Authors: Charlette LeFevre,Philip Lipson
The Maury Island UFO Incident: The Story behind the Air Force’s first military plane crash (4 page)
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 LeFevreTed 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.
pm
-
Brown
and Davidson
arrived
at
the Winthrop
Hotel.
The B-25 Bomber that Capt. Davidson and 1
st
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 24
th
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 29
th
.
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 entire
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.
12:00- 2:00 am
- Capt. Davidson and 1
st
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
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.
“It is the opinion of the accident board that an exhaust stack either
burned or fell off exhausting flame into the engine cowl creating engine
fire.
“After leveling off at 10,000 feet on course Sgt. Mathews observed
sparks flying over the bomb bay and believed the source to be the
junction box and the main hydraulic reservoir in the bomb bay.
Immediately thereafter the pilot called the engineer’s attention to the
left engine which was on fire.”
According to the flight engineer’s statement, flames were first seen
emitting from the power section on the outboard side of the left
engine.
The fire extinguisher to the left engine was operated and the mixture
control and fuel shut-off valves were cut off.
The fire was next observed burning through the cowl flaps.
Upon receiving the pilot’s order to abandon the aircraft, the flight
engineer secured all the chutes for the crew, helped the pilot, co-pilot,
and passenger fasten the parachutes to their harnesses, and then
followed the passenger out of the aircraft.
Lt. Brown quickly told Sgt. Taff how to pull the rip cord when he
was sure he was clear of the ship and actually forcibly shoved him out
of the plane into the night.”
Taff related a good ten minutes had
elapsed between the time he parachuted out at 10,000 ft. until the fire
reached serious proportions and the plane started to dive.
Woodrow D. Mathews, crew chief of the bomber reported helping
Davidson and Brown into their parachutes and that at the time he
jumped, flames from the blazing left engine were pouring into the
cockpit. It was reported that Brown was “standing in the aisle ready to
leave the plane “when Mathews himself jumped out.
Brown was found outside the plane 50 yards away at the crash site with
his parachute harness on. Matthews related that the only reason he
could see that the officers did not get out was that the left wing might
have crumpled, trapping them in the plane.
T/4 Woodrow D. Mathews, crew chief of the bomber who put the
parachute on Sgt. Taff saving his life was proposed for the Soldier’s
Medal.
The aircraft crashed at approximately an 80 degree angle into a
heavily wooded area and exploded upon contact with the ground
The outer panel of the left wing was found intact approximately 500
yards from the main point of impact.
The wreckage was confined to an area approximately 150 long by 100
wide.
- Air Rescue Service Final Report, McChord Field, Tacoma Washington, Aug. 4,
1947
- Seattle airway Traffic Control reported aircraft crash. State
police were investigating.
3:32 am
- Air Force requested Portland Airway contact with Army
131c, the only Army aircraft in vicinity, on Channels “C” and “O”
VHF. Channel “A” at Portland was inoperative”
Portland Airways advised that Portland Tower reported crash
to be B-25.
3:41 am
Air Force called Chief of Police in Kelso Washington. Office
advised aircraft crashed at 02:35am. State Police and Kelso Police are
searching.
3:42 am
Portland Tower reported that Chief of Police in Kelso stated
that crash was still burning.
Chief of Police Kelso reported crash and location. “Aircraft
crashed, burst into flames, and burned rapidly.
Captain Manschneider advised he had contacted Maj. Sanders,
McChord Information
Officer and is
handling press
releases.
– Seattle Airway Traffic control called for cross check of
available information.
- Chief of Police, Kelso calls McChord and reported no luck
in finding aircraft.
Hamilton
Flight Service requested passenger list as filed
with Base Operations Office.
6:32 am
Sheriff at Kelso WA called AF with latest information. The
AF requested that no information be released to the press by either the
Sheriff’s office or the Kelso Police Dept.
- Arnold and Smith informed of Crash.
Crisman called Arnold to inform him of a plane crash that he had
just heard over the radio.
Smith stated to the FBI that it was
approximately 8am. Crisman believed it was the B-25 bomber the one
Davidson and Brown were flying. “Did you hear over the radio this
morning that a B-25 exploded and crashed some twenty minutes after
take-off from McChord Field about 1:30 this morning?
I think you
and I
know who
was aboard that
plane._
COS
p,58
Arnold
remembered Capt. Smith was ready to take a bath and came out of the
tub still wet on hearing news of the crash. Smith grabbed the phone
and heard Crisman repeat the information. Arnold commented that
Capt. Smith became quite pale after listening to Crisman. Capt. Smith
called McChord and verified the crash but no other details.
Arnold turned on the radio but the news by then had passed the news
of the crash.
Smith called Morello and said he would stop by his office after the AF
contacted them.
Crisman came to the hotel.
