65: HS1-834228961 62-HQ-83894 섹션 008

The FBI's 62-HQ-83894 case file includes investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and flying discs documented between June 1947 and July 1968. The records include high-profile incident accounts, photographic evidence from sites like Oak Ridge, TN, and technical proposals regarding potential propulsion systems. Additional topics include convention programs, researcher accounts, and extensive media coverage from the period. This file is partially posted on FBI vault with more redactions and some pages missing. Included here is the complete case file with several newly declassified pages and only minor redactions.

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Director, FBI (62-83894) 7/22/54
TO DATE:
SAC, Cincinnati (65-1994)
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SUBJBC'l: ! TRUMA_N BETHURUM;
FLYING DISCS
MISCELLANEOUS - INFORMATION CONCERNING
(ESPIONAGE)
Remylet 6/8/54 and Bulet 6/22/54.
Attached are five copies of a memorandtnn
containing information set out in my letter of June 8,
~
1954 with additional information furnished by THOMAS
---11:ICKHOFF on Ju.iy 2, 1954.
On July 2, 1954, although EICKHOFF had been
so advised at the time of the original interview with
him on June 7, 1954, he was again advised in accordance
with instructions in reBulet.
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ENCLOSURES (5)
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TRUMAN BETHURUM
FLYING ll SCS
On June 7, 1954, Mr. Thomas Eickhoff, 3721
Tappan Avenue, Cincinnati 23, Ohio, Operator of Tom's
Beauty Salon, Neave Building, Fourth and Race Streets,
Cincinnati, Ohio, advised that although he belongs to
no organization interested 1n f'lyi saucers or discs,
he has been interested in this subject.
He said on June 3, 1954 an ad appeared in
'The Cincinnati Enquirt11t"11
,
a newspaper of general. circu­
lation in Cincinnati, Ohio, to the effect that on June
11, 1954 a program would be presented a he Ta!'t
Auditorium in Cincinnati, Ohio on 11 the r aJ. flying
saucer story." Mr. Eickhoff advised that this advertise­
ment disclosed no sponsor for this program and it was
only noted on the ad that tickets for the program sold
for ~2.00 per person and would be on sale at the Central
Ticket Off'ice in Cincinnati.
Mr. Eickhoff continued that because of his
interest in the subject of flying saucers, he desired
to know the sponsor of the program and found out fro
the Central Ticket Of'fice that the ad had been placed
by Henr,....-tmday, 364 West Lewiston Avenue, Ferndale 20,
Michigan. He said he telephonically contacted Maday
on June 3, 1954 and found that Maday was only the agent
having rented the Taft Auditorium and that he was
acting on behalf of Truman Bethurum and George Hunt
Williamson.
He continued that on June 4, 1954 Maday
cal.led him back an told him there had been a dis­
agreement between Maday, Bethurum and filliamson over
Maday's arrangement for the sale of tickets of the
program and the renting of the auditorium. Eickhoff
advised that Maday at no time said anything to discredit
either Bethurum or Williamson and indicated that their
d.isagreement concerned only Maday's placing the ad
in "The Cincinnati Enquirer" prior to having tickets
for the program available in Cincinnati .
.orIES DE TROY ,
27 NOV 919 4 I .,.

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Mr. Eickhoff further related that about ten
4,
minutes after he had talked to Maday on Friday, June
1954, he received a call from George ffim.t__fillliamson and
a Mr.,.....Manspeaker, who conf:l.rmed to him that Maday was no
longer associated with them, and asked that Eickhoff meet
with them at a luncheon at the Terrace Plaza Hotel,
Cincinnati, Ohio on June 7, 1954.
Mr. Eickhoff, in explanation of his interest
in this matter, advised that he had read such books as
"Flying Saucers From Outer Space ," written by Donald E.
Kehoe, retired major, U.S. Marine Corps, which book was
r,ublished by Harper's Publishers, and a book entitled
'Flying Saucers Have Landed," by George Adamski, which
book is published by Werner-Lowery Company in England,
and is distributed by the British Book Center in New York
City. He said that he has also heard broadcasts by
persons he considers reputable news commentators, such as
Walter Winchell, Fulton Lewis, Jr., and Frank Edwards,
to the effect that reliable persons have reported observing
flying discs or saucers. He said contrary to these reports,
the U.. Air Force has denied the existence of the flying
saucer and he felt that persons such as Truman Bethurum
and George Hunt Williamson, in presenting a program such
as that contemplated, were either truthful or they were
frauds. He stated that if they had a true story to tell,
then he felt it was of such nature that it should be given
as wide a distribution as possible, so that the people
might learn the true facts regarding flying discs. He
said, however, if their story was not true, then the hold­
ing of such a meeting as was contemplated would be a fraud
on the general public. He estimated that such a meeting
in Cincinnati might draw two thousand people , which, at
$2.00 apiece, would result in a 4,000.00 take for the
promoters.
