Kingman UFO crash
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
| Date | 21 May 1953 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic) |
| People | Arthur Stancil, Raymond Fowler, Leonard Stringfield, Kevin Randle |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 49 |
| Year | 1953 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1953 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 11 |
The Kingman UFO crash is an alleged recovery of a crashed disc and its occupant in the desert near Kingman, Arizona, in May 1953. It rests mainly on the sworn account of engineer Arthur G. Stancil, first known by the pseudonym "Fritz Werner", and no documents support it.[1][2]
The witness
Stancil graduated from Ohio University in 1949 and worked as a mechanical engineer for the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, testing aircraft engines. In 1953 he was on loan to the Atomic Energy Commission as a project engineer for the Operation Upshot–Knothole nuclear tests at Frenchman Flat, Nevada.[1]
His account
Stancil said that on 21 May 1953 his supervisor sent him on a special assignment from Indian Springs Air Force Base, where he joined about 15 other specialists. They were flown to Phoenix and taken by a bus with blacked-out windows on a four-hour ride to a desert wash in the Hualapai Mountains, southeast of Kingman. An Air Force colonel told them they were to investigate the crash of a secret test vehicle and must not talk to each other. Stancil's job was to estimate the craft's speed at impact.[1][3]
He described a disc about 30 feet across, shaped like two inverted saucers, made of a dull, brushed-aluminium-like metal and embedded about 20 inches in the sand. Although he estimated it had struck at about 100 knots, he saw no dents or scratches. Another specialist told him he had seen inside a hatch, with two seats and instruments, and Stancil said he glimpsed a small humanoid body, about four feet tall, with brown skin and a silver suit, under guard in a tent. The group signed secrecy oaths on the way back.[1][3]
Investigation
Stancil told investigator Raymond Fowler his story in 1973. His affidavit was published in UFO Magazine in 1976 and in Fowler's 1981 book Casebook of a UFO Investigator. Fowler found people who vouched for Stancil's integrity and confirmed his employment background, but he remained the only firsthand witness.[1][3]
Related claims
Other stories are often linked to Kingman, though they do not name the same people. In 1977 a former National Guard member told researcher Leonard Stringfield that he had seen three bodies from an Arizona crash delivered to Wright-Patterson, and Stringfield reported a naval intelligence officer's account of crates containing small humanoids. Earlier, in 1964, an unnamed future Vietnam commander reportedly told researcher Richard Hall of a Kingman crash.[1][4]
Assessment
No documents or other firsthand witnesses support the story, and researchers such as Kevin Randle have called the case unresolved. In 2024 an Arizona television station reported on leaked papers said to describe the crash, but these too are unverified.[2][3]
In the testimony
The testimony cites: Retrievals of the Third Kind presented at MUFON 1978, Leon Stringfield, p14.
People and topics
- Arthur Stancil — Engineer who, as "Fritz Werner", signed an affidavit describing the 1953 Kingman crash recovery.
- Raymond Fowler — UFO investigator who published the Kingman affidavit and the Andreasson abduction case.
- Department of Energy — The U.S. department that runs the nuclear weapons laboratories.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Leonard Stringfield — Former Air Force intelligence officer and NICAP researcher who collected anonymous crash-retrieval accounts from 1978 to 1994.
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — The Ohio air base that housed Project Blue Book and is linked to the Hangar 18 legend.
- Kevin Randle — Roswell researcher and author of many books on crash-retrieval claims.
On the Timeline
- Ed Balocco's night chase near Edenton (1953) (19 February 1953) — A Marine pilot scrambled near North Carolina reports a disc with red lights coming within 350 feet.
- Air Force Regulation 200-2 (26 August 1953) — Air Force Regulation 200-2 tightens UAP reporting and routes key reports away from Project Blue Book.
See every 1953 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Patrick Gross, "Kingman, Arizona, May 20, 1953", UFOs at close sight · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- "Did a UFO crash in Kingman? Leaked documents claim it did", 12News · 12news.com · archived copy
- "Looking back: uncorroborated reports indicate up to three UFOs may have crashed", Kingman Daily Miner · kdminer.com · archived copy
- Leonard H. Stringfield — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Kingman incident linked to Nevada explosions — 8 News Now · 8newsnow.com · archived copy
- Stringfield's 1978 report — Patrick Gross · ufology.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Leonard Stringfield's status report at the 1978 MUFON symposium — Podcast UFO · podcastufo.com · archived copy
- Retrobituaries: Leonard Stringfield — Mental Floss · mentalfloss.com · archived copy
- UFO Crash Retrievals: Status Report I — Goodreads · goodreads.com · archived copy
- Kingman UFO incident linked to Nevada explosions — 8 News Now · 8newsnow.com · archived copy
- The Kingman UFO crash conundrum — Kevin Randle · kevinrandle.blogspot.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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