anal:yl,ie D1viaion (T-2} am Blectronics Sub-divisim (!• 3). Thi lat~r
organization stated that these epecimens detiniteq bad no ccmnection
whatsoever with the IIJlogul• project nor with~ other "oearch end deval.•
opmont pro3ect. ot thiG Cor;pand,
It. :u also ,the opinion ot this Command 'that tbaae specimeno
These
specimens, thel"'Gfore, are ca:ieidored as part ot a hou that oould be per­
petrated by most. m17011e seeking pnbl.icity er for any other reasom,.
2.

ban, n1> connection With the so-called •PlT,1113 Saucer• or •1)1.ec•.

3. The specimens man. in tbs attached photograph include trae­
ments ot an 1mdetermi.nable sbape made trca. plaster ot parie :0r sim1lar
ceruic am1 containing soi:.e electrical resistance wire far meawrement
or heating purposes. The conditicn of the cerr.mic indicates that tbs
resistance m..re was heated electricall;r at. one t.ime or another. i'h!se
tragmsnta coold not be connected 1'1,th aD.Y A!£ project.

The other articles

at too top of the photograph reading trm left to right are 1 d ~ t i a
fs
• ~

toUOWB:

•

,a.P..~

Ii
e>t almll­
>

a.
An out.oded type of magnetic .speaker diapbraga
•
inWI alloy, IL8I1U.facturec! bf The Nathaniel Baldrin CcmipaJ1Y ot Sslt tab
City, !Jtab, which was .f'irst petented ~ 1, 191v. This article cannot be
connected ntb mq AJ&C project..
b.

The secO!ld md t.~n:1 articles .a.re bakelite coil .forms

t

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'ECOR])EIJ

4
••
t: • co,ur,
sh. ro •
s, ~jeot, ~118 Sauoen
► Wl'apped w i t h ~ thln enaaeled ocJ.!)er w:tn.
The•• co111 indicaw
k1llf'ol]t ~ • a\ OD1 tiu but nre orudeq r,wrap;,ed b7
one not taSl1ar Witb tha art ot I\IJdng a ooU. i'beN oolla also have no
comieotian with an., Am project..
t.hi.t thq· ware
c.
l'bl .tourtb artiole 1• a metallic baE 1ihich 1• the re,aa1na or
aa e1-ctrcm1o ttlt.iar c::::adenaer made b7 tho Po~t anutacaring OOll'p&IV'
ot -Nn lork, • r. fb1• ar-t1ola aleo bu no co:nnsot.1ai with ET ~ pro­
.1•a,.
d.
!bcl .tlf\h artioi. :la the remalna ot a tame ~ t i o
ri131 that coul.4 not, be iden~d u Af1T par\ of fltf¥ dtrlce used at tb1•
cornmN14.
J..
fha 1nfonaat.1CD and attao-.1 photograph u7 be tranold t.ted to
tlJe Pm to intom nric,uca apnc:le• Uu-ouahout. the Um.wd States as t.o ,ma\
aots.m to take in tbt eftllt other aiallai- speotmen. an tQmd.
:PG? !I'
1 Incli
CO
1 Photo a-;]/2XU
•P'J.11.ng Saucertt
m>Dn GEUERI.Lt
1
H• • lloeo?
Colontl,. Ail" Corpa
n.piv c ~ Ocm.iral
Int.ll.1gence {T-4)
GOPlflDEPfflAL

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235150
ALCEGEO SPECIYEVS,
/
FLV ING SAVCER

FORM NO. 114

•

•

Memorandum • UNITED STATES GOVERN MENT
Director, FBI

DATE:

.,

SAC, Salt Lake City
Cf)

FLYING DISCS.
Remytel tenth instant.
On September 10, 1947 an ite~ relative to flyin~ saJcers appeared in

\l.-- . ~e Salt La~e Tribune indica'ting~J two younr couples, Mr . and Mrs . GA}'LON

1'

I

h fLDWELL and Mr . am.Mrs~ RICHA~

RSOM, Lo1<an, Ctah, who had been playing

~ bridp:e, reoorted that they saw three brief flip.hts of saucers, the first at

10:40 p.m. and two more before 11 : 10 p . m. the eve~i ~
Septe~ber 8, 1947.
This news·article~ ~ contained the narriesof KEITJr1fiJGHES , JO~.KSTON, and
Mr . and Mrs . F~ruNELL of Logan who had likewise.made separate renorts of
havin~ observed these flyinr discs .

