Report of Investigation: Project GRUDGE - Incident, Gilchrist Beach, Galveston, Texas

This document is a formal Report of Investigation conducted by the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) under Project GRUDGE. The investigation was initiated following a letter dated 4 March 1949, in which an individual from Beaumont, Texas, claimed to have observed a flying object near Gilchrist Beach, Galveston, Texas, in June 1948. The initial report described a flying object that produced a roaring noise and was approximately twelve to thirteen feet in length, which descended toward the water at a speed of forty miles per hour. Upon investigation by Special Agent Philip F. Hooker of the 5th OSI District, the witness was interviewed on 6 July 1949. During this interview, the witness, an eighteen-year-old male, retracted his previous claims. He stated that his letter to the editor of the Saturday Evening Post was a fabrication, created on a dare from friends after he had read an article titled 'What You Can Believe About Flying Saucers.' The witness admitted that he had not actually observed any such object and that the diagrams he provided were merely copies of illustrations found in other publications. The witness's parents were also interviewed and noted that their son had a history of telling imaginative stories. The investigation concluded that the incident was a hoax, and the original signed statement of retraction was forwarded to the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.