To i dentify Truman Bethurum, Mr. Eickhoff had
with him two copies of the magazine "Valor, 11 'Which he stated
he got from Bethurum, this magazine being self-identified
as the 11 Golden Times Weekly," published by Soul Craft
Chapels, Post Office Box 192, Noblesville, Indiana. The
two issues which Mr. Eickhoff had with him were numbers 15
and 16 of volume 6 of the publication, the number 15 being
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dated February 6, 1954 and number 16 being dated
February 13, 1954. The number 15 issue contained an
article concerning Truman Bethurum, in which he is
identified as a truck driver from Redondo Beach, Calif­
ornia, and it refers to an article dated December 31,
19.53, which appeared in the 11 Daily Breeze, 11 a newspaper
at Redondo Beach, California, which allegedly contained
a description of an encounter which Truman Bethurum had
with a crew of assumed space explorers under the super­
vision of a ravishing woman commandant in the Nevada
desert. The article also reflects that Trwnan Bethurum
allegedly was aboard flying saucers on eleven occasions.
At the bottom of the first page of issue number 15 there
appeared in what Mr. Eickhoff stated was the handwriting
of Truman Bebhurum the statement "This is a true story,
a factual experience -- Truman Bethu.rum. 11
The above mentioned article in "Valor11 also
55
reflected that Truman Bethurum is years of age and that
his residence address is .519 North Gertruda Avenue,
Redondo Beach, California.
Mr. Eickhoff reiterated that he felt Bethurum.1s
story, if true, should be given wide publicity, but that
if the story was false, then he should be prosecuted for
fraud. He stated that he first took his information to
the Air Force in the person of Lieutenant Colonel John
01Mara of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, whom
Eickhoff visited personally at 01Mara1s home in Fairborn,
Ohio, on Sunday, June 6, 1954. Eickhoff indicated that
he asked Colonel 01Mara if there were such things as
flying saucers and if Bethurum1s story could be true,
and he said 0 Mara denied that there was such at hing as
1
a flying saucer and indicated to him that Donald E. Kehoe,
the author of "Flying Saucers in Outer Space' was a fraud
and that information is available in Washington that
Kehoe is a fraud. He said he was advised, however, by
Colonel 01Mara that the Air Force could take no action
with respect to Bethurum or Williamson.
Eickhoff continued that it was his intention to
aid in the promotion of a meeting for Bethurum in Cincinnati.
He advised that the original meeting schedule for June 11
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had been cancelled, and that he felt this meeting had
such important information for the people as a whole
that he was going to make every effort to make the
meeting one of national. significance. He said he in­
tended to invite to the meeting all nationally prominent
news commentators. He intended to try to get radio time
to advertise the meeting but he did not wish to partici­
pate in this matter in any way if it would violate
security regulations in any manner, or if Bethurum and
his associates were in any way fraudulent. He stated
that he so informed Bethurum, Williamson and Mr.
Manspeaker at the luncheon meeting which was held at
the Terrace Plaza Hotel on June 7, 1954. They informed
him that they were not afraid of an investigation; that
Bethu.rum1 s story was factual, and that they had no objec­
tion to Eickhoff1s advising Government authorities
regarding it.
Mr. Eickhoff stated that his report to this
office was part of his plan to inform all the Federal
agencies he thought should know about the activities of
Bethurum. He advised that in line with his contemplated
plans that on the evening or June 7, 1954 there was to
be another meeting at the home of L. H.-Stringfield,
7017 Britton Avenue, Cincinnati 27, Ohio, at which
meeting there would be Mr. Stringfield, Williamson,
Manspeaker, Bethurum., Ralp~immermann and Mr-. Eickho.ff.
He said at this meeting they would plan a method of
operation and make arrangements for this meeting of
national significance . He said he intended to set the
date of the meeting far enough in advance so that if
any Governmental agency determined that there was fraud
involved that agency would have sufficient time to act
prior to the holding of the meeting. He advised he
intended to keep a detailed record of all actions taken
by this group, and that he would voluntarily furnish
such in£ormation to the F.B.I.
Eickhoff advised that he had not known and
had not met either Bethurum, Williamson or Manspeaker
prior to the events described above. He said that George
Hunt Williamson identified himself as an archeologist
and a writer for the magazine 'Valor," who resides in
Noblesville, Indiana.
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He said that Manspeaker, whose first name
he did not know, is also connected with 0 Valor11 magazine
in some way.
