HS1 834228961 62 HQ 83894 Section 3

II g 0) ()Ai"' tu IP. CX> .... ~ ~ ~ '.f ·,/._ )> 0 D en w '§, ,... "Tl ro t f '°"'t.... r ,,.• fl) I X :- n m )> :::0 :::0 m :::0 en r- -I - "' :::c ~ ~ z -I C C 0- j I !.' ::r m ~ II )> ... :::0 0 0 ::0 0 en • F R m /?33 I pR ----- a, Cl> I (S) fC) I d> CA> CA> CS> c.o ex> ~ A i (') m z -I m ..... w BUREAU :::0 0 '-!KETT STRfR USE CARE IN ........c~~ • m{iTRO IA # CJ'IJ0 & . ~~AR 1 1918 BY Tra·nsfer- a 421 ,e ,e 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 • ' j • • 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 ....,,1~n<llnfl or:t1cor 4 CONFIDENI'lAL 6 iUAnrEP.:J Fmmffl Atn PO CE :. • ttant Ch1 t or t.att, -2 - - · ·- ··-- J 1..c..ll,11"!'$ l'IC8 ..............................._. otl'leo c:,., - • e&NPIBIIINTl::Ml 11.C • ...el 4 _. l1to"11o. - - ··--·················.........................···---·------.....··-··· Tin.E tnvcati t,icn ot Plyiun viso Fu.E No• ...~ •la03• I ·······-··········- - ··-· !~..~~~...~!........................ DATE ... . .. !:::~ r..,~~~·~ ·······-·~n~......~~~!..::1~1c1 CoNTRoLLINc oFF1cE PEmoo COVERED . ... .. al .. J\tl y .turou .h ·' . ...~ at. l&.\T _ 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 ~hrop !!otel ln ;&:aoo • ashluet,on, on tho nt&ht ~f ~1 J~y li&7. the ry or thoil" 1n\or-rogat10Tl Ud .tindlnr,■ a ral•te4 :,Or neler, Pu'bllo lni9o?'Dl1iin orti r , Chord Field• 'by r . rnold and cp1:. m.th. jor e.nd•r retold iihd reault• o r ~ 1nY0111.1.pt1on to thi• oft1oer ~ hle notoa. • • Dahl an4 • Crl r• cc t\TUilabl• tor lnterrin dl11 thio otft s ln tbt\t area. •lthou!;)a noey oL'tort o 4- to oontaot theta. Furthor 1nvettlc;nt1on or -tbia pnrtiic,.ll.e.r- lnc1den\ • • loi"t With wdden~ t. Dt. 'If.co aah1n • • P ~• on. tt • apparent trtD. n9n:, ?"te.r cUp-'1n&•• l•phou llc to tlilc of'tlcor. M4 ccml'GrMtton• with jor ana.r. hnt Unit d H corre1poWSG%lt• or the a ~ ft e, a 1nat1'1.U3ntal lTl 11:0oplt\,G thla OCff •liTO . ru, ot:tlcer Md jor t auder, cltho\lnh qtt0ted cany '1.mea 1u tho p.-oes,. 414 not 41•ou•• thl• 1;ter with th prou 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, ···- ·····-··----·- - - - -- . ................ ADO ···················-·-·-·- -- 1 ···············-------- ..1, r. . 1 nc1aoo 1 4ii!'·a 1 ·o a·······--··· (Tblo --.--······ w . D .,P.M.O.Form.No.110 l April 1944 lona ..,.,....i,., W. D ~ 0 . C. S. Fann N<>- 19, wldob bo ued upoa receipt ol will - I 1 thia rerioioD) eeNfJIBIIN91At• AUG 30 1947 • Cl•Rl R; port • c the •tt rnoon of 11 J4t.bo quar~v• Vaurt bad v:d ta.. ot"tl • i . A. Pal \ll"O Olffl • • and otatea 1n inY-e•ttca nu.mt,. ant• oly t7• t•1-flhc:mt1~ Lt; te83l1' l• ro••· 1Gnatve to tno a • le a riean. · · e4 I" Fora. o1't1ee-r en4 ot In.cl.own :2 ot eoook tho o onawor • l htoaio oU. e. ~ • OOIZt '? M 47• wbJ t o ! ro o e,01 ottlM "1:.D to ,,. tt n tt • at Chord hld .rln atternooc c.ansc,a o~ their lfo~ to c1vi11an clo hint ln th alronft r tlo:o u 'to tdl,Y th y doaire . 'tN~rtntllw to Ta • O.M• OU they ro o. ~ tu~ lnvo• db • ltr rr 1cm rc;o Sar-br• ~tm~o di fl or the ......- r.... a .-t. Co a &d• . , that rut• ol • t th . tlytn dlao oxplod a 012 W&G req • cl au4 tlnano.4 by • 0 ldt•• 1tte Che A • .• • i f.\oloau.N 1 and taoloaur the o~ 31 • An.a~ion Mt C 1n ha ot t.hcl • 1tor er • J, t'On.ior C8MFIBD~TIAL l ~t • to • rnol • Cz-ltt:an, ,~ • hot•l .oom tn the m nten1 tel. r • Al'ft01 otr.o i 14 nate4 o ~ • • • o• ot wn ,ct thl• • t- • th' • obtatnoo re l<tenttoal ctUNd in lt2~0S1aff8 u~,-uel'US 4 hn'F)' oaz1 :t tu tan a. 11 IA.. t nc tr.'t rN ln th rou e r ny co= nt . , t t :t • not n- IS lat ry • ~14 C~ tb o U. .......=-:r1ae■ 1'12 t lor ndor ea to tut oubdit&i:iee or t'.