The Maury Island UFO Incident: The Story behind the Air Force’s first military plane crash (12 page)

Sgt. Woodrow D. Mathews was the
other survivor of the Kelso crash. He
was injured and taken
to
Cowlitz
General Hospital. Mathews was born
October
15
^th
,
1991
in
Jefferson,
Alabama and died on May 23
^rd
, 2000.
He had enlisted in the military in 1946.
He married Rena Howard in 1961.
Ancestry.com

The mysterious informant was a critical figure in the Maury Island
Incident. A person who was reported to have a “deep baritone voice,”
he has never been identified or at least disclosed to the public.
At one time, the informant related to Lantz he was a telephone
operator and “would be back on Tuesday.”
His motive?
The
informant would state, “Don’t think I’m doing this for you.”
He
wanted somebody or some organization in New Jersey to know about
what was going on.
Informant
using
The informant also at one time had to answer another call. Why did he
keep his conversations under 20 seconds? Perhaps the informant knew
the time it takes to track a call.
What was in New Jersey in 1947?
Was the
print
media
to
send
a
message?

The first call was actually for Tacoma Times reporter Burt McMurtrie
who wasn’t available. McMurtrie was primarily a radio personality and
news commentator.
He was known
locally for his radio
show
“Breakfast with McMurtrie" on KTAC which was actually located in
the Winthrop Hotel. He interviewed locals and celebrities while they
dined in the Daffodil Room. In the 30’s he was considered one of the
top national radio broadcasters for the Columbia Broadcasting System.
He died on October 25
^th
, 1979.
He was a friend of Fred Crisman. Crisman complained that McMurtrie
called him “Freddie” which he did not like.
Gold, Jon
Murder of a City, 1970

Per FBI files, Paul Lantz of Tacoma Times mentioned a second call
on Aug. 1
^st
between 11-noon by an anonymous informant stating he
“might have info.” “The caller then hung up after making some
statement to the effect that he was a switchboard operator.” Lantz
went to the Winthrop Friday (Aug. 1
^st
) noon and found no male
operators on duty. Note – the hotel strike did not start until Aug. 3
^rd
and it did not end until Sept. 23, 1947.
Paul Lantz would also state that at 5:30pm Aug. 1, the informant said
“... civilians and the sheriff had been kept away from the wreckage
with the Army guarding it. (Wilcox, 1947)

Paul Lantz would have been the person who would have known
more about this figure than anyone. Was Lantz still investigating disks
and this incident months later that would warrant a visit by two “Men
in Black” at his home?
In the end, with all the detailed information, it appears the Informant
had insight into military calls and immediate information perhaps with
new technology.
It is also possible the informant was an innocent civilian phone
operator that felt some moral obligation to let investigator know what
was going on.
The reported calls from the Informant:
1
^st
– July 31
^st
Thursday 11:30am to Lantz, meeting taking place in 502
concerning disc fragments.
2
^nd
– Aug. 1, Friday 11-noon – to Lantz, advised big meeting in 502,
that the B-25 was carrying disc fragments and that “McChord Field
officials
had
stated
it
was
shot
down
or
sabotaged.
3
^rd
– Aug. 1 5:30pm by United Press Wireman (Ted Morello). Caller
stated that the B-25 that crashed was carrying disc fragments and that
McChord Field and officers were Capt. Davidson and Lt. Brown, A-2
Intelligence officers.
Caller stated this information would verify his
information was accurate, as the Army had not released the names.
4
^th
– Aug 1, 6:45pm by UP Morello. Informant again would state B-25
was definitely shot down and that Army Intelligence Officers would
not deny it.
Civilians and the sheriff had been kept away from the
wreckage with the Army guarding it
5
^th
– Aug 2, 5:30 to UP Morello. Stated B-25 bomber shot down by a
20mm cannon. C-46 also shot down. Smith would be taken to Wright
Patterson for questioning) (Wilcox, 1947 p. 6)

Notes:
There were no reported distress calls to the local airports. It is
possible because Channel “A” at Portland was inoperative may have
been one reason.
Regardless, there is good reason to believe Capt.
Davidson maneuvered the plane away from the flight path headed due
south and away from the populated cities of Kelso, Longview, and
Portland into a heavily forested area, as he knew the plane was going to
crash. As it’s not known when the first radio announcement was
broadcast, it’s speculative how Crisman knew of the B-25 bomber
crash so early the morning of Aug. 1
^st
.