Mr . and Mrs . RICHARD ANDERSON, when interviewed by an Afl'ent of this
office, advised that they, in company with Mr. and Mrs . GAYLON CALD'.'JELL, observed
apnr oximatel~• a dozen objects f'lyin_g in p:roup formation at about two or three
thousand feet i~ the air. They stated that they ~irst observsd these o~jects
on Sentember 8, 1947 at 10:30 p. m. when their bridge game b roke uo and both COlDles
went out on the porch . The A~l'DERSONS believed these obiects to be similar i n
size to nip-eons and stated that they seemed to be rather ·nhite and illuminated .
T~ey infor~ed t hat the obiects could have been birds; however, they appeared
to be ~ovin~ faster than birds as they circled the city in aryoroximatqly one to
two minutes, and then disappeared in a northern directio.
Mr . and Mrs . ANDERSON claimed to have observed no wing movement during
the flight, and are unable to make up their minds as to exactly what they saw.
Mr . A~JDERSON informed that Mr. and Mrs . CALDWELL are presently en route to an
unknown city in Nebraska .
Mr. KEITH HUGHES and JOAN CROOKSTON both advised that they ware unable
to state how their names appeared in the newspaper as havin,,. observed f l ying
sa..ioers inasrnuch as neither had ever had the op_oortunity to view ~he~e- f.Vin
objects, and the newspaper report was erroneous.
~~•
..J'

Mra FRED THUNELL advised that she, her husband,and five other oeople

J
had observed flying ob jeots between 10:30 and 11:00 p . rn . on the evening of
1
September 8, 1947. She stat~d that they saw five iioups , each containinr
~
thirt~r- five to sixty small objects, which we~e rather yellowish white in color
.,
and were circlin~ the city at a hi~h rate of soeed. Mrs . THUNELL stated that
•~
these objects Nere several t • o~sand feet in the air and it was i~possible fo r
/~~,
;
the~ to determine the aze due to the distance. sneed and 9-oudy-z.~
. ··t¥Jti()J/
RECORDED INDEXED
b.:l ~ ~. _ / / _, O'\
~
Mrs . THUNELLE.
r, "3- that 1~1r~~r;h~~AAU HA~M • ~d MIW . H. P.
--nND~~ . and Mrs. BES
KS w re ~int 'IGclobserve~eJ fl~in~

·n

1

~:~c!:!;~~ qi ;1,~ det•7n•
-. 49;

whJ. th: •• ~¾ts :•ht

r

..

•

•

Mr. and Mrs . N O ~h Loran, Jtah , advised that they viewed flying
objects travelTiii clockwise above the city at annrox imately l0 : 30 p .m. the evening
of Sente~ber 8, 1947. They infor med that they first believed the objeots to be
liP-hts of e.n airrylane . However, these objects seemed to chane:e in for.nati on and
aooeared to be similar to a gr oup of moving stars.
Mr. and Mrs . HALL believed these objects were traveling much faster than
\

birds.
It was determined that Mr . and Mrs . H. P . Ai-mERSON and
HFNDRICKS were not available for interview:

Mrs. BESSIE

Captain B. E. NAS')N, Military IntelliP-ence Division , Fort Do•..tglas,
Salt Lake City, Utah, is beinr advised by letter of the res~lts of this
investi P-ation.
In view of the indefinite information fur nished relacive to this matter,
no further investiP-ation is being conducted by this office .
SMK: L~S

AMSD

•

•

/421 TI 3d Avenue
Spokane, fiashington
Augus"t 8, 1947

Miliwry Intelligence Ill.vision, u.s.A.
l!cChord Field, l'fo.shington

Gentlemen:

FollO?ring the reading of an account or the visit af Er. Kcn:roth
Arnold, Boise, lcbho, as published in the Spo1'"..csman Revlon under date
o:r Au'"'-ust 7, 1947, tho undel:3igned considered the enclosed accou.."lt of
an obscrv:1tion or a 11flying saucor11 would be or interest to you.

