65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_004

[PAGE 1] i:CT IO 62-f HQ~3894 1£CT SE IAL 85 iRiiS 131-185 PICKE REET FBI CENTRAL RECORDS CENTER fll a HQ HEADQUARTERS Class I Case Sub Vo Se ria 185 I cc CG I I 0062 838 94 131 8/11/12741 91 1111111111111111 RRP003IXGX [PAGE 2] Office Memu,,,,,,,rlum UNITED ST OVERNMENT TO DIRJYJTO FBI DATE October 1947 c,JoM SAC OR TLAND SUBJEC FLYrnG DISCS SECURITY MATTER Reference is made to Portland teletype dated September 13 194 Records of the Radio Dispatcher Portland Police Department reflect that first notice of unidentified objects in flight over the city on September 11 1947 was received from officers in District 18 which is in the extreme north east section of the city at 5:21 P.M The log further reflects that at 5:23 P.M the radio requested District 14 which is further south to attempt to locate and identify the objects and that at 5:24 P.M a report was received from the car occupied by Chief of Police JENKINS reporting that they had sighted some objects District 14 at 5:27 P.M reported seeing nothing unusual in the sky ROBERT ADAIR 4325 S.E Madison Ave Portland advised that he was one of the two officers on du ty in District 18 on September 11 lhe car was in the vicinity of N.E 25th Avenue and Saratoga Court when ADAIR and his fellow officer noticed a number of people looking upward and pointing Upon looking at the sky ADAIR observed the very bright reflection of the sun on some object which was apparently made of silvery metal The object was coming from the ea st and ma de a wide turn over the city and disappeared to the south ADAIR estimated its speed at about 150 miles per hour and its altitude at about 5,000 feet He watched it for a period of about two minutes and during that time it gradually disappeared in such a manner as to appear that the angle was slowly changing so that the sun was no longer reflected into ADAIR's eyes He says that the shape appeared to be round but that the glare was so bright that it could have hidden the true outline of the object here was no oscillation visible only steady flight ADAIR believes it was an ordinary metal airplane reflecting light of the afternoon sun mnau:r t'l'-'l CALDWELL 7652 Lincoln St Portland Oregon was ADAffi's partner in District 18 on September ll CALDWELL states that the object appeai red to him to take the same course as that described by ADAIR He pointed out that the speed height and size of the object were difficult to judge because of the interdependence of the three factors However he believes that the obj ect rh en ir st sig hted was about three miles away and about two miles high He believes it was traveling at a much greater speed than a co nventional aii plane and was a great deal larger It appeared him to be elliptical in shape and inasmuch as it did not bank or tip he could not judge its thickness It was of a very bright silver su tanco RJiJC ORDEn i 93 19 COPIES DESTROYED NOV 18 9b4 [PAGE 3] a flit I Nu Nos vn A J3t1 [PAGE 4] PD 62-1531 Chief of Police LEON JENKINS advised that he was travelling south on Williams Avenue near Russell St when he and Officer RANEY his driver received a call on the police radio requesting District 14 to attempt to observe an unknown object in the sky reported by officers in District 18 JENKINS observed what a pp eared to be a round silver object about 10,000 feet high travelling northeast to southwest It was directly to JENKIN left ffllen observed first He thought it was a weather balloon Furthe observation con vinced him that it could not be a balloon because of its speed which was extreme ly great As JENKINS watched it turned gradually until it was travelling due south and as it did so its shape seemed to change until it appeared to be egg-shaped It disappeared in about 30 seconds Patrolman RANEY stated that when he first observed the object it was straight ahead of him and travelling straight away from his car RANEY was driving south on Williams Avenue To RANEY it appeared to be just a glare of sun on some object and he was unable therefore to tell its shape It appeared to be very high and travelling extremely fast It was out of sight after he had travelled or city blocks at a speed of about 25 mph RANEY stated that he has never seen an object at such an extreme height before and that if the sun had not reflected from it he could not have seen it at all He believes it could possibly have been a reflection from a large airplane at great altitude ROBERT SHAYLOR 4810 Fessenden St Portland stated that he was on duty in District 14 with Officer DONAL r'l CO,JLit{G on September 11 1947 and received the call to watch for the object flying over the city SHAYLOR and COWLING-immediately scaMed the sky rom a vantage point in open territory where they could see the entire sky They saw nothing in the sky at that time SHAil.OR stating that they did not even see any airplanes A short article in lhe Oregonian Portland daily newspaper for September 12 1947 describes the object as seen by Chief of Police JENKINS and also states that 11 The Oregonian received several calls from other persons reporting the object FRED WHITE Assistant City Editor advised that the paper has no record of the identities of the people making the calls 62-1531 IHK:tkw [PAGE 5] TO c:!Jr--aoM SAC SUBJECT te Memor UNITED ST/i JVERNMENT DATE 10/18/47 Director FBI Anchorage REPORT OF FLYING DISCS This is to advise that we have been able to locate a flyer JA~K who is employed by the Al Jones Flying Compa.cy in ethel Alaska It bad been ported to Military Intelligence that Mr PECK and his co-pilot VIN AJJi bad observed sane flying object near ethel Alaska in July 194 Ef or ts previously to contact Mr PECK were negative until the above instance He related that the occasion of seeing the flying object near Bethel was on a July day when the sky was completely clear of clouds am it being during the early part it is daylight the entire night The time of bis sighting this flying object was about 10 FM and the sun had just dropped beyom the horizon Flyir€ weather was extremely good am he with DALY was coming into the Bethel Airport with a DC-J He obs rved the flyiq object immediately to his left alli stated that it apparently was observed at approximately the same time by Mr DAIX am both of them manipulated the controls of the plane ma.king efforts to miss the object inasmuch as they could not tell in which direction it was going They made a forty-five degree ur in order to get out of the way of the object arxi then noted that it appeared to be going away from them He described the object as appearing to be some flying wing arxi said that it appeared to be about the size of a C-54 without any fuselage He could not see any propellor or any exhaust om jet propulsion or any vapor trails arxi could not estimate the size due to his failure to be able to estimate the distance he was away from the object He was flying at 000 feet and stated that he tried to catch up with the object am in creased his manifold pressure to approximately 42 inc hes am was traveli!)g at the rate of 170 miles per hour t.A-,,L cc He called on his radio to the Civil Aeronautics J,dminis tr a tion st a tion at ethel asking hat aircraf't was in the vicinity am they bad no reports of any aircraft The object he ig hted vras some five or ten miles from the airport before his arriv al and st a ted that the path did not go directly across the airport of course could not tell whether the object was making aey noise arxi stated that it was flying at a thousand foot altittrle am estimated travel at 300 miles per hour It was trave ing in the direction from ethel to Nome which is in a northwesterly direction He noted no radio interference and is un ab le to escribe the color other than that it appeared da rk but of definite shape a nd id not bl erxi into the sky but had a definite concise outline a oth he and Mr DALY clearly observed the object at this time JtJo OR.u,el ii::lCD l:1J 8'7 I acr rx1 i QIJJ [PAGE 6] Anchorage File 100-1406 It may be stated to the ureau that Mr PECK is a well known flyer as well as Mr DALY am both are known to be very reliable and responsible people am it appears def'inite that they observed something The above is being submitted for the information of the ureau LOT I1,1R 100-1406 [PAGE 7] TO j)1-n oM SUBJECT Diraotor FBI SAC Albany FLYING DISCS A COURT NEV'.i?ARKER INFORMAm Reurlet dated 9/25/47 DATE llovember 194 An Agent of this office contacted Mr A COURXNEY PARKER at his resi denoe in South Royalton Vermont and he stated that all the information he has on cerning the flying disos he saw is set forth in the letter that he sent to the Bureau dated September 17 1947 Ur PARKER advised that as far as he knows no one else in South Royalton saw these flying discs and that he believes ha saw them inasmuch as he haa wiwmally good eyesight and th.at he can see bees etc further than anyo ne else He stated that possibly these flying discs 18re out the range of llOrmal vision Jlr PARKEB was asked to furnish any additional information that comas to his at ention conoa:- i t.hase flying discs directly to the Air Forces since they now handle matters of this type RCC:mf's 62-689 No further action ia being taken by this office JiiOORDD rm,E'XD abi'L I 31 NOV iQA1 [PAGE 8] 1.111no3s J.N i HJ Bs i A 031t l3:J31:1 [PAGE 9] [PAGE 10] [PAGE 11] [PAGE 12] [PAGE 13] [PAGE 14] rs nu llouenb er 1947 Sa ll'-J A cC aul 70- 33 68 th lace lendale rooklun New Tork De ar rs cC aul Yo let er postriar Octobe 28 19 47 has bee received and want ezpress a pp rectatton to you tor havt ig written as yo id i cer ly ours John Edg ar Ooove JJi rsc-tor NOTE This woman rambles on and furnishes no specific information about anything i i i [PAGE 15] [PAGE 16] [PAGE 17] November 10 1947 Mrs Milo A~u1:·and Elizaootntown New York Dear Mrs Durand Your letter postmarked November 1947 has been received and I do want to thank you for writing as you did The patriotic motives t'lbich prompted your suggestions concerning the subject about wh1ch you ho.ve written are indeed app1•eciated Sincerely yours John Edgar Hoover Director COMMUNICATIONS SECTION MAILED 11 NOV 10 1947 P.M f£DWL IWREAU OF IHVESTISATION DEl'ARTtmrr OF JUSTICE [PAGE 18] [PAGE 19] -....,,,-..,,,.,,(..c.Jr I 11 a CL- Jw 4t.,;_,,:t;f,J Ct C'/t JAAA4'J.Y FBI C-O- 1wL i~-il i uvl rTrl.AS.,-1 ii i JJ t---v r,1~11-"# VI fl [PAGE 20] re/lectsJjtdgewood ts a noucnbcr a 1947 Jr Joseph 1~nc 8071 69th Auc~~a Rtdgouood Brooklyn 27 llco York Dear Jr Ontltnc Your letter datod llo1.1enber l9d7 hao bean recetved The tnj'.o'l"CUJ~ion contatncd 1IIIOORDIW tn the ttZco oJ hto Bureau hew boon declared NDEXED conJ'tdenttal and avatla~le t,or of.ftctaI uoc only and I cm unable bo of any aaatatance ir- to you I cm eure vou wtll dr.aw no in)'.e7"encc f:ron ny inability to conply with your reguent Stnccrely yours John Edgar Hoover Director NOTE Thia tndtvtdual aaked 1uesttons concer ning flytng sa~s and the Bureau tnvesttgat~on of Russ tans Postal Gutde br ch oj the Brooklyn?lstatton an COMMUNICA TtOP» Ottt Mr Tols~on A A I 12 gi:~rn NOV 1947 lfc::O l.!r Rosen Vr Tracy tfur-8::e;t:E flAl ltHtW f)f lli~£8l16ATI0!i ltr Harbo l!r I.Ir ohr Penn ng O£~P~IUi;;;;lM~(~ll.:Of;J,:.:lt::C£~J I.tr qulnn o:iE OV~7 [PAGE 21] Port Allegany Pa lonmber 18 19,1 Pederal Bureau ot Inveatigation Pittsburgh Pa Gentlemen l~owing the appearance in thi town on Jbvember 1947 or a Mr J~~ppincott Director of the Eaatern Area Red Cross Pittsourgn.Jlia aa speaker of the eve~r at the annual looal Red Croes dinner I aa told by Dr Cro local pra.otioing den ti at that in a personal connrea lowi:ng the dinner lr Lippincott told him that the aauoere reported as seen in Tarioue parts of the country were aotually tror Spain He eaid that Lippincott said tha.t thil had oeen aeoertained by the Government in r..aahington but that it 110.a not being made known He said that Lippincott had been in &.trope and interred that he had been in Spain and kr:ew conditions ovor there Dr Cranwell ie a man active in the ethodist Chruch and the looal Protestant ens Club and it is easy to see how tar thie report can be spread The taot that the Federal Government indorsee the Red Crose makes a atatement of an ofCioial reprenntati ve ot that organisation almost indisputable Aa a repreeentatiTe tu ot the Federal Government and ae a o1t11en interested in truth and World peace and racial and religious harmony in our own country I queation the ad'Yieability or an aooredit.d repreRentatin ot the Red Crose giTtng out thi information even ott the Noord I thought you might be able to oheok with Mr Lippin cott or his organia.ti:-n Tours v,..ry truly r.ll a [PAGE 22] [PAGE 23] I i Hl1 a Wd NVf NVr I 6'1 01 [PAGE 24] [PAGE 25] [PAGE 26] [PAGE 27] [PAGE 28] I iss Ua rion DeuBch er January 14 1948 604 est Mai St reet Menomon ee Fal ls ¥ts constn Dear Mis Beusc~e Your letter of January 948 has be en recetued and I want to t~an you or fo wa rdin informatton to Me rel at tn to the su bject you ment ioned The facts you rel at ed however do not re lect any violation of a Fed eral statute ithtn the inuestt gat ive jurtsdtctton of the FBI T\e thoughts prompting your communtcatton are tndeed apprect at ed Sin cerely you rs John Edg ar Hoouer Di rector W'N cm NOTE Correspondent reports cor es pon dence she has had with the Ziff Davis Pub lis hinp Company i connection with the flying saucers which were observed by her brother She is of the optnton that thts pub lic ation may be tryin to co nceal information related to our Nation ecu ity and he mentions a threat t~at doe not re/en inju to pe son or property ri i c..r I co i 71 11 I CUMMUNtCATtOHS SECTt MAILED JAN 15 1948 P.M ff OEll-l llll!t'.AII or ll!V£8TIOATfOI ult'~lll!EHJ OF JUSJICf I [PAGE 29] [PAGE 30] [PAGE 31] [PAGE 32] I r11 I.I rid IO 83.:J [PAGE 33] FEB tJ i I I I F,cbruary 2948 Fl pr tt'EOOR'nlW JI lia raliall t'\r Ru ral Ro tl"ta ona LiiJ Ool1'tngton to Dear ll ar:11ial1 Iour lette dated Tammry 29 948 has been raoctvcd and I oont to e~prcaa ny approci atton to you Jlor llavtng i:iada 1movn yoU;r vt.et con ccrntng the oottc you nenttoncd llr Toloon llr llr Cloffn Mr Olav ltl)EIAL BUREAU OF IIIIIESTISATIOII OfP RTIIEKl Of JUSllCE Mr Rosen 11>- Tracy- Mr l:ian llr Ournea Mr Harbo- Mr l!Ohr Mr Pennington Ir Qu1M 811121 r.10 Room llr Nease lllso OM<lyt--:---- stncore ly yours Jolin Edgar lloouc Dtrecto C.!J IT1 rT1 CD l'T1 CJ'I yJn Cf l'T1 I rr rr I t~,,Hi« If lier 11 a [PAGE 34] l~/IIJS J,'lRJfUi llBUt iO Jl!Jli ilO 30,1f ijf am1J111Moa w-o i A ti i ll&g 8J.:J 831 KOITAf T83"Y111 [PAGE 35] 1fcb~rtd Bun-au of fnuestigation Uniteh itates Deparbncnt of lJustic.r Saa Frtmc i1co Cd it'orr February 12 1948 AIR MAIL PERSCIIAI JIM ec1,,<1:M Director FBI A_t_t~e_n_t~io~n;...;..:...,;;A~a~•~i~a~t_an~t D~i~r_e_o_t_o_r_o_._M_._LAD Res FLYING DISCS Security atter Dear ir I transmitting herewith for the information of the Bureau copies an enoloeure dated February 1948 reoebed from Lieutenant Colonel DONALD SPRlll<IBR United tates Air Force Hamilton Air Force &ee Califonia Th~a nclosuro is a con£ident1al letter addre•a•d to the Camnanding Generals ot the First Secom Fourth Tenth Eleventh and Fourteenth Air Foroea Air Defense Comnand from Head quarte Alr De£enae Comnand ¥1tchel Air Force Baae New York by oo'll'me.nd Lieutenant General STRAfDtEYER It conoerna the inveatigation ot flying d.iacs by Air Foroe personnel You attention is particularly called to Paragr~~h whioh indicates that certain r•ports onoerntni the imeat1gation or flying disos by Air Force Intelligence ll be r•por~•d to he FBI office concerned Your attention ia further called to Paragra.~h hich iud1oatea that imeatigationa will be coordinated with the FBI Off'ice oonce---.d 11 J,.i i COIJUl:a I.naamuch as the recent inatruotiona of the Headquartere Air efense l!H.ahell Air Foroe b..ae New York are contrary to the illltnictions con- a.uied in Bureau Bull 57 ia indicated that Se ries 1947 dated Ootober 1947 in which referred th uture report OOIU:lected with flying diaoa should ti Eureau Air Poree and no im-eatigative action taken by Bureau agent t.he offices q1Jeated to advlae thia oftioe as well other iaterested &ireau the handling he bor there has been a challf'e in Bureau policy with r•tere'QCe to i atUl in effect a-ia"-tera or whether P.~reau Bulletin No 57 dated October 1941 Very truly youra BMK,emo Encloau re in duplicate Ol)J n~c-T OYE [PAGE 36] utan 11 rntE hdl af.tr l')·Hh:l ooe.toa.n'if a.ea SL ri..evxoe J.AM IA -~r\1t 01-o A u_a_AJ t_o 1_o~o~~L j~c~l A c~o i o;;.=.;.t o.to~~tq 80wl iYJl eff yjl~u Zf lo lqoo us eft aol tt"lu'iAl ol la al.t lmnD'I r:ui i I c!JaHOCI l&lI O!o'.J i'am,:t1 11e lJ co bov leo 8{\eJ y;:runc!e i be:t.eb e-weo.ton o,~ao!o.~e elrt e.t eno t!O eoaS 00 10 A ot!l!liau A ts1Z be:lar blI0036 tnl e.rut to oneO lba.o o:t bee b.a e~:te I.el.tnebl no r;l bn rro1'l b!UlT.ra fHut loCJ 1.tA 010'1 Mneo uro'II brr2 1'!:tnevo cd.tne'l r.~,s i lo to lll'OO oY we'H ez oo-io -ilA Lerlo.t b.aa mmoJ cano'l a -i.U Iohaur aoalb 3a!t11 lo nol•.a~~e~vlt.f on;:t aa,eo.aoo jl r~~AfiT8 L•~ea~o JUa~~uelJ o!lnoe-iQq eo~c¾ 1lA t~d:t 20:t.eolbal rlolrl iq1.1-r i,·u'l boH.eo bJJfi:o.f:t"Ia 81 nol:tn ttJ 1110Y e:in l.UefaI 101 l:A ozlb i io t10 tJz vnl orlct ineono:::i a:t'loqe--r nlcne o;t ll~o dj al ol&netja uo1 bP,.,.i'l~oo:oo eol1lo 81 erl beJ~oqe-i lw oM f{11 1~lb,ooo ed t.aol t15ii.1sevnl 11 brl:t Bsj-,eo!bnt tiol q.e-i]a"fis 11 bem C!.OO ool'!'l.0 lEi"I fa:e U.JllO 0!'1 a:teol!oab al i [PAGE 37] i 80H fBEli'fIAb Headquarter Air Defense CoDnand Mitchel Air Force Base New York February 1948 333.5 CIB SUBJECTs Invutigation and Reporting of Flying Disc Incident T01 Comnanding Generals First Seoond Fourth Tenth Eleventh and Fourteenth Air Foroes Air Defense Command ATTNs AC of The numbered air forces of this command are responsible for the prompt investigation and reporting of inoidenta relating to flying disos which occur within their respeotive areas Numbered air force A•2s after evaluating disc incidents will detennine the extent of investigation Futile ex enditure of military funds and manpower must be avoided Flying discs will be investigated as provided for in Counter Intelli genoe Incident Cases taking cognizance of the USAF Operating Intelligence Echelon structure Where it ia evident that witnesses who were together at the time of incident but who are widely separated at the time of investigation would corroborate each other's story only one witness need be interrogated If there is a reasonable indication that a reported incident ia a hoax or the fabrication of a publioity seeking individual no further investigative etfort will be expended However a report of such eiroumstances will be auanitted to the FBI offioe concerned a CIC personnel attached to the numbered air forces of this command may be utilized to prosecute the investigation of subject inoidents Investigations will be coordinated with the FBI Office concerned in accordance with instructions contained in letter thi headquarters 333.3 EX subjeot Cooperation of FBI with AAF on Investigation of Flying Diao Incidents September 1947 Report will be narrative in style and will cov$r only those faota pertinent to the subject Where aouroe credibility cannot be eatabliahed or when an incident lacks foundation the report will merely atate aame Two types of report will be subnitted on all inoidenta a Spot ports fragmentary reports will be subnitted on all incidents and will be followed by a Letter Report Letter Reports will be subnitted to report the completed inTeatigation of all flying diso incident Reports will be aul:mitted in duplicate promptly usually be regular mail However Spot reports on incidents of substantial character thoae in which the patent credibility of the witness is beyond challenge and whoa eohnical fto,~1 I [PAGE 38] baokg tible with his observations of an ooourreme obviously not atmo- spherio- eft\al phenomena may be transmitted by TWX Reporta will be submitted directly to J.••4~rters USAF ATTN Directorate of Intelligence Air Intelligence Requiremed•'f'B$ol One 1.nformational copy of each report submitted will be for warded to this command ATTN AC of Intelligence Reports will be claesified at least CONFIDENTIAL BY CCMMAND OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL STRATENEYERs RICHARD GEUSS Captain USAF Aotg Asst Adj Gen [PAGE 39] SAC San Francisco February 20 1948 ti ector FBI ttn1W LYING DISCS I SECURITY MATTER Reference is made to your letter in the captioned matter dated February 12 1948 You are adVised that Bureau Bulletin No 57 dated October 1947 still applies with respect to flying discs The Bureau is conducting no investigations concerning flying discs We will however give the Air Forces any information which comes to our attention and will receive any information which the Air Forces volunteer The Headquarters of the Air Forces Washington are being contacted by the Bureau in order to insure that there is no misunders~ing as to the Bureau's position in this matter RGF:rb [PAGE 40] i 13/1 l<130 s·r I9d H00l:l 11VI 03Al33.3b [PAGE 41] ST ANDARD FO RM NO Office Me andum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO Mr Ladd DATB 3/1 48 IC Tolson ie Tamn FROM Ke g~!;r lfi~g oIB SUBJE CT FLYING DISCS SECURITY MATTER Mr PeM1 Eon r.io UJ IC Neas Reference is made to a memorandum to you f'rom Mr Coyne in the above- captioned matter dat February 19 1948 The memorandum indicated that the an Franc:h.sco Field Di vision had re ceived a letter from the headquarters of the Ai Defense Command Mitchel Air Force Base New York dated February 1948 entit ed urnvestigation and Reporting of Flying Disc I cidents This communication indicated that investigations should be coordinated with the FBI The Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Division inquired as to a change in policy egarding the investigation of flying discs A letter was forwarded to San Francisco advising them that there had been no change in the Bureau's policy This matter has been discussed by Special Agent Reynolds of the Liaison Section with Lieutenant Colon el Martin of the Intelligence Division of the Air Force Colonel Martin advised Mr Reynolds that apparently the Air Defense Command at Mitchel Field was not aware of the fact that the Bureau was no longer conducting investigations regarding flying discs He stated that he would take the necessary action and straighten out the Air Defense Command as to the present policy regarding incidents of flying discs JtECO'RD I ll-i I vj 29 MAR I A vv [PAGE 42] [PAGE 43] to whether there has STANDARl:>l'ORMN0.64 oN I En sT ATEs GovERNME NT Office Memorandum TO Mr A TE FROM Co i~,y UBJECT FLUNG DI SECURITY MATTER The attached 1H.r flom the San Francisco Field Division dated February 12 1948 raises the question as been a change in policy concerning the investigation of flying discs RECOMMENDATION It is reco!!lTJ).ended that the information contained in the attached letter be discussed by the Ll.aison Section with the Air Forces ACTION A letter is attached to San Francisco advising them that there has been no change in Bureau policy RGF:rb [PAGE 44] FEB ZQ I 38 ilE CE P~E A Ii I 0Ef'1 OF [PAGE 45] S'YVLES BRIOGES CHAl"MAN CHAN GtJRN£Y OAK £NH KENNETH MCKE:L WAYLANO,OROOK ILL CARL HAYDEN ARlZ iH l:=~~D HOMER FE"'3USON MICH RICHARD RUSSELL GA KE NNCTH WH ERRY NEBR PAT MCCARRAN NEV GUY CORDON DREG JOHN OVERTON LA LEVERETT SALTONSTALL MASS JO.PH O'MAl-tONEY WYO MILTON YOUNG OAK TMEOOCUUi FRANCIS GREEN I COMM I TTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS WILLIAM KNOWLANO CALIP HEN RY DWORSHAK IDAHO EVERAR.D SMITH CLERK CECIL TOLBERT ASST CL.Due March 22 1948 Honorable Edg ar Hoover Director Federal ureau of Investigation Department of Justice Washington 25 Dea Mr Hoove Attached you will find letter which may or may not be of interest to your office However I felt it should be passed on to you for whatever the infortn,3tion is worth indly ret urn my constituent letter althou gh if you wish you make a copy of it Cordially yours If KSW:emn 01 KEO OH DED nc I -fl I tf INDEXED 31 AR 27 194 [PAGE 46] Benkelman Nebraska Ma re 14 1948 Mr Kenneth Wherry United States Senate Washington Dear Ur Wherry On March 13 at 2:30 S.T o'clock in the afternoon I witnessed a strange si ght in the sky traveling at a very high rate of speed at a very high altitude I was first attracted to this sight by a noise of motor or whatever it was It sound to me like that of a train r~mbling in the distance of from 10 12 miles on a still day At first glance it looked like it might be a vapor trail left by a high flying plane But the white streak that was in the sky never changed its shape or did it change in the di rec ti on of travel It traveled much faster than any plane I have seen traveling in sky high enough to leave vapor trai As near as I can describe this sight was that it might appear to be a stream lined train traveling at a very high altitude at very high rate of speed This rocket or whatever it might have been was high enough to disappear from sight while it was yet very far above the hori2on I am not writing this so that it might seem to be another disc fan or whatever you might call them I just saw this and it has been on my mind ans I thought if there was anything that I could be of help to solve this thin I would write this to you and you can forward this to the proper Dept if it is necessary Thanking you kindly Yours Truly Kenneth rasier &JCLOSURE P.S This object was traveling from east to west It looked ke it might have trave led over Denver [PAGE 47] KENNETH FRAZIER Colo or a little to the south I live almost due east about 180 mi by air and I looked to the south a ittle to be able to get sight of object This object was also witnessed by my son wh was with me at the time I saw the smoke cloud left by so called meteor which ex loded ouer at Norton Kans This object was no br ight ball of fire like it was The siluer streak in the sky traveled as if it were a long connected eak This did n~t resemble a line of smoke left by a train trave tng along it moued altogether as a unit If it is not against any regulation and if possible would like to have answer to this object [PAGE 48] l!arch 24 1948 Honorable K•nneth..