On August 2
^nd
, 1947, a signed article was put on the United Press
teletype by Ted Morello concerning the mysterious informant. “When
Morello’s story got on the nationwide United Press wire, The New
York Bureau killed it.”
Flying Saucers over Los Angeles

In early 2006, we stopped by Kelso to do some research on the Air
Force crash.
The local Kelso museum had bound volumes of the
Kelsonian Tribune. We discovered a news article that was headlined
“Flying Disk Investigators Die in Army Bomber Wreck.” which gave
main details about the local incident. We started asking locals in the
area and were referred to Bob Davenport who still lived in the area.
Many of the neighbors recall how the local firefighters helped out the
military.

Bob Davenport was one of the first persons at the crash site as a
fifteen year old.
We interviewed him at the local bowling alley in
Kelso, Washington March 18, 2006.

Robert Davenport of Kelso WA in 2006.
Davenport was first on the scene at the crash
site as a fifteen year old.

LeFevre:
Can
you
mention
something about
the B-25
bomber
Kelso crash?
Davenport:
“Early in the morning of
1947 our neighbors woke us up to let
us know there had been a plane crash
up
a
mile or so
above our place.
There
had
been
two
men
that
survived that parachuted out. One of
them
was
injured rather severely

because he had come down through some big maple trees. The other
one had made it down to the neighbor’s place and got a hold of him
and he was taken to the hospital early in the morning.
It was
somewhere after daylight and my father and I and my older brother
went up to the crash site to see if possibly anyone else survived. We
first came upon a wing that was standing up alongside a fir tree. That
was a first indication of where the crash site was. And then the fire and
smoke led us to the actual crash, maybe about 300 yards away.

It wasn’t…there wasn’t any survivors, it was like the plane had come
down at a very steep angle... possibly 80 degrees and imbedded part of
it in the hillside. The rest of it was scattered all over the creek canyon
there. We found the remains of two men. At the time, there was still a
lot of fire where the gasoline had gone into the ground and was being
ignited by the flames there.

Other than that, it was a very gruesome place to be that time of
morning. We checked out to make sure there was nobody alive around
there and then we left and went back home. Later in the day state
police came up there and they had quite a hard time getting there with
their fancy cars but after that the military came and cordoned the place
off up there and then you couldn’t get up there till later.

When they left, more or less the scavengers showed up and started
picking the aircraft apart. But there still remains some of the parts up
there. It would be very hard to find.
I don’t really know much more to tell you other than it was an
experience I don’t really care to go over again.
The military air dropped supplies to the men up there because it was a
very rough road up there at the time.
So that was our very first
experience of seeing anything like that. I was probably fifteen years old
at the time so it has been a long time. About all I got to tell you.
Anything else you need to know?”

LeFevre:
“Was there any indication of any secrecy or do you think it
was a classified mission?”
Davenport: Well, later on we heard it was carrying some classified
documents but that’s all I ever knew of anything like that. Other than
that, I don’t know if they found anything. There was a lot of charred
paper remains and stuff like that up there and logbooks and stuff of
that nature but as far as any classified documents I couldn’t tell you.

LeFevre:
The two officers Capt. Davidson and 1st Lt. Frank M.
Brown who perished in the crash were supposedly carrying a strongbox
of evidence. Do you know if there was any indication of that or do
you know if the military ever found anything?

Davenport:
“There was no mention of that to my knowledge up there.
There may have been a strongbox in there but all I saw was charred
wreckage.”

LeFevre:
“Well thank you and this has been very educational and
informative regarding the Air Force’s first plane crash and definitely an
intriguing museum mystery.”

After the interview, we decided to check out the local area and see if
we could find any further newspaper articles on the crash as the
previous year we had discovered a Kelso article that provided more
details of the crash area.
Our efforts proved more fruitful
than
we had
imagined.
We
discovered not only another article but also a photo of the crash site in
the archives of the Longview Daily.
The photo was likely taken in the
early morning hours by a local photographer for the small newspaper
long before the military arrived. As the date was Aug. 1st, it was likely
printed for the evening edition of the newspaper. We believe this is the
only photo available of the crash made available to the public and the
first historical photo of the Air Force’s first plane crash and fatalities.
(The Air Force officially separated from the Army in 1947).