Documents / Official release
This section of the FBI's 1947 flying disc file (62-HQ-83894) collects correspondence between FBI field offices and Army Air Forces intelligence. It includes a Portland prospector's claim to have seen disc objects near Mount Adams on June 24, 1947, an Air Force report on the August 1 crash near Kelso, Washington that killed investigators Davidson and Brown, and the Maury Island claims of Dahl and Crisman. Other items are an MIT analysis of cast iron fragments from New Hampshire, the A. C. Urie Twin Falls sighting, and the Bureau's decision to stop its disc investigations.
From the source:Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: N/A, N/A. The FBI's 62-HQ-83894 case file includes investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and flying discs documented between June 1947 and July 1968. The records include high-profile incident accounts, photographic evidence from sites like Oak Ridge, TN, and technical proposals regarding potential propulsion systems. Additional topics include convention programs, researcher accounts, and extensive media coverage from the period. This file is partially posted on FBI vault with more redactions and some pages missing. Included here is the complete case file with several newly declassified pages and only minor redactions.
August 19, 1947 Island to BRC;'?T and DAUIDSON. Following this recitation, Lieutenant BR071N, in ans,,er to a query from '::''!TB, said that he and Captain !),'.VIDS0flT were of the opinion that there might be some truth in the current flying disc stories, but that their immediate superiors (presumably A- 2 at Hamilton Field) did not agree with them. BRCt..'N and DAVIDSON then held a brief discussion as to whether they should return that same night to Hamilton Field and they decided that they would. All five of the men then went down to the lobby where BRO.,N detached himself from the group and entered a phone booth to call for a car from :~cChord Field. SMITH also left the group and met BRO\'IN outside the phone booth llhere they held a short discussion relative to the credibility of CRIS ~~N and DAHL I s story. B::10 IN indicated to Sl !ITH that he should attemt to find out if the story was on the level and that BRO.m 1r1ould call him the following day regarding this matter. The group then proceeded to the front of the Hotel at which time CRISI.f.AN brought his car to the front of the Hotel and took from his trunk a box of the alleged flying disc fra~ents picked up on 1-:aury Island. He offered them to BRO i'N and DAVIDSON and when the Army car arrived from 1.::cChord Field the box of fragments was placed in the car vlith the officers. CFis:.i.AN departed alone and 1JUiCLD and ~~ITH went in search of something to eat and later returned to the Hotel for the night. On Friday morning, August 1, 1947, ARr0ID received a call from GRISHAN informing him that a B- 25 had crashed during the night and it was believed to be the same plane which BR0i-iN and DAVIDSON were flying. Following this call CRISUAN and DAHL came to the Hotel room and from the room CPI:1.fAfJ again called McChord Field in an attempt to get infonnation about the crash. S!!ITH took the phone from CRISMAN and spoke to a Colonel GR.EX;G, identifying himself and asking if the B- 25 which crashed was the only one which had taken off from HcChord Field the previous night. GR.EriG told him that it was . Follow ing this call ...JcNOI.D called RAY-LIO.ND PAD!ER in Chicago and informed him of the previous night ' s conversations and the fact that D.1-l.VIDSON and BRO.IN were believed to have been killed. PAL..!ER told ARNOID to discontinue his investigation of the incident and that he, PAll~R, was no longer interested. SMITH then took the phone from ARNOLD and asked PAll.:ER if he could shed any light on the situation. S~ITH was unable to sa.y what PAll1ER1 s reply to CRISl,!AN was . Fol lowing these telephone discussions a:ITH says that he called :.1AURICE .Ji;JPJDY whom he identifies as a personal friend of his and an aviation editor or"the Chicago Times . ~ITH states that he had prefiously made an agreement with RODDY in Chicago that should he ever run across any flying disc stories which showed promise of news value, that he would contact RODDY and this call was a result of that agreement. Shortly afterward, Colonel GRF.GG called him from McCrord Field stating that Hamilton Field had requested that ARN0ID, S:~ITH, CRI SMAN and DAHL submit their addresses to Hamilton Field for convenience of any Army investigation of the incident which may be forthcomine . After this call the four men went to a restaurant for lunch. During the course of this meal s:.:ITH excused himself from the table and attempted to call SAC BOBBITT of the Port- land Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation with ,vhom he claims acquain tance. BOBBITT, however, was unavailable and S>:ITTH was unable to complete the - 10 -
Official release, from the pursue collection. 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.