The Maury Island UFO Incident: The Story behind the Air Force’s first military plane crash

by Charlette LeFevre

  A piece of rock-like metal, alleged to have dropped from one of the "Flying Saucers" which have been reported sighted from 38 American States, arrived here (Chicago) today for analysis by metallurgists of Chicago University. The sample was accompanied by one of the most detailed accounts reported of the Airborne Discs. The Hindu Madras, July 10, 1947.

  July 22, Tuesday

  Ray Palmer of Venture Press wrote to Kenneth Arnold: “Dear (Mr. Arnold): Quite obviously you have been ribbed so much you'd like to forget the flying saucers -- but I'd sure like to have your personal story, your photo, pic of your plane, etc., as I asked before. And you won't be made to look silly, because there's more to this than the newspapers and the ‘experts’ have made of it.

  Besides the articles, I have another proposition. You seem to get around quite a bit, and if you can make a trip to Tacoma, Washington at all feasible, I'd be willing to pay expenses plus a nice amount to make it worth your while.”

  I'd want you to see (Mr. Harold A. Dahl), P.O. Box 154, Fern Hill Station, Tacoma, and (Mr. Fred L. Crisman). Dahl, and two other seamen, on a patrol near Maury Island, off Tacoma, saw six discs, one in trouble, witnessed an explosion, saw falling stuff which smashed their wheelhouse and searchlight and landed on the beach. They sent me a sample, which Chicago U has failed to analyze. I want a picture of the beach and the stuff that landed there (about twenty tons, they said). And I want somebody who'll get the truth. to find out if these boys are on the up and up. You could do that. I hope you will. If agreeable, please write and perhaps we can talk business. I think you'd like to prove this thing too!

  Anyway, I still want that article! - FBI Report-August 4, 1947

  July 22, Tuesday

  Kenneth Arnold met Capt. William Davidson and 1st Lieut. Frank Brown at Hotel Owyhee in Boise, ID.

  Kenneth Arnold and Dave Johnson of The Idaho Statesman had been requested to send in a complete written report of the sightings to the commanding officer of Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH.

  9:30 pm - Arnold, Davidson, and Brown met with Capt. Emil Smith.

  Winthrop Hotel Tacoma, photo by Charlette LeFevre

  July 29, Tuesday

  5:30 am - Kenneth Arnold left for Tacoma to interview Harold Dahl. On the way to Tacoma, Arnold saw a formation of 20-25 brass colored objects.

  2:55 pm - Dave Johnson Aviation Editor of the Idaho Statesman asked 1st Lt. Frank Brown to Investigate Palmer’s magazine Venture “ as out of line for present public interest in story” – FBI report, 1947

  7:43 pm - Arnold arrived in Tacoma after stopping at Barry’s airport and checked into room 502 of the Winthrop Hotel. Arnold was trying to confirm his registration, which mysteriously had already been made in his name. Dahl informed Arnold he would be there in a half hour and they talked for two hours.

  9-10 pm - Arnold and Dahl went to the home of Dahl's secretary. Arnold recalled the secretary’s house was just about 10 minutes away from the hotel.

  Arnold recalled the house was on a corner.

  “(Dahl) handed me a dark colored rock ash tray “here is one of the fragments from Maury Island. We’ve been using it as an ashtray. I remember saying, “Why Harold that’s only a piece of lava rock! COS p.38

  Harold did not have any metal pieces at this residence but stated Fred Crisman had a whole box full in his garage and offered to go over to see it right away. Arnold declined to visit Crisman’s garage, as it was likely late in the evening.

  Note: Dahl never attempted to take Arnold to his house; instead, they went to a house used as an office by his secretary. This is likely because of a preceding incident a few weeks earlier with reporter Ernie Vogel in which Dahl’s wife Helen was quite irate with her husband for furthering a fabricated story to the extent of brandishing a knife on Dahl. It is not likely that Dahl wanted a scene like that repeated again.

  In early June on a Sunday Evening, Ernie Vogel a United Press reporter interviewed Dahl: “I went out to visit one of them (Dahl) and we sidled out on to the back porch. His wife came out with a butcher knife and I thought she was after me but she waved it under his nose and said ‘I’m tired of being embarrassed by your lies. Tell the man the truth. Herbert Strentz. A Survey of Press Coverage of Unidentified Flying Objects, 1947-66 from the Journalism Department of Northwestern University.1970.