__B United S:tates Senat Waahtngton JJy dear S11na-Oor Tour letter l!arch 22 2948 wtth encZoeurs# has Men recstved Stnoe ths eubJ•ct aattsr menttoned tn your oon stttuent's lettsr ts not within the scope authortty thta Bursau I have taken the ltberty o.f forwarding a copy o;t hta latter and yours to tM ecrstary the Amy llattona1 D6/,nae Butldtng# ashlng ton or hta tn/ormat1on Your thought/ulness tn brtngtng hje to my attentton ta tndesd apprectat•d I aR noloatng a copy my letter to JJr Frasier whtch I thought you mtght like to have or your tles# together wtth hta lettflr Utth ezpreaatons my h1gheat esteea and beat regards Since rely yours Eagar o~ve,::'.\.i1 Enclo J_e Incomi from Frasier and cop of our letter to VWP:jec COMr.UlNICATIO SES'tiO I I MAILED MAR iJ 1948 fittliA& BllltEAU OF IN~ESTHiATIOlt DEPARTMENT Of JUSTICE I him [PAGE 49] [PAGE 50] I Jiarch 34 1948 RECORDED 3gy lt3 Ur Kennsth Fraeter Benk•lman Nebraaka Your letter dated ll arch l948 to tho Honorable enneth herry Un ited State enator has been re/erred to me or attentton Stnc thtt mattar you i:ze i1oned ta not wtthtn the scope oj authorttu of thta Bu reau I have taken the ltberty jurntah tn a oopy of your communicatton to the ecratary he Armu ational Ds enas Eu tl dtng ashtngton a and in tha event you haue anu add ittona2 tn/or:n.atton jt is auggeated you aay destre to communtcats tth h,n B'in cer•2 11 11ours i Ba&ar Hoover Tohn Edgar oouer Dtr ector CC enator Wherry rr Name of to111n per Postal Gutde VWP:jec I COMM CATIONS SECTION AILED ftiAR 1948 P.M [PAGE 51] [PAGE 52] STYLES BRIDGES CHAU CHAN GURt-&Y OAK KENNETH MC WAYLAND BROOK& ILL CARL HAYDDI CLYDE RE£0 KANS ELMER THOM JCifSE:PH BAL MINN MI LLARD HOMER F'ERGUSON MICH RICHARD Rl KENNETH WH RRY NEBR PAT MCCARRAt NltV GUY CORDON OREG JOHN OVERTON LA LEV£R£TT SALTONSTALL MASS JOSEPH MAHONEY WYO MILTON YOUNG OAK THEODORE FRANClS GRE£N I COMM ITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS WILLIAM KNOWLAND CALIF HENRY DWORSHA.t ID.AHO April 948 EVERARD SM I TH CLERK CECIL TOLBERT ASST CL.ERK The Honorable Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation United Sta es Department of Justice ashington 25 Dear Mr Hoover tJ:tank you very much for forwarding Mr Kenneth asie lette to the proper authorities Your cooperation in this instance was aeeply anpreciated [PAGE 53] llnihb 8tate.s ilepartment of mitice Post Office Box 1850 Atlanta Georgia August 10 1948 AIRMAIL SPECIAL D!J'.,IV]J.RY Director J'l3I Rill MRS MADBLINE G~ER INFOBMA.TlOB CONC:&RNING Dear Sir f-.L I 11 Co Transmitted herewith for the ltureau information are copies of a letter together with enclosure froa the aboTe captioned individual I:aaa1111.1ch aa there is n.o record in this office concerning captioned person no reply has been made to instant letter with the tho~t the Bureau may desire to acknow le~e instant coll!llWlication or communicate further concerning the matter with the Dallaa Office For the information ot the Bureau and the Dallas and San Antonio Officea the clippiDgs referred to are transmitted herewith to the l3ureau Dallas and San Antonio Office it being noted that Wichita ll'alla it covered by Dallas and ort Sam Hous ton is covered by the San Antonio Office Very truly yours ENCL I Enclosures cc-Da.llae Enc--3 AMSD cc-San Antonio Enc-3 AMSD J.J'F SL ib Nu I Elltt 2Et11(:UU UG [PAGE 54] nft it utl fo f:S.fS'J ti t"n!!J Ocf i;o.r ocr i~~a90 I nPf~A $-i\eI OI U1~!.J.A r:W:tbi.ai m1tm1-0 Lxm IAM nM -Oti!ill!i;,.OliCC uCI~A~~.1I f)'!;G l!OlJ--r:l·,£,(Jl:.il usawC g{j -ro'.t dj.i l>ej;tl:lf!<'f!.B"!"T v-0d'.s &rlt no'l''i o-:i:ucefon8 rl;t hi -:redfo~o;t l'.e.t.tel a Io t:.s.tqoo r;;i;!t.t n.l -xooe·r on ei e·1eJ!:t sb1.1i:1M.a.I f.Br1IH:-:-.1r:.a.t be.nol!cp.,o ot efirt.ai no~rl qo on 0:::1:x cr beno h.t o:et c1rr;raoaoo o:>1:'ilo --woc&.io o:i e·dr.eb Bil u.:.wwtt ed.t jd.,-:i.JJo{i;t o!'U i,iHw it e.r nBi1an a.i:n'.t9~J.CI0.0 r9'.{j•u11 e;tz;.,.:.J:ItrX:::OtJ tO ao,i;j i.rU.Jir.Wl(I ta.eJSlti cli,f t'd:'::'-0 eD.u'.nO &d;t d,t.~w to:t.tsu srla bt.UJ e~II.e.(I orl.t baa us&~m ent aolfr~~~o":Lai arlt n9;tjlf!IS£1ll'lj Ie o.t bane':t9 e~.h'qi.!o eM 880:t'fi0 o!.nc):tuA nsc tieo J:'l:':t0 cko.tri.A a,1i l!m l!.!.GCI men.Rt of.J oit 1:w!l't u,-,U f!J3o t-xo 61 as.U..:tt cf b9'Ievo Bi a!.~r.r oit'.t.d.oU £:.ti:t aacu s:>i'i:10 oi:.C1c:;t11A ua2 etl ltd bs·t3vo a noJ aeMA nd cs.r.racr- t~oo olnojr.J n:.a~~o 3J'1Sf\r d3U I uuto ns 1'N'63 JV ij uE ll oov QjAl.iJJI [PAGE 55] [PAGE 56] 100M Au hor ity NND90986 HE~DQUARTERS AIR MA TERI EL COMMAND MC IAXD-3/FWA aw IN REPLY ADDRESS 10TH COMMUNICATION AND EN Wright-Patterson AF Base VELOPE TO COMMANDING GENERAL A IR MATIERIEl l«IIJIJ(ll9 COMMAND A I FOLLOWING OFFICE SYMBOL September 1948 MCUX0..3 Director Federal Dlresu of Investigation Department of Justice Washington A!l'l!N FBI Laborator,y &IBJ'RCT Projeet SIGN Gentlemen Accompanying this letter is a small sample of soil This eoil taken from a depression reputed to have been caused by a'-.Bflying S81l.cer 11 described as being approximately two feet in diameterand one foot thick which supposedly settled gently to the ground rebounded to a height of abou.t twenty feet and then contimed on its journey Al.though the declivity was immedi ately covered by a large washtub a heavy rain fP.1bsequently filled the depression about one/third full of water before any sample of dirt could be taken In an effort to approach this incident objectiv ely to deteI mine every possible clue it bas be en deemed advisable to have this soil sample analyzed and tested Upon inquiry your representative stated that the FBI Laboratoey would accomplish the required tests It is the des re of this Head.~1.arte»s-48--&seep-t,ein in par cu.lar if there are traces of unusual Reme or &.loys adhering to the surf ace of the particles o~lf 91V reJSnb!MaJ i ty in structure exista aho that the soil ms su intense beat ll"- or radio-active subst?.DCes etc Unfor in this regard no one thought to forward a sample unding the de pression 80 no comparison of soils can be made at this time the subsequent test show qthing unusual some arrangement could be made to procure some of the surrounding soil 80 that a comparative analysis could be ma.de The aceomp~ing sample bas not been test ed by any other agency nor will it be J!v J.t_p,,,v COPI ES DESTPC''{;fl 27 OV 8196 I [PAGE 57] Project SIGN Sept 1948 Director Federal Bureau of Investigation I the event the tests show nothing warranting further investige ti on you dispose of the sample The report should be addressed to this Command marked for the attention of MCI.AX0-3 This Division will appreciate your cooperation in this matter Very truly yours Incl GEE!MAN fi a~;fF Colon USAF Chief Technical Intelligence Division Intelligence Department [PAGE 58] REPORT of the 1..A.BORA.TORT FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION WASHINGTON To OOt.obc- 1948 Ca::m.Ttdi Oeaeral Air U..t«riel Como.lid Wright-Patterson AF Bue Obio At.tentiont 1JClllO.i.3 There tollcinl Npc,.n ot the WI Labcrator tho t.ion Re ot e'f"idenoe r-eceiTed trc:im YOU otf'iee on John Edgor Hoover Director YOUR FILE NO FBI FILE NO LAB NO Exo t'Nj Elracl.naUon of Soil Re fere RECORDED -146 PC-231J.2CO pe cim ns Addreu IAtter dated Septm'ber 1948 lt1craeoopia M.rogrepbto-Geol.ogi.c [PAGE 59] L-.40 FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGA UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Laboratory Work Sheet OORDED 9/22/48 kag 9j3£ 62 83894 46 Be Project SIGN File# PC-23142 CO Examination of Soil Lab II Co mmanding General Air Materiel Command Wright Patterson Examination requested by ll:f AF Base Dayton Ohio Attention IAX0-3 Date of reference communication letter 9/9 Date received 9/17 Evid 9/14 Reg 117 1535 Examination requested Micro Petro raphic Geologic Result of Examination Examination by JEVOJJS Sample of soil [PAGE 60] ERALBUREAU OF INVESTIG LTED S'l"ATES DEPABTMENT OF i Laboratory Work Sheet RE'-0-:"ttJ'F.D 9/22/4$ Kai Be File II till 62-33894-146 Pro.,.ct 11 Lab Ii PC 2Jli.a CO Enid.nat.ion ot Soil Comand111 General Air Materiel Coca:,.and flri.cnWatt.eracn Examination requested by ID Ar Dan Da yton cJno At.tent en Oll.I0 Date of reference communication letter 919 Date received Yid 14 Reg 1171,)S Examination requested icro Pet.ro rapbic-0.oloslc Result of Examination Examination by JG ftlS Specimens submitted for examination Ql SUlp le ot ao1l [PAGE 61] RECORDED 51 I 23 22 948 [PAGE 62] I ni:p I Jq lCt [PAGE 63] I October 1.9 1948 ta Xour 1.ett d!l't UclObcr 15 1948 bna be cived end db veut to tbsnk you for the patriOUc cot1v tiJltch proi.,pt ycu to t.lritce aYa1loble 70V ts conce tho cubJect YoU tte:it1one4 Sincerely vours ftOERAL BUREAU OF IHVt:SllGATIOII OEPARTr.lEIIT OF JUSIICE [PAGE 64] I cit ei JI ii iJ I Zi ---.3..lIC\M ll lJO a ro I ti [PAGE 65] ice of Contents from BUREAU OF INVESTIG ATION ottINGTON Date~----------- October 1948 Consigned to Co-nwn-.._,d:tlln......,'!W'"""'tl""e"""t1eral A:tr Materiel Cormland WrigJit-fatteraon tmse n,.yton Ohio List of tJiJFe~tins lfCIAXO- f:co:':MM::':U~N~IC~AT".'""10-NS--SE_C_TI_ON- ro,..23142 CO MA Leo OCT 1940 P.M f'El>£RAL Bcaou Of IN\'[8Tf6ATIOH OEl'ARTIIEHT Of JUSTICE Mr Barbo 1641 Mr Conrad 7142 Mr Downing 6228 Mr Sizoo 1601 Mr Baughman 11 I I i tj A RIDISTERrotAIL SPECIAL INSTR UCTIONS Mai J-1om place date of shipment and registry number Shippin Room show ate of ship mrp't awjt,i a.l tf~invoi ce then return it to person whose name is checke in column at ight After this Ji?H~ect"name has been initialled invoice should be placed in adminis trative fil [PAGE 66] A EN ION FLY bo Mr fllollr I 1,lr i,--t moAl IURCAU OF tNVtSTtQA TION OEPMTMOCT Of JUSTICE COMMUNICATIONS SECTION I ANGELES 12 28 48 AND SACS HOUSTON CINCINNATI URGENT I NSPECTOR HOWARD FLETCHER Mr ONN IE EDWARD"-NOACK COMPLAINT RE HOUSTON TELE Yii a EC WENTY EIGHT MR PERSONS VASCO l!be ELECTRIC MMTIJVlfAcfll/NG COMPANY LA PRESENTLY I ARIZONA EXACT WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN TO HIS OFFICE EXPECTED TO CAL MORNING OF DEC TWENTY NINE MR NATHAN SMITH SMITH MANUFACTURING COMPANY SOUTH PASADENA CALIF ADVISED HE AND PERSONS PURCHASED AIRPORT IN MOJAVE DESERT NEAR HELENDALE CALIF STATED THAT IN EARLY PART OF DEC EXACT DATE UNKNO_#i PERSONS ADVISED HIM HAD FOUND A FLYING DISK ON THEIR AIRPORT MR AND MRS SMITH PERSONS AND LONNIE~OACK PROCEEDED TO AIRPORT WHERE THEY LOCATED DISK TOOK PICTURES OF IT AND REMOVED PORTIONS OF DISK NOACK RETAINING SOME PARTS AND SMITH KiEPING SOME PORTIONS WHICH ARE STILL IN HIS POSSESSION SMITH ADvISED THAT DAY AFTER LOCATINGfrHE DISK AN EMPLOYEE CBSERVED PARTS RETAINED BY SMITH AND STATED HE BELIEVED THE OB~ECT HAD BEEN MANUFACTURED BY OLSEN AND RICE MANUFACTURING COMPANY TOY MANUFACTURERS LA SMITH STATED HE THEN CONTACTED OLSEN AND RICE WHO STATED THEY WERE FIN ANCING CLAUDE LERO~OLFERT LA IN DEVELOPING A KITE FOR tlllf SALE ON OPEN hARKET AS A TOY SMITH STATED HE HAD PREVIOUSLY GIVEN OLSEN AND RICE PERSMISSION TO USE HIS PRIVATE AIRPORT AT ANY TIME OLSEN AND RICE TOLD SMITH THEY HAD TAi XPERIMENTAL KITES TO SMITHS END PAGE ONE RECORDfl Jf:..1 LI 1NOEXEtJ 08 OEC 30'Q 48 gz~'O [PAGE 67] F'l rl'l Tl [PAGE 68] PAGE TWO AIRPORT AND UPON DETERMING KITES NOT PRACTICAL HAD ABANDONED THE PROJECT SMITH STATED HE HAD TAKEN SIXTEEN MM PICTURES WHICH ARE PRESENTLY BEING DEVELOPED STATED WOULD MAKE PICTURES AND PARTS FROM OBJECT AVAILABLE TO THIS OFFICE SMITH DESCRIBED OBJECT AS APPROXIMATELY SIX FEET IN DIA METER CONSISTING OF DISK MOUNTED ON AXEL WITH BEARINGS WINGS ON EITHER SIDE TAIL SURFACE SUPPORTED ON BOOMS CUP MOUNTED ON EACH WING TIP RESEMBLING ROCKET POWER CONTAINERS SMITH STATED DID NOT OBSERVE ANY CHEMICAL OR OTHER MATTERIAL IN CONTAINERS HICH COUL BE USED AS SELF PROPELLING FORCE MR HENRY RICE OF OLSEN AND RICE MAN UFACTURING COMPANY ADVISED CLAUDE LEROY WOLFERT FINANCED BY THEIR COMPANY IN DEVELOPING TOY KITE THAT WOLFERT HAD PROACHED IDEA OF MAKING LARGE MODEL TO BE USED AS TOW TARGET FOR AIRPLANES BUT RICE DECIDED THAT HE MAKE ONLY KITE SUITABLE FOR SALE AS TOYS JIU Ill HOWEVER WOLFERT MADE LARGE MODEL APPROXIMATELY SIX FEET IN DIAMETER WEIGHING FIFTY POUNDS WHICH TOGETHER WITH OTHER MODEL HAD BEEN FL OWN IN DC THREE NED BY OLSEN AND RICE TO PRIVATE AIRPORT OF MU:llllli PERSONS AND SMITH RICE COULD NOT RECALL EXACT DATE BUT STATED MWllf IT WAS IN EARLY PART OF DEC RICE STATED DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN FLIGHT OF KITE AND THAT IN VIEW OF SIZE OF LARGE MODEL IT WAS NECESSARY TO TOW IT BEHIND PLANE TO OBSERVE FLIGHT STATED MODEL CRASHED AND OLSEN AND RICE ABANDONED EXPERIMENT LEAVING AIRPORT WITH WOLFERT REMAINING BE HIND TO CONDUCT FURTHER EXPERIMENTS RICE STATED DID NOT KNOW THAT WOL FERT HAD LEFT THE LARGE MODEL AT THIS AIRPORT UNTIL ADVISE BY SM ITH END PAGE TWO [PAGE 69] IJJ xi rn rr Cl [PAGE 70] PAGE THREE THAT HEY HAD FOUND HE OBJECT CONTACT WILL BE MADE WITH SMITH RICE AND WOLFERT TO SECURE PHOTOGRAPHS AND SAMPLES BUREAU WILL BE ADVISED HOOD END A IN ORDER PL A 45 PM OK FBI WASH DC WJR HKBll Mil HB SMR OK FBI HO UICF CI OK FBI CI CISC [PAGE 71] RE'CEIVEO TEL TYPE UN IT Dre 29 PH DE PT OF USTIC Tl 11 I TJ I [PAGE 72] STAN0...~0 OR,- Offic mor ndum uNtrno sTATEs GovERNMENT DATE December 28 1948 TO MR LA IC Tolson FROM FI.ETC Jlf llr legg wr lavin Yr Rosen Mr Tr&CY SUBJBCT FLYING DISCS Mr Harl>o Mr ll<>hr.~......-- wr Pennlngtori Mr QU!llll tam Tele Roo At J..0':b a today SAC Willis Houston called in and stated llr Nease WIS llolJIIJO that Full~ackwell a busin?ss man Housto Texas had furnished Wle Go.nc!y certain pictures taken by a friend of his Lo~ack of the Humboldt Oil Company Houston Texas and had related that Noack had been flying with a friend in a private plane from California to Houston and that at a point about 30 miles east of Lone Pine Ca lifornia some object lying on the ground made a very strong reflection and they made a check to determine what would cause this bright reflection They finally landed the plane and found an object which could be described as being in diameter with wings about long The object is about in thickness and in the center there appears to be some type of gyroscope The wings apparently are fitted with some type of jet propulsion An examination was made by No ack and his friend and they could find no identi.f.'ying marks and took photographs of the object they observed SAC Wil lis stated he had informed Lieutenant Robe rt Fleming of the ill Ellington Field and Captain Bush the Army representative in Houston of this object and that Noack would be interviewed that morning in the Houston Office with Lieutenant Fleming being present Lieutenant Fleming wanted the statements of Noack taken down by a stenographer and he will furnish the stenographer for that purpose I instructed SAC Willis to funti.sh complete details of this matter by idr mail special delivery including a copy of the photograph I further instructed that he furnish the same details to the proper field office because unquestionably the Bureau would want to run this thing out After talking with you I phoned SAC Willis ba ck and told him to insure the presence of a Bureau Agent at the time this object was examined by the Army Air Forces and that he should make proper arrangements with the office in California to see that an Agent was present I also told him to adVise me I of the developments HBF cmw [PAGE 73] -rt CD c,(DrTl Tl i ft I CD i i [PAGE 74] Mr Tolson 1\lr fE EIIAl tU"lAU OF IIW(STIQATION DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Cle COMNUNICA~:N HIN ivl DEC TELETYPE FB_y1IOUSTON 2-28-48 12 PM CST £rRECTOR SACS CINCINNATI AND LOS ANGELES URGENT ENTION IN.SPECTOR HOWARD FLETCHER s-<vrNG rsK LONNIE EDWA OACK COMPLAINANT COMPLAINANT RESIDING TWO NINE TWO ONE CHICAGO STREET HOUSTON CONTACTED THI OFFICE DECEMBER TWENTY SEVENTH ON CAPTIONED MATTER AND IN SIGNED STATEMENT TODAY SUBMITTED THE FOLLOWING NOACK EMPLOYED#AS A MACHINIST BY HUMBLE OIL COMPANY HOUSTON LEFT HOUSTON BY COMMERCIAL AIRLINE DECEMBER FIFTH LAST ON BUSINESS FOR HOLLYWOOD CALIF ON MONDAY DECEMBER SIXTH CONTACTED PERSON FOUR ONE ONE SIX AVALON BLVD LA AN ACQUAINTANCE WHO REMARKED OF HAVING SEEN ON THAT DATE SOME DISTANCE FROM HOLLYWOOD IN A DESERT AREA WHAT APPEARED TO BE A FLYING DISK PERSON OPERATES VASCO ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING CO LA ADAMS FIVE TWO EIGHT ONE ON DECEMBER SEVENTH NOACK PERSOM AND MR AND MRS NATHAN SMITH ONE NAUGHT FIVE SOUTH PASADENA AVE SOUTH PASADENA CALIF DEPARTED BY PRIVATELY OWNED AUTOMOB I LE IN SEARCH OF DISK SAME LOCATED APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES NORTHEAST OF PASADENA AND ABOUT TWENTY MILES NORTHEAST OF LONE CALIF PERSON SMITH AND NOACK TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS OF Dlt MOV fJC/lf 5'tJ SPEEDGRAPHIC CAMERAS THE NOACK FILM WAS EIGHT~1Ik~METERS IN SIZ E.J IM 19 49 AND CAMERA MADE BY REVERE DISK OC ATED DESERT EA NEAR NINE HUNDRE ACRES OF LAND OWNED BY PERSON AS PRIVATE AIRFIELD NOACK HAD HIS FIL DEVELOPED BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY AT UNKNOWN ADDRESS LOS PALMAS ST LA It i END PAGE ONE [PAGE 75] RECEIVE0-1 MHl FBI DEPT OF JU CE RE'rEtVED Or.c 28 ss PM if8 AN ss PM i Nh tt n~cE1vEn--0 REC I I U.S of.:ri'T Uf u:"/t ff t;TfCF I Dre 28 52 PM [PAGE 76] PAGE TWO THESE FILMS RECEIVED NOACK HOUSTON BY MAIL DECEMBER TWENTY THIRD LAST DISK TO BE APPROXIMATELY SEVEN FEET IN DIAMETER SHOWS AND APPROXIMATELY TWO FEET THICK IN MIDDLE WITH FEATHER EDGE ON RIM ABUTTING SAUCER IN MIDDLE AND ON BOTH SIDES ARE FOUR FOOT WINGS RESEMBLING CONVENTIONAL AIRPLANE TYPE NO MARKINGS NO RADIO AND APPEARED TO HAVE LANDED AT GREAT SPEED DISK IN COMPARATIVELY GOOD CONDITION THE ENDS OF BOTH WINGS HAD ATTACHED A SMALL ALUMINUM CYLINDER APPARENTLY FOR JET PROPULSION ONE OF THESE CYLINDERS OBTAINED BY NOACK AS SOUVENIR AND CURRENTLY IN POSSESION OF OH~cg FILM SIMILARLY MAINTAINED SA ROBERT FLEMING OSI REPRESENTATIVE E,l.LINGTON FlELD TEXAS NOTIFIED DECEMBER TWENT¥ SEV.E.N.IH NOACK FILM EXHIBITED THIS OFFICE INSTANT DATE AND SHOWS DISK IN ALL POS ITI ONS AND ARE AUTHENTIC MR FLEMING OSI ON DECEMBER TWENTY EIGHTH NOTIFIED DISTRICT COMMANDER FIFTH OSI DISTRICT WRIGHT FIELD DAYTON OHIO SAC HOOD LA NOTIFIED TELEPHONICALLY OF ABOVE INFORMATION WITH REQUEST THAT HE MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH PERSON IN ORDER THAT BUREAU AGENTS MAY ASSIST OR ACCOMPANY OSI REPRESENTATIVES IN ACTUALLY OBSERVING AND RETR I EV I NG FLYING DISK THIS ACTION TAKEN PER BUREAU INSTRUCTIONS NO FACILITIES AVAILABLE HOUSTON FOR REPRODUC I NG MOVIE FILM OF NOACK HOWEVER STILL SHOTS CAN BE DEVELOPED BY COMPETENT END PAGE TWO [PAGE 77] RECEIVEO-l nfl I DEPT OF JU ST!C Or.c 28 ss PM 118 RFrE tVE AN 55 iJ I kNA I flFP TI Cf [PAGE 78] PAGE THREE COMMERC I AL REPRESENTAT I VES ACT I ON TO BE TAKEN BY OS I DAYTON OHIO NOT KNOWN AT TH I MOMENT AND I I POSS I BLE THEY MAY DESIRE FILM FOR REPRODUCTION THEIR FACI LI TI ES THERE I BUREAU DES I RES LA OFFICE TO OBTA I FROM PERSON AND SM I TH THE IR FI LM AND NEGAT I VES THIS MIGHT BE CONS I DERED PI CTURES TAKEN BY PERSON I TH FOUR BY FI VE SPEEDGRAPH IC CAMERA AND THZSE PI CTURES SHOULD BE READ I LY AVAILABLE NOACK FI LM AND PAR OF JET PROPULS I ON I NG TIP BE I NG MA I NTA I NED HOUSTON AWA I TI SUGGES ED DI SPOS I TI ON A ND HANDL I NG BY EI THER BUREAU OR OS I CI NC I NNAT I OFF I CE BE I NG MADE COGN I ZAN TO COVER POSS IB ILI TY THAT BUREAU MAY DI RECT LI A I SON ITH OSL DAYTON AMSD ET ER FO LL OWS TO BUREAU A ND INTERESTED OFF I CES ENC OS I NG IG NED STATEMENT OF NOACK IL LIS END A I PLS WA 22 5PM OK FB I WA LS CI OK FB I CI JCL LA OK FB I LA EDS DI SCM JJl;t;Jl [PAGE 79] RECEIVED TELETYPE UNIT Dre 28 29 PH 8.1 DEP JUSTICE 3JHS Of lO ld30 I u~J -Ql31\t 03"1 3J3 l:i [PAGE 80] Mr ToJaon Mr Ce Mr Gtartu Mr Ladd Mr Nichol Mr Ro ou Mr I'rAOJ lib- llD Mr PenuiDJton Mr Qiunn Tiurun IUllEAU Of t1CVE.STIGATI otPAATMEMT OF USTICE MUMICATlOMS $ECTIOII O£C 291948 ER I 10 FROM LOS ANGELES 29 9-07 PM DIRECTOR ROUTINE FLYING DISK LONNIE EDWAR NOACK COMPLAINANT TELETYPES FROM HOUSTON AND LA TWENTYE I GHTH INSTANT 1!F7W THREE PARTS OF SUBJECT DESCRIBED BY cK SECURED FROM NATHAN ITH LA AND EXHIBITED TO HENRY cE OHLSON AND RICE MANUFACTURING COMPANY THREE THREE FOUR ZERO EMERY STREETi LA RICE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED THESE PARTS AS COM I NG FROM A MODEL TOW TARGET CONSTRUCTED BY CLAUDE WO FORD FIVE FOUR FIVE FOUR CHESLEY AVE LA ONE PART BEING STAMPED WOLFORD WW PLASTICS MOLDING CO LA TOW TARGET WAS TESTED BY RICE AND WOLFORD USING RI CE AIRPLANE OVER NATHAN SMITH,s AIRFIELD NEAR HELENDALE CALIF HE TEST WAS A FAILURE THE TARGET CRASHED AND WAS ABANDONED AT THE AIRFIELD NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION BEING CONDUCTED AND THE HREE ITEMS SECURED FROM I SMITH WILL BE RETURNED TO HIM UNLESS BUREAU ADVISES TO CONTRARY REPOR WI LL BE SUB ITTED ff:I HOOD RECORDED 42 I t.d I IN CINCINNATI AND HOUSTON AJ)V JAN 1949 J.t ACK PLSI Vs tJJl'- i lfr eue [PAGE 81] RECEIVED TELETYPE UNIT ll£c 29 If PM 8.1 DEPT OF JUSTICE [PAGE 82] Office Memor andum lJN lTED STATES GOVERNMENT TO MR December 28 1948 FROM FIETC rn 11r N1cnols SUBJ EC FLYING DISCS IC Ro sen IC Traer llr- tte.rbo llr llOllr Peph{ngw.Q Reference is made to the teletype of December 28 1948 llr Quinn Tua Tele Roo■ from the Houston Office Mr se.aae MU Kolmiio At J:JO p.m I called SAC Hood of the Los Angeles Office and i~cted that he atte pt to loc ate Mr Person and Mr and Mrs Nat~th secure photographs and film in their possession and a lso secure from them the location of the described flying disc I als instructed that Mr Hood send out sufficient Agents to find the disc ee and guard it until it could be properly handled by the appropriate Government authority I also telephoned the Houston Office and told them to send in the photographs or film in their possession ogether with the part which had been recovered from the machine by the Informant Noack At 00 SAC Hood ca lled back and stated that all work on this matter should be innnediately discontinued They had managed to reach Mr a than Smith and he stated that he knew al about this matter that it was not a lying disc but an object which had been identified as a tow Id te Which has a disc center and wings This Id te is actually made in Los Ange les by the Olson and Rice Manufacturing Company A call was made to Olson and Rice who admitted making a kite along the lines described by Mr Smith and they explained that they had tried to fly it and it had failed and they had abandoned it Mr Hood stated he did not have full details at the time of his call but he did have this re ort from the Agents Therefore I instructed that he call Mr Willis of the Houston Office immediately in order that the film and the part available to the Houston Office will not be forwarded for Laboratory examination HBF:esb RECORDED 42 INDEXED 42 a rs [PAGE 83] I HV fJl 62 33JH or 10 1030 I wv 03 hl 333H iltl3 ll [PAGE 84] oj;;MMemor ffflta um STAT:rs- GOVE NMtENT DIRPL"l'OR FBI Bt;E CT FLlING SAUO OESl!RVED O'Vm £la- I OAK RIDGE AREA INrEmlAL SlOOURITY I I I uJ fA I I There are beine submitted herm th two photographs of ropu fl ns saucers"which were seen at Oak Ridee Tennessee sometime during Jul,y'fe All of the 1.nf'ormation contained in this letter was received from Mt- a RNmMAlf Chief Investigator Security Division Atanio En«rS7 Ccmnias a Colonel GASSm Resident Jlnsineer Air Material Carnrnarn1 United States who ie tho principal army technioian at the Nuclear far__tb.e Pro pulsion of Aircraft Research Center at Oak Ridee Tennessee Mr RATHMAN advised that the attached photogr:e.phs were taken by PRl!SLEY in July of 1947 He stated that interview with PRE3LEY revealed that he had been snappine photographs of bis f'amil.y in front of hie residence at 218 Il11no1s Avenue Oak Ridge Tennessee late in the e.f'ternoon when he l.ooked into the sky and obs erved the vapor trail as emibited by the photograph numbered PRESLEY stated that he took a snap of this trail was winding the film to the next number when he looked into the sky and observed the ball of fire as shown in photograph Upon observine the unusual phenomena he used his last film in tald.ng photograph P.RllSLEY made these photographs available to re ip ortere of the Knoxville News-Sentinel and a story concerning them was run that paper however as shown by the photostatic copy of the newspaper clippine whioh is also being submitted herewith to the Bureau the print was very indis tinot the news story did not contain an:r fa ctua information and was regarded generally by the public at the time as a le tt-ick Later it w.a learned by Mr RA~llD Colonel G.ASS:HE that PRllSLEY had made several copies of this photograph and had distributed them 8lllOJl8 his acquaintances at Oak Ridge Tennessee Upon Colonel GASSl!R finding tba the pho"toei:apha had received some distribution he requested Mr RA'IBMAN as Head of the Can:pllance and Investigations DiVision to recover as many as possible of the photographs advise the persons in whose possession they were found to say nothing to aeyone concernins them and to retm-n the said photographs to him f'or traDSmission to the United States Air Foroe Yii'teD..fgence Servica Mr RAmMAN advises tnat7fe sucoee'a.ed in rounding up twenty-four copies of these photographs and that ac~ordins to the statements of P.RFSLEY no more copies were made or distributed RATHMAN further stated that GASSm had appeared extremely concerned over the matter and seemed to be quite emphatic that the mtter should be given no more publloi ty than was absolutely necessary RA'lEMAN also advised that he studied the negatives from which the reproductions were mde and th appee.red A to be authentic in that trick photography should have been apparent ut from the RECORDED i a iJ.J..w NOEXED 12 JA'149 1'1 [PAGE 85] I i i I 3~\1.S 1.cf ft NO\l~3S QS\°1 d3~3 Ol [PAGE 86] ne gatives certainly did not appear to be the case It was Mr RATEMAN'e observation that had the negative been doped with some or o'f chemical it would have removed the emulsion from the f'ace o'f the ril.m in such a way that the ne~tive would have been thin at the point which is supposedly a ball of fire v'hereas in fact both the vapor trail and the corona of fire are dark on the'negative indicati118 that it was an actual exposure It was the opinion of Mr RATHMAN that the photographs were withn.ut doubt authentic In accordance with Bureau instructions no active investigation of this ma.tter was made but it was deemed advisable to interview Colonel GASSER prior to submitting the photographs to the Bureau Colonel GASSER redicp.ted his remarks concerning the flyi118 saucers or mystery missiles fstat that he lmew nothi118 of an official nature concerning them other than the f'act that they were believed by air force intelligence officials to be man-made missiles rather than some natural phenomena It was his rurther belief that a great deal of inf'ormation had been compiled concerning these missiles by air force intelligence and that research on the matter was being extensively done at Wright Field Dayton Ohio He also expressed the opinion that information at the disposal of the United States Army Air Force Intelligence had in all probability been made available to the Bureau at Washington Eolonel GASSER then continued with hie own ideas as to what might be the nature of these discs which ideas he had formulated through review of those known facts and theoretical conjectures of himself and other scientists concerning the nature of flying discs and method.a o'f propulsion for such type of aerial mechanism According to him flying discs have long been a theoretical possibility and in fact a possibility which would ind icate one of the beet means by which to break through the barriers of the supersonic area Scientists have for many yeaxs been attempting to develop this type of aircraft Some experimentation has been done even in the United States but insofar as is known in the United States at the present time there have never been any practical developments As a second actor of consideration Colonel GASSER stated that insofar as is known to U.S scientists at this time there is no known chemical fuel which would make possible tremendous range of flight such as is ascribed to the reported flyi118 saucers There is only one possible fuel which could be utilized which is in accord with present theory and that is the utilization of atomic energy As further evidence of this possible means of propulsion Colonel GASSER called attention to the vapor trail and gaseous corona described as a ball of fire which he states might give some evidence to the fact that a radio active field is present He explained that th corona or exhaust has what appears to be layers of intensity which are circular rather than elongated and have no tendency to trail at the extremities as would be the case if a normal type of exhaust from a oombustion engine was being utilized in the propulsion of these aircraft He continued that the vapor trail left by the missile appears to be one single line of uni.form intensity which is extremely slow in dissipating It was pointed out by him that in the case of a normal [PAGE 87] vapor trail being left by an aircraft moving at extreme high speeds or extremely high altitudes the vapor trail usually will be from the wing tips and/or the exhau~t of the engines thus pres nting several lines But in any event even ouslj onJJ one line were visible it would be ther quick to dissipate This indif1ted to him that the vapor trail represents some atmospheric change along he path or the missile which voul.d not be the case were it any presently known type of aircraft 1.1 e:e continued that 1nf'armat on shed him should be the u;gp.oe gon:£'1 enia in he was not E_eald off a but as a ere Datter of C~EGJ;t1gR Re s¥atea that the mtter wasoeing ven abs lutely no aieeem!nation by he air force or other JD.ilita:cy persOID1el and that they had not deemed it advisable to advise him of all information pertaining to the missile He continued however that in his conversation w1th representatives at Wright Field and in re&d.ing reports returned to this country by f'ore1gn agents he had gathered together certain information which might be of assistance in determining whether or not these so-called missiles were authen:tf.o usable and of claxJser to the United Sta tee First he pointed out that knowledge such a possible aircraft is not by aey meaDS new it having been known as early as four years ago that same type of flying disc was be1ns experimented with by the Russians In addition thereto he stated that more recent reports have been received from representatives of the Central Intell.igence Agency in Southern Europe and Southern Asia to the effect that the Russians were experimenting with some type of radical aircraft or guided missile which could be dispatched for great dis tances out over the sea mde to turn in flight and return to the base from which it was launched Thie fact was extremely worthy of notice as experiments in this country have so far only developed to the point where we are concerned with deliverine a missile to the required point of impact and no consideration has been given to imparting to that missile the ability to return Seconcll.y he stated that it is a known fact that the Russians are attempting to develop some type of nuclear energy that they received a wealth of information concern ing nuclear energy at the time of their occupation in Ge.rmany and that they too have at their dispoeal the limited supply of the necessary fissionable materials He stated that insofar as aey opinion as j;o hether or not they have the ability and scientific lmowledge to create such elled missile is etrictl.J a matter conjecture and that he wou esitate nite statement He pointed out however that the Russians have acme very capable scientists in the field of atomic energy and that in addition thereto they took into their custoc:'cy sane of the most advanced and capable scientists of the Ge:r,m at ion Re also eta ted that a peculiar fact concerning the missiles exists from reports he has received which is worthy of notice and that is that from all appearances they usually approach the United States from a northerly direc tion and have been reported as returning in a norther.cy direction None have ever been lmown to crash coll.ide or disintegrate over American soil but it woul.d appear that they come to the United States cruise around and go back over the North Pole He states that insofar as is known to him there has never [PAGE 88] been any piece of one recovered from any source whatever in order that tical study of its nature could be nade Insofar as was known to him the actual 1fA~er1f,l which would be of value in determining its nature ere telephoto f.ho!!phs which are now in the possession of engineers at Wright Field Dayton Ohi How detailed and how clear these photographs are he was unable to state Hes ted that one report has been reoeived concerning a collision o:f these missiles with another type of aircraft This report according to him took place a ehort time prior to the report of numerous discs overr the United States and the report 8l1Bllated from Czeohoslovalda This report was th.at a Czecho slovakian transport had collided with some unidentified missile while in mid-air over the ocean and that said missile and said transport bad been complete disintegrated vi th.out recovery of parts or eurvi vors tram ei th.er It was the belief of Colonel GASSER that this undescribed missile was perhaps the same tY'Pe of thing as the f~ng saucer Another factor of notice accord.ins to Colonel GASSm and as is portrayed by the photographs it would appear that the missiles oan be maintai ned at a certain altitude above the contour of the ground This could be done by means of acme t1"P9 of radio altimeter or radio control Natu rally the path of the missile is not in emct parallel to the contour as its purported great speed would create considerable lag in its flight Another factor which is wor of note according to Colonel GASSER is that it is normally reported as beins seen at tremendouelJ hish altitudes and al.ways travel ing in a straight line He stated that he himself observed on one occasion a single vapor trail coming fran sane type of aircraft at unbelievabl.7 high altitudes vhioh vapor trail extended tran horizon to horizon in a perfectly straight line He observed the vapor trail while it was in the process of formation and states that it vae ccmplete unlike vapor trail he had ever observed before all of his experienoe vi th the air foroe It was his judgment that whatever crea ed the vapor trail vas traveliDS at an unbelievably tremendous speed This together with reports that when close to the ground,the missile travels at speeds which make possible visual observation of its actions would refl.ect that there is sane ability to control the speed of these missiles as well as the altitude colonel GASSER concl.uded that this matter whil.e still purely a matter of gueeevork is nevertheless a source of great concern to the military establ.ish ment of this country Great efforts have been expended by the service to determine Just what the nature of these missil.es might be and upon so determinins deci whether or not an adequate defense can be establ.ished He also stated that it has given impetus to the research being done by the air farce in their own pro gram of nuclear mert53 for the propulsion of aircraft to devel.op guided missil.es He also advised that insofar as was known to him there was absolutely no con nection betwem these missiles and the fact that they vere observed close to Oak Ridge Tennessee He stated that this vas perhaps and probably a mtter of coincidence and they were seen in this area merely as they vere seen in forty six of the forty-eight states of the United States during the Month of July when so reports were being received Thie inforr.ration is being submitted to the Bureau for whatever val.ue it may be and no further action the nntt er is beina contemplated by this office unless advised to the contrary CCM:bk 65-11 Enclosures [PAGE 89] sfA.NDAAdtr0AM NO Office Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMEN To rector FBI AT 12/28/48 FR Ac Houston yB YING PISCt LONNIE EDWo/OACK Complainant Attention Assistant Director Ladd Remytel 12/28/48 in the above captioned matter F9,P-"'the BU7eau's information on 12/27/48 Mr FULLER 1:fLACKWELL an attorney with offices 410 Kress BuiLding Houston Texas telepho~ically contacted the~o ton Office to advise that he had a friend LONNI OACK who had some information on an object which ight be a flying disc Mr BLACKWEL stated he was calling in response to Mr NOACK's suggestion and as a means of determining what authorities would have an interest in this matter He said Mr NOACK was a machinist employed by the Humble 011 and Refining Company Houston Mr BLACKWELL in calling advised that the disc or object was approximately eight feet i diameter had a tail and wings and apparently was equipped for jet propulsion He stated NOACK had observed this.object at a desert location near Las Vegas Nevada further that Mr NOACK had taken some movie film of the disc and that this film was currently in his possession Immediately upon receipt of the above information Mr Robert Fleming Special Agent s.r Ellington Field Texas was notified as was true of Captain Harold Bush MID representative also Houston As a result of these referrals arrangements were effected with Mr NO to bring his film to the Houston Office for a showi P.M 12/27/48 This was done with Messrs Bush leming Noack and Special Agent Graham Kitchel and Cj the writer observing Arrangements were then made for Mr NOACK to again a~pear at the Houston Office on the i morning of 12/28/48 in order that his information might be &:duced to writing Mr NOACK in making his initial w>pearance at the office surrendered his movie film which consisted of one 50 foot roll of nim mov1e f11m Approximately -fifteen feet of this roll relates e~ciusively to the pictures of the flying disc i od i lli oP DESTROYED tCO~U'- I NO 18 l~b4 JAN 141949 [PAGE 90] I I 33!1S0f JO J.d30 I IJO V1-03Al3J3N [PAGE 91] Director Re Flying Disc HO 12/28/48 While observing the object Mr NOACK noted an aluminum cyJ1nder which had become detached from one of the wing tips and he brought this back with him as a souvenir This cylinder con ce ivably could act as a rudder a rocket housing or fuel tank attachment Mr NOACK initialled the cylinder and surrendered it also There are attached hereto for the Bureau two copies of a signed statement taken from Mr NOACK dated Houston Texas 12/28/48 Two copies of the statement are attached for the Los Angeles Office and one informational copy is being designated for the Cincinnati Division The original is being retained in the Houston file One copy of the statement is attached to the copy of this letter for the FBI Laboratory During the interview with Mr NOACK Mrs ROSE ROTSEL a stenographer for O.S.I Ellington Field recorded the statement for O.S.I use Initial information obtained concerning this flying disc was furnished telephonically to Inspector Howard Fletcher at the Bureau A.M 12/28/48 Mr Fletcher requested the Bureau be given a summary of the information by teletype with interested offices being similarly notified and that the signed statement of NOACK be submitted AMSD He further instructed that he did not want the Bureau side tracked in the handling of this matter but that FBI representatives should assume an active interest in the investigation throughout cooperating of course with O.S.I representatives Mr Fleming's headquarters are the District Commander 5th o.s.r District Wright Field Dayton Ohio On the morning of 12/28/48 Mr Fleming sent a telegram to his District Commander giving a general summary of the original complaint Mr Fleming was unable to advise how the 5th o.s.r District would handle their inquiry in this matter He stated this could either be handled by Wright Field dispatching a special plane to California or by having their District Commander 18D S.I San Bernardino California handle it He stated any event it would be necessary for O.S.I representatives to first confer with Mr PERSON named in this statement as being the individual who initially discovered the flying disc and would lmow also its present whereabouts [PAGE 92] Director Re Fl7ing Disc HO 12/28/48 Mr PERSON as indicated maintains a business at 4116 Avalon Boulevard Los Angeles California telephone Adams 5281 To insure the Bureau's participation in this matter SAC R.B Hood of the Los Angeles Office was contacted telephonically at approximately 11:30 A.M CST 12/28/48 with the suggestion he maintain contact with Mr PERSON JI Also in keeping with Bureau instructions the roll of film received from Mr NOACK together with the aluminum 71 portion of the fuselage is being forwarded separately to 1t"",jr the Bureau attention FBI Laboratory ti tli- GNW:NK Encl.