Fred Crisman

Fred Lee Crisman (July 22, 1919 – December 10, 1975) was a fighter pilot and later educator from Tacoma, Washington known for claims of paranormal events and ties to 20th century conspiracies.

Crisman was born on July 22, 1919, the only child of Fred M. Crisman and wife Eva (born Eva Pitchers, died Eva White, 1971).

In 1933, he and his family moved to Vale, Oregon; His father ran a hotel there.

In 1939, Crisman graduated from Vale Union High School.

After attending Eastern Oregon College during 1939–40, Crisman left, working as a brakeman for the Union Pacific Railroad.

Conspiracy authors consider Crisman "a nexus point for a number of conspiracies and cover-ups from the late 1940s until [his] death in 1975".

On May 26, 1942, Crisman enlisted in the Army, entering the service with the rank of second lieutenant.

In 1943, Crisman was listed an aviation cadet undergoing training at Lancaster, California.

He was awarded the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

I flew my last combat mission on May 26 [1945] when I was shot up over Bassein and ditched my ship in Ramaree Roads off Chedubs Island.

I was missing five days.

I requested leave at Kashmere.

I and Capt. (deleted by request) left Srinagar and went to Rudok then through the Khesa pass to the northern foothills of the Kabakoram.

We found what we were looking for.

We knew what we were searching for.

For heaven's sake, drop the whole thing!

You are playing with dynamite.

My companion and I fought our way out of a cave with submachine guns.

In 1946, Crisman claimed to have battled with non-humans in caves during the Second World War.

The following year, he attempted to convince two early flying saucer witnesses that lava rocks were in fact debris dropped from a flying saucer.

Crisman left the Army as a First Lieutenant on February 19, 1946.

In April 1946, Crisman served as representative of the Washington state bureau of veterans' affairs when he called for safety inspections of some used cars.

That month, Crisman filed to run for coroner.

In May, Crisman addressed the Tacoma Real Estate board in the Hotel Winthrop about veterans' real estate problems.

In August 1946, Crisman, then described as the head of the state department of veterans' affairs, addressed the Seattle American Veterans chapter.

Later that month, he addressed the Lions Club.

On November 5, Crisman lent his name to an ad endorsing Hugh J. Rosellini for prosecutor.

In November 1946, Crisman, then described as a special investigator for the bureau, gave a speech about mental illness in returning servicemen to the Kiwanis club at the Hotel Winthrop.

In December 1946, Crisman was elected to represent Washington members of veterans organization AMVETS at an upcoming session.

In 1946–47, pulp magazine Amazing Stories was an outlet for fantasy, science-fiction, and fringe claims.

The May 1946 issue, for example, included purportedly-true fringe adventures by Richard Sharpe Shaver, the fiction of Dorothy & John de Courcy written in the style of Shaver, a defense of the religions of Tibet by Millen Cooke, the fiction of Robert Moore Williams, an allegedly-true eyewitness account of unidentified objects in the skies by Dirk Wylie, and other genre-blurring texts.

In June 1946, Amazing Stories published a pseudonymous letter by Crisman in which he claimed to have battled "mysterious and evil" underground creatures to free himself from a cave in Burma during World War II.

Wrote Crisman:

I have two 9" scars on my left arm that came from wounds given me in the cave when I was 50 feet from a moving object of any kind and in perfect silence. The muscles were nearly ripped out. How? I don't know. My friend has a hole the size of a dime in his right bicep. It was seared inside. How we don't know. But we both believe we know more about the Shaver Mystery than any other pair. You can imagine my fright when I picked up my first copy of Amazing Stories and see you splashing words about the subject. Do not print our names, we are not cowards, but we are not crazy. The letter was quoted in the September 1946 issue of Harper's Magazine as an example of a crackpot letter. In May 1947, Amazing Stories published a second Crisman letter, this time identifying him by name. In this letter, Crisman claimed to have traveled to Alaska with his friend Dick, who was killed there.

In 1947, Crisman was involved with Harold Dahl in the Maury Island incident, an early UFO incident widely considered to be a hoax, even within Ufology.

In the January 1950 issue of Fate Magazine, Crisman insisted the incident was not a hoax.

Wrote Crisman: "Why, if we were such blackguards and deliberately caused the deaths of two Air Force Pilots and the loss of a $150,000 airplane did not the government or some agency there attempt to seek justice through the courts of the state and federal government".

Dahl believed the 1960s TV series, The Invaders was based on Crisman's life.

On July 22, 1967, Crisman spoke at a UFO convention in Seattle about the Maury Island incident.

In 1968, Crisman was subpoenaed by a New Orleans grand jury in the prosecution of a local man for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy—a prosecution that would later be dramatized in the 1991 Oliver Stone film JFK.