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

by Charlette LeFevre

  Names Revealed: Notified of the information passed along by the anonymous informant, Captain Smith said: ‘When the story breaks it will be given general release but it will NOT come from this room’ At the time he was in the Hotel Winthrop in conference with Arnold.

  Saturday Smith said he and Arnold would deny anything that was printed about the secret sessions held in the hotel. However, he was visibly disturbed and expressed consternation when notified late Saturday that the names of the dead pilot and co-pilot had been revealed before the army released them.

  According to the telephone callers, both the dead officers were members of military intelligence at Hamilton Field,

  Dahl said he would duck into a movie until it all blew over, seeming to escape all the sudden attention. Smith neglected to catch the name of the theater, which would lead them later on a hunt for Dahl. Smith and Arnold returned to the Winthrop hotel.

  5:30pm – Fifth and last call of anonymous informant placed to UP Ted Morello. Morello stated to the FBI that the informant that one of the men conferring with Capt. Smith and Arnold was taken to Alaska that day. The informant also stated the B-25 bomber was shot down from the air with a 20mm cannon. The informant also said the Marine plane recently found on Mt. Rainier had also been shot down and that Capt. Smith would be taken to Wright Field Tuesday morning. The informant also mentioned that United Airline pilot Morgan who flew with Capt. Smith was shot at over Montana. The anonymous caller stated he was leaving for San Francisco and would be back Tuesday.

  Morello had received word that Crisman had been taken aboard an AAF transport headed to Alaska. “They had a military prison up there and were going to sweat him, but good.” – WH Rm. 50 Smith called McChord and did confirm a transport for Alaska did leave but received no passenger list.

  A Visit to Ted Morello Smith and Arnold went over to see United Press reporter Ted Morello where they read the latest press releases and had a discussion with Morello regarding the anonymous phone calls.

  According to DeWayne Johnson, in Flying Saucers over Los Angeles, the gathering took place in the backroom of a Tacoma radio station probably KMO, which Morello was associated with.

  “During the course of the interview Arnold, particularly was extremely jumpy. He questioned us closely about hidden Dictaphones and, not satisfied with our assurance that none was planted, made a personal investigation of the tiny office. However, he did not discover that the ‘intercom’ had been converted into a microphone(!) According to Johnson, “a recording device hidden in an inter-office communication speaker took down the entire conversation.” Johnson,

  DeWayne Flying Saucers Over Los Angeles

  Ted Morello had invited them to hear a recorded interview of Sgt. Taff and Arnold and Smith made arrangements with Crisman to see Dahl’s boat about an hour later.

  Ted Morello’s office was just down on Broadway Street a few blocks away. On meeting Morello, Arnold would note he was a small, dark, middle-aged man with a limp. Morello led them to an auditorium that looked like a private screening room to play a recording of Sgt. Elmer L. Taff recounting the events on board the B-25.

  Taff in the recording according to Arnold would say, “Shortly before they took off the pilot and the co-pilot loaded a heavy cardboard box aboard the B-25. He noticed it particularly because it seemed very heavy for one man to carry. This box was placed over to one side of the compartment that he and the engineer occupied… Fifteen to twenty minutes after takeoff the left engine was on fire. Sgt. Mathews tried to pull the valve on the emergency firefighting system but it did not work.” COS p.60-61

  Morello when asked where he got the wire recording stated that he had phoned the hospital where Taff was being checked over. Arnold related to Morello his amazement at the quality of tape over the phone and how did they get past the AAF? Morello would reply “All the latest gadgets.”

  Ted Morello made a comment to Arnold and Smith that something was wrong when his informants could not get any information in the area. Ted Morello also informed Kenneth Arnold that the B-25 Bomber that landed at McChord Field had been under military armed guard every minute it was at the field. It was implied by the nature of that statement that this was unusual and Morello was scared for their safety.