Thi:J account has not been given to any neWSIXlper or oliher putlica­
tion us yet .
Yours tru~,

/s/ R. J . l.adden
R. J . MADDEN

Division Plant Mgr.
The Pac. Tel. & Tel. Co .

t
port on a nFl.y.i.n3

ucer n

At. or rout 12:05 p.m., J ~ 29, 1947, a sedan, driven b7 Stove

Herrr:ann and carrying H. J . (Bob)
awn 1n t.ho .rront aeat and Kllrl. lbr.D3nn
in tt. rear seat.,
s pr-ocoodinG nortJrueot.er ly along the road leoding £ rom
Caeyon ~•eny to York., both in l!ontans. some 2.5 miles N. E. o! Helen:1-

n at n point approximtc~ 1/4 mile U•• or Canyon Ferry, (as ohown
p to be 1n tm NE or llE~ or
• 10 n011 Rm) Karl
suddenly shouted Sec it J See itJ There 1s a :Oy1ng saucer I" Steve ~ d intoly sloned domi am
dually broueht too sunan t.o a atop., he an:i Bob
&anft bile scanning the sey in the d.1.rcction pointed by Korl 1n an ei'£art to
soe tm 11flyine onucer11 ., but m..thout Guccess .
on Foreot Service

Approxmiately' ton seconds elapsed betl1cen the t 1m Xarl report.od aeoing
the •sauceru., coI:11.ng over the horiton at high .apeod trom the southv:oot, (Knrl
first thcraght 1 t a meteor) and tra vel.11ng northeasterly, and the briJJeing of
the car to a stop.
As the car cane to a stop.

:tove, Karl and Bob, m.multaneously, atm tho

follo;1iQc :
Direct~ ahead., (H .ii) 2 to 3 ell.es dismnt and approxi!:mto~ )(X)() .rt .
above the grcr.md., a bright disc hovering and .nutter.1.ng in the air. Dcoccnd­
lnt; and rinin.,. through n vertical distance or fifty or a bWldrcd feet for a
period of about five seconds then., while at the top of nn ascent, tho ri.:H.oc"
suddenly moop:?d to the Northeast at treocndoua speed and di.sap
red into
too clear air m.thi.n a diotance of 200 i't . Th t 1B to eay it did not p:30D
beyond an obstruction to 1'urtber v1Dibil1ty blt "c:elt.od into thin nir" iu:: :1.f

bccall!le of tre;;xmdoua apeod.
This disc as., from the vic"apo1nt or the observero, oppc.ron~ 3 ft .
in d.ilu:13tor circulnr un:1 of 110 ercat thiclmoDS - approxiL:ote~ .) or 4 incbos •
1
The oey uas blue .ith scattered m:Dll clouda, the 6Uil 1rao ohinin{;

bri.chtly nm the disc e).camed and ahir:::13rcd :1.n tho brlebt cru..' llicht oo it
covered m.th highly p:>liehed niclml•

After the "di.Ge" di&1.
rcd.f ro:J Vien, the secbn and it occup:mto
roceeded nortJmostcrly alone tho road, llUt c ~ discern no evidcnco of the
~sence or the "disc" along or adjacent to that 'tb>rotare .

It io to be rc:iemoored tmt too dimnotons as stated abov
ro ac
11
1
',llf!Y appe3red to thO observan; OOl:lC 2 or 3 miles rrom the 'di0c
nd the
true dimnm-ons ?:USt be cone:tdcrobly grcn.tor.

/s/ R. J • Uldclon.,
R. J . l!ADDI:21,

Divia1:on Pl.ant Ehgr .
7hc Pac . Tel . & Tel. Co .

t
T. INSPECTO
H. Barkow
R
rof

P_n s T , Ofl'FIC E DEPARTMENT
B U REA U OF THE CHIEF I N SPE CTOI
OFFIC E OF I NSPECTOR

Chioago 7 , Illinoi s
September 19, 1947 .

C ASE N O.

56114-F

LAKifitlsr. ILLINOIS: All eged violation of Section 2350, P. L. &
R. , b~ es Aro Foundation, sal e of informa­
tion ooe flying disos .

