Harold Dahl

Harold Dahl was an American harbor patrolman who on 21 June 1947 — three days before Kenneth Arnold's famous Mount Rainier sighting — reported one of the earliest documented UFO encounters of the postwar era. Patrolling with his son, two crewmen and the family dog, he observed six doughnut-shaped objects over Maury Island in Puget Sound, Washington. One of them appeared distressed, ejected debris onto the boat, injured his son and killed the dog. Dahl collected debris samples, reported the incident to his supervisor Fred Crissman and triggered one of the most contested cases in UFO lore.

• American harbor patrolman, Puget Sound
• 21 June 1947 sighting: six doughnut-shaped objects over Maury Island
• Debris fall injured his son and killed the family dog
• Supervisor Fred Crissman; investigation by Air Force intelligence officers and UFO researcher Kenneth Arnold
• Two investigators died in a B-25 bomber crash while transporting alleged samples
• FBI investigation initially concluded hoax; Dahl later recanted, though FBI documents suggest the recantation itself may have been fabricated
• Debris analysis indicated ordinary igneous rocks or possibly meteorite fragments

The Maury Island incident is today largely regarded as a hoax by researchers — including UFO believers — yet it left two formative traces on UFO mythology: the popularization of the term "flying saucer" and the birth of the "men in black" and government cover-up narrative. Precisely because of its contradictions — real deaths, doubtful samples, multiply retracted confessions — the case remains a textbook example for handling unreliable witnesses in UAP research.