  Vogel stated that he went to the home of Harold Dahl on 3903 N. Gove St. to check with him on this flying disc story. Vogel stated that Dahl took him into the kitchen and proceeded to talk about this flying disc story in low muffled tones. He stated that Dahl acted rather suspicious and that shortly his wife came into the kitchen and was in a considerable rage telling Dahl to admit that the entire story was a plain fantasy, which he had dreamed up. He stated that after his wife told Dahl to admit the entire story was false, that Dahl then admitted that there was nothing whatever to the story and it was an entire hoax. Vogel stated that in view of the enraged condition of Dahl’s wife, he immediately left and reported to the Seattle PI that the entire story was a hoax and they should not print it in any way. He advised the PI that Dahl was a mental case and that nothing which he had reported should be carried as far as a news story. - FBI Report August 19, 1947- p.3

  12:00 am midnight- Dahl drove Arnold back to the hotel and made arrangements to see Crisman in the morning.

  July 30, Wednesday

  9:30 am - Crisman and Dahl visited Arnold in Room 502 Winthrop Hotel – Arnold told Dahl and Crisman he was calling in Captain E.J. Smith to help with the investigation.

  Arnold asked Crisman for some of the white metal as well as other fragments he had stored in his garage.

  am – Paul Lantz met Arnold in the Winthrop hotel lobby and tried to strike up a conversation and he came up to the room several times that afternoon in attempts to get a story. Arnold and Smith questioned Lantz as to how he knew why they were there and his suspicion that it had something to do with flying saucers. At the time, Arnold and Smith were suspicious of Crisman and Dahl leaking information. Crisman and Arnold left the hotel and Crisman took Arnold to Barry’s airport in Tacoma. Arnold flew to Seattle where he picked up Capt. Smith.

  3:00 pm - Smith and Arnold arrived back in Tacoma and Arnold parked his car at Barry’s airport. Fred Crisman drove them to the Winthrop hotel.

  4:30 pm -Meeting with Crisman Dahl, Smith, and Arnold at the Winthrop Hotel in Tacoma. Dahl related some bad luck situations including his sixteen-year-old son running away and that he had been picked up in Montana following the visit of an intimidating man.

  It appeared that Kenneth Arnold had formed a friendship with Smith in an earlier meeting and by Arnold pulling Smith into this inquiry, which was receiving so much attention from the news, it looked like a partnership that could benefit both parties. Smith according to Arnold would say, “Ken, whether you like it or not, you got a roommate. I’m going to stay here until I found out what gives!” COS p.42

  5:00 pm - Crisman drove Smith to Seattle to get his car, Dahl also left the Winthrop hotel.

  7:30 pm Smith returned to the Winthrop. Paul Lantz tried to interview.

  9-10 pm – Harold Dahl and Fred Crisman arrived and came to meet Arnold at the Winthrop. Note: Arnold and Smith’s unusual sightings formed somewhat of a kinship. Arnold by this time was calling Smith “Smithy” and their partnership would reinforce each other’s stories.

  July 31, 1947 Thursday

  Mo rning-Crisman and Dahl awoke Arnold and Smith. Crisman and Dahl had brought in more slag. Arnold, Smith, Dahl and Crisman stepped out for breakfast at a “little working man’s café” in the lower section of town. There they met Dahl’s work crew and although they were not asked directly to verify Dahl’s story, a number of references were made to the original sighting of Dahl on June 21st on Maury Island and it appeared Arnold and Smith were satisfied with the meeting making a note of the good food. After breakfast, Arnold took movies of Crisman, Dahl, and Smith near their vehicles.

  After breakfast Arnold, Smith, Crisman, and Dahl e
xamined the large amounts of slag in the hotel room.

  “All of the pieces of the dark lava-like substance were perfectly smooth on one side and slightly curved while the other side looked like it had been subjected to terrific heat. The metal or lava was extremely heavy, a little brass colored. Even a small piece of this dark metal, about the size of a person’s hand and about an inch thick was quite a labor to lift with one hand.”

  It was suggested that these fragments could have been the lining to some kind of power tube. When they lined up all the pieces, following the curve of the smooth surface, they saw that they could have been a lining of a tube of some kind about six feet in diameter.