(2 AIR MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY iJ iqt CC Los Angeles Encl AMSD Cincinnati Encl AMSD FBI Laboratory Encl Package [PAGE 93] [PAGE 94] [PAGE 95] Houoton Texas De 1948 I LOiffiIE EDWARD WACK residing 2921 Cl'.1cago Street Houeton 17 TexaE make the following statement to Spe cial Agent Robe rt Plemine and Chr1etopher Dradley reDreeentatlvcc of the Of.t'1ce ot E-pecia'l Investigat ton Ellington OSI etachment Ellington Field Texoa and Special J\gents Orahain &itohel ana Galen I1llia who I know to be Special agents of the Pederal Bureau or InYest1pt1on On Monday afternoon December 1948 at about Mr a.c PERSON Mr YfATHAlf SJII'l'H Ir C.A TOCK Mr R01SER'J BROUSSARD and another man n&Jl8 not recalled and I had dinner at the Old Virginia Inn Loa Angeles California After dinner we went back to Mr Ssnitn•a electrical manutactur1ng company which he own.a and operates 1l1 Loa Angeles CA11torn1a Mr PERSON told us about aeeing a tlytng diac and we made an appointment to leave early the next mom by car with our oueraa to go to the location or the d11c Mr PERSON waa detained at some private air f.ield so we did not leave until about P.M ml December 1948 We arrived at the acene ot the tlyin.g diso and ook pictures of the d1ac which vaa still 171.ng around Mr SIIIITB took about 10 1'eet of 16 mm tilm and Mr PERSOX took five or six ahota wlth a Speed Graphic Camera He noticed that the t1r•t three shots were taken when the adapter on his lens was closed too much and I don icnow they turned out all right Jllr SMIT!I uggested I hold the t1ying diac up and rotate it around and he would teke llY p1ctu 1th 1ror came Atti!r taking the picture we patched the fence Mr PERSOK property where people had been cutting the wire to get to a road left and then d~ove baok and had dinner at Eaton a Inn and they took me back home to Hollywood ca11tom1a I would like to recite that I loft Houston Texan 1:30 A.M on Sunday De cember 1948 tor Cal~fornia by lane and tlew to Hollywood California on commercial plane on buoinese matters On arriving Hollywood I mot Mr PERSON in Holly,rood on Monday December 1948 and at that time he told me about the tlylng disc he had located He stated he bad gone to Laa Vegaa by h1a personal plane and saw the disc from the on hie way back [PAGE 96] On December 1948 went out J.n Mr tfA'l'HAlf SNITH car and ploked up h1a wife and left hia hoae in outh Pasadena about 11 A We drove out to an airport where hia plane was about rorty a1lea trom Pasadena DN he was having the plane repaired He wanted to be aure the plane was on a truck betore we left for the destination where the di•c Iri aaking thia trip we proceeded out by a race track and done ot the Kaiser ateel works and the Virginia Dare Wine Orchard I would say we went directly north or northeast tr,om Pasadena ca11rom.1a We droTe through a town called Matonia phonetic and tollowed a roaa through o•e mountaina and through a 11 de1ert I would eatiute the di•tance trom Pasadena to where the d1ac tound to be about 150 mllea The terrain wh1oh the diac waa tound could be described tlat,deaert and de olate would like to lain that Jlr PERSON haa private pert,- an airport which he purcba••d rrom the govemaent right by the location or the d1ac Mr PER.SOR thought the di•c might have been launched tro11 hie ail'J)ort but whether that it or not don know Nr PERSON 1a1d he usually tlew at an altitude or about 8,000 te•t and or course he tlew lower ao apaced He did not mention hia altitude at the t1M he tlrat eaw the diac lbe disc waa located preot1ca117 Juat outa1de his pros:,erty and were going north it would be eaat or hia property He has about 900 acres When arr1 ved at Mr PERSON propert7 aaw the d1ac or flying wing and it on th ground a aeJll1-vert1cal poe1t1on approxiJnately a 45 de arigle With the le:t"t wing babedltd in the gr9und In loold.J:tg at the ground it appeared that the obJect had hit the earth with cona1derable force and had slid 300 to 400 feet It wa dent•d but was generally intact I th1illc the picture I took with a Revere camera quite well ahow th tom shape and size or the wing I am tall and atand1ng next to the object when it was in an upright poaition wae alightl7 higher than my height I would it waa rollgbly seven feet in diameter ore crashing On each e1de or the obJect there were w1rma approxillately t~ur feet twent7 inches and three 1nohes thick with an axle that protruded through the dlac and 1.J\to the wing It waa aounted on ball bear1nge which the diac rotated on [PAGE 97] 1be disc 1iielf wae approx1111ately two reet thick in the center tapering to a reather edge at tll rim On the outalde or the disc near the rill there were tunnel shaped cupa bradded on and these were apace4 all around on both aides each cup ti-.C approxiMtel,- twenty tnehea apart The openings of these cups were to the rear The d1ac 1teelr was natural al'UD'linum with no paint on it except ot the type or aluminum which waa 24 S.T and bore th1a stamp l'he wings were painted a yellow.green cuaoutlage color The wing has a leading edge similar to that ot an airplane and tapera to the rear to a teather edge ll'he wing ribbed throughout with altiJDinum r1ba ror substantial atrength Each wing had a s1.m1lar rocket cartridge on each tip tutened by two bolts I bad one ot the winga in my po aeea1on and have turned it over to the proper authorities l'he cartridge on the one I had waa apparently knocked orr the craeh There were two strut bars attached approxi•tel7 twenty 1nchea h-011 the disc leading to the rear with an elevator Alao the two struts protruded toward the front with something attached a weight or aome tow a)'Btem which waa during the oraeh anchored into the ground and bent and we could not exactly determine how waa weighted or controlled I would say the elevator wu approximately twenty-two inches long and about 5/8 inch thick with a alight taper to the rear and probably ten 1nchea wide nle at extending trom the trailing edge or th wing to the levator were ot 5/8 inch steel tubing The di■ in being lifted would J~dge to weigh rro 80 to 100 pounds With respect to the picture taken I took approximately 15 reet ot colored mm film Tbe diec was built where they had the proper equipment to do ttie neceeaaey work because the7 had to have a epot welder and bu1ldμig equipment to male the d1t'ferent angles I ll1ght add that I ua an in tru ent Ulcer tor the BUlllble 011 and Ret1n1ng ColllJ)any and haYe a generally good knowledg of machine and metal work There was nothing on the object to 1nd1oate ita origin whether American or foreign ke It would appear however from the alum1nwa,worlalianah1p etc that it probably waa American 11&.de [PAGE 98] Arter we r1ntshed taking our pictures and d1scuaet.ng the object among ourselves Mr ER.SOK expreaaed an 1ntent1on or obtaining a truck and hauling the object to his ehop I cannot say at th1 tiJJle whether he did th1a or not or where the object uy be at this particular date Ve r1n1ehed our observation and picture taking at approx1.Jllatel7 5i30 or P.M on December In reaponae to Mr Fleming inquiry there waa np radio equipment noted on the obJect any tashion or rorm We returned to Pasadena California that evening arriving Hollywood about or 9,30 P.JII I took some more pictures that night along BollJW00d Boule•ard on the unt1n1ahed roll or t1lm and then wetn over the Chinese l'heatre an4 took a picture or the a1anature or George Hart and r1ntahed the 1"011 I bought another roll or tilm and took them to the Eastman Xodak Company the following JIOnday which would be December 13 1948 A I Noall thia la•tman shop waa on Loa Palmaa Street Loa Angeles Cal1tomia hey 1nfo1"1114td me they- would deYelop the tilm and that it would be ready on Thur1da,t I lett Cal1torn1a on Wednesday so they uiled the t11a to me at IQ buaineaa addreaa Bumble 011 Building Rooa 159 Houston Texas I received th tilma on Deoeaber 23 1948 After J.AY return from California I mentioned to several rq bua.ineaa and oetii.l acQuaintancea that I bad aecn object a dise or saucer or whatever 7ou Jil.1.ght call it and tolcl the that I had taken pictures and would be glad to ahow them when the picture arriYed Aa atatedi I Nce1Yed the 111m on December 23 and at 1:30 P.N on the same date I bowed the t1lm the projection room at 11\mble 011 to the tol1ow1ng1 D.W BLAIR HA.'l'TAWAY d.A PETERS0JIJ JAMES OLIVI!R VILLIAN JtIED JR A.E MBLETON WAYRE CRAVPOJU>s D.A BATTLE and two other snen whose names I do not recall All or theae men work the tnatrwnent ahop with at HUllble 011 Is Refining Company I also showed the fil.JI to ay lbrother-1n-law# JtULAK or Pasaaena Texa at home on the tollowlng night On Chriatmaa Day I met friends and one ot the girle wu with a young bo7 who waa intereated photography do not know tiia naJM but he work at Southern Pacitic I told him I had aome pictures or the fly d1•c but I did not show him the pictures but explained the di I think thia boy 18 the peNon who had hie friend at the 11ewepaper contact me [PAGE 99] I got ho about 10,30 A.N and PltllUC REED the C1t7 Deak at the 11ouaton P0at called and wanted to know about the d1ac I told him I oould not g1Te hi any 1nt"ol'll&t1on on it Be begged tor the atory but I told him iI would let hill lmow and that I had trienda I had to contact betore I could give hill any 1nfol"lllll.t1on then got touch 1th MP Blackwood 1/fT la-,er the tollow1ng orninl and aaked hia he kn &n7one in the PBI He stated all th PSI per1onnel he Jmew were no longer station.cl here I then contacted the J'BI and turned the material over to them Althougt I can't deaor1be where thia obJect located I believe I could go back to it and I am aure Mr PEJtSOlf and and Nr SNITH could go back to it Nr MA'fflAK SNITH buaineaa addreaa ls Nathan Sll1th Electrical Coapany 105 South Pasadena Avenue South Paaadena Cal1fom1a Mr PDS0K pre ident or the Vaaoo m.eotr1cal llllnutaoturing Co111P&ft7 -116 ATalon Boulen.rd Lo qelea Cal1torn1a Por record p~o takiria the picture above reteJ:'Nd to I did ao uatng exJ)o1ure or 16 ram.a per aecond at a di.a openiq or t6.3 I ua•d••-Xodak l'.odachrome t1lm All'e"r The above atate-nt -de YOlunta-.117 abd or 1.he a,111,t of proper author1t1 to b••t knowledge and bel1e1 fiepreaentatives OSI liiiriiton Pleld Texas PBI Houaton Texae [PAGE 100] ENCLOSURE TO THE BUREAU RE FLYING DISC LONNIE EDWARD NOACK Complainant [PAGE 101] r-Ac Houston Janu&l"T 25 1949 Director FBI Reterenc is made to Los Angeles teletype dated 12/29/IJl cid to Houst.oa t.elet.ype dated 12/28/t.S 61cd the subsequent trans;i.1ttal or an 8ma movie film taken by Ur LOttiIE NOACK along With aewral parts or the au pp osed flyin diao to tle borato for examinati Sineo prior to rooeipt of tte above t.eJU the labor a tor the inf orir.ation a:t cbtoined which identitied the supposed t:cy:lng disc as a tow tare;et and later a to7 kite no examinat.ion was conduct.eel here Accord1ngl7 these 1t4ima are be1ni returned to 700 via reg;l.atered as a3694 cc SAO Lo An&elea H!conoF 60 INDfXFD 60 Zl 31 EX-59 [PAGE 102] u.snr 10 i.cr30 NlN 83 il1r- i Xl d0!Vij08 oP l·lV ss I [PAGE 103] Offic Me mm rl Um uNtTED sT r:s GovERNMENT TO The Director DATE January 241 1949 tr Tolson FROM Ladd 11.- Clegs tJ avl llr 111 SUBJECT FLYING DISCS Ir Ro Egan,.::- f{fu I thought you might be interested in the following information concerning Flying D1,:,c..s which has en fl.l,rnished to the Bureau on a confidential basis by Colonel- Gasser Re~id Erlgin~er Air Material Comnand S.Arrey who is the pr incipal anny technician at the Nuclear Ehem::!csr:::t1'iErPropulsion of Aircraft E1ai:ch Cent.er -Oak..Ridge Tennes see Colonel Gasser stated that he knew nothing of an C2flliial nature__£f>,Ecerning Flfi~g Discs other than he fact that they are believed by Air toz:E El~lljgence officials to be man-made m.issil~s at.Jler than so natural phenomena It was his further bel ief that a great deal of information has been C.Q!!miled concern~ng these missiles by air force intelligence and that r.!_search on the matter was being extensively done at Wright Field Dayton Ohio Colonel Gasser then continued with his own ideas as to what might be the nature of these discs which ideas he had formulated through review of those known facts and theoretical conjectures of himself and other scientists concen1ing the nature of flying discs and oethods of propulsion for such type of aerial mechanisn According to him flying discs have long been a theoretical possibility and in fact a possibility wmcb wou!_d indicate one of the best means by which to break through the barri rs of the supersonic area He stated that sc;.ientistLhave tor many years been attempting to develop this type of aircraft Some e~ri mentation has been done even in the U~ited Sta~es bit i sofar as is lmown in the United States at the present time there have never been any practical developments As a second- factor or consideration Colonel Gasser stated that insofar as is known to scien_!;ists at this time there is no known chemical fuel v.hich_would make possible tremendous range of flight aich as is ascribed to the reported 11 flying discs According to Gasser there is onlY ooe possible fuel which could be uti:(°ized wh ich is in ac~ord with present theory and that is the utilization of atomic energy He stated that tru,s subject matter was being given absolutely no disseminc1:tion by the JQT-<;e Qt.her milit..acy personnel and tha.!:,_J,.!!_ey had not deen:ed it adyisable to advise him of all information pertainigg to thi~e missile He continued however that in his conversation wit_~entatU,es at Wr~_E~ld and in reading r~_p,orts returned to this country by foreign agents he had gathered together certain information which might be of assistance in determining whether or n~these so call8i missiles were authentic usable and of aanger to the United States EHM:hhr FEB 19 [PAGE 104] [PAGE 105] He pointed out that knC71'1ledge of such a ssi.ble aircraft is not by aey_means new an ha i as kn own as early as four year ago th at some type of flying di sc was being experisnented...!'i.!.,h by the Rus§,i~s In a ddition he said th at mor recent repo~ts ha.v been...received from representatives of the Central Intell~nce A in Sout~ern urope and Southern Asia to the effect that the Russians were experimenting wjt]i some type of radical aircraft or guided mis ile which could be ispatched for great distances out over the sea made to turn in flight and rn to the ba se fro which it v.as launcbed He related that this infor ma tion was extremely worthy of notic as experiment in this country have so far onl.y developed to the point where a re concerned with delivering a mi..ssile to the required oint of impact and no consideration has been given to impa rtin to th at aus sile the abi ity to return He also advis ed th at it is a know a ct hat the Russ ians are a ttempting to develop so t~e nuclear ene rgy th at they received a wealth..of information concernin nuclear nerSLA,t tbe time of their occupation in Germany and that they have at their d.is~al a l.im:ited supply of fissionable materials He pointed out that the Rμssians ha ve some vecy capable scientists in the field of atoni energy and that in addition thereto they took into their custo dy some of the ost advance and cap a ble scientists of the German Na ion Colonel Ga ser stated th at a P.eculiar fact conce!:._ning the iles is found in reports he has received that from all appearances the missiles usually approach the nited StatesJrom a northerly irection and have been reported as urn7:ng in a northerly direct ion He advised that nO{!e have ever been known to crash c~llide or disintegrate over American soil but it woula appear that they come to the United St a tes cruise aroun and go back over the North ole He stated that insofar as is known to him there has never been a,nz..£!._rt of a missile of this type recovered from any s::>urce whatever in order that an analytical study of its nature could be made He stated that on report hai been received concerning a collision of these es ith another type of aircraft This report ac::c::ardi og to him emanated from Czechoslovakia and took pl a ce a short time prior to the Q.tt of numerous cfiscs over the Uni,1:ed States A ccording to Colonel Gasser a Czechoslovakian transport ad reportedly collided with some unidentified missile while in mid::air over1£e"o'cean ana that the mis§ile and transpor~re co)N?lete disinte.ua ted without recovery of parts or survivors fro~her Colonel Gasser concluded that this matter while still urely a mat of guesswork is nevertheless a source of great concern to the military establl.shioont o(_filils countr He advised that great efforts have been expended by tl_le milJ.i.ary service to determine the nature of these missiles and upor1so determining decide whether or not an adequate defense can'6e eslablished He stated that it has given impetus to the research being done by the air force in their own program of nuclear energy for the propulsion of aircraft to develop guided missiles ACTION None be above is for your information [PAGE 106] Authority NND 90986 DEP AB nlENT OF THE ABMY STA.FF J.iESS.A.GE CENTER INCO~INO CLASSIFIED LE SSAGE CONFI DEllTIAL PAllA.PHRASE NOT REQ,UilillD PRIORITY From CO Kirtland AY.B New Mexico To Chief of Staff US.A.F attn Dir of Special Invectigatione Officer of the Inspector General Nr OSI-l-90 31 January 1949 Reference previous reports subject unknown aerial phenomena file number 24..8 Sighting of identical object reported at 2255Z 30 Jan 49 by aprx 30 people Estimate at least 100 total sightings AEC AFSWP 4th Army local conwanders perturbed by implications of phenomena Sighting reported from El Paao Alburquerque Alamogordo Roswell Socorro and other locations All appear to be same object at different points in trajectory Un.less instructed to contrary this office will make all out investigation with view to location of impact point if any Request reply ACTION AF REC RDED lG INFO ID PO 13 fEB 110 1JJ,W i -1fl i i IN 321 a Feb 49 DTG 312l.45Z d#./B RC 5/1 COPY FEB 2819 I [PAGE 107] Room 5744 31 1949 Personnel Fil ec on --Records Secti Mrs Skillman See Me For App opr iate Action Send File Not and Retu rn TO Direct or Mr Clegg Mr Glavin Mr Harbo Mr Ladd Mr Nichols ---Mr Rosen Mr Tracy Mr Fletcher -Mr Mohr Mr Carlson Mr Nease Miss Gandy Mr Tracy Mr Egan Mr Guroea Mr Harbo Mr Mohr Mr Peonlogton l\fr Qulo.n Tamm t.!.r Nease Mis Gandy Clyde olson [PAGE 108] [PAGE 109] 11 Office emora ndum UN IT ED S11iLL:.u -o-OVE RN MENT Director FBI SAC Knoxville FLYING SAUCEBS Ol3SERVED OVER OAK RIDGE AREA INTERNAL SECURITY DATE February 18 1949 Reference is made to Knoxville letter to the Director dated January 10 1949 entitled as above There is being forwarded for the Bureau's information a cop of a letter from Colonel GASSER USAF AMC Engineering Field Officer Oak Ridge Tennessee to Mr RATHMAN Security Division Atomic Energy Commission Oak Ridge This letter is self explanatory and reveals that the photographs forwarded with referenced letter are the result of acciden or purposeful hoax and are not actually photographs of a 1t:1 saucer I Colonel GASSER personally advis ec1 that wh i th pho tographs are not real his statements co nc 1i.ng th ex tence of f'l.y1ng saucers and the opinions p:rtc ad by h1L neve rtheless stand as previously stated CCMcS jjc 65-11 ENCLOSURE ATTAOH BID Enclosure I FEB 251949 [PAGE 110] [PAGE 111] [PAGE 112] WJRE<JL8/cro NEPA Project Box Oak Ridge Tennessee 10Febru.8.171949 M:r Rathman Chief Investigation Section Security Division Atomic Energy Caamission Box Oak Ridge Temeesee Dear Mr Rathman Thie is in response to your letter dated 16 December 1948 subject Photographs with inolosures addressed to Major Grant at this site oonoerning photographs taken during the month of July 1947 by Mr William Presley ot 218 Illinois Avenue Oak Ridge Tennessee of an unidentified object that appeared to be f'lying c:JVer Oak Ridge Since receipt by Major Grant of the abc:JVe material this ofi'ice has taken steps to secure an evaluation of same by the Air Force of':f'ice of the Chief Technical Intelligence Division Intelli gence Department Air Materiel Cammand at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Dayton Ohio As a result the following informa tion bas been revealed When the negative containing the sphere is examined by strong incident light it is noted that the emulsion is raised at that point above the normal level of the remaining emulsion This indicates that either a drop of warm.water or a drop of developer struck the film at this point and rolled down this negative and the succeed ing negative To further substantiate this it will be noted that when the two negatives are placed side by side with the eaaes of the film aligned the so-called trail is con tinuous that is the two sections match indicating the drop rolled on f'ral1 one negative to the next Sill further proot is shown on the fogged edge of the negative containing only the trail This is proven by the fact that the trail extends beyond the normal format [PAGE 113] Ltr to Mr Rathman Chief Investigation Section AEC dated 10 February 1949 Re Photographs of the negative In other words there is a trail of that section of the negative which was not exposed in the camera Thie effect shows up in one negative and not in the other because the negative in question is fogged therefore this irregularity was developed Sti 11 f'Urther proof of these defects lies in t.he number of unevenly developed sections of the negative In view of the above it is reoam:nended that this entire matter be declassif'ied and that Mr Presley be advised of the nature the images if and when the negatives are returned to h1m by your office For your information this ottioe is taking the liberty of turnish 1ng a copy this ommnieation to Mr Mcswain Special Agent F.BI because of official interest eTidenced by his office the matter Your cooperation furnishing photographs and negatives together With information contained in your letter 16 December 1948 to Major Grant is sincerely appreciated Vecy truly yours GASSER Colonel US.AF Am EngineerinsField Officer Incle Negatives Photostat cc Mr McSwain [PAGE 114] Date l/';.'J 49 Consigned to SAC HO USTOr L-26 oice of Contents from BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIO SHINGTON Case References i 1YI NG DIS CS LONHIE ED ARD NOACK Complain ant List of Contents Mr Mr mm ovie Mr par ts of uppose fl ying isc Mr COMMuNICAl ION TION Mr MAILED 16 FEB 1949 P.M REGISTERED UAIL RD£RAl BUlliAU OF IN\lf.STIGATION OEPAIITM&NT Of JUSTICE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS Mai Room place ate shi ment and rei date of shipment and JJ.iti this invoice then return it to persou hose na me right Arter this checked name has been initialled invoice should be plac Harbo 7641 Conrad 7142 Do ning 6228 IB Sizoo 7601 Baughman 7121 i I Shipping Room show is checked in column at in adm,1 nistrative file [PAGE 115] -U<DARD PORM NO 64 Office Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Janu 31 1949 pIRECTOR FBI TO DATE FROM SllC S,Ji ANTONIO SUBJECT lROTECTION OF VIT.i'..L IH3T LLiSIONS URE..'.U FILE 65 58300 ii ij 77 recent feekly Intelli en ce Conferenceri of OIU OSI cmd I Jr,- in the Fourth rmy rec Oi'ficers of Fou::::-th rmy hc:.ve dir.:cu::ised the JJ.::.tter 11 Unidentified ircrc.ft 11 11 Unidentificd Aeric.l Phonomeno 11 othe!'\1ise nown a 1p13 iscs 11 Fl yinf S~.u rsrt c.i:,ct of Fil·e 11 JJ i_s c_o_n_s_3:qe a o:p s_e_c_~_~t oy A.@1:¼~0:C 0_1_f_i_e:e:1:s 0_1 b_o_t t_~e -.p._c th Lir Forces It is ll no;-m tlu-.t t~1ere hc:ve been during th p2.st tno c.:-.1·s e)o rts from tho vo.rious rts of the country of the sit;hting of unicient.ificd 2.eric objects which ht1ve been cc.llc,d in nc,-is::n-.pGl po.rl.:.nce 11 flyin discs and 1tfly i.ng sc.ucers 11 The fil•st such si ghting T:crc re:)ortcd from SwedGn nd it wo.s thou gh th c:.t the obj cts the nf'ture of nllich v12s unknonn r.1ight hr vo orit,inded in cussic In Jul 194 rn unidentified aircrr.ft r1c.s 11 seen 11 by an Zc.stG rn irlines Pilot c.nd Co-Pilot £1.nd onG or rnore p2:;scngc rs of the E2.stE:..rn irlincs Plane over Eontgomery -.bama This ircr uc.s rG.JOrtcd to be of c.n uncon vcntionel t:;rpG without uin~s nd resenbled gcnc;;;:c.lly 11 rockct ship 11 of the tJr depicted in comic stri~s It i ri:;::iorted to he.VG had nindons to hr:vE been rgcr th the 3r.stern irlines pl2ne r...nd to hc..vc bc;en tr.:-..veling c.t c.n cstim.:-.ted speGd of 2700 nilc;s hou It P~['.red out of thunder- hec.d ahce.d of the stern irlincs lcnc nd iJ:unedic.tcl disc.:)per.rGd in c.nothc cloud no.rrowly missing collision ith the stcrn irlines l2n No sound or c.ir i:,turb -.nce cs noted in connection 11ith this -.pp-.:c.rrnce Durins the st t,,o months va.rious sightings of unc~c.;1.:-.incd phcnomcnn hc ve bcc;n rc}ortod in thG vicinit of the Inst..".llc..tion Los os Ikn Loxi co uh-::rc these p:1enom.:rn no c._>pcCT to be concentr.:-.t<c.d During Dece.mbe:r 19L tho 5th 6th 8th 11th 13 ll~th 20th end 28th sightings of uncxpkined henomcnc 1'1erc 1c.d ncr.r Los lc'.'.Il\os by Spc citl cmts of the Offic of Specitl Investi ion irline Pilots Eilit2 ry Cilo ts Los I.le.mos 3ecurity Ins ctors c.nd rivl'.tc citizens On Jrnu"-ry 1949 nnothcr si:ulc.r obj ct sir:,hted in the St'.lns r.1~c2 Dr LI COLl lfotcorologist some note h.:-.s bcc;n gcne rc.ll;r in chc.rg6 of the bserv c.tion ncr.r Los -Jn os r.t t€lil)ting to Gr rn ch r.rr ct istics of the unex:_)lr.ined nor.,cn to this tiiae little concrete inform::.tion h.:-s becm obk.inc a JZ,J md REC ORDED 13 100 7545 I cc El Pc.so Little Rock 43 MAR 16 1949 Dc.llc..s O!:L:.hor.\e City Houston [PAGE 116] I RECT FB I 49 Th-::rc h2.ve been ime sightings 1',tich -sc tent~.tivel considei.'Cd to possib rescr.1ble the cxh:cust of me type of jct opell0d obje Tight i me si eh ti ngs h<'.VC tc ken th or of lights usuc.lly des cri bed brillic.nt grCE.n Li.il:i.r to t;rGen clf ic signc.l or br een neon li ght Some rep or indi c.ted thr.t the li[,ht begc.n nd ende i th red or ormgc lc:sh Other rqor ve gi en he color l'.S re Tih i te blu l1itG and yellon i sh Gen Tr.:-iling hts soi,10 t:L:es obser Gd nc i to be re.ct The s:,e trum c.n.:.lirnis of one i i;ht in.di tcs thc.t i i.12.~r be copper o,,)ound of the type l:no1:n to be uned in ro ket CX;_Jeri,:ie nt c.nd T1hi ch co lctely disinteg c.tes U)On cx)los i on lc ine de n·i I is noted tl1::c 10 de'ur in h-::-.s ever been Lnmm to be c:.tcd c.nyi,hero resu in rom the une:x;_)lcined henomcno Recent observ tions hc-.ve 1dic tcd th2.t the unidE.ntified l1en orJcn2 tr.::v el D.t te of spGed c.st.L-:i..:s.ted ninii,rnr.1 of throe uilGs second encl nnximum of t1'1E.lve i.1iles per second or c:-.n cnlcul ted speed of scvGn on0-hc.lf 1ilE-s a sc ond or 27 000 r.1iles en hour Thei rc.)ortGd course ind i tcs th.:.t they trt vel on Qil Ee st es linG iith ob t.bil it th thc~r pl'oc.ch om the Nort hern u.:.d c.n lhich 1:oLu.d be the e.st str.t_;e of the L,l'cat cii le route if thG ori in2.ted in Rui:;si 11en obser ed they s;..e:.1 to be in lcvc;l flii:;ht l:.ci ht of six to ten 11 iles l".nd tbus tr velin on n,s ont to the ea th I surfr The occ siontll di the end of the c.th r,nd on t•;o occ sions definite vGrt ic c.l ch2n.'