by Charles Lear, author of “The Flying Saucer Investigators.”
In last week’s blog, we looked at some correspondence we came across in the January-February 1969 Merseyside UFO Bulletin between Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Research Association Director Gary Lesley and Maury Island principals, Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl. We started by looking at an exchange between Lesley and Dahl. In a letter dated July 23, 1967, Lesley asked Dahl for copies of photos that were allegedly taken of a flying saucer, a written statement from Dahl, and for Dahl to contact Crisman and get a written statement from him as well. Dahl replied in a letter dated August 22, 1967, that he would “allow” Lesley to have copies of the photos, would provide a statement that would have to be approved by Crisman, and would contact Crisman but added that it would be unlikely that Crisman would reply to Lesley. Dahl went on to paint a picture of Crisman that didn’t seem to fit the facts that researchers looking into Crisman’s life uncovered. In contrast to what Dahl told Lesley to expect, Lesley got a letter from Crisman, and this is what we’re looking at this week.
According to the anonymous writer of the article (page 6 of the pdf) containing the correspondence, Lesley was still waiting for Dahl’s statement and copies of the photos in August and sent him a letter dated August 26, 1967. He thanked Dahl for his reply and told him that if he could get him the material by October 15, there was a good chance of getting something about the case published in the December issue of Saga magazine.
Instead of a reply from Dahl, Lesley got a letter from Crisman dated September 5, 1967. The letter begins with Crisman informing Lesley that he has seen his correspondence with Dahl and does not “approve of it,” saying Dahl “has broken a long-standing agreement between us.” He tells Lesley that the photos are not available, that he doesn’t want his “personal life discussed in letters or in print,” and that the little interest he has in UFOs is “far removed from being of interest to any organized group or those people that read Saga magazine.” He says that “Dahl has little information that would interest you,” and that Lesley wrote Dahl that he’d researched the “news files” and he adds “I do not pretend to be able to alter the newspapers of this nation.”
Crisman then breaks the UFO enthusiasts into three groups: those seeking attention through tales of “bizarre adventures and messages from spacemen,” those attempting to make money, and a tiny third group with a “serious scientific interest – admirable, but mostly fools.” Crisman then proclaims that neither he nor Dahl have any interest in joining a UFO group. As for Lesley’s “interest in a matter that should be of public concern,” he says “the public laughed away its right to be informed years ago.”
Crisman insists that the Maury Island incident was not a hoax and that the Air Force and the FBI know this. He asserts that he and Dahl don’t want any publicity, especially in the form of a magazine article, and says the reason he seldom speaks on UFOs in front of groups is because of the time he has to spend afterwards turning down requests for him and Dahl to help people looking into Maury Island.
Crisman apologizes for his “abrupt answer” to Lesley’s letters to Dahl and hopes “this will end the matter.” He closes saying “We have no information for you! Yours truly, Fred Crisman.”
Lesley is described in the article as having written an “indignant” letter to Dahl dated September 16, 1967. According to the article, Lesley “objected” to Crisman answering letters addressed to Dahl. He wondered why Crisman gave him Dahl’s address and noted Crisman’s “habit” of addressing some of the more “deep end groups.”
Lesley then received another letter from Dahl dated September 16. Dahl tells Lesley that “at times” he had been contacted by “some very prominent speakers and investigators in the UFO picture.” He says he doesn’t pay attention to most but respects the work of “Dr.” Frank Stranges” and that Stranges had contacted him about organizing a “3-4 day conference in Washington or Oregon” in December. According to him, Stranges had “an 80-minute movie that is well worth the time and the money to see.” He asks Lesley if UAPRO would be interested in sponsoring the conference as he does not feel he has the ability to make it “into what it should be.”
Lesley then got another letter from Crisman, dated September 28, 1967, which begins with Crisman apologizing for having to “again step into the correspondence between you and Dahl.” He says he is puzzled because he feels his command of English is good enough that he could present his and Dahl’s position without hurting Lesley’s feelings. He explains that he is an “industrial psychologist” who deals with “hard-headed businessmen” and doesn’t like to be always explaining why his name keeps popping up in UFO books that deal with the Maury Island case. He insists he has “never been any man of mystery” and is just trying to make a living, but the people he has business relationships with “reacted in a most avid manner to UFO reports.” He says he is “at a loss” as to why people “insist” on making him “the focal point of interest in a matter that happened over twenty years ago,” that this sort of attention is bad for business, that he only speaks to select groups, and has a reputation for doing so.
Crisman tells Lesley that he spoke with Dahl and that Dahl “feels it is time to let up and cooperate with certain people . . . why you, I don’t know.” He leaves it up to Dahl saying it’s his (Dahl’s) “baby” and that he won’t interfere as long as Lesley handles it as he said he would and “not with tongue in cheek,” making them look like fools. According to Crisman, others had promised to handle “the matter” seriously and made them look “not only as fools, but as careless pranksters that cared not a whit that men died in the prank.”
Crisman closes the letter saying they’d returned to Maury Island and “found some startling things going on,” including there being no plants growing where the material had fallen, and there being a “Federal project going on to remove and level the whole area.” According to him, the place was posted and they “explored until a watchman came and removed us.” He says that on “inquiry” they found that “government men of some agency” took soil samples and photos “many times” over the years and that he and Dahl took photos and that Lesley “may have some interest there.”
The article ends with the writer giving details about what Lesley and his colleagues thought about the letters. According to the writer, they had suspicions that the letters were written by the same person based mainly on a comparison of the signatures. Lesley was getting phone calls as well as letters from Dahl and mentioned to Dahl that his mail was being opened and that he believed his phone was being tapped, and “heard no more from Mr. Dahl after that.”