Documents / Official release
This 1949 FBI file holds a January 31, 1949 letter to J. Edgar Hoover from Reverend Charles C. Barnes of the First Presbyterian Church in McMinnville, Oregon. Barnes wrote that the previous May he had seen four beams in the sky converging on the Cascade mountains, with clouds forming and an explosion effect rising about ten thousand feet. The file also contains Hoover's reply acknowledging the letter and a memo passing the report to Air Force Special Investigations and the Atomic Energy Commission.
From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 This collection of documents contains correspondence between the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover, and Rev. Charles Barnes concerning Barnes’ account of an incident potentially involving unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). Rev. Barnes described observing four beams of light “converging in the Cascade Mountains,” at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet, with a “great explosion” visible at the convergence point of those beams for at least ten minutes. Director Hoover replied to Rev. Barnes thanking him for his letter and informing him that he had forwarded it to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Director Hoover conveyed to the AEC that Rev. Barnes believed that the event may relate to a military or scientific experiment within the commission’s purview.
# First Presbyterian Church REV. CHARLES C. BARNES, PASTOR BOX 301 Box 391 McMinnbille, Oregon January 31, 1949 Mr. J. Edgar Hoover Washington D.C. 61899 Dear Mr. Hoover: Here is a bit of information which may be of great significance, or may be merely an observation of a scientific experiment. It may be known by military authorities and the A.E.C. or only a few may have seen it and none reported it to the right place. Here it is. Can you pass it to the right persons? Last May one afternoon I saw four beams in the sky passing from the northwest to the southeast and converging in the Cascade mountains. In those four narrow beams small clouds were forming. And where the beams met apparently against the mountains a great explosion effect was to be seen. I would say that they were visible for at least 10 minutes or longer. The sight brought to mind an article read before the war about experiments carried on in Europe with various types of radio beams to effect rainfall. I would guess that I had seen the article in the Science Digest. The Columbia River flood of last summer and the unusual precipitation this winter have forced me to feel that this observation of mine should be sent somewhere in the interest of national security. I have one son in the Air Corps and another works with the A.E.C. at Hanford which causes me to pray for peace, as well as the fact that as a minister I deplore the waste and tragedy of war. That is one reason that I have refrained from passing on information and ideas that might incite warlike attitudes. May I add these words to paragraph two. The explosion effect seemed to rise to a height of about ten thousand feet. Sincerely, 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 O. C. Davies C. C. Barnes 117-0-10 F B I 23 MAR 7 1949 Ack 49 90 RECORDED - 119 90 toh Airforce a.e. a.e.c B-3-3-49 INDEXED - 119 Ex22 NW 91173 DocId:34743666 Page 2
Not linked to a story yet.
Official release, from the pursue collection. 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. 4 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.