Documents / Document

FBI file 62-HQ-83894 Flying Discs, section 3

Department of War · 2026-05-08 · 190 pages · text from the file's own layer

This section of FBI file 62-HQ-83894 on flying discs collects 1947 FBI memoranda, teletypes and Army Air Forces intelligence papers. It includes F. M. Johnson's report of discs near Mt. Adams on June 24, 1947, the Maury Island claims of Harold Dahl and Fred Crisman, the fatal B-25 crash at Kelso, Washington that killed investigators Davidson and Brown, MIT findings that New Hampshire fragments were ordinary cast iron, and A. C. Urie's Twin Falls sighting. It ends with the Bureau discontinuing its disc investigations.

... '
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-

Cases discussed

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 190 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.