.;e in th ind ic ted hese l)honor 1cnc hcve not been l:nmm to been si.:;htGd hm:cv er c..t c..ny intGrmc.dit.tc po:i.nt bet1;ecn -mssi l"nd Los ltJ,1os 1Jut only the c.nd of the flisht tour.rd the pp.-.rent rr tc..rget 11 2.1:1ely Lo i le.mos In eve ry c.sG but onG the si12.pc of thc bjc ts he been epo1·ted c.s und ii1 point of light T1itll definite -l'Gt to the Ji[)1t I source One l~c,?ort gi ves d::.c.moncl she.pc -.nother indicc.tc th- tr iling lit;hts rG elon._,c.ted T!1c sizE i uau:-.11:r co -.red to one fourth thG cl.i.'.'.;.1ctc;r of the full noon nd t:1oy 1;-ve t.lso been coi.1pc.rcd in sizG to br.s:~ctbr.ll 11 i th tre.ili11 li hts thG size of 02.scb On no occ sion sounc been i".s so ci i"'.ted dirc tl ith the phonor,1on2 but une:x ined sounds 12.ve been e)o rted oi'a Los 1-:-Jnos On t·.io occ sions rei- ol"ts vc bGen rccGi ed of th si hting of multiple un i ts Some nine sc i entif i re2.sons c.rG t::tcd to GY ist l:hi ch indic.:-.ted th tho phcmomenc ob rv ed ot due to rne Gori tes ThG onl:- co nc us i on rGc hcd hus fr r.re th2.t the -.re either hi the rt unobse1'vod tut'c.l phGnorncn::- or th c.t they r.re n12.n m::.dc io scientific ex)crii.wnts i~nm:n to exist in this country l1hich could ive ri:e to such phenomen.:- [PAGE 117] DIP..ZCTOR FBI 1/31/49 r:·s L'illELL;.E G~;yHNE sr..cH:J:T E's the su bj Gc of letter fror the tlmtc office to the Surec.u d.:::ted ust 10 1948 ent itl ed 11 LiDELL.iS a YllNE E&CHiJ~T Il-1FORE.~:i'ION CO NC:S}UHi She hr.s nr itt6n Ilk l1Y etters to Ji ili ry uthoriti0s concernin he heo ri es e.:;c rdin to ic Energy t,c rdly been consi dered unreli c.b and OSsibly wntally unb al c>ncod She hm·:cvcr has submittod to Uilitc1 ry 2.uthor itic he only theory thus mo~·m that hr.s cr ed i bi lit r..t c.11 m:.ncly tht the li hts re 12 nifcstc.tions of cosnic r.:.ys v!hich c:.rc dire ted to ard specific Oint She further theor iz€s th such r.:.ys r.1.r.y intGrfe.rc iith the i gn ition of 1:1o tors c.nd mc co unt for rious un cx}lc incd air ere.shes Tho wove is subr.u.tted fo the confidcmtir.l info:rm et ion of the Bu:ce..:,u 211d offices to rh ich co ies of i letter re ir ec ted so th.::-.t thGs offices Dt.y cv.3.ulc.:tc such re.Jorts he r.':t ht.Ve recci vod r.1t receive he future I is not0d tl10.t the Fourti1 rr,1y hc.1 the res:1onsibilit;r of cotc;ctin vitc.l inst2;llr.tions r.t Los 1:-.mo.s Ne L::xi co s.,ndic n_..se Nc:i i.:cx ico nd H,:>Dc Texas ny infor;.1c).tion dovGlo pcd l1ould be CX[>Cdi ti ousl:- trc.nsrilitted to Fourth further noted that 2.nd I a.re ct i vol on.:_;E.[;C.d in inve.stig,:;_ting his iiu tter No ii"1v6stis:.tion is icint con ucted Jy this office [PAGE 118] ffAN?"R 64 Office Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT fV¼ 11r Ladd DATE March 14 1949 FRO Mr Fletche:r m:n llr Glavln Mr ad~:~-_-_- Nlchola SUBJ ECT wr Rosen FLYING DISCS Tracy Mr Egan:,,.,,....- r.:1ngton PURPOSE Mr Quinn Te.a Tele Rooa Mr Nease Illes llolltlis Illes O&:ncly The approval of the Executives Conference is requested for th attached SAC letter furnishing to the field the type of infonnation desired by the Intelligence Division of the Air Fo rce in connection with the captioned matte BACKGROUND You will recall that by Bureau Bulletin #57 Se ries 1947 dated October 1947 the field was advised that effective as of that date the Bureau had discontinued its investigative activities in connection with flying discs The field was advised that all future re ports concerni ng this matter received in the field should be referred to the Air Forces I Colonel Gasse Reside nt Engineer Air Materiel Command Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft Res earch Oak Ridge Tennessee has recently and confidentially advised the Bureau that flying discs are believed by the A ir Force to be man-made missiles rather than some natural phenomenon and that as much as four years ago it was learned that some type of flying discs were being experimented upon by the Russians It was further detennined om Colonel Gasser that most all of the flying discs seen by persons in the United States approached this country from a northerly direction ana returned in the same direction indicating the strong possibility that they are coming from Russ ia The Department of the Air Fo rce has furnished to the Bureau a sufficient number of copies of a memorandum dated b!'l,)aty 15 19 19 captioned Unconven tional A ir craft which can be furnished to our field offices STATUS tf I RECORDED 76 At the present time this Bureau is conduct3"1 1ARo2fii J:MVt:,igation of infonnation eceived in the field relatin to the caption-l~Mtter ef vl RECOMMENDATION rt is reccmmended that the attached SAC letter and enclosure be forwarded to the field to advise them of the type of questions to be asked of persons who voluntarily submit information relative to 11 flying discs 11 Although no active investigation will be conducted by the Bureau it is iJ believed that the captioned matte is of sufficient importance the internal security of the country that our field offices should secure as much information as possible from compai.nants in order to assist the Depart'm~t of Ai Fer ce EHM E'HW Hf I Attachment [PAGE 119] IJ/J.~/i I J.CJ II I Hd cs YcJ U:J/\13J3tJ ll1 ll I t.c [PAGE 120] -ANDAR I ORM NO 64 i:e Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO DIRECTOR FBI DATE March 22 1949 ROM SAC SAN ANTONIO U:BJ ECT PTIOTECTION OF VIT INSTALLATIONS BUREAU FILE 65-58300 I I Re San Antonio letter the ire ctor date January 31 1949 which outlined discus sion had at recent nec ly Intelli gence Conferences of ONI OSI and FBI in the Fourth my A rea concerning 11 Unidentif i ed Aircraft or 11 Unidentified Areial Phenomena therwise kno\'m as 11 fly ing di scs 11 11 Flying saucers and 11 balls of fire It is re peated that this matter is considered secret by Intelligence Officers of both the Anny and the Air orce 4th Anny has non advised that the above matter is now termed 11 Unconven tional Aircraft and inve ti gations concernin such matters ha ve been given th name 11 Project Grudge 4th Anny advised on Febr uary 16 1949 a conference was he ld at Los i.].amos Nen Mexic to consider the t,o- called 11 Green fire ball phenomena 11hich began about De cember 1948 I was brought out this question has been classified secret and that investigation is now the primary responsibility of the U.S A ir Force Air Eate riel Comm.and LilTCOL Lf PAZ of the University of New Mexico discussed one siting which he himself had made which was termed the Starv ation peak incident 11 and des cribed the following characteristics which indicated that the phenomenon could not be classified as a normal mete ori te fall There was an initial bright light no period of intensity increase and constan intens it during the duration of th phenomenon I Yellm1 reen color about 5200 Angstroms Essentially horizontal path Trajectory tra ersed at constant angular velocity Duration about tY:o seconds No accompanying noise E3rz RECO UII ti I JEJ:md cc El Pas 100- 4562 Jpr 17'-1 ln I cc Dall as 11 11 Houston 11 11 Little Rock 11 11 Oklahoma City [PAGE 121] DIRECTOR FB I Ma rc 1949 It as br ough ou that sin De ember 1948 ho he.ve been more han ten incid nts analagous to the 11 gr een fir ball above described and some t,•enty othe i th ruiner de ic.tions from the above It is tls po inted out the.t the nly it ings 1·1hioh he.d occ urre see.med to ha been confined to th Los lrunos Las Vegas ru1d iest Texas tr iapgl also c.dvised thct as of Novomber 1948 in.t'ornw,tion had bc.en ec ei ed om highe lfilitary authorities tm-.t tho Air For hnd advised that such itings oc cur periodi al and that ano he pe iod of sit i ngs was then imminent Fu rthe on Fcbru~.ry 14 1949 highe 1Iilitary authorities ndvised that it was believed that ult.iJ11ately it would be found that the phenomena in question have a natural explanation It is further noted thot c?.bout 30 1!.'..rch 19h9 what was at first thought to be a fla was seen approximately onc h<llf mile north of Killeen Base in the area of the Vital Instnllc.tion c.t Camp Hood Toms and a second flcro ms noticed 45 a J!ar ch 1949 pr oxinu:.tcly throe miles ro Ki llGcn Bo.sc It hc.s since bocn concluded thc.t hG flc.res seen near Killeen r.re prob.::.bly simile.r the phenomena aviously noted in the Lo AL."lllos Sc.ndia Base Area although these re the first sitings of such phenomena near Cemp Hood There apperu-s to be reason to believe th.:i.t the hove- mentioned phenomena ma be connectGd 11ith secret expt;;rimcmts being conducted by some Governme nt gency as it is believed thc.t the Unitod Stc.tos is fD.rther c.dvanccd in gu i de missile developmGnt thnn any foreign poner Although th pr im.c.".cy responsibility for investig~ting such matters is now a.th the A Air Iratcricl Canrnund 4th Army i s.still inte ested in being advised of any further sitings of such phenomena Hhich might be obse rv od [PAGE 122] FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FonnNo THIS CASE ORIGINATED AT HOUSTON REPORT MADE AT DATE WHEN r,tAD.lit PERIOD OR WHICH MADE LOS ANGELES 12/28 29 1/7,$ 3/30/49 TITLE t'LYING DISC 1011 IE EDWA..W CK com9lainant Houston Texas ecember 27 1948 SY OPSIS OF FACTS Object described by complainant as possible flying disc determined to be a model tow target or kite which had been ab3ndoned after unsuccessful tests Portions of target positively identif'ied by HENRY RICE L.A manufacturer and erstwhile financial backer as being part of the mode target or kite RUC REFEREhCE Teletype om Houston to Director dated 12/28/!8 Teletype from Los Angeles to Lirector dated 12/2u/48 Teletype om Los Ange es to Virector dated 12/29/48 DETAILS This investigation is predicated upon the receipt of referenced teletype from the Houston Office advising that LONNIE EIJ?ARD NOACK had located an object in the desert near Helendale California esembling a flying disc This obje ct described as a flying disc had been ocated by NOACK PERSON and t.r and rs NATHAN SMITH of Soutli Pasadena Califori1ia approxi mately one hundred and fifty miles northeast of Pasadena or about twenty miles from Lone Pine CaliJ.'ornia Special Agent ElJi!ARD OLSEN detemined that PERSON Vasco tanufacturing Company was traveling in Arizona and not available for interview APPROVED AN P£CIA.LAG NT DO NOT WRITE IN TH SE SP A CES FO"WARDED IH H.AftG- I 11BOAOm-9 COPIES OF TH IS REPORT Dureau tlt1r rw.i Houston 11 I -----lffl:lt,tfh-:,y- IFO Fort 1:acArth Los Ange es COPJ D-r;- 27 FILE NO 105 445 REPORT MADE BY Wh T!.iA ROVINSE DPZ CHARACTER OF CASE INTERNAL SECURITY [PAGE 123] FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION f'ormNo.1 THIS CASE ORIGINATED AT FILE NO i'ON REPOR MADE AT DATE WHEN MAD£ PERIOD FOR REPORT MADE BY HICH MADIE TUELES TITI..S CHARACTER OF CASE iLYii'.G DISCS LON lrrE EU:ARD NOliCK com,plai nant Houston Texas December 27 19L8 SYNOPSIS OF FACTS Obje ct described by complainant o.s possiblo flying disc detel'Jlmed to be a n:.o<iel tow target or kite lihich had been abandoned after unsuccessful tests Portions o.f target positive identified by HENRY RICE roanu:.racturer and erstwhile finru1.cie.l backer as bi..ing -part or the ruodel tareet or ldte RUC mm Tel etype from Uouston to iroctor dated r/20/48 TeletYPQ from Los Angeles to Director dat~d 12/28/48 Teletype from Los Angeles to Director dated 12/29/48 DETAitss This inveatigation is predicated upon the receipt referenced lielctype from the Hous ton Office advisine that LO:rtNm EJJ ARD NOACK had located an object in the desert near lendale California resmcbling a flying disc This object described as a flying disc had been located by t10ACK ffiRSOU a.,d la° and l!rs NATHAN S'&!I'1'li of South Pasadena California approxi ma.tel.y one hunared and fifty miles ortheast of Pasadena or about twenty miles om tone Pine California Special Agent JW ARD OLSElf detet'1llined that PERSOU Vasco anufa ct uring Company nas traveling in Arizona and not available £or interview APPROVED ANO SPCCIAL AG£NT FO!tWAROEO 00 NOT WRITE IN THE9E SPACES IH CHARM COPIES OF THIS REPORT lJ.1Nau 11ouston IFO Fort MacAr thur Los Angeles i [PAGE 124] A 105 b45 SMITH S1.'ITH MANUFACTURING COMPANY 105 Pasadena Avenue South Pasadena California who was with NOACK at the time the object was discovered advised Special Agent EDiiARD OLSEN on December 28 19L8 that he was present at the time the object was located on his SLITH landing field near Helendale California ITH advised that they had taken some pieces off the object and that subsequently upon returning to Los Angeles he had learned that the object was actually a model kite or tow target which UT had been built by th Sm AND RICE l!ANL'F.lCTURING COMPANY of Los Angeles Mr S1ITH stated that he had talked to both OHLSON and RICE and that they had admitted to him having experimented with the object over his S1iITH airfield J.:r S}..ITH made available three of the parts of the target Tihich he had secured while at the airfield The information furnis~ed by Mr SY.ITH w;s mified by Special Agent EJJW'ARD OLSEN in an interview with llr HENRY CE OHLSot AND RICE l:A!'lJ'F.i'.CTUlING COMPANY 3340 Emery Street Los Angeles The parts made available by SI:ITH were exhibited to RICE and he advised that the model tow target or kite had been taken to the airfield for flight tests by himself and CIAUDE LER~LFORD 5454 Chesley Avenue Los Angeles 43 California Lr P..ICE s~ed that iOLFORD is the inventor of the object and OHLSON A?lD RICE had originally agreed to finance him to develop the tow target or Kite as a toy l[r RICE explained that they were primarily interested in developing the contra?tion as a toy kite to be sold in a much sma ler model hmvever the inventor against t1eir -wishes had developed a much large model which he had hoped to sell as a tow target to be used behind airplanes A RICE stated that since he had gone that far they felt that they should give the project a test and the eupon they took it out to the desert as a precautionary measure RICE stated that the flight test was a failure the model crashed soon after it was airborne and was thereafter abandoned on tte field In the absence of her husband rs CLAUDZ LEROY OLFORD SL.51.i Chesley Avenue was interviewed and eY.hibited the three parts of the kite made available by l.'.r SMITH She readily identified the three items as part of a kite her husband had built for the 2ICE iANUFACTlJliirG COt..PANY She advised that she also accompanied her husband to the desert at the time the tests were made She explained that the kite had crashed and that the manuficturing company did not want to put any more cash in it so it was abandoned on the desert The ttree parts of the kite were returned to ATHA.fl SUITH on January 1949 The Sub-District Office I USAF 1206 Santee Street Terminal Annex Los Angeles California was aaprised of the information contaimd herein inurediately upon its receipt REFERRED UPON CO!PLETION TO l'HE OFFICE OF ORIGIN [PAGE 125] nit•ll Haks i!l,purtm,nt of i>ER~O eh.era iBur.eau nf lnu.estigatinn Dila.alJl~gt.nn ZS ii Qr IN REPL PLEA SE REFER TO Series FI Marc MEM FOR MR HOOVER CALLAH A HINCE NANNA TOLSON CALLAN JONES A NAUGHTEN CLEGG CA LSON KEAY NEASE CONNELLEY CARTWRIGHT LAUGHLIN PARSONS GLAVIN CONRAD LEONARD PENNINGTON HARBO DOWNING LONG RENNEBERGER LADD EDWARDS cC A BE ROGERS NICHOLS EGAN cCABE SIZOO ROSEN FEENE cGUIRE TAMM TRACY FLETCHER McINTIRE WAIKART BAUMGARDNER GURNEA OB EY WALL BOSWELL OHR WHITSON DECLA S/~tf-BY S{Jf rr Olt FLYING DISCS Your attention is directed to Bureau Bulletin Series 1947 dated October 947 relating to the discontinuance of investigation by this Bureau in matters concerning flying discs For your confidential information a reliable and confidential source has advised the Bureau that flying discs are believed to be an-made miss i les rather than natural phenomenon It has also been determined that for ap proximately the past four years the USSR has been engaged in experimentation on an unknown type of flying disc The Department of the A ir Force has furnished to the Bureau the attached memorandum cl as sified restricted dated February 15 1949 entitled Unconventional Aircraft This memorandum is being fUrnished to you in order that all agents assigned to your office can be informed of the type of in or ma tion desired by th Air Force in his matter As set forth in Bureau Bulletin #57 referred to above no investigation should be conducted by your office relative to flying discs however the attached memorandum should be referred to in securing data from persons who desi re to voluntar i ly furnish i format i on to your office relating to flying discs Very truly yours John Edgar Hoover Director Cf ll Encl osure NOT RECORDlt 111 150 APP 194 [PAGE 126] FBI SALT LAKE CITY 49 OR FLYING DISCS INFORMATION RECEIVED AT LOGAN UTAH ELEVEN AM TODAY THAT AT NINE A A GUARD AT THE AR~Y GENERAL SUPPLY DEPOT OGDEM UTAH OBSERVED WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN EXPLOSION IN THE AIR ACCOMPANIED BY A FLASH OF LIGHT FOLLOWED BY THE FALLING OF SILVER COLORED OBJEC1 THIS WAS SEEN AT HIGH ALTITUDE WEST OF OGDEN NEAR THE TOWN OF TAYLOR UTAH ABOUT THE SAME TIME LT RON HATFIELD OF LOGAN UTAH PD SAH TWO PUFFS OF SMOKE HIGH IN THE AIR WEST OF LOGAN FOLLOWED BY FALLING OF SILVER COLORED OBJECT ALSO AT ABOUT SAME TI ME UTAH HI GHl:JAY PATROLMAN JEPPSON AT MANTUA UTAH SAW A SILVER COLORED OBJECT HIGH UP APPROACHING THE MOUNTAINS AT SARDINE CANYON BETWEEN LOGAN AND BRIGPAM CI TY UTAH AND AS OBJECT NEARED THE MOUNTAIN IT APPEARED EXPLODE IN A FLASH OF FIRE SEVERAL RESIDENTS AT TRENTON UTAH WH rtf IS WEST OF LOGAN HAVE REPORTED TO SO LOGAN SEEING JHAT APPEA TO BE TI10 AERIAL EXPLOSIONS FOLLOWED BY FALLING OBJECT WEST OF TRENTON AT ABOUT NINE TWENTY AM TODAY ABOVE INFOR~•ATION IMMEDIATELY FURNISHED TO OSI HI LL FIELD UTAH ANY FURHIER PERTINENT DEVELOPt ENTS WI LL BE FURNISHED BUREAU FOR INFORMATION OSI PILL FIELD HAS JUST NOW ADVISED ABOVE PHEr 40MENA PROBAELY CAUSED BY Tt:O TI<1ENTYIH NES FROM t:ENDOVER FIELD W~CJ:- ARE PRACTICE BOMBING IN THE DESERT WEST OF LOG~N FRO¼ EK i_rn LY HIGH ALTITUDES WHICH WOU~D CAUSE VAPOR TRAILS OSI ECKING AND WILL ADVISE THIS OFFICE OF RESULTS AP 1849 MA H'lfl FURTHER ve ACK AND [PAGE 127] I RECEIV!D TELETYPE UNIT APft PM DEPT OF JUSTICE [PAGE 128] A I 0-J,f OSI RE"'- HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE TO ROUTING SLIP GOVUNfll!NT PRIHTINC o,Ftcl I OFFICE A SL DATE ATTENTeN YlLJA.it -Rm IE 07s OFFICE DATE ATTENTION OFFICE DATE ATTENTION I FOR FOLLOWING ACTION($ AS CHECKED COORDINATION NOTE ANO RETURN INFORMATION NECESSARY ACTION RECOMMENDATION FILE SEE OR PHONE ME APPROVAL SIGNATURE COMM ENT 1...Lc.,.t...- I i Iv 13 FROM ra I nff OFFICE 1-tr IK-C ROOM NO -E,2o3 INDIVIDUAL PHONE fU/77 71 All rm 12 l&-W400 10 ov 47 [PAGE 129] snr 10 I J~N0/d U,:.,J/J Hd fJ I I Yd G3Af3;i3 [PAGE 130] Mr Pennl,=- i.~uil.:,.---- llr Nease lllU Gandy May 1949 RECORDED 34 TO Legal Attache Mexico City FROlJ Director FBI SUBJECT FLYING DISCS Reference is made to your letter dated April 1949 captioned as above in wh;i.ch you request a copy of the Air Force memorandum mentioned in SAC Letter #38 Series 1949 dated March 25 1949 In response thereto there is enclosed herewith the pamphlet captioned UUnconventional Aircraft issued by the Department of the Air Force under date of 11r 1aofebruary- 1949 to which refer~nce was made in the above-mentioned SAC Letter fil:T sure li1:1t llr Rosen llr racy CC Fo;reign Service detached llr Harbo- llr llobr,--=- [PAGE 131] OFFI CE OF TI-IE LEGAL ATTACHE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MEXICO CITY Date April 1949 To Director FBI From John Speakes Legal Attache Subject FLYING DISCS Reference is made to SAC Letter 1~38 Ser ies 194-9 dated I.Iarch 25 1949 advisinr that a copy of a memorand1.un from the Department of the Air Force dated February 15 1949 and entitled Unconventional Aircraft as furnished to the Bureau was being for,,1arded to this office in order that all agents assigned to the Iexico City Office might be informed of the type of infornation desired by the Air Force in this matter This is to advise that the above- mentioned enclosure was not received by this office and it is respectfully requested that a copy of this memorandum be forwarded to Uexico City JUS:ml [PAGE 132] RECE IVt.0 TOHIC ENERGY LIAISON SECTION PR 19 14 AM I U.S OE OF USTICE [PAGE 133] b~D RD FORM NO 64 Ojfice Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNME NT TO DIRECTOR FBI DATE 2-49 FROM LITTIE ROOK SUBJECT UNKNOm §.J.IBJECTS ll ADE -KllARRISON INFORMANT FLYING DISC FoR SMITH ARKANSAS 4-16-49 ADE HARRISON residence address Route Box 29.3 Fort Smith Arkansas is employed as a Special Delivery messenger by the Fort Smith Post Office Department HARRISON stated that at 5:25 p.m Saturday April 16 1949 while delivering special delivery mail in Fort Smith he stopped his automobile at a signal light located at the intersection of North Eleventh street and Grand Avenue He glanced up at th stop light and obs rved a brilliant object moving in a southeastern direction He presumed tb object was approximately miles high He got out of his automobile and pointed up With the sug estion that other automobile drivers stopped for the signal li ht could see the object He does not know who an of the other people are or what they saw He was obliged to move on after the light changed and the drivers began honking their horns He watched th3 object until it was obscured by the line of trees in that section He estimated he watched it travel some or miles before he lost sight of it He stated the weather was clear visibility was good and there were no clouds ne ar the object The object made no noise perceptible to HARRISON Howev he commented that be was stopped at an intersection where the tr af fie was heavy and there was consid rable noise He first thought possibly he bad seen scne type of a flector on an airplane but uld not locate or hear a plane anywhere HARRIS drove to the 1400 Block of North treet where he observ ed an Army officer we aring the insignia of a niajor or lieutenant colonel standing back of the of ficer's automobile stopped and as ed the officer if he had obse rved the f'l.y:Lng obje The offi er name unknown to the informant answered ne at i vely and th en remarked 11 am glad other people are also re orting seeing flying objects The of ficer th en lated at the day previous Friday April 15 1949 while the officer was traveling oat of Oklahana City ow ard ort Smith his wife observed a flying object in the sk;y ve ry similar to that described by HARRIS ON The officer stated saw the obje ct too but furnished no more information DOS crc 98-0 Enc RfCO RDfQ 119 AMS -118 CO:PIES DESTROYED MA1 194 NDEXEO NO 964 [PAGE 134] [PAGE 135] LET TO DIRECTOR 4-22-49 FLYING DISCS HARRIS de cribed the object as ap pearing some or inches in diameter from the distance he saw it It was very bright and reflected a light in a manner similar to a mirror He reported the incident to tM local press at Fort Smith and inquired if anyone had made a similar report He received a eg ative reply In this connection please find attached an article from the front page of the Southwe st-Times Record newspaper published at Fort Smith Arkansa Sunday April 17 1949 The interview with HARRISON developed he is 52 years of age He has had considerable college training and attended the seminar at Westminister Maryland years He stated that his eyesight is very good for a man of his age am that he has worn ading glasses only for the past few