Documents / FOIA release

FBI file: UFO, UFO Part 05

Federal Bureau of Investigation · 74 pages · text by GLM-OCR

This is part five of the FBI's UFO file, a set of Bureau memoranda and reports from 1947 to 1949. Most of it covers the FBI's inquiry into the Maury Island flying disc story in Tacoma, which concluded that the disc fragments were ordinary rock formations and that the story was a hoax. It also examines the fatal crash of a B-25 at Kelso and finds no sign of sabotage. The file includes other items: the Rhodes disc photographs, a proposed flying saucer convention in Alexandria, Louisiana, and ash from a fire near Scranton that someone suggested came from a flying saucer.

  • p. 1 …Lieutenant Colonel A-2, Fourth Air Force, Hamilton Field, California, involving reported sightings of flying discs…
  • p. 17 …Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BROWN of Army A-2 Intelligence from Hamilton Field, California, all met…
  • p. 20 …25 was carrying disc fragments returning to Hamilton Field, California and furnishing the inference that the…
  • p. 21 …N, officers with Army A-2 Intelligence at Hamilton Field and that the fragments were top…
  • p. 26 …Shortly afterward, Colonel BROYN called him from McChord Field stating that Hamilton Field had requested that…
  • p. 32 …had made a telephone call to Hamilton Field to contact a Captain Davidson and a Lieutenant…
  • p. 33 …Davidson were going back to Hamilton Field and that he would get in touch with me…
  • p. 38 …According to them they called in army intelligence officers from Hamilton Field, California and one Captain…
  • p. 43 …of A-2, Hamilton Field, California, dated August 27, 1947, with attachments reporting the sighting of…
  • p. 45 HEALQUARTERS FOURTH AIR FORCE Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2 Intelligence Hamilton Field…
  • p. 46 ## C HEADMARTIN FIELD AIR FORCE Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, A-2 Intelligence Hamilton…
  • p. 47 …departed NOCBORD FIELD at 0212 PST for HAMILTON FIELD, California. The weather was reported as CFR…
  • p. 48 …B at HAMILTON FIELD but no answer was received; however, it was known that HAMILTON AFS…
  • p. 51 …Intelligence Hamilton Field, California Title Investigation of Flying Disc Investigation made at Taoons and Kelso, Washington…
  • p. 53 …Widson returned to NaChord Field and prepared for a night flight to Hamilton Field. The weather…
  • p. 56 OFFICE 4TH AIRFORCE HAMILTON FIELD CALIF. SENT ARNOLD $200 TO GO TO TACOMA TO INVESTIGATE FLYING…
  • p. 62 …of A-2, Hamilton Field, California. Even though Col. feels that Mr. may have read some…
  • p. 67 …representative of the Air Force Intelligence, from Hamilton Field, California, and Special Agent with one Phoenix…
  • p. 69 …Bureau Agent) and A-2 representative from Hamilton Field, California. The purpose of the interview was…

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

## C

and went to the where a net them and took them to in the There they read the latest press releases and had a discussion with regarding the anony mous phone calls. In the course of this discussion mentioned the name of Major Public Relations Officer at McChord Field as being one of the officers interested in the investigation.

Following this discussion with at which time states they still refused to divulge any further information, and returned to the Hotel for the night.

On Sunday morning, August 3, 1947, appeared at the Hotel room and told them that he had received a letter from which said in effect, "Take care of my business. I'll be out of town for three or four days." He had a letter with him but he did not show it to the secretary's house in South Tacoma and picked her up and the four of them then went to breakfast on the South Tacoma highway. While the four of them then went to breakfast, excused Himself and called Major McChord Field and arranged an appointment to meet him at the Hotel lobby at 11:00 A.M. They then took the secretary to her home where they picked up a typewriter and then drove back to the Hotel. They asked him if he was going to take them to Maury 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 "the biggest liar that ever lived". Shortly after returning to the Hotel, met Major McChord in the lobby and they went in the car to a coffee shop in South Tacoma where proceeded to tell Major McChord the entire story of the incidents which had occurred in Tacoma regarding the slag and the story since Thursday afternoon. Following this, McChord took Major McChord back to the Hotel and introduced him to McChord and suggested to McChord that he also tell Major McChord the entire story of what had occurred. McChord did so. Major McChord after looking at the fragments which were still in the room suggested that they drive out of the Smelter near Tacoma as he believed the slag at the Smelter would bear a distinct resemblance to these fragments. The three men then drove to the Smelter and the slag was noted to be definitely similar to the fragments which McChord had left in the Hotel room. They then returned to the Hotel room and Major McChord left them. After packing their bags, McChord took McChord to Berry's airport where his plane was parked and then McChord drove himself back to Seattle.

About an hour after his arrival in Seattle, which was approximately 7:30 P. M., of the appeared at home with the newspaper containing the Associated Press story which had originated in Boise, Idaho in the Boise Statesman and which was written by following admission to him that fragments had been carried by Lieutenant DAVIDSON on the fatal B-25 flight. At this time continued to refuse to give any statements for the Press and told that he had placed

Cases discussed

About this file

FOIA release, from the fbi-vault collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 74 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.