Harold Dahl and Fred Crissman
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Timber Salvagers |
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Credits: Oeming
The Maury Island Incident: The Mysterious UFO Sighting That Preceded Roswell
Long before the infamous Roswell incident, another strange UFO encounter had already begun to captivate the public's imagination. On June 21, 1947, two Tacoma timber salvagers— Harold Dahl and Fred Crissman —reported witnessing an extraordinary event near Maury Island in Puget Sound. Their story involved a large, doughnut-shaped "flying saucer" that exploded in mid-air, sending debris raining down onto Dahl’s boat. This shocking encounter, though overshadowed by the more widely known Roswell event just weeks later, was a catalyst for many of the UFO conspiracy theories that would emerge in the years to come.
The incident occurred just days before Kenneth Arnold’s famous sighting on June 24, 1947, which would soon make national headlines and spark the public’s fascination with flying saucers. Dahl and Crissman’s report, however, was initially made public in the wake of Arnold’s encounter, on June 26, 1947. They claimed that, as they were boating near Maury Island, they saw six massive, doughnut-shaped craft flying above them. One of the UFOs appeared to malfunction and began to drop pieces of debris, which struck Dahl's boat, tragically killing his dog and injuring his son. Terrified, Dahl and his son sought shelter on a nearby island.
When they returned to Tacoma, Dahl showed the alleged fragments of the UFO to his employer, Fred Crissman, and together they decided to take their story to the authorities. But the strange tale didn’t end there.
Shortly after, on June 26, 1947, with the national press buzzing over Kenneth Arnold’s own UFO encounter in the Cascade Mountains, Crissman handed over two fragments of the mysterious debris to pulp science fiction magazine publisher Ray Palmer. Dahl also reported that, in the days following the incident, a mysterious "man dressed in a black suit" had approached him, warning him to remain silent about the encounter. Even more bizarrely, Dahl claimed that this man somehow interfered with his photographs of the UFOs, leaving them inexplicably fogged.
Despite the dramatic nature of their story, the Maury Island incident was later exposed as a hoax. Yet, it didn’t fade into obscurity. Instead, it fueled rumors of government cover-ups, alien encounters, and shadowy figures in black suits—ideas that would go on to shape UFO lore for decades to come. The publication of the “Maury Island Mystery” in 1952 would further stoke these fires, weaving the tale into the fabric of American science fiction and conspiracy theories, which persist to this day.
The Maury Island incident remains one of the most peculiar and debated UFO sightings in history. Even though it was ultimately debunked, its impact on UFO mythology is undeniable—serving as one of the earliest and most mysterious pieces of the puzzle in the story of extraterrestrial encounters.
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