FBIUnknown

F.H. Johnson — prospector corroborates Kenneth Arnold sighting near Mt. Adams — June 1947

Jun 24, 1947Mt. Adams district, Washington State (approx.)1,000 ft

⟳ Deeper read pending. This record is from the FBI 62-HQ-83894 flying-disc file, whose cursive, clippings and faint scans are under-read by automated OCR. It is flagged for a vision-transcription pass and likely undercounts what the source contains — see the documents collection note.

Analysis — our summary

F.H. Johnson, a prospector from Portland, Oregon (106 N. West 1st Ave.), wrote to the Director of Military Intelligence reporting that on June 24, 1947 — the same date as the Kenneth Arnold sighting — he observed the same flying objects while in the Mt. Adams district with a telescope. Johnson described the objects as round, approximately 30 feet in diameter, tapering sharply to a point at the head end in an oval shape, with a bright top surface. He observed them at approximately 1,000 feet altitude, noted no engine noise, and observed an appendage at the tail end resembling a clock hand shifting side to side. The objects appeared to be standing on edge and banking in a cloud. His letter was forwarded by Headquarters Fourth Air Force to Army Air Forces headquarters and the FBI.

As reported — verbatim from the document

“"they are real and nothing like them I ever saw before... they were Round about 30 foot in diameter tapering sharply to a point in the head end in an oval shape. with a bright top surface... there was an object in the tail end looked like a big hand of a clock shifting from side to side like a big magnet"”

Analyst notes — caveats & confidence

Independent ground-level corroboration on the same date and approximate location as the Kenneth Arnold sighting. Witness used a telescope, providing better detail than naked-eye sightings. Description includes an unusual oscillating appendage not mentioned by Arnold. Johnson's letter was routed through Fourth Air Force to the Director of Military Intelligence, indicating it was taken seriously. Note on the routing slip highlighted 'similarity of statement by Mr. Johnson and Mr. Arnold.' OCR quality is good.

Provenance

Source document65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Serial_130.pdf

Document typeintelligence report collection

Reporting agencyFBI

Source pages126

DeclassifiedFirst public at this release (2026)

Held classified~79 years (≥, to this release)

Extraction confidence ModerateHow cleanly this record could be parsed from the source — driven by legibility & redaction. It is not a measure of how credible or anomalous the sighting is.