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

100-18945

TO : SAC, SEATTLE (105-0)

DATE: 10/10/59

FROM : SA VERNON P. COYNE

SUBJECT: "FLYING DISC" REPORT

At 9:15 a.m., 10/10/59, Mrs. NEIL GOTSCHALL, residence address - 7525 - 28th S.W., Seattle, telephone WE 7-6896, wife of an Administrator in the "Bomarc Air Space" section of Boeing Airplane Company, telephonically advised that between 4 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. she observed a very bright light toward the east from her residence and this light had a tremendous brilliance, which appeared to be about the size of a dime and the light kept moving vertically in and out of sight but did not seem to move horizontally.

Mrs. GOTSCHALL said she awakened her husband and asked him to look at this strange light and her husband observed it and said it was very weird and he had no explanation as to what it might be.

Mrs. GOTSCHALL said both she and her husband are skeptics on the matter of flying saucers but both of them are now ready to "join the club." She said that she even put her coat on and went out on the patio and observed the strange light which kept disappearing and then coming back into sight and she noted when two airplanes went across the sky, this light disappeared.

It is suggested that a letter be written on this matter to OSI.

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.