Federal Bureau of Investigation ,
Washington . D. C.
Gentl emen :
The subject involved in oase of above desoription is
C. Vstevens , formerly of Lake For est, I l linois , who may
al so have given a Chicago address at various times .
Can you advise whether you have a r ecor d of t his man
and if so , will you pl ease forward a copy of same to me .
Sinc er ely yours ,

Post Office Inspector .
RECOIDJm

•

:,J.j- j /_ ~

lNDu.t)
~ -_J}_
I
·
ll
r
31 EP 21 °47

lr--aa

•

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..
•
Office-Memorandum
• uNrTEn sTATEs GOVERN MENT
.,,
TO
DIRECTOR, FBI
PROM
SAC, SEA.TTLE
suaJEcr:
C:
DATE :
Septem£;,~ 1J, 1947
..
Fun:: msc SIGh'TED
29, 194~=~;:'
✓cANYON FERRY,
oo,A BY ~
~ul
Rii
,,BTEVE
UW.ANN and R. J. .
SECURITY l!ATTER - X
~DDEN;
-
Enclosed herewith for information of Bureau and Butte Di.vision are /
copies of the following received Septel:lber 2, 1947, from H. R. PETERSON , 4t ~
Air Force, S-2, YcChord Field, Washington:
U!tter to Military Intelligence Division, USA, 1.!cChord Field, &sh.
from R. J . l!ADDEN, 4Z"/ W 3rd Ave . Spokane, bash. dated 8/8/47,
with enclosure of Madden I s ''Report on a 'Flying Saucer 1 • 11
lfo action being ta}fen by Seattl e .
~:bg
100-18945
Enclosures - 2
cc: Butte
f'T
(\

~
RECE/1/fo
~
LIAISON::;[;, 11011
r:-p 18
2 19 P/1 '1/J
Reef,~
RECEIVED
J I- -, IS tC
.P 18
ID 11 AM'1
> P
1
Zr/ 3 19 PN '
frERHAL SfCURi -r
r. B. I.
t" n ~
lNTfRNAL SECURI: '
~
F. B. I.
- r t1F ,,. "
..._
......
•
--
•

September 24, 19,7
Kr. T. li. Barkow
Inepeotor
Poet Office Department
Ohioago 7, lllinoie

Alleged violation ot beot1on 2360, P. L. •
R., by de• Arc Poundat1onJ tale of information
on flying dieoe.
Reference 1• made to your letter dated September 19, 19,7,
reque1ting intomation rege.rding one o. w. Stevena, your oaee #b6ll,-F.
You are advlaed that an effeot1Te aearoh cannot be oonduoted
through the file• of the Identification Divieion of the Federal Bureau
of Inve•tigation on the baaie of the name only. It you are able to fur­
nish the phyeioal deeorlption of Steven• or oth,r means of 1dentif1oation
euoh aa a regiatry number, a eearoh will be oonduate~ 1n t.n effort to
turniah you with the info~ation dee ired.

I..
RHG:jb

..
COMMUNICATIONS SECTION
, Tol son

• E• A• ~

. · c1egg
. Glav1-n- -

===
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: ~~;"'oI:;s

:~~
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:• l:~o-==
PeMington__,,,,...
Quinn T8111!l