  Ted Morello told Smith and Arnold, “You’re involved in something that is beyond our power here to find out anything about. We’ve exhausted every avenue attempting to piece what has happened together so it makes some sense. I’m just giving you some sound advice. Get out of this town until whatever it is blows over….I’m concerned with your welfare. I think you are nice fellows and I don’t want to see anything happen to you if I can prevent it.” COS p.69

  8:30 pm Smith called reporter Paul Lantz because of Lantz's earlier message to call at that time. Lantz repeated to Smith the information from the anonymous caller given to Morello, including that "one of the men... was taken to Alaska that day.”

  Later that evening Dahl came to Arnold's room, told them he didn’t know Crisman's whereabouts, and Dahl "left saying that he would try to find out where Crisman was and that he would call them tomorrow (Sunday) and that they would go out to Maury Island at that time.” Arnold phoned Barry’s “Sky Harbor” to check on his plane but they reported no disturbance. Even so, Arnold and Smith drove down to look the plane over then returned back to the hotel where they listened to the radio before retiring.

  Aug 3, Sunday

  9am – Breakfast with the Secretary - Dahl stopped by the Winthrop hotel shortly after 9am to take them to breakfast. He had changed his mind about meeting them at his secretary’s house and instead would drive them to breakfast.

  Dahl drove them to the secretary’s house to pick her up. Arnold in Coming of the Saucers blanked out or was confused how he arrived at the café. Arnold would later write he couldn’t remember how he got back to the Winthrop.

  Dahl would relate to Arnold that he had received a letter from Crisman shoved under his door. Dahl mentioned the letter was an “okay” to “take care of business” while he was gone, that he’d be back in a while, but thought he ought to be lying low for a spell. -WH Rm. 502.

  Note: Crisman’s behavior in leaving the area and “lying low” is questionable behavior as he was just informed by the military to give his address and make himself available. As a former Army personnel, it is highly possible Crisman could have taken a military plane on a hop to Alaska but would have had to give his name to McChord Field for their passenger list. It is also likely that Crisman never went to Alaska as he arrived back in Tacoma three days later on Aug. 5th to the Tacoma FBI office.

  Nobody seems to have noted the secretary’s name or any comments from her that would have verified aspects of Dahl and Crisman. Arnold said they had bacon and eggs. Another account says they stopped by The Inn on Pacific Hwy 99.

  “The Inn and had fried chicken as it was their special even though it was too early for lunch”. What Happened in Room 502?

  Smith placed a pay phone call and said he would return around noon.

  Smith stated in his FBI report that Dahl declined taking them to Maury Island saying he was “sick of the entire business” and if contacted by Army or authorities he would deny even having seen anything and claim to be “the biggest liar that ever lived.”

  After BreakfastSmith met with Major Sanders at The Coffee Pot Restaurant on South Tacoma Way (now known as Bob’s Java Jive) and told him what had taken place in Room 502. They went back to the Winthrop. – What Happened in Room 502?

  2-3:45 pm Smith met with an officer from McChord, Major Sanders of S2 Army Intelligence of McChord Field at the Winthrop hotel. Arnold remembered him saying that they would have the slag analyzed for the sake of being thorough but that he wanted us to take a drive with him. He was going to show Arnold and Smith thousands of tons of this stuff. Major Sander had gathered up all the pieces and piled them on top of several towels. He started to bundle them up, stopped short, and said, “We don’t want to overlook even one piece.” I
handed him my piece.”

  Arnold said, “This Major Sanders is a pretty smooth guy, but he’s not smooth enough at this point to convince me that these fragments aren’t pretty important in some way.” I suddenly felt that no one had played a hoax on anybody-COS p.77

  We drove clear out on the point of the peninsula. Soon we arrived at a large sign that read Tacoma Smelting Company. There were literally piles of lava like smelter slag. “At first glance it looked identical to the fragments Major Sander had taken from our room. I guess Major Sanders is right someone has played a hoax on us.” - COS p.77 “It looked a lot like the fragments we had been handling in our rooms

  --I thought it looks like the same stuff but it doesn’t feel like the same thing. The smelter slag that I picked up looked more like the box of supposed fragments that Crisman had given Davidson and Brown”

  COS p.78

  The FBI report stated McChord Intelligence Officer informed Public Relations officer had received a call from Army HQ in Washington D.C requested to obtain a signed statement from Dahl and Crisman, which could be published to publicly close matters.