  Fred Crisman handed Arnold a piece of the “white metal.” It was very light but no more so than the ordinary aluminum, which certain sections of all large military aircraft are made of. “If this was truly the light metal that Harold Dahl said was spewed from the strange aircraft we knew or thought we knew that it was a fake. We had seen hundreds of piles of this stuff in salvage dumps where surplus Army bombers had been junked.”

  “There was only one unusual thing about this white metal that made us stop and wonder. On one piece that Crisman had handed us, we could plainly see that two parts of it had been riveted. However the rivets were not round, they were square and long rivets. I had never seen that type of rivet used in the aircraft we manufacture. This piece of metal did not correspond with Harold Dahl’s’ original description of the extremely light white metal. “ COS p.47

  Arnold related that he asked Crisman how he knew Ray Palmer. Crisman would say he became acquainted through Venture Magazine, which he purchased from the newsstands. What Crisman did not divulge was that the previous year he had written to Palmer about being shot by strange beings in a Burma cave.

  Arnold suggested they call in Military Intelligence Capt. Davidson and 1st Lt. Brown as they had asked Arnold in a prior interview to call or wire them if anything unusual came up. Arnold thought if this indeed was a hoax or story, an interrogation by the military would show their hand.

  Arnold called Lt. Frank Brown collect at Fourth Air Force, Hamilton Field, California. Oddly, Lt. Brown refused to take the call collect but informed the operator to notify Arnold he would call back immediately from an off base pay telephone. Arnold would state that Lt. Brown had a distinct slow Southern drawl.

  Upon the return phone call, Arnold informed Lt. Brown he was inquiring into the story of a sighting at Maury Island and that he felt neither Arnold nor Smith were capable of discerning the story as true or a hoax.

  11:30 am – The first call by an anonymous informant was placed to Tacoma Times Paul Lantz about a meeting taking place in Room 502 concerning disc fragments.

  The anonymous person had initially called for reporter Burt McMurtrie at the Tacoma Times, but McMurtrie was out and the call was taken by reporter Paul Lantz. called Arnold about information other than he was on a "government mission" FBI ReportCrisman 8/19/47)

  Sometime thereafter reporter Burt McMurtrie the tip, but Arnold gave McMurtrie no

  3:30 pm – Arnold and Capt. Smith discussed airplanes and fishing with Crisman and Dahl for the next hour.

  Elevators at the Winthrop Hotel Tacoma, photo by Charlette LeFevre Ted Morello called and again mentioned he had received a call from the mysterious informant from a payphone who was limiting the conversation time to fifteen or twenty seconds. Morello had him on the other line and asked Arnold to count noses in his hotel room. Morello said it was the same person and voice that had been calling him for the last two days. This discounted Dahl or Crisman as suspects of the mysterious informant.

  Paul Lantz called a few minutes after Ted Morello asking for an interview and Arnold gave the phone to Smith who promptly hung up. Lantz came and knocked on the door and Smith frisked him to the shock of Lantz and ushered him back into the hallway informing him whatever they were doing was none of his business.

  Harold Dahl gave Arnold and Smith his phone number and said something like Crisman would be able to take care of everything as far as his part went and left the hotel. Capt. Smith invited Crisman downstairs Arnold believed for a private conversation.

  4:30 pm- Brown and Davidson arrived at the Winthrop Hotel. The B-25 Bomber that Capt. Davidson and 1st Lt. Brown flew in was serviced with 200 gallons of fuel. Having two new engines recently installed it was an updated plane and by all appearances in fine working condition although on July 24th the B-25 was test flown for one hour by Capt. Pesik Test Pilot who reported “the hydraulic pressure was too low” but was corrected on July 29th.

  Sgt. Woodrow Mathews, a passenger that was going to fly back to Hamilton Field with Davidson and Brown made an exterior inspection of the aircraft, which included checking all the exhaust stacks. He would state in his Air Force testimony that “the plane was scheduled for Long Beach previously but they changed the schedule.” Sgt. Mathews also related there was nothing abnormal in the first 40 minutes of the plane flight.

  4:30-7:00 pm - Crisman related Dahl’s Story. 7:00 pm-Davidson showed Arnold privately a photo of a Phoenix, AZ sighting the day before.

  Crisman handed Davidson and Brown some of the fragments that were lying in a pile on the floor. There were 25-30 pieces. When they offered (Brown and Davidson) pieces of the fragments from the room to take them with them, they were just not interested. Neither did they seem a bit enthusiastic about the box of fragments Fred Crisman had gone to get.

