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FBI file: Kenneth Arnold

Internet Archive (FBI) · 24 pages · text by OCR

This FBI file, a report from the Seattle field office to the FBI Director dated August 1947, covers the Maury Island flying disc story told by Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl. It says Kenneth Arnold looked into the story for Ray Palmer, and that Army Intelligence officers Davidson and Brown died when their B-25 crashed at Kelso carrying the supposed fragments. The FBI found no sign of sabotage. Crisman and Dahl admitted the material had no connection to discs, and the report names Crisman as the most likely anonymous caller.

  • p. 1 …Court House Seattle 4, Washington August 18, 1947 DIRECTOR, FBI RE: FLYTING DISCS SIGHTED BY FRED…
  • p. 2 …Intelligence Officers at McChord Field, Washington advised there was no indication of any sabotage. The plane…
  • p. 3 …MacCULLOCH at Tacoma, Washington on August 6, 7, 1947: advised that in the early part of…
  • p. 4 …The following information was obtained from PAUL LANTZ, 4513 South 7th, Tacoma, Washington, Proctor 8416, a…
  • p. 5 …Boise, Idaho and he had left Seattle, Washington. This time SMITH admitted that there were some…
  • p. 6 …TED MORRELLO, a United Press Wireman, Tacoma, Washington furnished substantially the same information that was obtained…
  • p. 7 …MacCULLOCH was contacted in the resident agency office, Tacoma, Washington by RED CRISMAN. At this time…
  • p. 8 …HAROLD DAHL operates the Commercial Lumber Company at 235 Millwater Avenue, Tacoma, Washington and FRED CRISMAN…
  • p. 9 …and they flew to Berry's Airport at Tacoma, Washington where they were met by FRED…
  • p. 15 …Lewis, Washington advised at the weekly O.N.I.-S.I.D.-F.B.I. Intelligence…
  • p. 17 …DAHL, Tacoma, Washington SM - X
  • p. 18 …DAHL Tacoma, Washington SM - X
  • p. 19 …from a gravel pit on Maury Island, Washington. We sent a box (cigar) of these fragments…
  • p. 20 STATE OF WASHINGTON ss COUNTY OF KING J. E. SMITH, being first duly sworn, on oath…
## August 19, 1947

all of his information in the hands of the Army. SMITH stated that a couple of days later he called Major SANDERS at McChord Field and asked him if there was any recent information concerning the incident. SMITH states that Major SANDERS informed him that CRISMAN had not yet been contacted, but that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was "setting a trap for him". SMITH further advises that on Friday, August 8, 1947, he appeared before Lawyer JOHN NOLAN at the County-City Building, Seattle and made a deposition of the facts relating to the incidents in Tacoma from Thursday afternoon, July 31, last until Sunday morning, August 3, last.

A copy of this deposition is now in possession of the writer and is being forwarded herewith to the Bureau. It should be noted that this deposition is in no way as complete as the statement taken by the writer above and any setting out of this deposition in this communication would be superfluous

Copies of this communication are being sent to the Butte, Portland, San Francisco and Chicago Offices for their information only. Unless advised by the Bureau to the contrary, instant investigation is considered closed by this office.

For the information of the Bureau, Captain R. G. BJORNING, Intelligence Officer, McChord Field, Ft. Lewis, Washington advised at the weekly O.N.I.-S.I.D.-F.B.I. Intelligence conference that the Public Relations Officer at McChord Field had received a telephone call from an individual at Army Air Forces Headquarters at Washington, D. C., during which call the Public Relations Officer was requested to obtain a signed statement from DAHL and CHISMAN which could be published and thus publicly close the matter. Captain BJORNING further related that he had no additional information in this matter and that he did not handle it.

Very truly yours,

JB Wolcox

ENCLOSURES

DAM;PHL;MEK

JACK B. WILCOX

100-18945

Special Agent In Charge

CC - Butte

Portland San Francisco Chicago

Cases discussed

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Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 24 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.