years He was positive he had observed the object as related above He was unable of course to state just what the object was or furnish any additional information concerning it No information was available at Fort Smith indicating the object bad fallen in that section or that it was observed by oth rs The Little Rock Office iS making no further inquiries concerning the subject matter The offices of OSI and MID have been notified of the informa tion set out above [PAGE 136] SOUTH\\'"EST TIMES RBCORD Ft Smith Arkansas April 17 1949 I Loca Man Reports Seeing Whai He Be lieves Was Flying Disc Wa rr1son Fort Smith post office emp oy reported Sat urday obse ved what he believed was a flying disc Harrison saw what he believed was a flyini disc as he was driving east on Grand avenue at Eleventh street He said the object was small and was moving southeastward at a rapid rate of s;Z;peed He said the object resembled a tiny mirror There were no other repor ts of fl ing disc& in the area urday I ENCLOSURE [PAGE 137] Mr Tobon OFFICE OF OtRECTOR Mr Clegg F®ERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIOM Glavi7 UNITE0 STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 01a_L April 20 1949 Mr Gurne a Mr Barbo The attached was sent to the Mr Jones Mr Mohr Di ecto by 1.Yalte 1Vi nchell Mr Pennincton Tele Room Mr Nea Miu Holmes Attachment mt 11 l'JdJ;b I I n,~g [PAGE 138] I 30 11 snr i Mv L:.l- a 10 [PAGE 139] RECORDED 128 tf Mr Tolson llr I.Add,--_- llr Ntcnola llr lloaen Mr Tracy- £gan._- wr aurn,a llr HarbO Mr IIOhr.;:::-=-- Mr PeMlngWn llr Quinn Tanm Tele loom llr Nease- lHa Gandy Dato1 ay 1949 To Director or Special Investigations I Department of tbs Air Force The Pentagon ashinat;on 25 rom John F.dgar Hoover Director Federal Bureau or Investigation ll'LIDlO DISCS A reliable and contidential source bas recent';cy a.dvisod thia Bureau that during tho first part of April 1949 A Atkins 4312 Los Feliz Jbl California had informed him that three employess or the Dopirtmont of Bccrention in fark in the city of Los Angeles Callfomia had noticed objoots in the sky which appeared to be lying discs The above 1.ilfonmtion is bei.Jl8 f'urnished to you for whatever aotion you desire am no investigation is being con ducted relative thereto by- this Bureau i c:.n jVA bW t~t [PAGE 140] [PAGE 141] COMMl88 I ONS:R8 MA I FORD PRESIOE:NT MRS ROLLIN BROWN VICE•PRE510EN MRS WILLIAM WI LSON TO EREI RA ROBERT BURNS HASSETT CRETARY CITY Las ANGELE CALIF'ORNIA DEPARTMENT OF RECREA ION AND PARK 309 CITY HAL LOS ANGELES 12 MICHIGAN 15211 EO HJELTE GENERAL MA NAOER ILBER SKUTT SUPERINTENDENT OP ARK& F'L ETCHER BOWRO MAYOR Holly~.ood Calif April 10 1949 Mr tar Vwinchell New York City My Dear Winchell th reference to lying Disc other flying objects thought you ½ould be interested in the follo i ng It in a measure substantiates your statements Friday of last week three name a They conc to check and person a J}tf--- of our de partment employees were working in Griffith Park(the nations largest pcfk when one of them De Jarnett by noticed an object sailing through the sky and took good look to try and distinguish it from planes that frequently fly over About the same time two of his cen orking about a half mile av1¥y saw the object checked with each other and arrived at the same lusi0n It as a Disc and they ran to a telephone report the incident In the meantime DeJarnett started to the location here his men ¼ere orking to see if they had seen the object They had both seen it which proves beyond a question of a doubt that something of the Disc type v.-as in the air and i,,hen the third illan stated he also saw it I am satisfied you are very much right in your statements and I am inclined to call a liar that says(ther REOORn is Jto One of your fan IN DEX A tkins 43l Los i eliz [PAGE 142] [PAGE 143] SAC San Antonio A pril 1949 Director FBI LYING DJS.KS INTERNA SE URITY Refer nce is made to your tter dated April 19 captioned rotection of Vital Installations You are instructed in the future to teport information relating to £lying disks under the above caption fn regard to your request for information that would substantiAte or discredit the statements made by alter Winchell on bis broadc&ist of A pril 1949 your attention is directed to AC Letter No 38 dated arch 1949 captioned Flying Disks For your strictly confidential information the data contained in SAC Letter No 38 was obtained in confidence from a colonel in the United tates A ir ateriel Command who obtained his infor ation fro persons actively engaged in the investigation of this subject No interview with Walter inchell will be made by the Bureau on cerning the source of his statements referred to in our referenced lett I Tl ma CD I i en i EH mpd r,b~:.i tD i rr:::::-::---:--~~~- CO Ill TOUOII 111- 1ea- 11r Ol&YlD llr Lll44 llr NlcbOli llr RoNn llr Trac,-- 11r Egan-=---_-_- llr ourn.a wr- Harbo wr- llollr~~--- Tim1"C Tele Room 111- 11e aoe 111 ClllndY I LED APk 1949 lt\U IIYE8TI&A [PAGE 144] [PAGE 145] STAN jlA RD FORM 6-0 Ojfiie Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMEN TO FR OM SUBJECT Director FBI SAC San Antonio PROTECTION OF VITAL IN TALLATIOOS Bureau file 65- 48300 DATE April 1949 AIR MAIL SP-~CIAL DELIVERY a 22 1949 which submitted information related by mil itary authorities concerning unconventional aircraft The Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff 4th Army has advised hat at 11 50 larch 31 1949 a lighted object about the size of a basketball s-t eddish white in co or followed by a fire trail was observed southwest of Cl il een Base adjacent to Camp Hood Texas The observation was made by 1st Lt FREDE ICK DAVIS who was in charge of a platoon Company 12th Armored Sr antry Battalion wh ich is assigned as a part of an alert force called force Abel from Camp Hood whose function is to protect the installation at Killeen jff Lt DAVIS advised that the object was at an altitude estima.~e t-f 000 ft was traveling para lel to the ground and passed directly over him at ffi a rapid rate of speed It was in view 10 to 15 seconds and su denly disappeared high in the sky without having descended No sound or odor was detected The night v,as clear and visibility good The object passed almost directly over the air strip at Killeen Base When Lt DAVIS attempted to advise his headquarters by telephone immedia tely after the sighting he heard static or electrical interference on the tele phone line which he stated might be possible radio interference has advised that other lights of unknoVJn origin were observed on ti arch and 17 1949 by military personnel of the alert force stationed a.ppro:x:imately 1000 ya rds east of the fences hich surround illeen Base ti The object sighted on March 31 1949 was reported as being of a a Reference is made to San Antonio letter to the Bureau dated March different nature from the li hts seen earlier in the month It is noted that ALTEi April 1949 stated that 11 flying dis emanated from Russia ilTCHELL on his 11 seen in this 4th Army contacted had any information that wruld substa evening broadcast ry defd.nitely i ffice inquiring as or discredit the state- Ckl April 1949 to whether vre ments made by ALTER ilJCHELL JEJ:ED 100-7545 LU i [PAGE 146] [PAGE 147] Letter to Directo April 1949 SA-100- 7545 In view of the interest and concern of 4th Arm:y military authorities who have the duty of protecting the vital installations at Los Alamos Sandia Base in the El Paso Division and the Camp Hood area in the San Antonio Division it is suggested that the Bureau may desire to arrange to have Mr WINCHELL interviewed concerning the source of his information that flying discs emanate from Russia It would be appreciated if the Bureau can supply any infonna.tion that can be transmitted to military authorities which would clarify this matter [PAGE 148] Ila 1949 i r:Z-f3P9d vr Care T6av 141 Clai~Dr~ve Southeast Atlanta Georgia EX-43 Dear l!r Davis Your letter of April 1949 has been received and I want to thank you for sending cie the newspaper clipping which you enclosed toge her nth your observations I concerning tho designs you aubmitted to the federal governoont 1942 Although I would like to be of service checks of the type you desire are not thin the scope of this Bureau•s activities It was very thoughtful of you to contact me in that regard Sincerely ura John Edgar Hoover Director WN:rlc J<-p 11r Touon Ill Clegg llr Olavln Ill Ladd:--_-_- llr Nichols Mr Egan Mr Gumea llr Harbo llr Mohr Mr PeDJ'llngtOll 11r Quinn Tam Tele Roo•- NeO::r [PAGE 149] Al COOLED 75 ROO moornn Ill OUR FOOD IS UN EXCELLED [PAGE 150] 4ew Data Ideas About Flying Saucers And De ath of Pilot Who Chased One a l:nllff Prtt1 DAYTON Ohio April 27.- Tbe nl airman who ever got near a nn nr saucer c1·ashed and died be fore he could describe It the ton Journal-Herald said today Tbe newspaper printed a lengtby dlapatch on the mysterious flyinc laca based it aid on hitherto publlahed reports assembled at the lr\lt-Patterson Air Force base Tbe AJr Force Investigation hu proved that the flying saucers are ot a joke Neither are they a cauu for alarm to the popula tion the newspaper said The CIC>ftst any airman came to the myatery dis cs was on Jan 19'8 when one was sighted over Fort Knox Ky the dlspatch said Fo ur fighter planes were sent aloft to Intercept It but only Capt Thomas Mantell wu able to get close I'm closing In to take a good look the newepaper quoted him as reporting by radio It looks metal lic and of tremendous size It's go Ing up now as fast as I am Th~t•s 360 miles an hour I'm golnz up after It At 20 000 feet It I'm no clos er I'll abandon cha.se Mantell's plane crashed a few mi ute later and he was kllled The paper said 11 report now on flle at Wright-Patterson Air Force on he other hand It wu not lm-1 are I as lists 240 domestic and 30 for- po s:-ible that they were Later the consr elgn acc ounts of flying discs as Air Force announced it wa no form having been investigated Of these mi:.klng any further comments on to a 30 per ent seem to have been the discs proa weather balloon and the like and The Dayton paper says the report not 30 per ce more are perhaps ex- on which ita story ls based said the plal le conventlonally-Ieavln& 40 evaluation teams stated far per ce ma a plalned We can prove or dlsprove the The Ai JI recen Uy ■aid existence ot aoni ot the remaining there wu no evidence that the unJdentlfled objects as real aircraft a dlsca re a ided missiles fired of unconventional design Iv trom some other coun try but that The possibility that the sau [PAGE 151] Ma 10 1949 RECORDED 135 r!DEXED 135 I I To irector of Special Invest i gations I apartment of the Air Force The j>enta on Wash i ngton 25 From John Edgar Hoover Director Federal Bo.reau of Investigation Subject INFORW TION CONClOOUNO FLYING SAUCERS HR3 FRAi.~ARDNhla INl:"t>ruwrr nclosed is a photostatic copy of a letter dated April 29 1949 received by this Bureau from Mra Frank ardner concerning flying saucers The correspondent ho.s been ad vised tna.t a copy of her letter haa been forwarded to the United States Air i orce This letter is beine forwarded to you for any action you deem advisable 11r Nease U18 Oe.ndy GOMMUNIC!fflONS SECTION BY SPECIAL,,-l.ll(SSENGER MAY 11 1949 FE?IWL E~REAU OF fll.ii:STIGlTIOII ll llf.PAIIMHT Of JUSTICE Rl,:jmf llr Tolson llr Clegg llr Olavln lti~~:=1- Ill Rosen llr Tracy- 1:gan tng=to=n llr Qu1an Tam Tele Room [PAGE 152] cf wrn:1.,8 c£I ff-I I LSnr 10 ld30 HOQU fioiTO I fi J]O I I [PAGE 153] [PAGE 154] [PAGE 155] ib viiiu lL TN-1 lv-1'41 CA-4 [PAGE 156] FEDERAL BUREAU OF IN TIGATION Room 5744 A~cc 1949 I I Mr Tolson TO Director Mr Cloirlf -Mr Ladd Mr Glavin Mr Clegg Mr I.ndd Mr Glavin Mr Nichols Mr Harbo Mr Roaen Mr Nichols I Mr Trocy Mr Rosen Mr Cpn Mr Tracy lr Gnrnea Mr Fletcher Mr.Barbo Mr Moh:r Mr Pemllnirtc,J Mr Mohr Mr Carlson Mr Qaln nTamm Mr Nease Miss Gandy Fersonn Fi t~tro ecords Sect I nn -Mrs Skillman See Me For Appr opriate Action Send File Note and Return Clyde Tolson [PAGE 157] STANDARD FORM NC 64 Qjfice Memorandum UNITED STATES GOV ER NMENT TO Director FBI DATE May 13 1949 dJ Los Angeles SUB r;j YING DISK REPORT RF0RMATI0N COOCERNING On May 1949 Mr MEL HODELL a reporter for the Sun-Star nswspaper Merced California advised Special Agent MARLIN JOHNSON that his paper had been contacted by Lt Col STANLEY JACOBS Intelligence Officer Castle Air Force Base Merced California re.Lative to any reports that the newspaper might have received concerning fiying disks in the Merced vicinity Mr HODELL stated a c.Lose friend of his one WILLI.All 12-A Langdon Villa Merced tad advised him that he had obse~A=HO'l strange object and as he is in the Air Cc,rps Reserve he reported same to the Intelli ence Officer at Castle Field On the ame date Mr GEORGE BREMER Detachment Commander Office of Special Investigations Castle Air Force Base Yerced California advised SA MARLIN JOHNSON that he bad heard tt.t an individual bad reported eeing a flyi.ng disk to the Intelligence Office at the Base but that the Intelligence Officer had not furnished the information to him Mr BREHER later on the same date co ntacted SA JOHNSON arxl exhibited a letter written by STANIEY JACOBS Lt Col USAF Adjutant In elligence Officer to Commanding General Air Material Command Wright-Patterson AFB Wright Field Ohio This letter contained a statement given by Mr WILLIAM PARROTT 11'hioh read as follows 11 I bad occasion to step from my home located approximately one mile west of the town of Merced on the night of April 1949 at approximately 2220 My attention was diverted to a clicking noise of considerable intensity I stopped on the sidewalk about 20 feet from the front steps am recognized the source of this clicking to be in the sky in an area about degrees from the su face of the earth in an easterly direction The sky cend1.ti on was 200<Xl thin brok en with 12 miles visibility and surface winds were reported as north nine M.P.H at Castle Air Force weather station My home is a pp roximately seven miles south of Castle Air Force Base and in an area somewhat sheltered from surface winds,and no appreciable surface wind was apparent at the time the aural observation was made After about ten seconds of lo king int the area described previously as being the source of this sound an obj ct was ob served blanking out stars in describing a flight path in a west or northwesterly direction Only one object was apparent its shape can be described as only a solid mass Its size can be estimated as four or ive feet in diameter in keeping with an estimated altitude of con siderably less than 1000 one tbeusand feet Color was shown by the reflection of grow:xl lights on only two occasions and appeared to be RECORDED 110 I If 100-2442 I M\fJ JAW IND EXED IlO A 17 1949 Jo AY COPIES DESTROYED 270 NOV [PAGE 158] [PAGE 159] I LA 100-2442 dull eurfacted light colored metal The only ground lights of in tensity were a row of street lights behind me one ha!f bl ock wh ich leads me bel ieve the und er surface of this object to be curved in shape This obj ct men first sighted raa moving vrtry slowly in a we st or northwesterly direction I would estimate that I had it in my range of vision for 35 seconds after having heard it about ten seconds before locating it It passed on beyond the house and maneuvered through a arc of turn to the left of about ninety degrees The clicking sound was continu us throughout this turn however it became loudrtr as it returned on its new headi ng of south or southwe st On its return he clicking sound became ouder but I was unab!e to see it at this time The click ing stop ped when it was at its greatest intensity and appeared to come from a position directly over head I was unable to see the object after the sound stopped hi clicking sound retained he same pitch and spe ed through out the entir course ob erved but intensity varied There was not whistle or roar but only the clickir.ig noise which might be compared to beaters of a home ixer that were not properly meshed No lights or flame were observed during the entire course with exception of he previ ous described reflections twice No exhaust trail was distinguish able 11 My dog was with me and directed her attention in the general direction of this object's light throughout its course She had been rom ing wi th me on coming out of the house but without spoken worli sto pped an dir cted her attention on to the previously described area The cLicki ng sound might not have been unusual to the dog but there is a possi ility of sounds on wave lengths discernable only to the do being emitted It is to be noted that Mr PARRCYI'T is a member of the Active USAF Reserv with rank of Major He attained rating of pilot in August 1941 and has approx imately 2200 hours f!ying time During his ac ive duty period in ffi/2 he stated that he had considerable night lying experience in connection with his military assignment The Intelli gence Officer in the above mentioned letter made the following statement 11 An attempt locate other vritnesses in the area or through the loca news paper proved unsuccessful Mr BREME advised that he is planning to cl.ear with his head- quarters office and will probably conduct an investigation The above is being furnished for the information of the Bureau [PAGE 160] STANDARD FORM NO 64 -Office Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FRO KEA ATE May 26 1949 111 Ill Tolson 111 A Ill Clegg Ill la vi-n SUBJECT FLYING DISCS lb Od Ill Ntchor.- 11r Rosen Ill Tracy BACKGROUND Ill E:gan,_-_-_-_- Ill Gurnea Ill Harbo Ill IIOhr.;::---=--- Mr eM ln,gt on Ill Quinn Tam Walter Winchell forward~c the Director a estern Union Tele Room Mr Nease telegram he had received from Rober pley which stated that he Ripley ss Hoi.mur- U!e Gan<!Y- had the only authentic Japanese ng saucer ever recovered in this country Mr Winchell noted on the telegram To Edgar Hoover True DETAil.3 This matter was discussed by Special Agent Reynolds with the Intelligence Division of the Array who advised that they had no information concerning any Japanese flying saucer ever having been recovered in the United states This matter was discussed rlth Colonel William Carpenter SI-USAF who advised on April 27 1949 that he had interested himself in the flying saucers and related subjects and that in so far as could be determined by him through his sources in the Air Force which are excellent there is no authentic information available concerning the phenomenon of the flying saucers He advised he would check with the authorities at Wright Field to determine if any information is available coocerning the recovery of a Japanese flying saucer Colonel Carpenter has now advised that there is no information available ll in any arm of the Air Force to the effect that any flying saucers of any kind have been recovered in the United States Colonel Carpenter stated delq had been encountered in determining this fact inasmuch as inquiries had been directed through individuals known to him and t1-usted by him and not through the usual channels from which he possibly would receive a stock answer The details of this case were not discussed by either Special Agen"teReynolds or Sanders with the Army or Air Force and they are not aware of the telegram sent by Mr Ripley to Mr Winchell RID:OMMENDATION The foregoing is for your information and any disposition being desirable fo 11 73J'f Rt.CO@t l't E.D 91 [PAGE 161] 1.111:rn JO tl k'J I t-03111 3ij ii JO t,130 92 AV I i HII ll li i [PAGE 162] C-D<fcnedCablo dicated by a suitable aymbol above or pre Cl.Ass OF SERVICE This full rc 1"clcgTam Cable gram unless its de ferred characteT is in ESTE 122 SY MBOLS DL D.-,Lt:tr~r 1fo UNI ceding the address A WILL I AMS rum AN OARD TIME ru,.e- -\'/ALTER 11 I Nl-HE t/EY PUZA HO TEL MI At I EEA~H FLO I HAVE Tt<J~O~N~L AU E_N_,T i A_P_A- E-Srf,_7 I Nu SAU ER EVE I REL OVER EL I THI COUflTR BE AO'St OP OUR I NT fS IN THE PRESENT DA FLY I Nu I S~S OF HE RUSSIANS WOULD l<E VERY TUCH TO HAVE YOU JO I r.~E ON HE BEL I EVE IT OR NOT TEL EV I I Of SHO NEX TU ESDA APR IL 19T NBC NE WORI 930 TO 10Pf AND Ld VE YOUR COt.~(.'EN TS ON FLY I NG I SC AND YOUR EX..;LUS I VE 1<1!0\!LEDuE OF TII I Lt~TEST RUSS I Afl f.1ENACE REGARDS EE I EVE I OR NO I PLEY foilPA WILL APPRECIATE SUGGE l'ION FROM IT PATRONS CONCERNING ITS SERVICE [PAGE 163] RE.CE I VEO FL ETCHER t'i RECE.\~t.O 10MIC £"1ftG1 u~tJ.OM stCT\0 76 20'J a OlP't Of n1s11tl [PAGE 164] t..cy 10 1949 Mr Fr ank{c.rdner 2310 oJrt;r onte Ce lifornin ear ra Gardne I ish to acknowledge your letter d:lted April 29 3.9~.9 nc to exprou iy pp recio.tion for your thou.ght!ulneos in writing tone In Tiew of the contente ot you.r letter ha ve taken the liberty of sending copy to the Uni ted Stutes Air orce In the future it you have information which tl8Y be of interest to this Bureau you lllDY find it more convenient to communicnte with Hood Spe cial Age nt Cha rge of our Loa Angeles Office 900 Se cu.rit7 Bu ilding Loa Angeles 13 Cal iforni a incerely youra Jo nn Edgo no over irector I Los Angeles with cop -Of incoming The correspon ct ent communicated with the Bureau on one previous occasion enclosing a clipping from a Spanish lan&11age newspaper in T~xas She was apparent ly dissatisfied with the oanner in which the Latin Americans were be in treated in Texas A cordial letter of acknowledgement was sent to her 100-33339 I FRW:jmf ft COMMUNICATIONS SECTION I MAILED f.,H\Y 10 1949 P.M [PAGE 165] Tol on Mr OF~ICE OF DIRECTOR Mr Clegg FEDjAAL OF I NVESTIGATION Mr Glav i UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Ladd Nich April 25 1949 Ronn Tra cy Egan Gurnea The attached was forward ed to Mr Barbo the Director by Walter inchell Mr Jones The notation thereon reads Mr Mohr Mr Pennin1ton To dgar Hoover Tele Room Mr Neue Tatt eP Miu Holmea Mi II Gandy Mr Attachment mt I OJU [PAGE 166] H3HOl31.:I 13J3ij [PAGE 167] ton llr Quiml Tele Rooa Jfici.Me Jandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT I TO Mr Fletcher FROM 23,;;~~dOD ff.gcbo SUBJECT KA HRIE llr Rosen llr Trac:r llr Egan MIS ELLANEOUS 11r ournea Ir Harbo I On the afternoon of May 20 1949 Miss Kaye lochrie 4900 Harding Avenue Chicago 25 Illinois was referred to my office from the 111 88 Director's Office Miss Lochrie stated she was going to be in Washington for a few da~s that she was staying at the Ambassador Hotel She stated that Ro Palmer Managing E:clitor of the,Je,ff Davis Publishing Ccmpany in Chica had some infonnation regardiog'--nying discs Miss Lochrie said that Palmer's theory was to the effect that when people died their souls entered a space on this earth which is of course invisible to human eyes He said that in this soul world there are good arxi bad people am that they have become involved in a war According to Miss Lochrie Palmer's theory is that the flying discs which have been seen are the explosives be ing used in the warfare between the good am bad souls N,iss Lochrie stated that the real purpose of her visit to the Bureau was to get her own name cleared She said that the FBI has been con du ct ing investigation regarding her arxi that she wanted to know the results of the investigation I asked her what kind of an investigation the FBI had been making regarding her and she stated she was under suspicion of espionage activities I informed her that I could not furnish her l'd.th any information which is contained in the Bureau's files inasmuch as our files have been designated as confidential by the Attorney General Miss Lochrie accepted this explanation am stated regarding her present activities that she had been in the Wacs as a private am bad re ceived an honorable discharge in 1945 She said at the present time she is working as a model in Chi<;ago She impressed me as being somewhat mentally unbalanced A check of the files failed to reveal that we have comucted any investigation relative to this individua FJB:TD RECO n£D-6 -J'S?°f>~- INDEXED 62 2,JUN7 1949 [PAGE 168] I I'll Lv f-.f I [PAGE 169] Office Memorandum UNITED sTATEs OVERNMENT TO Director FBI DATE June 1949 ROM SAC New Orleans SUBJECT FLYING DISCS Re SAC Letter 38 dated Jfarch 25 1949 entitled as above The Bureau is advised that through the Office of Naval Intellie;ence NeT1 Orleans Louisiana this office has been advised that within the past ten days th ee sightings of flying disc·s have been reported in the City of New Or leans The infornation seems to be that the single discs Yrere i st aight fligh and traveling i a general direction of North in late afternoon,about the size of an observation plane but the shape of a saucer The Navy stated that two witnesses have advised that the object was traveling end over end that weather conditions were good that sightings rere made outdoors by persons who did not wear glasses that the dates Yrere I.lay 18 19 and 23 1949 The Navy states that it was possible these objects we weather balloons but that these are used from only one airport released over an hour befo the times of sighting and would generally be out of sight in a few minutes The above is being furnished the Bureau for futu reference since the Navy has informed that all three instances were investigated by the Army Intelligence PW/mmd [PAGE 170] [PAGE 171] The Di ector The on 00-6 Mr Tol1on I OFFICE D1RECTOA Mr Clegg FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIOM I Mr Glavi UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Mr Ladd Mr Ni Mr Ro lfay 23 1949 Mr Mr Mr attached was sent t'O the Mr by Wa te rfinchell Mr Tracy Egan Mr Mohr handwritten notat i on there Mr Pennington reads Tele Room Mr Nease Hoover Miu Holme Mi II Gandy Ha [PAGE 172] l..,J -l~l fl i O'Ld30 [PAGE 173] I fl San lllis Obispo California Tay 15 1949 alter Winchell New Yorlt New York Dear Si Under attached cover you will find a ample our item Sho uld vou do no more than take ou LY]Ji SA.UCE!l out care fully ead the instruct i ons and fly it I il have ac om plished a portio of my e~ectations For the past few weeks I have list,..ned with mo than an in different attitude to y,ur va ri ou Sunday evening broadc a sts and col!llllents concerniPg Flyinp aucers From the start much as many another individual who has tried to get ahead by his ovm initiative I have i sia ized what the right type of publicity would do for my interests To state my actions in any other manner would belittle your intelliRence and the werks of forethought and sincerity in which this is submitted Your oJ11IDent this evening concerning the Gyroscopic Theories snarkplu~~ed my actions A long ith the phases of merchandising mentioned in the att ache artic es I should like to mention that one troop of Boy Scouts in Los Angeles are purch a sing and nthusiastic ally include the fls a major portion of their recreation program By th~se facts it is apparent that our LYilJ SAUC is worthy of every effort we a re ab le to summons in makin it anot erican pastime of Yo Yo proportions b,'trt ti~cffelga.$ Trusting th at we a re justified of you consideration om a nevffi>rorthy standpo ours nM 1767 Conejo i ve San Luis bispo Califoria ftFr t'S GY 51949 [PAGE 174] [PAGE 175] cz- 8?8'i 11 [PAGE 176] GREAT FUN FOil THE WHOLE FAMILYI Fl YIN-SAUCER performs in an amazing way as you develop your skill in flying it A novel way lo play catch You will thi-nk of many games to play Adaptable lo almost any game HOW TO FLY launch your Fl YIN-SAUCER straight ahead with a snap of your wrist making it spin as fast as possible DON THROW TOO HARD It's the spinning that gives it lift Begin by flying about IO feet When windy throw across the wind You will quickly learn how to bank to the left or right [PAGE 177] FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS FLYIN SAUCERS have flight characteristics very slml lar to a ir planes The SAUCER IS launch ed In identically the same manner as sa llng your hat onto a hook--by spinning and forward mo tion In rder to fly In a straight I ine the SA UCER must leav the hand In a le vel position To curve the SA UCER It must leave the hand banked tilted in direction of desired curve --for example for left curve-the left side of the SAUCER must be tilted down FOR BEST RESULTS The spinning of the SAUCER Is most Impo rtant and most difficult to mas ter Because th spin creates a gyrosc opic action which controls the attitude of the SA UCER In flight a smooth fast spinning del Ive ry should be developed Do not hold the SAUCER too I ht An al yz your mistakes and make corrections by ti It Ing or banking SAUCER The correction must be appl led to he SAUCER as It leaves the hand SAIL EM BACK AND FORTH PLAY CATCH l!r- Begin by flying you saucer about 10 feet The distance you are able to fly it wl I I quickly increase ith pr actice MAKE EM TURN By releasing the SAUCER In a tilted manner you can make It turn to the left igh Bank It the way you want it to urn It Is aavlsable to learn to fly st raight be fo re sta rti ng to make turns MAKE EM COME BACK After learning fly straight and mak turns you I be able to make yov SAUCER return to you by sa I Ing It Tnto the breeze at a sharp angle The harder a ind blo ws tne flatter an an gle you can fly it to make it l!iUll return Spin SAUCER as much as possible MAKE EM SKIP Right-hande launch AU CER so that lef si de strikes hard surface Right side fo lef t-hande rs I lk- HARD THE GAME OF HECKLE THE GA OF HECKLE provides a means of utll lzlng the unique manner in which the FLYIN SAUCER canoe guided Ru es and regulations are provided forming the basis for skll I and competition PLAYERS Four with two on each team OBJECT To fly SAUCER around HECKLEOS into your partner's circ ALL CIRCLES ARES FEET IN DIAM[TtA CENTER s,Ac MAY VARY WITH MILITY Al I playe must rema in In their circ le unti I SAUCER Is airborne The game begins with the li er Al attempting to sal I the SAUCER around the HECKLERS In the ci cles I BJ and CJ so that his partner in the Receiver's circle IOJ can catch it Flier IAJ must remain in his circle when serving the SAUCER HECKLER IBJ must remain in his circle at al I times whl le his te3m is defensive He may at tem?t to stop the flight of the SAUCER or distract the Fl le in any manner Shoul he step or fat I ou of his circle his team forfeits I point and the offensive team retains serve HECKLER CJ remains in his circle untl I SAUCER is airborne He may then leave his circle to hec kl the Receiver 10 in any manner so long as he doesn't inte fere with ff ight of SAUCER touch the Receiver or step Into the Receive cl rcfe Hecklers forfeit points for each infraction Receiver attempts to catch the SAUCER In his circle Should he do so then his team ceives points Should it be necessary for the Receiver to leave his circle to catch the SAUCER then his team sco es but I point Should he drop or miss the SAUCER no points are sco red and the eams change positions AJ changes with CB and CJ changes with CC Is now the Fl ler and BJ the Receiver HECKLER IOJ must remain in his circle and the HECKLER IAJ becomes the roving HECKLER Tea ms change positions when the Receiver fal Is to catc the SAUCER In the event that no Referee is avai I able disputes wi I I be settled by mutual agreement or the flip of a coin Fi st team to score 25 points wins the game KEEP FLYI This is a PIPCO PRODUCT San Luis Obispo Cal if [PAGE 178] Flying Saucers Come from Southern California Do YOU HAVE spots before your eyes Do vari-colored discs flutter and sail in the air in front of you Do you see flying saucers in the skies If you do don't call the doctor nor jump on the wagon And don't worry Other persons are seeing flying saucers too-seeing them fly through the air-an.:l seeing them on the sales counters of the sto re You can even pick them up and feel them and preferably buy them to pl ay with It all started many years ago- long before the recent flurry of flying saucers- when a little boy named Freddie used to play with his mother's pie tins If he threw them with just the right twist of the wrist they spun and turned in fascinating curves Freddie grew up into a man called Fred Morrison who always remembered what fun he had had playing with the pie tins As a grown-up he applied his knowledge of aerodynamics to the problem of developing a disc which could be thrown and tossed and its flight controlled by the thrower He evolved a metal model that sailed through the air in a most satisfactory mann er The curved disc was in in diameter and a scant in deep with radiating arc shapped fins and a heavy outside rim A snap of the wrist when throwing ives a centrifugal motion to the disc which in turn gives guidance in flight The radial fins create a vacuum on top of the whirling disc and stability from beneath is provided by the heavy rim The metal model sailed through the air beautifully but also being metal it sailed through windows and hedges and other obstacles somewhat after the manner of a miniature cyclone A material other than metal seemed a wise idea if the disc-or flying saucer-were to become a commercial product A li gh tweight slightly flexible plastics looked like the answer and Morrison brought his metal model to Southern California Plastic Co Glendale Calif to see what might be done in plastics Stanley Gray and Edward Ken nedy president and secretary of the firm took the metal disc out on the lawn to dem onstrate its possibilities and were soon breathlessly convinced that a great deal of fun could be had by young and old alike A plastics model of the disc was carved from a solid block of material and then a mold made in the shop of Southern California Engraving of the mold was done by United Engravers Los Angeles Then came the problem of the right material A search was made throughout the range of thermoplastic molding compounds to find the proper material that combined flexibility impact strength and stability while in motion The discs achieve considerable speed and strain- when in fli ght Cellulose acetate provided the best combination of properties to do the job Acetate discs will not break glass windows nor shatter when falling from a great height nor scar the finish on automobiles nor injure the players That a real Flyin Saucer th is young mon has just thrown into th air-molded of to ug and lightwei ght cellulose acetate by Sou hern California Plas tic Co Glendale Designed in occordance with aerodynamic principles the Flyin Saucer spins through the air with the great es of ease No te the radial fons on th di sc in the boy's left hand An in esti ng part of the story is that producing the acetate Fly in Saucer is only part of the story It is a product with a wide market ow many yo-yos were sold in the US last ear do you suppose but it must be demonstrated to be sold Everyone who sees a Flyin Saucei in action is enthusiastic Anyone who sees one lying on a sales counter is likely to p:iss by That presents a merchandising problem that has the sales staff of Southern California Plastic hard at work thinking up ways and means for demonstrations action publicity visual promotional stunts With a record of steady-selling staple consumer items now on the market Southern California has no intention of letting the Flyin Saucers sit on the sales counters Carefully-controlled distribution related to on-the-spot demonstrations or pro motional campaigns has been the rule so far National markets will not be tackled until all the promotional kinks have been unraveled Re print ed from PACIFIC PLASTICS August 1948 [PAGE 179] in 5-ky Devil-Ship Scares Pilots Ai Chief Wishes He Had One Plane Makers Dubious About Alabama Thing By WI LI AM KE What was that Th int tbat scared the daylights out of two Atlanta Eastern Air Line pDoa th spooky ours Sa morning Is there some stratosph ric Loch Ness ire-breathi mons ter on the Milky Way run betwe en At lanta and New Orleans The lots C:i Chi ln of Atlanta and Co-Pilot Whitted of Hapeville would like to know The Army Strategic Air Command would like to know Bht airplane manufacturers al•o are curiou but slightly dubious Pilots Chiles and hitt ed told their thrillinJt story upo arriv ing at municipal airport here Sat urday on the Houston-AUanta Boston run Here i hat they say they saw near Mont,tomery A gigantic plane without winits black against the niJtht i;ky 5treakin1t through the heaven5 at 5,000 feet altitude with a fiery comet's tail 25 to 50 feet in length It had a 100-foot fu se aae about four times th circumfer ence of a B-29's and two rows of brilliantlv lighted uare windows Creepiest ot all it was a veritable rJyj rs«J utchman of the Skies Nt'ry a livi ng so ul was een aboard EAL FLIERS DESCRIBE WINGL ESS AIRCRAFT Copilot J8hn Whitted a nd Capt Chiles ri gh ATIANTA JOIJRNA.L SUlIDAY 25/48 [PAGE 180] Contltppp JJ.r;bt I The pilots admitted they had goose pimples riding pick-a-back on goose pimples What's more they said one of their 20 passen gers-C McK1:?h•ie of Colum bus Ohio-was awake and aw the same thing Reporters nailed Mr McKelvie at Kennett Square Pa How about it they asked him-had he seen what the Atlanta pilots said he saw Well now said Mr McKelvie not exactly He said he saw no form of ship whatever He saw a continuous light speed past lwi window But added Mr McK I'm not very well versed in aeronau tics and certainly I wasn't look ing for any Buck Rogers space ship Out at Santa Monica Cal the famo111 Gen George Kenney chief of the Strategic Air Com mand was bearded In his en His eyes twinkled No he said cautiOU5ly it wasn't one of his planeL The Army as yet hun't 1ot anything like the Thing seen over Montgomery Not Boelnc Plane I wish we did the general said wistfully i sure would have liked to see that Thing So said William Allen pres ident of the Boeing Aircraft Co up at Seattle I'm pretty sure it wasn't one of our planes said Mr Allen modestly Almost identical statements is sued by the Army Air Forces at Washington and the United States Weather Bureau at Montgomery tended to throw some light on this fantasy Both sources sug gested that the Atlanta pilots had flown past an air radar weather observation balloon Those things they explained are 10 feet in diameter and have square tinfoil boxes fastened to them the boxes reflect light and give strange illusions f!S they twist and turn Maxwell Field said they send em up at six-hour intervals And Maxwell Fielijs at Mont gomery ATLANTA JOURNAL SUN&Y 7/25/48 [PAGE 181] Aying FloOr Lam Again Sighted He re CHARLES OU she did see a great ball of fire I lamp is at That flying floor it again cantaloupe An Illuminated rolled over the city And a newspaperman saw great balls of fire What's more two Richmond Va i;choolte achers say they saw the fl rt same ame-spu mg mon st~r h1ch as spotted by Ea st ern Air Line pilots near Montgomery Li ke ed oor Lamp I i;a Halley's comet-and it was noth ing like what I saw last night declared Ml·s Dell of 914 Hemphill a\'e Breathle ssly Mrs Delk continued The front end of it looked like a flying floor lamp fiery-red floor lamp Then it trailed of1 in little square sections Oh Halley's comet was nothing like that And Mrs Delk was joined by al least 15 other Atlantians who saw a Thing which banked and rolled and breathed fire over the city Monday night between and 9:45 In the downtown section Mr and Mrs Richard Sellers were minding their own business when I a reddish-white ball of fire about the size of a cantaloupe with a tail on it da~ed over buildings I Mrs A bY or'Carey Park has never een a purple cow but with a great long purple tail on it That was about 9:40 Bluish Streak of Light An attendant at the nava air station thought he was watchi i.'I a falling star until it started climbing and banked away from Atlanta To him it looked like a bluisdh st reakb of ltihght An now a out newspaper man John Batlle city editor of the Augusta Chronicle hung up the telephone after a dozen calls about weird goings-on in the Augusta skies He looked 1:,o=A:11ifl 1/IJI He summoned his st11;Y,.ffl:.i 1'reat balls ire ATIANl'A JOURNAL 7/27/48 [PAGE 182] LIKE BIG F~O'?R LAMP FLYING ALONG Everybody's Seeing Things I Whizzing Through Night Sky By HARL ES PO burst in mid-air of a floor lamp and it wa the ls th at Thing no more than a A flash of ch rry red fire pr ttiest thing I ever saw It came wa yward floor lamp A meteor a nd passed so quick-I gu en it Mrs Noah Atkinson of Brook- Mrs Atltinson ke pt her Fly mu.st have been 500 miles an hour lla ven saw it And what did that mg Floorlamp secret three weeks or faster Thing look like B~t she knew she wasn't seeing And how about the two a ir A great big floor lamp a ll lit things when she saw the Thing line pilots Chiles and John up Oh il was beautiful She and her husban who also Whitted of Atlanta And Bowles an Expos1- saw kept mum The story Well they took off today ti on Mills painter who lives near re ally sou~ded a little silly unt_il armed with a camera And th the Municipal airport Sunda th two air line p1lots saw their hope to bring back a p·ct nicht saw a huge brilliantly Thmg gamboling and fir breath- that Thing ure U,ht ed object streakjng over At ing through air-line skies early lanta skies at maybe 30,000 ee Sa turday morning Be Th Mr Bowles thinks the Thing was After that she decided hef tale OC ro ngs ranl straigh from Moscow could be told At Silver Cylinder Tw air line pilots Cirst we re My husb l'.i 11uu I were sit ata rtl ed by the newest astronomi- ting on our front porch the night ASBURY PARK ly 26 cal what-is-it near Montgomery of uly and at a quarter to A")-Boa_rdwalk throngs at this ea rly Saturday To them it was a o'clock we saw this Thing Our resort city craned their necks wi ngle ss craft spurting flame like ront porch doesn't hav a scr en Monday at a s_ilver cylinder a Buck Rogers rocket ship Else- and we were sitting ne ar the they reported flymg ugh over whcre all over the country that edge where we could see good head hing was variously identifi~d as I saw it first It was not high They described it as wll.y up An aluminum covered bal IP-about 20 fe I guess but in the air and like a blimp only loon it looked hke was right above blunt at both ends A ball of fire he treetops Look a there I Officials recalling flying sau- Ai -..usually bright light yell to my husb a nd and he cers asked Fort Monmouth per A red and blue flame that saw it too onnel to see if they could identify It looked like the top pa rt it ATLANTA JOURNAL 7/26/48 [PAGE 183] 1515 9th St Yichita Falls Texas Aug 1948 Publisher Atlanta Journal Atlanta Georgia Dear Sirs On Jul.7 25 1948 I mailed a letter enclosing 35 cents i:u coin and an airmail aelf•addreseed enTelop to your circu.lation department asking for tear sheet of the Atlanta Journal oontaininc the stories on a strange or 11 JIIY'sterious aircraft seen aear Monteo11e1"7 Alab&111a July 24 1948 by two pilots Cap't Chiles and John» Whitted of the Eastern Air Lines These have not arr1Ted I asked for two copies each of the stories Enclosed is an additional 35 cents and another sta11ped self-ad dressed envelop Will you kindly aee that your circulation department com plies with this simple request I assure you that my interest in the above stories is prompted by interest in the defense of our count1"7 and you are hereby given my fullest pel'Dlission to turn this letter requ.esti the copies of the stories over to the J'.BI should you wish Thanking you Tery kindly I am Sincerely Mra Madeline Gwynne Merchant Mra Madeline Gw,ynne Merchant cc/Agent-In-Chari 7ederal ureau of Inve tigation Atlanta Georgia [PAGE 184] The incident was I belie'Ye an important one And though I haTe already 111&de reports to MaJ Sidney Newburger of Loe Alamos and to General l!andy I would appreciate the Mler nevapaper atoriee appearin in the preH there Thanking 7ou kindly I am Sincerely Mrs.Madeline Gwynne Merchant Mra Madeline Gw7nn Merchant [PAGE 185] g.x 1515 9th St Wichita lalla Texas A 1948 nt-In- har Federal 1'ureau of InTestigation Atlanta Georgia Dear Sirs Enclosed is a carbon ot a letter requ.estin& tear sheeta of the un usual aircraft een near Montgomery Alabama Jul7 24 1948 storiea con cernin& which wen carried by AP and UP ori~inati in Atlanta It IDlq h&Ye been overai«ht by someone in the cire11lation dep of the Atlanta Journal or it mq have been alarm that a woman vould be re queatinc thi tn,e ot informa tion even thoU€h it was published and there open information ETen thou«h I cann~t identify Jqaelf to the Atlanta Journal publisher or staff I can to you I have worked independently on the problem of aerial llieail of which I believe this was an example with all rrr data ing i rectly to officials and member of the security o:f'tice of the Atomic Enera Con Los Alamos Atomic ProJect Los Alamos W.M and to hi«h members of the War Department including Gen Thomas lland7 J'ourth Anq Coa mander Saa Xouston Tex head of this J.:nq district cannot and should Mt t;y c~"';c t_hat agaJn let us not wJth the exceso five zeal of the new convert be blind intolerant of those who immediately have the courage na~I most recently acquired con [PAGE 186] lnv Novel New Ga mt Fl yi ng Sauc Catch Fancy ol Da ona Beach I Vi,itor and Re id nt By JACK TROY Times- Union Staff Writer Tn Ai F~~ce fif ie rs DA Y!ONA BEACH Feb 14-The Ingenuity of two former Army Air ore lier from California ls paymg of at this Florida Beach resort where nowadays the air full of flying saucers When Major Warren Fransclonl and Lieut Fred Morrison of San Louis Obispo completed their war experiences ln the China-Burma I Indl_a and the Italian theatres of op- r~1on they returned home anrl I Jo ed forces in a novel industry Morrison had always been I I tr i gued by the Idea sailing i pans on the beach and so Franscioni put th~lr ua tal en ts togethP aa came up with a plastic version with fins They then had Invented a new game a novel way of playing catch with nylng saucers a gyroscopic airfoil aerodY manically correct precisely en gi neered and a pleasant way to take exercise Gr id Coa.ch Uses It The football coach at Hemet Calif High School was In tri gued with the idea of using the saucers to condltlna his pl<>)'« I oala.nce and to reach out to ma,b catches of the discs which by tai methods of spinning bo0 111 rang and also sail a.way fr om he intended receiver A player as to be on his toes to catch them spe I clally if the wind ls blowing I It rnav be just coincidence Ra scion and Morrison said tod a ut the Hemet coach last season um.ed out his first championship tea Th boys were on their toes Although they had their di&CS made in Glendale and had planned on extensive West Coast promotion snow flakes unexpectedly fell and they headed for Da tona Beach wMre according to the tourists summer spends the winter No snow flakes fall here onr flying saucers -'hich a re so durable i that he are not Injured by ca rs passing over them Morrison was shot down In hiS fifty- eighth mission In Italy but escaped serious injury The tv.·o ex -Army officers refer to the I selves as the world's champion Fl ing saucer pilots and certa in ly their novel lnventlor -conceiv ed In Callfornlli and promo ed ln Fl orida -ha.