eNe~::n-==
• Oan<ly

MAILED

9

* SEP 2'- 1947 P.M.
1

FEDERAL BUREAU OF IN'f'..ESTIGATION
U, S. 0£ ARlME.NT OF JLJSTlCE

•
,
S"tANOARD FORM NO. 454
Office Jylemorandum . UNITED s·...
i°,J .
TO
J \t)(:lROM
: • DIRECTOR.,
:
a
..........,
DATE:
FBI
GOVERNMENT
Sept . ~947
SAC, SEATTLE
SUBJECT: OFJ:YING DIS~. ~orted by BRU~l~'l"RONG
and M. A,ttrICHOLS, Seattle:...,.w;s~ton,
August 12, 1947
SECURITY MATI'ER X·
The newspaper , Seattle Post Intelligencer, carried an article in the
morning issue of August 13 reporting the sighting of flying disks. The article
appeared on the fifth page and ,'ias headed 11Blue Triangle LatestThing Seen I n
Disks 11 • Under this caption there \vas a short writeup v·hich stated, in substance,
that one BRUCE ARMSTRONG, an el ectronics technician, and a number of other en­
gineers at the Boeing Aircraft hed sighted a mysterious flying object about 2:20
p. m. on August 12. The newspaper report further stated that the object seemed
to be fluttering like a leaf, and appeared to be a black or dark blue triangular
substance. In this article also appeared another report of a disk supposedly
sighted by one 'f. f. NICHOLS, 1125 S. ''/, 102nd Street, Seattle, and NICHOLS des­
crib~d it as a big ball reflecting light, giving it a purplish tinge.
Interview v•ith BRUCE .ARMSTRONG on August 13 revealed that ARMSTRONG
was standing in front of Section D of the Boeing Aircraft Plant with about ten
other research engineers and h~d noticed a small black object flying about 200
feet high, going south over Boeing Field run• ay. ARMSTRONG further stated, upon
interview, that the object appeared triangular in shape and floated in the air
like a leaf, and he estimated the speed t n be about fifteen miles per hour.
1
ARMSTRONG could not accuratel y determine the distance between him end the o b j ~
but it is noted that Section Dis about half a mile from the opposite side of
._ .,..,. ___ -o--~
Boeing Fiel d where he supposedly had sighted it.
t,,J
.... .:t•f4 ..
0
The following other research engineers were also interviewed regarding
this object:
( 1,/
Mr, JOHN H. STONER
Mr , GEORGE H. STONER
Mr. BEN HAGER
Mr . LEROY PERKINS
Mr, DAN HAGE
RECORDED
INDEXED
I Ir~
1/J
{ ' ) _ /(j
11;
1'
The consensus of opinion of these men was th~t the objecl resembled a tilack iar
in flight and looked more like a piece of tar paper than anyfiling.1. l mle.rt the object
reached the end of the runway in Boeing Field it climbed into the sky in a south­
westerly direction and disappeared.
Mr. KEN GRPNT, o p ~ ~ the control tower for the Northwest Airlines
was then contacted. Mr.. , ,d_-rr stated that he reviews all reports of objects seen
in the vicinity of the
end makes a log of such . Mr. GRANT reviewed his
log but could not s
nJ repord of such a'1 item, but upon contact with Yir. VAUGHN
LOCK'"OOD, wh~~ duty at the tire the object was supposedly sighted, the
follov,ing in.1.v~yion wa obtained: LOCK:100D stated that about 2 0 1 clock in the
~.l/,0
~2.t _
'\
l\ \
~
OPIES DR~'!'ROYPD
.27 0 NOV 1 8 no4

•
DIRECTOR, FBI

FLYING DISKS, Report of

8/26/47

afternoon there were several pieces of burnt paper which flew over the field,
and he did recall a large piece of l:urnt paper which the wind had blown across
the runway and down the south end of the field . LOCKVlOOD estimated that the
paper v,as approximately three feet in length. Mr. GRANT stated that undoubtedly
this was the object in question, and inasmuch as the control tower has a complete
view of the area in which the engineers had sighted this object if anything fur­
ther was noted it would have appeared in the log .
Mr. M. A. NICHOLS, 1119 S , W. 102nd Street, was then interviewed regard­
ing his report of a flying object . NI CHOLS stated that about 4 p . m. on August 12
he had sighted an object which he estimated to be about 35,000 feet in the air,
which was f l ying over his home in a southwest direction. A neighbor, RAY STANLEY,
also saw the object and STANLEY examined the same with a pair of binoculars.
According to STAlJLEY the object looked like a ,-nite dock moving, ·cylindrical in
shape, and reflected the light of the sun with a sort of purplish tinge . Other
witnesses who had seen the object at this ti re were a Mr . and Mrs. GEORGE KROGSTADT,
of 1113 S. w. 102nd Street, Seattle, and their version of the object corresponded
with that of NICHOLS and STANLEY.

Contact with Mr. THQi!AS B. GERMJ,IN, of the Seattle Weather Bureau Office
at Boeing Field, revealed that weather balloons are released every six hours
from his field coinrrencing at 1:30 a . m. The balloons, according to Mr. GERMAIN,
are of a white gum color and reflect the light of the sun at a high altitude .
.Al though Mr. G3RHAIN could not understan:i why a balloon could have been sighted
at 4 p . m., he nevertheless was certain that, from the description of the object
seen by these people, it must have been either one of his balloons or one released
from some other area in the vicinity.
No further investigation is being conducted in this matter by this
office.

