1. On 12 July 1947, Mr Kenneth
Arnold, Box 387, Boise Idaho, was interviewed in regard to the report by
Mr. Arnold that he saw 9 strange objects flying over the Cascade Mountain
Range of Washington State on July 25th. (sic) Mr. Arnold voluntarily agreed
to give the interviewer a written report of exactly what he had seen on
the above mentioned date. The written report of Mr. Arnold is attached
to this report as Exhibit A.
AGENT'S NOTES: Mr. Arnold is a man of 32 years of age, being married
and the father of two children. He is well thought of in the community
in which he lives, being very much the family man and from all appearances
a very good provider for his family. Mr. Arnold has recently purchased
a home on the outskirts of Boise, recently purchased a $5,000 airplane
in which to conduct his business to the extent of which is explained in
the attached. exhibit. It is the personal opinion of the interviewer that
Mr. Arnold actually saw what he stated that he saw. It is difficult to
believe that a man of Mr. Arnold's character and apparent integrity would
state that he saw objects and write up a report to the extent that he did
if he did not see them. To go further, if Mr. Arnold can write a report
of the character that he did while not having seen the objects that he
claimed he saw, it is the opinion of the interviewer that Mr. Arnold is
in the wrong business, that he should be writing Buck Rogers fiction. Mr.
Arnold is very outspoken and somewhat bitter in his opinions of the leaders
of the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for
not having made an investigation of this matter sooner. To put all of the
statements made by Mr. Arnold in this report would make it a voluminous
volume. However, after having checked an aeronautical map of the area over
which Mr. Arnold claims that he saw the objects it was determined that
all statements made by Mr. Arnold in regard to the distances involved,
speed of the objects, course of the objects and size of the objects, could
very possibly be facts. The distances mentioned by Mr. Arnold in his report
are within a short distance of the actual distances on aeronautical charts
of this area, although Mr. Arnold has never consulted aeronautical charts
of the type the Army uses. Mr. Arnold stated that his business had suffered
greatly since his report on July 25 due to the fact that at every stop
on his business routes, large crowds of people were waiting to question
him as to just what he had seen. Mr. Arnold stated further that if he,
at any time in the future, saw anything in sky, to quote Mr. Arnold directly,
"If I saw a ten story building
FRANK M. BROWN. S/A CIC 4TH AF
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL