Maury Island incident, Washington
June 1947 · Maury Island, Washington
Summary
The Maury Island case rests on a report that Harold A. Dahl and Fred Crisman, Tacoma harbor patrolmen, saw flying discs over Maury Island in June 1947. A Fourth Air Force intelligence report said Dahl was south of Maury Island on 21 June 1947, where five discs came down out of the clouds, and one dropped debris on his boat and killed his dog. Dahl's later account to Kenneth Arnold gave six objects and a fall of "lava". Sworn testimony from United Airlines pilot Emil J. Smith gave the date as June 24.
Ray Palmer, a magazine editor in Evanston, Illinois, asked Arnold on 22 July to go to Tacoma to see Dahl and Crisman, according to Palmer's letter. On 31 July Arnold, Smith, Dahl and Crisman met at the Winthrop Hotel with Army intelligence officers Capt. William Davidson and Lt. Frank Brown. Crisman gave the officers a box of fragments, per Smith's statement. Their B-25 crashed near Kelso, Washington, early on 1 August, and both officers died. The Air Rescue Service report said the cause was a fire in the left engine. McChord Field intelligence officers found no sign of sabotage.
Anonymous callers told Tacoma reporters the plane had been shot down or sabotaged. The Seattle FBI office said the calls were probably made by Crisman to build up the story for a profitable sale to Palmer. The Fourth Air Force report recommended no further Army investigation and that Crisman's reserve commission be reviewed.
On 7 August Dahl and Crisman signed a statement that the rock formations came from a Maury Island gravel pit and had no connection with flying discs. Major George Sanders took Smith and Arnold to a smelter near Tacoma, where the slag was "definitely similar" to the fragments. The Fourth Air Force investigator also doubted Dahl's account, citing the state of the boat and the absence of newspaper reports from Tacoma harbor. On 14 August the FBI Seattle office said Dahl had not admitted a hoax to Smith but said he would call it one if questioned.
Where the files disagree
Two documents give different accounts of the same detail. Both are quoted as written; we don't say which is right.
Time of the B-25 crash
What the files say
“PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT DAHL DID NOT ADMIT TO SMITH THAT HIS STORY WAS A HOAX BUT ONLY STATED THAT IF QUESTIONED BY AUTHORITIES HE WAS GOING TO SAY IT WAS A HOAX”
Page 118 →“INFORMATION AS YET NOT VERIFIED INDICATED THE ENTIRE STORY STARTED BY DAHL AND CRISMAN POSSIBLY TO PROMOTE SALE OF SLAG FOUND IN A GRAVEL PIT ON MAURY ISLAND, WN.”
Page 26 →“The three men then drove to the Smelter and the slag was noted to be definitely similar to the fragments which CRISMAN and DAHL had left in the Hotel room.”
Page 48 →“That no further investigation be undertaken on this specific incident by Army Air Force personnel.”
Page 17 →
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- Hoax: Dahl and Crisman signed a statement that the fragments had no connection with flying discs, and Dahl admitted the disc statement to Palmer was false. — FBI UFO case file section 2: flying disc records (1947-1968), page 138
- Slag: Major Sanders believed the fragments resembled smelter slag, and the slag at the Tacoma smelter was noted to be definitely similar. — FBI UFO case file section, flying disc records (1947-1968), page 48
- Motive: FBI Seattle reported the story was probably built up to sell it to Palmer; a Fourth Air Force officer questioned the boat damage and the lack of other witnesses. — FBI UFO case file section, flying disc records (1947-1968), page 37
- Crash cause: engine fire burned the left wing off the B-25, with no sign of sabotage. — FBI UFO case file section, flying disc records (1947-1968), page 42