This UFO catastrophe, which occurred on June 21, 1947 near Maury Island (Washington state, USA), can be considered almost forgotten, because after the famous incident near Roswell (New Mexico) on July 2 of the same year in the ufological literature about it is very rare mentioned.
Six "donuts" in the sky
As you know, Kenneth Arnold observed flying saucers over the Cascade Mountains in Washington state on June 21, 1947. And three days earlier, not far from Tacoma, in the same state, Harold Dahl with his young son, two friends and his faithful dog Jim sailed on a boat along Puget Sound near Maury Island. The weather was excellent, and the travelers enjoyed the outdoors, trying to capture all the highlights of the voyage on film.
It seemed that this trip would be remembered only for wonderful fishing, delicious fish soup and beautiful landscapes, but fate decreed otherwise. Glancing at the sky, Dal suddenly froze, his eyes widening in surprise. In the sky, at an altitude of about 500-600 m above the boat, there were some strange objects that in their appearance resembled donuts. Five "donuts" circled around the sixth, which was clearly struggling to maintain the height.
Dal's satellites also noticed the mysterious flying machines, one of them grabbed a movie camera, and the other tried to contact the base to report a UFO. Unfortunately, the radio was not working: it looks like it was somehow influenced by the presence of strange objects. Most of all, Dal and his companions were struck by the fact that they did not see any signs of exhaust gases from the alleged engines in the flying "donuts", there were no protrusions, no wings, they did not look like balloons either. People did not understand at all how the strange devices were kept in the air.
UFO explosion and death of a dog
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Meanwhile, the faulty "donut", and behind it and his companions, dropped even lower. It was already possible to discern that the silvery objects were made of metal, and along their perimeter, something similar to portholes was noticeable. The diameter of the mysterious objects, according to a rough estimate, was about 30 m.
Dal and his companions watched with excitement the attempts of the apparatus in distress to gain altitude, when suddenly it exploded, showered the water surface and the coast of the island with red-hot debris. There was a squeal of a dog, which turned into a wheeze, and the cry of Dal's son - two fragments that got into the boat found their victims. Fortunately, the boy only slightly touched his hand, but old Jim was not lucky: the splinter hit the dog in the throat, and she died in front of the shocked owners.
After the explosion, the rest of the UFOs gained altitude and instantly disappeared. If it were not for the dog's corpse, the boy's wound and the strange, slag-like debris, one would think that the whole incident had been dreamed in a nightmare.
Of course, no one thought about continuing the journey. The death of the dog, the shock experienced did not at all dispose to further rest in the bosom of nature, and the boat was damaged. I wanted to return to the people as soon as possible, the travelers were uncomfortable with everything that had happened. After burying the dog on the shore and taking with them several fragments of the mysterious object, the whole company went to the base, where they handed the filmed film and the wreckage to Fred Chrisman, the co-owner of the boat.
The day after the boat was repaired, Harold Dahl returned to the island to look for other UFO wrecks on the beach. At this time, a UFO swept over the island at great speed, like two drops of water similar to those "donuts" that they saw the day before.
The investigation of the disaster is being conducted by intelligence
The story told by Dahl and his friends was considered a prank by many, but three days later, Kenneth Arnold saw flying saucers over the Cascade Mountains, and the era of UFOs began. They immediately remembered the case with Dahl. Science fiction magazine editor Ray Palmer asked Kenneth Arnold to carry out an editorial investigation into the Maury Island case. Kenneth agreed, especially since intelligence officers Captain William Davidson and Lieutenant Frank M. Brown, who later flew in a B-25 military aircraft to join Kenneth in Tacoma, were to take care of it.
The investigation into the incident was clearly under the auspices of military intelligence, and the magazine was more of a cover. This is evidenced at least by the fact that upon arrival at Takomu Arnold could not find accommodation in any way, but suddenly, completely unexpectedly, he found out about a room reserved for him in the best hotel. Most likely, this room was equipped with wiretapping equipment, so that the entire investigation was under the control of the military.
Soon, Kenneth Arnold met with Dahl, and he told him in detail about the UFO crash. Dal also reported on the strange visit of a man in black, who described the whole picture of the incident to him in detail, as if he was with Dal and his companions in the same boat. The mysterious stranger said, “Everything I have said is proof to you that I know much more about this incident than you can imagine …” It seems that Dahl was one of the first witnesses of the UFO phenomenon visited by the mysterious man in black. In subsequent years, the men in black visited many eyewitnesses and ufologists to intimidate them and thus distract them from investigating the mysterious phenomenon.
After this meeting, Dahl invited Arnold to his home, where he showed the UFO wreck he had found on Maury Island beach. The fragment did not make the proper impression on Kenneth, because it rather resembled a volcanic rock. Later, Arnold had the opportunity to inspect other similar wrecks, and maybe even a film filmed by Dahl's satellite, although to this day the story of the film remains a mystery - no one admits that he saw him. If the film existed, it fell into the hands of the military and was classified.
Kenneth considered his mission completed and soon met with Brown and Davidson, who later joined him to inspect the collected materials. Arnold and Dahl explained to the officers in detail all the circumstances of the case, but the scouts with all their appearance showed complete indifference to their story and in the end made it clear that they were taking this whole story for an ordinary hoax. Dal, of course, was insulted to the depths of his soul and closed in on himself. It is possible that this is exactly what the intelligence officers were trying to achieve. Perhaps someone needed an eyewitness not to spread about this incident for fear of ridicule.
Why did the plane explode?
The UFO crash case did not end there. Another mysterious incident followed. On board the military plane, Brown and Davidson took a cardboard box containing a UFO shard. The plane took off, piloted by Sergeant Elmer L. Tuff. On board, in addition to the intelligence officers, was a passing passenger - technician Woodrow D. Mattheus. Such free passengers from airport staff, called "hitchhikers," were common on military aircraft at the time. 20 minutes after takeoff, the plane exploded in the air. Sergeant Tuff and Technician Mattheus escaped by parachute, while Brown and Davidson were killed in the explosion.
What exploded on the plane? Was the explosion caused by technical reasons or was a UFO wreck exploding? Perhaps the technician Mattheus was not a random fellow traveler and the scouts were simply removed? At one time, there was a version among ufologists that the UFOs that Dal observed were terrestrial, man-made devices that may have belonged to the Atomic Energy Commission, and Maury Island was used by this department as a secret dump of radioactive waste. Dal and his companions allegedly became unwanted witnesses of the removal of this waste to the island and the accident of one of the aircraft. The mysterious man in black could well have been an agent of this department. Of course, it seems incredible that the United States at that time had such advanced aircraft, although, as you know, in Nazi Germany developed their own "flying saucers",and after the war, all the main specialists in missile and aviation technology were removed from this country to the United States. Why not assume that, together with the Americans, they managed to design such unusual aircraft?
Despite the very mysterious circumstances of the incident at Maury Island, this story with the UFO disaster was considered doubtful by many, and then it was almost completely forgotten in connection with the hype surrounding the disaster at Roswell. Maybe the one who wanted not to be interested in this catastrophe achieved his goal?
Fyodor PERFILO