Maury Island hoax investigation — Tacoma, Washington, July-August 1947 (detailed investigation file)

Section 3 contains the primary detailed investigation narrative of the Maury Island incident. Harold Dahl's account (as relayed by J.E. Smith, a United Airlines captain who was present at the Winthrop Hotel interviews): on June 24, 1947, Dahl and others in a boat near Maury Island, Washington, observed four or five objects at approximately 1,500 ft altitude, circular in shape, approximately 100 ft in diameter, each with a visible hole in the center and portholes visible on the inner ring. One object appeared to be in distress; another maneuvered to make contact with it for approximately two minutes before rising. The distressed object then ejected debris through a porthole, some of which struck the boat, killing a dog and damaging the wheelhouse. FBI investigation, in coordination with Army Air Forces, concluded the entire story was fabricated. Dahl and Crisman signed sworn statements admitting they had picked up gravel pit rock formations from Maury Island and falsely implied they could be disc fragments after a magazine editor suggested it. Fragments were confirmed by Major Sanders and others to be slag from a nearby smelter. The associated B-25 crash that killed Captain Davidson and Lieutenant Brown was determined to be accidental.

“Dahl's account (via Smith): objects 'were 100 feet in diameter, circular in shape, and it appeared there was a hole in the center of each as he could see the sky through this hole. He also mentioned that on the inside of the circle or the hole, portholes were visible.' Dahl and Crisman's signed statement: 'In the early part of June [1947] we picked up some strange rock formations from a gravel pit on Maury Island...One of us told [Palmer] the fragments could have been from a flying disc.'”

This section contains J.E. Smith's multi-page sworn statement and detailed narrative of events July 31 - August 3, 1947, plus Dahl and Crisman's signed voluntary admission. The investigation was collaborative between FBI Special Agent MacLean, Army Captain Bjorning, and eventually SAC offices in multiple cities. Anonymous phone calls claiming the B-25 was 'shot down with 20mm shells' were assessed as deliberate disinformation. Crisman was assessed as the likely source of these calls; he left Tacoma shortly after the crash. The document is well-preserved with good OCR quality in portions read (960-1,700 of 4,742 lines). File was truncated.