He was asked as to what interest •tvalor
magazine has in Bethurum, and whether Bethurum was
sponsored by any other organization. He advised that
he did not lmow the interest of nvalor" magazine in
Bethurum, and so .far as he knew, Bethurum was acting
on his own and had no organizational af'filiations or
sponsorship. He was asked as to what disposition would
be made of receipts from a large meeting and he advised
that he did not know what disposition would be made of
the money. He said he understood that Bethurum had been
on tour for soine time and that the meeting scheduled
for Cincinnati originally on June 11, 19.54 was to be
the beginni.ng of a new series of meetings.
William Dudle,-;Belley, Noblesville, Indiana
reportedly operates the Soul Craft Press at Noblesville
and among other pamphlets, published the weekly journal
entitled "Valor", which Mr. Pelley describes as a "journal
of the applied spirituality." This publication is said
to deal mainly with practical mysticism, the spiritual
movement called Soulcraft and the relat1onshop between
earth man and the individuals arriving on this planet
from flying saucers. Mr. Pelley is said to claim that
these individuals arriving in flying saucers are of
greater intelligence and learning than the earth people
and are here to give the earth people intellectual
guidance and spiritual endowment and guidance.
On July 2, 1954, Thomas Eickhoff advised that
no progress had been made with respect to holding a
meeting for Truman Bethurum in Cincinnati, Ohio which
would be of national significance. He said that Bethurum
had returned to California but that there was a possib­
ility that he would a ain come to Cincinnati, Ohio in
the f'all of 1954. At the same time Mr. Eickhoff advised
that he had communicated with Donald E~hoe, author
of the book Flying aucers From Outer Space 11 and had
advised him that he had been inf'ormed by Lieutenant
Colonel John 01Mara, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,
Ohio that he was a fraud and that information is avail-
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able in Washington that Kehoe is a fraud. He said that
he, Eickhoff, had been requested by Kehoe to furnish
him this information in writing and that he, Eickhoff,
had obliged Kehoe in this respect. He said he understood
that Kehoe was going to Washington with his attorneys
to take up Colonel 01Mara1s statements with the Air Force.
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UNITED ST.t, TES GOVERNMENT
· i
8/2/54
TO Director, FBI DA'l'B :
SAC, Cincinnati (62-0)
~ :
~NG SAUCE REPORT
~ ~ CT,
INFORMATION CONCERNING
/~ RI' "­
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Colonel J.M. SMITH, Deputy Director of Civilian
Defense for Greater Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio,
7/23/54
ealled this ofrice on to report that he had re-
ce~ved a report of a flying saucer from Mr. CARL ,R. SER,
Route 1, Milford, Ohio. Mr. KEYSER said that he could be
reached at his resi ence which is two miles east of Milford,
u. s.
Ohio, on Highway 28.
KEYSER reported to Colonel SMITH that both he and his
wife, at approximately 2:40 p.m. on 7/23/54, had observed a
silver cirou1ar or spherical shape in the sky which was
located to the southeast of their residence, approximately
forty-five degrees above the horizon.
Colonel SMITH was advised that the report made by him
was being referred to the appropriate officials of the
United States Air Force.
I have advised the local office of the Office of
Special Investigations at Wright-Patterson Air Force
the above.
0£

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• ; ;,AN~• FORM NO. 84 • • • : '
. Office Memorandum
• UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
6/2/54
DIRECTOR, FBI DATB:
TO
G
SAC, 0 (62~)
s. CES S
MISCELLANEOUS - INFO TION CONCERNING
This interview is predicated upon a telephone call received by
SAC L. L. UG on 7/29/5'4 fr J01I:";,~~n··so , Security Officer, Bureau of
Aeronautics, U. S. Navy Department.
On the same date JOHN HlfrSON was interviewed in Room 2912, Main
Navy Building. Also present during the interview was Commander L. T.
UISTON, USN. HtJrSON and M.c UISTO furnished t he i'ollowing information:
/ They advised that the Office of Naval Intelligence had forwarded
a file to the Bureau of Aeronautics 1'7ith enclosures hich had been received
from retired A • al HERBERT B. Oil.LES of South Berwick, ccord-
~u•"C:-~i
ing to HUTSON d cQUISTO , KNO,~ resic.ed near Mrs. who
had been receiving messages through to t transmission. S :AN approached
KNO and advised him that "flying saucers" ere here to help mankind.
Information received by HUTSO indicated that KNO;n:.ES became interested
in the messages receiva:ilby r s . S iAN and felt that the matter should be
investigated by the Government.
HUTSO advised that KNO,n.ES ote to Admiral PEY, Director
of Naval ntelligence, on 6/1/54 enclosing some of the messages received
by Mrs . SWAN. Receiving no reply to his original communication, KNO /LES
again wrote ONI on 6/7/54. HUTSO advi ed that the first letter that
KNO fLES W11ote to ONI cont· ed information that Mrs . S AN ,,as receiving
messages through thought control fran "outer space" and wrote them down
as she received them. The letter, according to HtrrSON, stated that rs .
SWAN would write without any effort on her part and would write