Documents / Official release
This Federal Bureau of Investigation file section (62-HQ-83894, Section 4) collects 1947 to 1949 correspondence on flying discs. It includes Portland police officers' accounts of a silvery object over the city on September 11, 1947, an Alaska pilot's July 1947 sighting near Bethel, citizen letters answered by J. Edgar Hoover, and a 1948 Air Defense Command directive on disc investigations. The FBI replied that it was conducting no flying disc investigations. Later items concern William Albert Rhodes's disc photographs and a Los Angeles letter judged a probable prank.
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.
“Harder”1 page
letter ,,. •• • FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FormNo.1 THIS CASE ORIGINATED AT PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA F ILE NO. 62- 2542 VFH SYNOPSIS OF FACTS: FREDERI~QUARDT submitted ash residue to Fire Marshal ' s Office, Philadelphia, Pa., which made chemical analysis. }l.ARQT'ARDT o-r- opinion that fire_Aay have been caused by military flare oiU'flying saucer11 • - C - DETAILS: This investigation is p~dicated upon a 4 p 1 received from the office of the Fire Marshal, J,,f.::J ~,/~ u ti Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dated May 19., 1949, I ..,,,.) , advising that ashes had been received from one F. )AA'ftQUARDT, purportedly from a fire which had continued to burn for twelve hcurs. A chemical analysis of the ashes had been requested. The Fire Marshal's Office noted that MARQUARDT had at one time worked for the Atomic Energy Commission. Captain MICHAEL HANNAN, Fire Marshal's Office, advised that there had been received through the mail on April 21, 1949, an ash._ sample with a re quest for analysis. In the letter of transmittal, MARQGARDTnad pointed out that the fire had continued to burn twelve hours after water had first been applied. The original letter of transmittal was examined and reflected that an object had entered the roof of the building., caused an explosion, and threw people out of bed. /} Captain HANNAN said he atte~ted to locate MARQUARDT at his residence., 127 South 16th Street, but had bee~unsuccessful. He added ihat at the time the building managev had commented that MARQUARDT had been employed by the Atomic Energy Con:o:nission. }!ARQU.ARDr was then requested by letter to appear at the Fire Marshal's Office. APPROVED AND SPECIAL AGENT' DO NOT WRITE IN THESE SPACESFORWARDED: IN CHARGE t 1-------~ ----,~---'-~~~__,_..J:...--.'-_R CORDED. 129 zr -03X3aNt REPORT MADE AT DATE WHEN MADE PERIOD FOR WHICH MADE PHILADEIPIITA, PA. 6-15-49 5- 20-49 mu. UNKNO/IN SUBJECT<fmE, SCRANTON, PE!'rnSYLVANI A, UNKN(J'(tN DATE - GEORGE--16:l\UTON, COMPLAINANT REPORT MADE BY JAMES L. KIRKLAND CHARACTER OF CASE MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATI ON CONCERNING COPIES OF THIS REPORT ,.....2 - Bureau.... 2 - Philadelphia "
Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 214 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.