JJS:JG

62-

!

llttal Bur:au ol lnuestigation .

Bnit.eh itate.G :il.epartm.ent nf .ih.utic..e
IN REPLY, PLEASE REFER TO

422 - Federal Office Building, Civic Center
San Francisco 2, California
September 19, 1947

-:---

\ ),.J.S...,_..

P'lLE NO. - - - - - -

r' L .JDireotor. FBI
Attention: Assistant Director D. M. LADD

0

RE s ,REPORTS OF FLYING DISCS
• Dear Sir:-

~

~

I am transmitting herewith copies of a '\-estricted" letter da
September 3, 1947 1 which was furnished to me by Lieutenant Colonel DON
L. SPRINGER, A-2, Army Air Forces, Hamilton Field, California~ which letter
is designated to certain Commanding Generals in the Army Air Forces from
Colonel R.H. SMITH, Assistant Chief of Staff - Intelligence, Headquarters
Air Defense Command, Mitchel Field, New York, concerning "Cooperation of FBI
with AAF on Investigations of 'Flying Disc• Incidents".
It is my understanding from recent Bureau instructions that we are
to assist the Air Force Intelligence personnel in the investigation of flying
disc incidents. However, it will be noted from the attached l etter that it
is Army interpretation that it was their intent that the Bureau would investigate those incidents of the so-oall ed "discs" being found on the ground and
apparently not those which are observed only in flight. Further, the atten•
tion of the Bureau is respectfully called to paragraph two of this letter
and to the last sentence therein which states, "The services of tp.e .EB~ were
enlisted in order to reli eve the numbered Air Forces of the task of tracking
d~ all the iiiiiiy urstances whioh turned out to be ash can covers, toilet
seats and whatnot. "
In the first place, the instructions issued by the ArJJiy Air Forces
in this letter appear to limi t the type of investigations which the Bureau
will be asked to handle and secondly it appears to me the wording of the last
sentence in the second paragraph mentioned above is cloaked in entirel y
uncalle~ .for language t ending to indicate the Bureau will be asked to con?uo~~
inve~t~gations only in those oases which are not important and which are //YU •
- almost, in fact, ridiculous.
~

J

The thought has occurred to me the Bureau ~ight desire to discuss
this matter f'urther with the Army Air FQrces both as to the types of investi­
gations which we will conduct and also to object to the scurrilous wordage
which, to say the least, is insulting to the Bureau in the last sentence of
paragraph two.
/ 'J G
4 J
/
.elilco~nEJn
/#{
(, I' I . ()Jv{uJf'.,
Al ,,I"\
"'l"
F
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lt~:l:....l 'i~
LI.~-

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~

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,

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5 u uCl 2 2, 1J47

JI ~1
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tltt , r
rv

fx..BJ

9 OCT~ Y\

~~

.. .
t
'
Director, FBI
RE t REPORTS OF FLYING DISCS
9/19/47
In the event the Bureau decides to discuss the matter further with
the Army Air Forces, it is recommended that no indication whatsoever be
given indicating this letter was referred to me by Lieutenant Colonel
SPRINGER inasmuch as it would undoubtedly cause him serious embarrassment
and would certainly cause the excellent personal relationship which exists
between Lieutenant Colonel SPRINGER and this office to be endangered.
Very truly yours,
~~r-1
Ha
S c
HMKimhr
62-2938
Me KimlSa
1 gent in Charge

... -·'•

C

O P

•

Y

HEADQUARTERS
AIR DEFENSE COMMAND
!(itchel l<'ield, New York
In reply
refer tor
D 333 .SEX

3

September 1947;'

SUBJECTa

Cooperation of FBI with AAF on Investigations of "Flying
Disc" Incidents.

