The Maury Island UFO Incident: The Story behind the Air Force’s first military plane crash (6 page)

‘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.

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. 5
^th
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 Breakfast
Smith 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 5
^th
, 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.

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.

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.

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 21
^st
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.