Flying Saucers, Report of

This document is a memorandum dated July 26, 1950, from Lieutenant Rolland L. Soule of the 13th Naval District to the District Intelligence Officer. The report details information provided confidentially by Lieutenant Charles Kinzel, Chief of the Washington State College Police Force. According to the report, a Washington State Patrolman stationed in the Horseheaven Hills district was called to a location where an excited citizen had discovered a saucer-shaped metal object. The object reportedly contained written material. An Army officer from the Hanford Atomic Project in Richland, Washington, arrived at the scene and retrieved the object. A subsequent discussion between the military officer and the state patrolman allegedly suggested that flying saucers come in various sizes, ranging from 20 inches to 250 feet in diameter. The claims further asserted that some of these objects are guided missiles, some are piloted by humans, and all are powered by atomic energy and capable of speeds up to 600 miles per hour, with launches originating from the Hanford Atomic Project. Lieutenant Soule notes that these claims appear to align with information found in the July 1950 issue of Reader's Digest. The author expresses significant concern regarding the security of classified information and questions whether the military officer involved in the recovery violated security protocols. The document also includes a brief, unrelated newspaper clipping from Fairbanks, Alaska, dated July 1, 1950, regarding an Alaska Air Command announcement that a flaming object seen over Fairbanks was a meteor.