  Near Midnight - Crisman told Brown and Davidson that he would go home and get a box of the fragments and would bring them down immediately so they could take them to Hamilton Field.

  Smith stated to the FBI that Brown asked Smith in confidence to take a look at fragments when they visit Maury Island and he would contact him the next day to see what he thought and if it was of interest, they would return immediately. This request might have explained why Davidson and Brown were not very interested in returning to Hamilton Base with slag fragments.

  “Just as the army command car pulled up in front of the hotel, Fred Crisman arrived. He started taking a large Kellogg cornflakes box out of the trunk of his car. We assumed it was the fragments. Arnold helped Crisman unload this box from the trunk of the command car and put it in. Arnold could see the top of the box flapping open. Inside the box were a great number of large chunks of material that looked similar to the fragments we had in our room. Somehow, though they looked more rocky and less metallic. All of the pieces I could see were much thicker than any of the pieces we saw in our room.” -COS p.56

  After Midnight - After Capt. Davidson and Brown left, Crisman, Arnold, and Smith went out for coffee and donuts. Crisman left for home. Arnold noted that Crisman said he wasn’t married, but according to public records Crisman had married Filo Veristain in 1942 and they were living together in 1947.

  Ted Morello called after they had returned to the hotel room and insisted Arnold and Smith deny or confirm information that had taken place in the room. Arnold handed the phone to Smith who hung up. Arnold would relate that they had previously agreed to not discuss information with the media and perhaps now felt more comfortable that this investigation was turned over to the military.

  Arnold related in his book that Capt. Smith in the tub or upon retiring sang a leaky faucet song that was nationally popular at the time. (The song was likely “Bloop Bleep,” sung by Danny Kaye about a man tossing and turning to a leaky faucet, a surprise hit from Frank Loesser.)

  Bloop, bleep, bloop, bleep, bloop, bleep The faucet keeps a-drippin’ and I can’t sleep Bleep, bloop, bleep, bloop, bloop, bloop, bleep I guess I never should’ve ordered clam soup…

  Notes: Why was the B-25 Bomber flight plan changed from Long Beach to Hamilton field?

  Could the metal pieces been from the wreckage of a plane that was secretly dumping slag from Hanford Nuclear Plant in Central Washington?

  In the book “What Happened in Room 502?”, it’s stated that Crisman had given Arnold the idea of making a short film of the ent
ire trip and cash in on his name to make a lecture tour with it. Crisman had informed Arnold about a Hollywood production company who had come into Tacoma last December, filmed for ten days, and made a full travelogue of the city and surroundings. Arnold would later claim his film was stolen. It is believed though that due to a later interview Arnold had made an agreement with Palmer at one time that Palmer would have the rights to the book and Arnold would retain movie rights.

  August 1, 1947 Friday

  12:00- 2:00 am - Capt. Davidson and 1st Lt. Brown left the Winthrop Hotel to return to Hamilton Air Force Base in California. Passengers Technical Sgt. Woodrow D. Mathews and T4 Elmer L. Taff joined them. – FBI Report, SAC Wilcox, 1947

  2:12 am -Takeoff “Approximately 25 minutes later the left engine caught fire, the left wing came off and the aircraft crashed into a wooded area”.- John A. Walring, Police Patrolman, Longview Police Station

  2:35 am Kelso Patrolman John A.Walring saw the B-25 bomber on fire and witnessed the crash. “I was on duty the morning of August 1, 1947 and was cruising in my police car at about 2:35 in Longview, Washington when I looked up and saw airplane lights flying at approximately 21,000 feet. I noticed then it caught on fire again engulfing the whole airplane. It appeared then the pilot pulled the airplane up and seemed to go into a spin and lost altitude. The airplane came out of the spin, and started to corkscrew down and crashed straight into the ground. When the airplane pulled out of the first spin, he seemed to hold the airplane down to gain speed so others could get out. As he was pulling out of the dive the airplane rolled and the red light was visible above the flames at all times circling in a wide arc. The airplane was at about 8000 or 9000 feet when he started to cork screw out of control. I’ve had experience as a civilian pilot and have seen a Corsair and B-26 crash and a B-25 crash in the Marshall Islands. All three of these accidents occurred at night.