Learn about the Maury Island UFO incident, a less well-known case from 1947 that took place just days before the Roswell and Kenneth Arnold incidents. Discover the story behind the alleged doughnut-shaped craft that dropped debris on Maury Island, the men in black who threatened the witnesses, and why the incident is widely considered a hoax.
Introduction to the Maury Island UFO Case
With most of the UFO attention from 1947 going to Roswell and the remainder being allocated to the Kenneth Arnold UFO as few weeks prior to the alleged flying saucer crash, the Maury Island UFO case gets somewhat over looked.
The Maury Island UFO Incident
On June 21, 1947, just three days before the Kenneth Arnold UFO case and two and a half weeks before the infamous Roswell incident, the late Fred L. Crisman and Harold Dahl reported a UFO incident on Maury Island in South Puget Sound, the southern reaches of Puget Sound in Southwest Washington, USA.
The Witnesses' Story
Crisman’s story came mostly from the information he shared with Kenneth Arnold, who was investigating reports in the Pacific Northwest after his own experience on June 24th, 1947. Arnold interviewed Crisman and Dahl who falsely claimed to be patrolmen and with Crisman being the one to share the majority of the story, he told Arnold that the duo had witnessed debris falling from the sky. They claimed to have seen a doughnut-shaped craft that was responsible for dropping the material on the beach of Maury Island.
The FBI Investigation
Ultimately, the FBI investigated the case and concluded it was a hoax, but that didn’t stop the duo from contacting multiple media outlets to share and build up their story. It’s believed they did this to try get a deal with Fantasy Magazine, Chicago, Illinois, but their imagination didn’t manage to achieve their target.
More on the Maury Island UFO Hoax
Crisman then told Arnold that they were approached by ”men in black” the following morning who threatened Dahl, stating: “I know a great deal more about this experience of yours than you will want to believe.”
The story was published in the May 1947 edition of Amazing Stories, but upon researching, we discovered this archived issue has been removed from the archives. More on that story here.
Additional information: The Maury Island UFO incident has sparked a lot of debate among UFO enthusiasts. Some argue that the incident was a cover-up and that the men in black were government agents trying to silence the witnesses. Others believe that the incident was indeed a hoax perpetuated by the witnesses to gain attention or financial gain. While the truth behind the Maury Island incident remains a mystery, it is a fascinating piece of UFO history that deserves more attention.
