Documents / Official release

Washington State ‘UFO’ Investigation, 1952-1960

Federal Bureau of Investigation · 1952 · 55 pages · text by GLM-OCR

This Federal Bureau of Investigation Seattle field office file (100-18945) gathers flying saucer material from 1952 to 1960. It holds newspaper clippings, citizen complaint forms and agent memoranda about sightings over Pasco, Kennewick, Seattle, Richland and the Hanford reservation, Spokane and other Washington locations. The file records 1952 agreements with military intelligence on passing reports to OSI and the Air Force. One Hanford sighting from 1953 was attributed to a meteorological balloon. The FBI itself carried out no investigations.

From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 Incident: July 1952-1960, Washington State, United States. This file details an investigation of various sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in Washington state between July 1952 and August 1960. This file includes memoranda and correspondence between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Air Force regarding UFO sightings.

  • p. 4 …was held at the offices of Col. SPENCER RAYNOR, Commanding Officer, 20th District, Office of Special…
  • p. 10 …The above information was furnished to Colonel SPENCER RAYNOR, OSI; to SA SULLIVAN of IFO #3…
  • p. 15 # 1015 Second Avenue Seattle 4, Washington August 10, 1953 Colonel Spencer Raynor Commanding Officer 20th District…
  • p. 24 …Sincerely, 1 Incl Newspaper Clipping Spencer H. Raynor SPENCER W. RAYNOR Colonel, USAF District Commander cc…
  • p. 25 …Dir OSI Sincerely, SPENCER W. RAYNOR Colonel, USAF District Commander
  • p. 27 …Sincerely, 1 Incl Newspaper Clipping Stunned 8 / 25 / 59 col Spencer H. Raynor Sry cc: Dir…
  • p. 33 …Raynor SPENCER W. RAYNOR Colonel, USAF District Commander oo: Dir OSI
  • p. 40 Colonel Spencer W. Raynor, USAF District Commander 20th District, OSI McChord Air Force Base, Washington Re…
  • p. 41 …Colonel Spencer W. Raynor, USAF District Commander, OSI Re: Unidentified Flying Objects Date: June 12, 1956…
  • p. 43 1015 Second Avenue Seattle, Washington October 17, 1956 Colonel Spencer W. Raynor, USAF District Commander 20th…
  • p. 45 # 1015 Second Avenue Seattle 4, Washington November 15, 1957 Colonel Spencer W. Raynor District Commander 20th…

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

# 1015 Second Avenue Seattle 4, Washington August 10, 1953

Colonel Spencer Raynor Commanding Officer 20th District Office of Special Investigations McChord Air Force Base. Washington

Dear Sir:

I am enclosing for your information and any action you deem appropriate a letter dated July 16, 1953, received from Robert T. Jaske, 1405 Haupt Avenue, Richland, Washington, concerning an unusual object he sighted in the sky over Richland, Washington, on July 15, 1953.

Immediately upon receipt of this letter the matter was taken up with the Security Division of the Atomic Energy Commission at Richland, Washington, inasmuch as the object was sighted in an area over the AEC reservation space.

Mr. O. R. Simpson, Assistant Chief, Security Division, AEC, checked with the Fifth AAA Group and determined that they had released a meteorological balloon equipped with radio and other meteorological equipment at 2:05 p.m. on July 15, 1953. The Fifth AAA Group radar had tracked it at 25,000 feet and then lost it at that height going in the same area as described by Mr. Jaske.

No further inquiry will be made by this office.

Sincerely,

R. D. AUERBACH Special Agent in Charge

ENCLOSURE

LAD:hz

100-18945

ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED EXCEPT WHERE

42 actual

EXCEPT WHERE SHOWN OTHERWISE

88411184

100-18945-44

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

Official release, from the pursue 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. 55 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.