  The FBI in their report said they would “set a trap for Crisman” who at the time was sent to Alaska. Whatever “the trap” was, Crisman was to next appear in Tacoma’s FBI office August 5th, three days later asking if the Seattle office was investigating the B-25 crash.

  4:30pm Smith and Arnold checked out of the Winthrop Hotel and decided to visit Dahl one last time. Arnold gave directions to Smith who was driving. When they arrived, Arnold was amazed the house was empty and vacant with cobwebs and did not look like someone had lived there for months. Arnold verified the corner lot, the porch, the door handle, and the aerial antenna coming from the window as all the same when he had visited the house a few days earlier. Arnold even had Smith drive around in case he mistook the address but they did not find any similar houses. Arnold and Smith left the area perplexed.

  Aug 4, Monday Noon -Lantz was contacted by Dahl and

  Crisman. Lantz stated to the FBI that he contacted Harold Dahl who advised Lantz if this were not used in the paper, he and Fred Crisman would meet him after lunch. Lantz stated that about noon Dahl and Crisman contacted him and stated the he Dahl and his son had been exploring a gravel pit on Maury Island and found some strange rock formations. They picked up some of these samples and Fred Crisman later saw the samples. Crisman sent these to a friend of his (Palmer?) to have analyzed. They stated that they received a report and that his friend had asked a newspaperman to check out where the rock formations were obtained. Both Crisman and Dahl informed Lantz that sometime after the first flying disc story had appeared, they received a telegram from Trans-Ocean Press from Chicago wanting information on the flying disk fragments. Crisman stated they had at no time indicated the rock formations were a part of a flying disc and that the military and Arnold were not interested in the rocks.

  Aug 5, Tuesday

  Fred Crisman walked into the Tacoma FBI office and asked if the Seattle FBI office was investigating the crash. They said they were not. Crisman was reported to have offered in a rambling story that said he had forwarded some rocks to Univ. of Chicago to have them analyzed and that in some manner unknown to him, the rocks were reported as being fragments of a flying disk.

  Aug. 7, Thursday

  Dahl and Crisman were interviewed at Tacoma FBI office. Dahl and Crisman at first denied any knowledge that these rock formations were portions of a disk fragment. The FBI agent would note in the report ”It was apparent from the start of the interview that Dahl and Crisman were not telling their complete and true connection with the flying disc story. They gave evasive answers. They stated that in the early part of June they sent to Palmer some rock formations they found on Maury Island. Palmer asked Dahl if the rock formations could have come from a flying disk? Dahl stated that in a letter he wrote Palmer the fragments “could have been portions of a flying disc.” Dahl claimed that he thought he told Palmer over the phone something about being on his boat when he obtained the rock formations but stated to the FBI he could not recall what he had written to Palmer and he claimed that he passed the whole thing off as a joke.

  Both Dahl and Crisman would say the only thing they had done was tell Ray Palmer the formations could have come from a flying disc in view of the fact it appeared “that’s what he wanted them to say.” - FBI Report 8/19/47 p.6A

  Note: Crisman admitted to working with Dahl to send Ray Palmer rock formations in the early part of June no light weight metal or discs were mentioned. If rocks were of interest in the early part of June this discounts that, the rocks came from a UFO later in June on the 21st as reported to Arnold.

  There is some speculation that the metal sheets and black lava like rocks came from a plane crash carrying industrial waste from the Hanford nuclear plant and the story was changed to UFOs as a cover for the mishap.

  Capt. William Lee DavidsonCapt. Davidson,

  courtesy of family William Shortley, unknown date. Capt. William L. Davidson, who was killed in the Kelso crash on August 1, 1947. It would become technically the Air Force’s first fatality as the Air Force separated from the Army August 1st.