®· la f!l1"I' tlon 'by t.t r01m &nd. Oo.:1t IraYl4tom ~ton :21 4? • Dt.hl wee proc e t.ng south of 'J' J•lann. ln • CJ:tl~•s boat. Pl'V't fl)~»"" dL•c• bay• 4N,ppi .. to An on W. D. , P.M.G. Form No. 11 0 out ot 'th ol.ouda • lrel elow1, Ol'Olnl4 t lfl'Atl or 600 t, ot. t'hc 1•o• a,J)pearo4 .-oun cot◄ Fl BEHTIAL • CI-R1 ~eport a nattcu be 4lf1P!" aut t no ltmOJ"tube. os• '1111b ~ ot tl porthole• po.rthOlc • . o 41••• 1IIVN fiilenti and p_ropulelon. dlCOI ho 01•0• a 8 nr t:Ni0Clttl on• cm h1 e ot 4 "• an rnt.r' of ppearoa tQ 1otm-ed ln lnclawn & w .7 • ira ~ iu.:,;::1..-.,.ror ot' nr. ,3or «mar• bola· opp t?\o . • naentod. htt thlc 1=at• i AOO tbs c:.'bln r-ooi". ot -t!ii.lnt ®4 tad :t171, ta tor ~t' l 1 ~ a to k~UU"O • so ■ ,C.~ • • • shc»ro root "e• t lf • • op 11 • m.~d t 1 l'tat ltl&l'l• bu or on G lotloly ~a• OU Clll4 tho 0 ~ £ ~ boat. effJ.lly . Oab.\'• ®C• Ciho uaon or ..-poi • mt ;r 1e out.er • ncor r 1 o~ 1 1 to t,y 4pcm1 f, t ..~ GONF19ENTIAL • •u-ol £or VCU"loue al Md it;o check •hl t • ato17• pr mmt.o4 to L'b l a uppc 4 f!o baftl lM14ont. a r ~ 4\sc C&!:!tl tho onec 1Nfl0i1alV haorl u &4 t oS. er 1 tu• tor ans bcu.r he tfi>r n ar:.l;e11 :rororo oo ?no " r tty er C'hl.c o. Bt !?<loz- mwrc. fl' With a m-o,m eb1ffl.llt• iele up l ~I"• or 61 uml7/J. r to , ,M1£1?" r..m, lt 1 po8 fd.cbt bfw CO ClOl"<.!&8 t k 1i. 14 ..,..,-., m-ano at Pi> Q.E.11-r;u on G Au.gus ? • t£ti1o ottlum\, !.0 IJ1don'b ~ . f a ~ F, Q. lU"l'.!.DY. W.D.,P.N.G, Form No, 11 0 o ~ or Jar dflr6 rcau or l~at1&at1«l• eot~FIDE ►~TlatcL • I. .. CONFIDENTIAL . \ oor;.1.lt.o, •1\her • vahl or .• Crl ,. bout; acm:;;a am on U ~•~ ,1. thff'e~oFo-11 1;h1• ~t'loer 414 no~ t o«ffer~lc 'Wl h dtrcotly. Mm•~ ,,O?.;, A rooora obeck t1oo, r. I,. for noor- lol l:C!-0 ruDv,t'-1-ro . i'h• telo 1iman a 'Od!oote4 'bho u t-b mt t uo.Ul•mt• ot i p~l"'t$• :rt ooold %l<>t lll q'Qt>o~cm. 6nd et t l. l,. ho •ubjc,o , cb1no:i• ttvt 1cm., •• tt-.et Pflcaey en ohar •4 of M- 1ona1 i . l"Cllel tb,. kr bl• ot • Cri~ Gd lffllt•to ~ 11Ct. e.ud ld •~ - • the .. ttla on fl'F • Crl«!lin tatn l t. l.l e l!WlDarO• • r. lhticm hc1~lc ~~tn~Hm 11m . I 8~ah .1 ry . . . toi- aom1~ian a ac' o oto •• ~l•pbcme i bcne. .._.,.u..u II Hdrtt• '11SZ, oltto tuc1dtJrN 1. ln Ylew of ho van oJto 1'lre f 1r ee 1;o t:a by IJJ01J t 1. ~ M ~. iv tr e.u •1~. e. to 1•P- tr vc o _ ~. le to 7• ~a, ~l~tll'l ~-~• e. Flna1 ••lou • no 1u- e,;ouo C6rneo• w. o., P.M.G . For m No. 110 • Crlaam., " .......- ... oton nd f'l,-s.n,; st~ :u, C:O ►•FIDENTIAl y eon l4eratlon 1 1 en 1md.8 tr -ta)NFIDENTI!.-l , V 1,, ('? ii e I • ,... • CONFIDEN ±'.LA J - 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 3l I (b) (7)(0 ) • 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_.!_~___ 1 editor of the "Oregonian, ' 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 ;t~ ~ If EX-81 =- _LI/ F ' 0 f,. ~ f :&'!:.,I • \ I ~ ~ '.'"' --- . ·r:: :...r, ~ <:::) ~ ""T) Q)~ • ~ c;..,..,~ c::: er., ~ ~ - ~ .., _,, -c:: <o ': :,_,, rt., ~, rr, ~ .. ,, "1 / r-• c- ~::r t<, . . ,. .... ... • \,,- 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. - 2 - ,. 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 j -- 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•, , ~~~ I '• 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 - 2 - 1 4 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 - 4- 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 - 5- ... ' 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 -6- -• 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 ·" 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 - 7- 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 su\.t~ ¢0\JO' ( )/~ ;~ :' \ ( Il , • 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 e