& caught on with beach lovers Jc TheY were smart enough of course to patent the Flying sau er idea in order to capitalize on rea dy- I made publicity bor of repeat ed Sa ucer sea res arour the country In throwlnit the 01d pie or calte tins there always was the dan ger it I or cutting one's hands But with the new plastic tin saucers th only danger ls getting bopped In I he nose And only the less agile allow that to happen once In a le while romotion ain roblem I Fransclonl and Morris feel that I coaches might find their salllng gadgets just as handy In training a squad as did the coach of Hemet And they are hopeful tM,t they I may in time to come expand their w11res from coast to coast At the present time Daytona I Beach is the only resort that has seen the saucers The boys a re contemplating attending a few fairs and getting their product before larger m41-sses of the public Promotion ls our only problem Morrison declared Production ls no Item All who've tried our in teresting little 1t~dget seem to have fun sa lllng It 11 nd they also find that they are using muscles long neglected [PAGE 187] Office Memorandum UNITED sTATEs GOVERNMENT DATE ro DIRECTOR FBI floM RICHMOND SUBJB LY DISCS SIGIITED RADFORD VIRGINIA HAY 12 1949 Ther are enclosed 4;,:we,- clippings concerning what has been described as a lying disc sighted at Radford Virginia on l!ay 12 1949 The Bureau may desire to refer this to the Department of the Air Force This office has no infor,nation other than that appearing in the news items which appear to cover the best inforn:ation avai lable The matter was not reported directly to this office and therefore no investigation or inquiries are being made and none of the individuals who alle gedly saw the thing ave been interviewed ELB:GTC Enclosures -_J}lJ 11 11 MAY 25 194 RICORDED 78 EX 42 [PAGE 188] [PAGE 189] lay 25 1949 I -/rj 1Jrs llcnry Beston Chicno rn 1.'obleb ro 11atnc Dear 11r Beoton Your lotter posttiarkcd Uay 16 1049 has been received and I Qa~t trar uou or oond£ng ne tnforn~tt concorntnr the attar you enttonad I was tndeed uery thouQht/u of you to re ort tha c!at to thio org~ni oti on Sincerely yours John Edgar Hoover D'lroctor NOTE Co respondent saw a small object in the sky near the end of the day wh£ch took various shapes and th ough glasses appeared like a double bloom tratltng something below tt She beltves tt might be a flying dtsK In vi ew of her nebulous 1,nfo matton and as tt.wa ve possibly a weather bajloo I ti i ti a,c Cl r-"c::i no f~rth actt on deemed necess a ry f/N mj C0MMUNICATlO [PAGE 190] tJ fU [PAGE 191] Lynch ur Advance 5/13/A9 Th&se Aying Discs Are at It Aga in Virgi ians Repo rt Zounds Here we go again Inler planet ory space-ship Visitor from Mars A new Russian rocket ship Airgoing submarine Just take your choice your guess is every bit as good as the next qne according to reports from various sections of Vir ginia and Tennessee on last night's strange phenomenon What it was where it came from and where it was going no one knows but even Civil Aeronautics Administration officials were puzzled and had no answer Whatever the thing was it re sembled a long cigar with a bright red nose and trailing smoke Re rorts coinciding with that descrip tion came from localities along an almost direct line through Tennessee and Virginia and seemed su fficient to convince even the most skeptical that what the callers said they had seen was no figment of imaginatio The descriptions generally Jn oicated the object came over the couthwest horizon and resemble a ctrea of fire There seemed to be 1ed lights or a powerful red glow in the nose of the object Far back at the tail there was fire and smoke The first report came from Roa noke about o'clock when Mays and Mullins both of that city said they noticed the object It looked like a streak of fire said Mays and appeared to be go ing almost straight up and was stepping on it Suddenly he said it appeared to level off and head eastward re sembling a snake wiggling on water Other reports followed from Kingsport Tenn Bristi Pulaski Chrt tiansburg and poin west of Roa ke liam Flanik ch aircraft c-om unicator CAA Preston Gle airport said none of the Lyn burg tower men had sighted I any unusual objects in the sky FBI RI t'O!m 141949 lJ i3~11 -11r E'N CLOSURf [PAGE 192] IN RJ!PLY PLEAS R>!FER FI LE No B!eheral ihtr.eau of lttu.estigatum 11tniteb itates il.epartm.ettt of iJwrtitt Did You See It Well What Was lt By WELLS CAL D'WJ:LL The strange object seen tr a vel ing acro11 the heave ns just after sundown last night has caused widespread speculation here in Radford as well as in other sec tions of Southwestern V.irginia and Eastern Tennessee Exactly what the mysterious traveler was no one here seems to know and the number of con flicting reports have only added to the confusion This much seems to be cer tain the object appeared over the Southwest horizion shortly before and was moving eastward Also it was black or at least part of it was A Radford man Jiving in the east end section asked that his name not be used but give this version I was working in the yard when I glanced up and saw a long black thing flying across the sky It came from the direc tion of Pulaski It looked a great deal ike a rounded stick of wood which was burning in front The object was trailed by either vapor or smoke and faded from view when it seemed to be directly overhead- Mrs Alfred Tolley of 1702 Seventh Street west reported her 12-year-old son Albert was playing next door and noticed the object She said her son had been studying comets in school and called her attention to the phenomenon thinking that it was either a comet or a meteor The strange looking object she said was long and black with a light on the front end It seemed to follow the air route from the directon of Pulaski later turning and heading toward Blacksburg There was a light on the front end and great long streaks of fire We saw it for about 10 minutes Miss Joe Stewart of the Rad ford College biology department said she saw the object and as sumed it was the exhaust from an airplane She added that she was in no way alarmed Fred Hurt of Fourth and i -?'-'CLOStJRc Harvey Streets gave this ver- to be traveling too sl owly for sion At the first appearance it looked like a comet I recall Halley·s comet and it resembled that There was at first a bright spot ahead of the stream of fire but the trail didn"t look so bright hen the object reach ed its zenith It appeared to be moving slow- Jy at first and later very fast which indicates that it was quite a distance away when I first saw it The object eemed to follow a straight path however it v~ered a little once in sort of l.n arc and then straighted out agin I heard no noise Mrs James Heinline of 60 Jackson Street Monroe Terrace said slie and her husband watch it with some neighbors It looked like a long black cigar which was on fire she stated We heard a faint sound which might have been a small motor At times it looked like an airplane way way off thought at first it might be a comet or a meteor but it seemed I Bedford I FBI R!C HHO 61 949 that It appeared in the so th west and traveled toward the east There was a kind of red dish looking smoke about it Miss Dody Jones of Harvey Street reported watching the phenomenom with a group of children in the neighborhood She said it looked like what I think a comet would look like It was a red flare she con tinued which was light on the front It moved slowly from the Southwest and traveled what seemed to be straight up It curved toward the east and the fire strealcs trailing it got longer as they began to fade out Graybea of Christians burg a former Air Force pilot estimated the altitude of the object at 6.000 feet He said there was a light from the object as it passed over and a roaring i sound Other reports have been re- ceived from as far West as Kings- port Tenn and as far East as [PAGE 193] I Remember Flying SaucersrWe/1 ooks Like Flying Seegars Now Flying saucers are passe Now people in Bristol are see ing long cigar- shaped ob ject flashing across the sky But Bristolians were not the only spectators ot the strange craft yesterday evening The flaming object was re ported sighted at Kingsport Christiansburg and Roanoke and three at Pulaski Rex Rainey 1805 State Street reported that he saw a whit ish glistening m;iss long and cylindrical like a big cigar flying from east to west about 7:15 Yesterday He said be sighted the cigar flying very rapidly over Virginia Heights and got out his binoculars to look at it An unidentified caller in formed the Herald Courier last night that she had sighted something that looked like white smoke with a blue name that traveled to the north and about the same time It look like an airplane said only like white smoke I was just a streak and almost of sight it was so high I Another local woman reported that she had seen a silver streak that looked like it was about 100 feet long flash across the sky shortly after seven o'clock She estimated the speed at about 200 miles per hour A traffic controlman at Tri Cities Airport Who asked that his name be withheld said that the strange craft had not been seen at the airport although they ha,d had inquires on the cigar-streak He said he had checked with the Atlanta Air Route traffic control center after receiving inquiries but they reported no knowledge of any jet aircraft in this Yicinity He speculated that the streaks may have been caused by a jet propelled plane or planes The objects were reported flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet he said If a jet plane were fly ing that high it would be mov ing so fast the vapor trail would be about all a person on the ground could see The controlman said that the Pulaski radio reported two seen there One about and the other an hour later He said that Pulaski also had a pi lot's report of the streak trav eling northeast at an altitude ot about 30,000 feet Reports on the flaming ob ject were received at Chris tiansburg and Roanoke but air ports in those vicinities reported no information on the strange craft 13 I i ti ER I FBI R:C'- if 949 [PAGE 194] Chim!!e Farm NOBLEBORO MAINE ao Lu fG [PAGE 195] -Ii eta ltr wa...-- cL(U u.J(V- i:s -nc I Jr t.,u tto s.J II 11 It- b,J- k4.f4 wy aJ T\-6t.f -Ril{p dL c.P t>J -h:n>n sh ck 0.0 ttt Jr 11 Q.D/J tr i.J O,(Jld -lo Jta,u.e bib WA- t.Ar o..U JJ AJ2..L,lA w-d2o -n:u hoJ&.-u,t -c,..1lf2s h,..w bc,_u.J i Lu k.<s l;i tu Jk Cf S'le...L.uad fo an Puo Cl.u [PAGE 196] at llifu -'1'4 s,c tt,u.v nu L(D.,t.A.CJL JL.u t'n a..J eon T'b t-v uo o~.S fw -.-nC tt;;J n1-<L4f c)r l,u I Jr toev ltr:i:u l.J.--L -fo_,t- sig-3 WL ho DJ lu.L Yl;I J-s ft.o Jr S®,011 lw aJ:ii r(j rld.u.4 ClJ.-1-(i Oz-u h\,LJ.c.-l a LU.A ml.J.<)f h.{U,(..Jl s.o'l.u- ti [PAGE 197] Chim ney Farm NO LE BORO MAINE l.LU °"11'(l lw S.~u tw c,u..uuz a,_Ui t--u..A l:,.j £ll.U.A-L i -.01 I dtJ.L.1 a I v-r,..4 no J.i iv tu I Q__,,J lo cjl9 wJt buJ S$.<Z e}lr.z c'.l Jr 11 LJJ 1J)11 lo'-'1 sl Lu il i's A.fl..(..)-A- sc,.i.d ft>..af br,tJ b~.s ti pa 41 tw tz i,-½c.P -f.uk u_.u,o.l OU I I tun w1L JJ [PAGE 198] Chim1}ey Farm NOBLEBORO INE I I l,U.L JiR &o-ic I lv er r.u:.u nvvn ou,_μ.J Lu o.J.i Jr Sc,_.u UL t:,.J- UzJo-a o,.J I o,_v-d oh tp Lu XrlL -tf f-z t:I 6"1-A SJ l,uooltio b,.j- av u..-u-- J.u f.o.u,J -!th lJV)'1i t(,.__q_.u..t I L{cJ\4-1 ol.JI Yr/YJ [PAGE 199] letter FED RA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FormNo.1 THIS CASE ORIG I NATED AT PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA I LE NO 62 2542 VFH SYNOPSIS OF FACTS FREDERI~QUARDT submitted ash residue to Fire Marshal Office Philadelphia Pa which made chemical analysis l.ARQT ARDT o-r opinion that fire_Aay have been caused by military flare oiU'flying saucer 11 DETAILS This investigation is dicated up on a received from the office of the Fire Marshal J,,f.::J ti Philadelphia Pennsylvania dated May 19 1949 I advising that ashes had been received from one 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 Office APPROVED AND SPECIAL AGENT DO NOT WRITE IN THESE SPACES FORWARDED IN CHARGE J:...--.'-_R CORDED 129 zr 03X3aNt REPORT MADE AT DATE WHEN MADE PERIOD FOR WHICH MADE PHILADEIPIITA PA 5-49 20-49 mu UNKNO/IN SUBJ CT<fmE SCRANTON PE rn SYLVAN I A UNKN(J'(tN DATE GEORGE--16:l\UTON COMPLAINANT REPORT MADE BY JAM ES KIRKLAND CHARACTER OF CASE MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATI ON ON CERNIN COPIES OF THIS REPORT Bureau Philadelphia [PAGE 200] li10ITAfJIT83VVH UA3flU8 JAs:1303::i I 0J"I jf.Jl'lf [PAGE 201] I PH 62-2542 Acting Chief GEORGE KINGTON advised that he had interviewed MAR.cyJ.ARDT at the time he came to the office since Captain HANNAN was absent at the time He said that he then learned for the first time that the fire in question had taken pl ace near Scranton Pennsylvani a Q£.QllI'rea about J.'lQl!tho Pte..viousl This caused the Marshal Office to withdraw from the caseori a question of jurisdiction and MARQUARDT was advised that any further action on his part should be referred to the State Police authorities At the same time KilltTON furnished MARQUARDT with the results of the analysis which had been ade of the ash submitted and which analysis had been made by Dr EDWARD BURKE City Chemist Chemical Laboratory Room fr'/5 City Hall This report reflected that the ash contained Magnesium Alumirrum Iron and Calcium in the form of silicates sulphur and carbonates FREDERIC iiJ\RQl!ARDT was interviewed at his place of business the A KULJIAN COMPANY Broad Street and Girard Avenue Philadelphia Pennsylvania At this ti he advised that he had received the sample of ash from a friend V"O(l)~FER Lake Ariel Wayne County Pennsyl vania through the mai He said that Lake Arie is about one mi south of South Canaan near Scranton Pennsylvania He stated that SHAEFFER house had burned about six months ago that the fire had occurred at night during a storm and that a large object had struck the roof and ignited the house which had burned to the ground in less than an hour He said that he had not been present during the fire but that these details had been furnished by letter fr001 SHAEFFER at the ti.me a sample of the ash was forwarded for analysis He said that he was of the personal opinion that the ash might be a art of a military flare or a flying saucer 11 He pointed out that he has been advised by associates in the engineering field that one of the characteristics of some types of flares is the fact that they burn for a considerable period He stated that the mass of the ash residue had remained ignited for a period of twelve hours He also stated that he did not think there had been an explosion but that a loud noise had probably been caused by the vacuum created as the missile or objects truck the roof He added that there remains a quantity of the ash amounting to one bushel at SHAEFFER premises at Lake Ariel [PAGE 202] PH 62-2542 MARQUARDT adv sed that he had been employed by the Atomic Energy Commission at Oak Ridge until 1943 He was entirely rational He di scounted the theory that a portion of a rooteor had struck the house on the basis of the chemical analysis made by the City Chemical Laboratory MARQUARDT a dvised that at the suggestion of the City authorities he had written to SHAEFF'ffi and suggested that any further in quiries be directed to the State Police The file of the Philadelphia Offi ce reflect that the records of Immigration aJ)d Naturalization Service were negative to an inquiry concern ing FREDERIC S4ARQUARDT OEM Bureau File 30'S7 The files of this office likewise reflect that M.ARQUARDT by letter received August 14 194 requested of this office the identity of a powder or dust used to catch thieves Inasmuch as there is no yiql.F'ti.9n indicated within the Bureau I jurisdiction there is no further investigation being conducted in this matter However the ash residue obtained from the Fil·e t.arshal Office is being forvrarded to the Bureau Laboratory for any interest or study the Laboratory may desire to conduct relative to flares or in connection with the possibi lity of the presence of flying saucers CLa3ED [PAGE 203] FBI IAHA ff- LCTOR FLYING DISCS AL BUREAU or 11 ll CiEPARTMEln or JU i TICE COMMUNICATIONS SECTIOK 14-49 55 INFORMATION CONCERNING Mr ToJs PM CST Aff>U rffe WHILE ON VACATION RC AT LAKE OF THE WOODS NEAR KENORA ONTARIO CANAvA SA CL:r=fE MATTHEWS OBSERVED UNCONVENTIONAL AIRCRAFT RESEMBLING FLVI DISC HE HAS FURNISHED FULL INFORMATION CONCERNING SAME TO FORCE INTELLIGENCE FORT CROOK NEBRASKA AND SAME ILL NOT BE REPORTED TO THE BUREAU UNLESS ADVISED TO THE CONTRARY END ACK 94::ti PLS OK WASH DC EJC [PAGE 204] uJ I UJ i u.l 3IJ i usnr 30 cg RQ fiP lM fl tf Hd li SI lnf 3':l'3 ij3HOl31.:J 03Al333ij [PAGE 205] STANDARD FORM NO 64 Office Memorandum uNrT En TAT Es GovERNMENT i>f TO DIRECTOR FBI DATE July 21 1949 FROM SAC NEW ORLEANS SUBJECT YLnNG DISCS AND SAUCERS MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATICN CONCERNING For the Bureau's information several citizens in the community of Alexandria Louisiana have recently reportedly seen flying discs The Alexan dria Louisiana daily paper has carried nUJD3rous articles concerning this At a recent meeting of the Young Mens Business Club in Alexandria a member suggested that since Alexandria Louisiana is known as a convention city the club should try promoting a convention of flying saucer seers This particu lar comment appeared in the Alexandria paper and was picked up by the JJ lines Mr A D~GELO a member of the Young Mens Business Club advised Special Agent WALTER EJU..E that since the JJ release they have received a large number of requests regarding the convention of flying saucer seers from many parts of the United States Mr DeANGELO wt.ates that the interest of the people is evidenced by thei inquiries about convention particulars stating they are flying saucer seers and want to attend such a convention This gentleman further advised that in view of the volume of inquiries coming in it appears that the YMBC will have to hire an employee to handle all the correspondence It might be noted that he advised a representative of the Air Force from Barksdale Field Louisiana has inquired as to plans of a flying saucer convention stating that they are interested in furnishing an observer if such a convention were held This information is being furnished the Bureau as it is possible such an enterprise may cause people to falsify that they have seen flying discs or fly ing saucers Such falsifications might be made so that they might attend such a convention or become official delegates thereto WEM:gp 62-0 63JUL29 [PAGE 206] [PAGE 207] I SAC Phoenix Jwie 30 1949 Director FBI ILLIAll WrBR:Pmoms INFOi WA TIOU CONCERNING FLRHG DISCS Reiutlet Juno 1949 captioned Fltina Discs It ia believed that the reference appearing the tirat line ot yoar referenced letter to the Blu-eaQ incorrect Complete detail.a concerning the c:atter reterred to in 1our referenced COIJlllluni.cation appear a letter from your ottice dated September J.947 and not Septvmbe 1947 Pursuant to 10ur re ques rou are granted authority to tumt.ah the attached blind tJ1m0randu.1J1 which was forwarded to the Bu.reau with 1our referenced letter or approval to lb- 1qnn Aldrich OOI repreeentativo Phoenix li.r1£ona A ttacliment EHM EFF c.:o llr Tolson llr Ladd.--_-_- llr Nichols llr Rosen llr Tracy- llgan._- llr OUrnin 11r Pennington llr Qulrm Tam Tele Roo11 COMMUNICATIONS SECTION MAILED 15 JUL 11949 P.M Dtn il or l~STl~!IO'f JllS11C£ [PAGE 208] rlfJOt a 21 Tl urr:f,,u:i I cf03'14v'l I e~r I I [PAGE 209] STANDARD FORM NO 64 Office Memorandum uNrTEn TAT Es Gov ERN NT TO Mr H.B Fletcbe DATE June 30 1949 FROM Lish Whitson TOJ.aon Ladd Cle..._a SUBJECT WIWAM ALBERF ODES INFCRMATION CERNING Glavin NlcbOle a FLYING DISW Roeen Tracy ll&rbo 1/ollr Purpose T9le Rooa OoDc17 Your approval is requested in order that the attached letter and memorandum can be forwarded to the Phoenix Office authorizing that office to furnish the attached memorandum to Mr Lynn Aldrich OSI representative Phoenix Arizona BackgroWld In July 1947 William Albert Rhodes was jointly interviewed by Special Agent Bailey Brower Bureau Agent and George Fugate Jr representative from Hamilton Field California The purpose of the interview was to secure from Yr Rhodes information and photographs of a flying disc which bad been sighted and photographed by Rhodes The complete results of the interview and subsequent events are contained in the attached memorandum submitted by the Phoenix Office Mr Lynn Aldrich OSI representative at Phoenix Arizona has requested the Phoenix Office to furnish him complete facts relating to this interview which are to be subsequently forwarded to the OOI Office at San Francisco According to Aldrich Mr Fugate referred to above has been questioned concerning this matter by his superiors and he has advised them that his recollection is hazy 11 on the matter According to Aldrich Yr Rhodes has apparently now requested the Air Force to return the photographs which were previously obtained from him Recommendation It is recommended that the Phoenix Office be advised that the memorandum attached may be forwarded by them to Mr Aldrich OSI representative Phoenix Arizona Attachments EHlbEFF I [PAGE 210] tJI.L cfo IHJ13 Q3A1303B I [PAGE 211] i!lurea of li norstigutinn 3llnibh §fates il.e.partm.ent of Ilustire Phoenix Arizona June 1949 Director FBI RE FLTING DISCS Dear Sir Refer Phoenix letter to Bureau dated September 1947 captioned REPORTS OF FLYING DISCS for the attention of Assistant Director LADD setting forth the result of an interview con ducted by GIDRGE FUGATE JR then a representative of the Air Force Intelligence from Hamilton Field California and Special Agent BAILEY BROWER with one WILLIAM ALBERT RHODES 4333 14th street Phoenix Arizona concerning his observation and photographing of an object which was considered by the Air Force of significance from a security standpoint On June 1949 Mr LYNN ALDRICH OSI representative Phoenix Arizona called at this office advising that he had been rAquested by his superiors in San Francisco to obtain detailed in fonnation concerning this interview since RHODES awar~tly hasw requested the Air Force to return the Rhotographs i;;dthii FUGATE when questioned by his superiors concerning the matter stated his recollection was hazy on the matter OSI is anxious to secure the substance of information in the Phoenix file concerning this matter Mr ALDRICH was furnished the substance of the interview as set forth in letter of reference and he has now requested that he be furnished with a blind memorandum setting forth this information in detail in order that he may make available to the OSI at San Francisco es [PAGE 212] ir pl Cf JJ i r1u ht v~G t>dt1tS 11 -J<'!r [PAGE 213] UNITED -OVERNMENT TO THE DIRECTOR DA TE -July 20 FROM LADD SU BJECT You will recall that Mr Ernest Cuneo advised the Bureau of a letter which Walter Winchell had received from an ind i vidual in Los Angeles indipaJing that he had seen a flying saucer leave the ground within i view and in which letter he theori2ed that this mi ht have been a lan ing from another planet The Los Angeles Office was re uested to locate and interview the writer of this letter Peter Camerlon Jones 164 West 37th St eet Los Angeles California The Los Angeles Office has now advised that the present owner and former manager at this address have no knowl edge of any Peter Camerlo~nes and that other investigation to locate Jones was unproductive It would appear th~,;,efore that this may have been a prank You may desi to advise Cuneo that there is no such person at the address given inasmuch as he indicated that Mr Winchell ntend do a ol umn on this litte DML FA REC ORDED IH DEX ll 20 [PAGE 214]