TOs

Commanding Genrals, First, Second, Fourth, Tenth, Eleventh
and Fourteenth Air Forces
ATTENTIONs Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2

l. The Federal Bureau or Investigation has agreed to assist Air
Force Intelligence personnel in the investigation of "flying disc"
incidents in order to quickly and effectively rule out what are pranks
and to concentrate on what appears to be a g•nuine incident.
2.
It was the original intent of the AC/AS-2, Headquarters,
Army Air Forces that whereas the ADC Air Forces would interview respon­
sible observers whose names would be furnished by AAF, the FBI would
inv•stigate incidents of so called "discs" being found on the ground.
The services of the FBI were enlisted in order to relieve the numbered
Air Forces of the task of tracking down all the many instances which
turned out to be ash can covers, toilet seats and whatnot.
3. It is requested that each A-2 informally coordinate and
cooperate with the FBI, generally keeping the FBI informed of any
proposed calls that intelligence personnel will make on this subject.
Very shortly, with the separation of the AAF from the War Department,
a firm policy will be established to clarify the liaison arrangements
between A-2•s and FBI Special Agents. Presently, it is considered
inadvisable to promulgate a formal interim policy•• only to have it
replaced in a month or so by another.
BY COMMAND OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL ST:RATEMEYER s

/s/ R.H. SMITH
R. H. SMITH

Colone1, GS C
Asst Chief of statf-Intell.

If

I
...
l
(D) / FLYING DISCS - -Effective 1i:r.medlatoly, the BureR.u hna discontinued its tnvesti­
go. tive ac tivities as outllned in Section B of Buroo.u Bulletin rto . 42, Series 1947,
dated July 30, 1947.
}
All futu.i.·e reports conne~ ..ed w1. th flying discs should bo referred to
the Air Forces and no 1nvest11;:o:tive action should be taken by Bureau Agents.
\
•
41941'

•

•

Office Nlemoranaum • uNrTEn sTATEs Gov hRNMENT
TO

DATE : September

Director• FBI

27, 1947

~ ~ c . Butte
SUBJECT:

FLYING DISCS SIGHTED MAY 51 1947 1
BE'ffl'EEN EL!EllSBURG AND SEATTIE. WASHINGTON

We.rd.en JOmt"HENRY. Montana State Prison, Door Lodgo, Montana., has
advised the writer that while driving between Ellensburg and Seattle, Washing•
ton, about 3:30 P.M., on May 6 1 1947, ha sighted a silver object streaking
aoross the sky. This was also seen by MELBOURlTE J.t<lfILL. con-net chauffeur,
and Yrs. HElffiY• This objeot wont into a nose dive and they thought it would
crash. However, before reaching the earth it disintegrated, leaving a long
pillar of 1' gas" hanging in the sky. It was partioularly odd ·oecause this re­
mained in form and did not blOW' uwo.y. It was observed by these three people
while they drove from twenty to thirty miles.
)i
~

.. -

~

This smoky, gaseous pillar was a long ways ofr'imtt"Yema'i'n'ea:J.ligh 'v11i..,,/'
in the air. Warden HERRY said that this silver object was traveling at an / !'
exoassively high rate of speed and when it disintegrated it was atill a long
~y f rO!:l the earth. Warden HENRY said when he .first sa.w it he thought it was
probably a jet propelled plane but that he ·couldn't tell except that its motions were erratio. Ho said ha had not reported it tmtil he had noticod so
mu.ch in the papers about these discs. Although thre~ people saw it, they decided tha.t they must be "seeing things"•
The Seattle Office is requested to advise Mr. H. R. PETERSON, 4th
Air Foroe, s-2, McChord Field, Washington.
No further action is being ta.ken by the Butte Office due to the
report.

time elapsing between the sighting of this object ..a n~1.~

- c~
WGB:LB
cc - Seattlo

I

OV.ER. MENT
• I.ADD ~
TO
')
SU BJECT:
DATE: October
----4':;if~
9.,
FLYING DISCS
There are e.ttaohed hereto, photographs of various reports
received hj· the Air Corps in connection with the above- captioned matter .
-ni.,._.,. z-1•'-""-c,-•,ev.• - ~ -,1.1.a~J.a +_..,.
~ ...... , A:.,,.,+, C:: _
_
PAvnnlrlQ- •
the Liaison Section by Ueutenant Colonel x:. 1. Garrett of the Intelligence
Division o~ the Air Force for completion of ~ureau files .
RECO'~ZDATION: I t is reoO!lm9nded that this memorandUJU be made
availa'b1e
to Supervisor R. G. Fletcher of the Internal Security Section f'or
his
Ol'Jllation.