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…

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# Office Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

TO : SAC

DATE: 6/27/58

FROM : HARRY W. WILSON, Jr., SA

SUBJECT: POSSIBLE INFORMATION REGARDING SATELLITE

On June 27, 1958, B. K. PHILLIPS, Central Motors, Pasco, Washington, advised that two Hanford engineers, ABE DUNNING and CARL WAIT had reportedly seen a brilliant light fall from the sky Thursday morning about 11:16 a.m., at which time they inxwitting within the barricade of the "anford project at Richland, Washington, and that inasmuch as Explorer III was due to fall from its orbit today, they concluded that it possibly was a piece of the satellite.

Mr. PHILLIPS stated that two car salesmen at Central Motors Used Car lot in Pasco had told him that they had seen something similar about the same time, while at the used car lot, and that the object appeared to fall in the Columbia River near Pasco. The used car salesmen are CLAUBE GREGORY and GEORGE HOWARD.

The above information was furnished to THOMAS E. BELL, CIC Office, Camp Hanford, Washington.

100-18945-70

SEARCHED INDEXED

SERIALIZED FILED

JUN 28 1958

FRI • SEATTLE

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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.