  In reviewing the location of the crash and Capt. Davidson’s actions there is no doubt he attempted to put out the fire by diving and steered the

  plane to an unpopulated area five miles east of the Kelso Portland population. Capt. Davidson stayed with the plane until the very end. Davidson was born January 16, 1920 in Guymon, Oklahoma. According to Jim Pobst in “What Happened in Room 502,” Davidson had been married to a Panamanian native Ursula around 1940 who later returned to Panama.

  Davidson enlisted in the Army Air Corps in August 1942. He graduated as a pursuit pilot from the Army Air Forces School at Mission, Texas. He graduated as one of the ten highest in his class. He also received a medal as an expert aerial gunner. “Lt. William Davidson Graduates-from William Shortley’s Family Scrapbook

  Capt. William L. Davidson, second from right, photo courtesy of family, undated.

  Capt. William L. Davidson, photo courtesy of family, undated.

  A young William Davidson his wife, Ursula undated

  1st Lt. Frank Mercer Brown

  1stLt. FrankBrown, photo courtesy offamily. 1st Lt. Frank M. Brown, who was killed in the Kelso crash on August 1, 1947, was born February 19, 1919 in Montague, Texas. Brown served in combat in Italy as a B-25 pilot during World War II entering service in 1943. At the time of his death, Brown lived in Vallejo, California. Brown had received a purple heart, awarded when he was shot down during his fifth combat mission in Italy and the Air Medal.

  Brown had experience handling emergency situations. Flying his second combat mission with the 15th A.A.F. in Italy 2nd Lieut. Frank Brown was the pilot on a B-24 bomber and landed the plane after a draft caused the plane to take a spin and dive 6,000 ft. Brown had to pull the levers hard and they came out of the spin but as a result several 500 lb. bombs in the bay had broken loose. Brown asked his engineer to check on the rest of the plane who discovered all four of the passengers had parachuted to safety.

  “I never thought that Frank’s death was an accident” – Velma Brown, Widow of 1st. Lt. Frank M. Brown said in a letter to Kenneth Arnold.

  Paul Lantz

  Paul Lantz, courtesy of his family, unknown date “Paul Lantz was the one who smelled a story” – Ted Morello, UP reporter. Indeed Paul Lantz, the quiet reporter always inquiring would become an example of the consummate tenacious investigative reporter for the Maury Island Incident, always digging for answers. In the arena of Ufology, one cannot come across more intriguing those that Paul Lantz beginning days of modern day sightings and those regarding the Maury Island incident.

  Paul Lantz worked for five years for the Tacoma Times as church editor and police reporter.

  He is best known for writing the article in the August 2nd Tacoma Times that the B-25 bomber had been sabotaged.

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  Mysterious Death?

  Paul Lantz’s name, which was sometimes spelled erroneously as “Lance.” was born on April 24, 1918 and died January 10th, 1948 at the age of 29. Although Arnold had said it was two weeks after the Kelso crash, Lantz actually died six months after the incident of streptococci meningitis. Kenneth Arnold writes in his book “The Coming of the Saucers” an appreciation to Paul Lantz – “whose death we regret.” Regardless of any error of timeframe of death, there seemed to be a serious concern about the sudden passing of Lantz. Paul Lantz’s grandparents have communicated about their grandfather. “We are told that he died of Streptococci Meningitis. “Whether that’s true or a cover up I guess we'll never know.” According to Paul Lantz’s wife Evelyn, Paul died suddenly and unexpectedly. Jeni James, Paul Lantz’s granddaughter would comment, “As far as the polio goes...it sounds as though it left him with a noticeable limp or something. His spine was crooked and you could tell he had a problem. My grandma says that one leg was shorter than the other was. He was in pain a lot from his spine and would go to therapy for it. But my grandma says that he never used a cane or wheelchair.”

  Evelyn and Paul Lantz Jeni James stated she documented some information from her grandmother before she passed. “His wife mentioned that two FBI agents came to their house. I'm not sure at what point in time...I forgot to find that out. Two of them were dressed in black.”.