Washington D.C.: FBI Agent Hottel documents alleged New Mexico saucer crashes
FBI agent Guy Hottel wrote a memorandum to Director Hoover claiming three flying saucers with humanoid bodies were recovered in New Mexico. The information originated from a police investigator rather than Air Force sources as initially believed. The Bureau never investigated these claims further.
Background
On March 22, 1950, FBI Special Agent Guy Hottel submitted a memorandum to Director J. Edgar Hoover describing an extraordinary claim about recovered extraterrestrial craft. According to the document, three circular craft were reportedly recovered in the New Mexico desert, each containing three small humanoid figures about three feet in height wearing metal-like material. The alleged source was initially thought to be an Air Force investigator, but a 2022 FOIA release revealed the information actually came from Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Special Investigator Karl Howe of the Vice Squad, who relayed it to FBI Agent Robert H. Kurtzman. The supposed crash was attributed to government radar interference. Despite its sensational nature, the FBI never followed up on the report, and the Bureau officially considers the document an unexplained mystery. The memo became one of the most frequently accessed records in the Bureau's online archive, though it remains unsubstantiated.