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May 8, 1957
Lt. Marvin C. Davies
Naval Air Reserve Training Unit Jacksonville, Florida
Dear Lieutenant Davies:
I am writing to you privately at the suggestion of Cdr. Bruce
Piersall, USN, who is a member of the National Investigations
Committee on Aerial Phenomena. This Committee was organized to
collect, evaluate and publish authentic information on the subject
of Unidentified Flying Objects.
Since I became Director in January, we have received a number of
verified reports from reliable sources, including pilots and other
members of the Armed Forces. From the information in our hands, and
from what Commander Piersall told me, it appears that you were a
member of a naval aviation group flying in the Korean area at the
time of a verified UFO sighting. According to Commander Piersall,
you and other pilots and crewmen stationed in that area had a clear
and close-range observation of a large disc-shaped object; the
speeds and maneuvers mentioned in our reports further indicate that
this object was completely foreign to anything known throughout
aviation services or to aeronautical engineers.
As a retired officer in the United States Marine Corps, I am aware
of military security and I am not asking that you violate security
or any order requesting silence on this subject. However, I shall
greatly appreciate it if you are able to communicate with me and
give me further details of this remarkable sighting.
In similar cases I have agreed to keep the source confidential — again
stressing the fact that no violation of security would be
involved — and under these conditions we have obtained an increasingly
accurate picture of UFO operations at many points of the world.
If you find yourself unable to send any information or answer any
questions on this sighting, please let me know and I shall close off
this avenue of approach so that you will not again be queried by
NICAP.
Page 2, May 8, 1957
Major Keyhoe to Lt. Davies
Our purpose at NICAP is to evaluate all authentic evidence and
publish verified reports and conclusions wherever possible; without,
however, identifying sources or those involved against their wishes.
If there is any other information you can give me on this particular
sighting other than from your own viewpoint or on the general
subject of UFO's, we should be very glad to have it. Should you plan
to be in Washington at any time in the future, I should greatly
appreciate it if you would call me at the above address or write me
in advance, so that I could meet you wherever you might suggest.
I assume you have probably served with several of my Naval Academy
classmates — probably Admiral Art Doyle, for one, and possibly other
members of the class of 1920. I am sure that Admiral Doyle and my
other classmates will vouch for my integrity in promising you
anonymity, if you so desire.
Regardless of your decision, will you please let me know as soon as
possible, as we are now working actively on this particular case?
DONALD E. KEYHOE, Major USMC (Ret.)
DIRECTOR OF NICAP DEK:RHC
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LCDR M. C. Davies,
NARTU, Box 4 U. S. Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida May 16, 1957
National Investigation Committee
On Aerial Phenomena Washington 6, D. C. Attn: Major Donald E. Keyhoe
Dear Sir:
In reply to your letter of 8 May 1957 the following
information is submitted for your evaluation. Due to the length of
time involved since this incident happened; speeds, times and no of
radars involved should not be considered accurate, but are the best
I can recall.
My background is a Naval Aviator with approximately 4,000 hours.
At the time of the incident I was deployed with an Anti-Submarine
Squadron aboard a CVE class carrier. I was assigned Air Crew
Training Officer and prior to deployment had attended CIC Air
Controller School at Point Loma, also Air Borne Air Controller
School and Airborne Early Warning School both located at NAS, San
Diego. This was not a visual sighting, but a radar sighting.
The night in question was in the fall of 1951 in the Korean
area. The time of day I do not recall except that it was at night, I
was riding with a radar operator which I often did to check on their
Proficiency.
We were flying at 5,000 feet, solid instruments, with our
Wingman flying a radar position about 3 miles astern and slightly to
our right or left. The target, which was slightly larger than our
wingman, I picked up on our scope, had been circling the fleet; it
left the fleet and joined up on us a position behind our wingman
approximately the same position he held on us. I reported the target
to the ship and was informed that the target was also held on the
ships Radars; fourteen (14 in number); and for us to get a visual
sighting if possible. This was impossible because of the clouds. The
target retained his relative position for approximately five (5)
minutes and then departed in excess of one thousand miles per hour.
He departed on a straight course and was observed to the maximum
distance of my radar which was two hundred miles.
Upon completion of my flight an unidentified flying object
report was completed at which time I was informed that the object
was held on Ships radars for approximately seven hours.
I sincerely hope this information is of some value to you. I
am very much interested in flying saucers and have read several
books about them, of which I preferred yours.
Sincerely yours,
/s/ M. C. DAVIES |
A number of people who submitted reports to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) were active military service members or other people who did not wish to have their names released to the public.
Major Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC, retired, NICAP's director, asked NICAP officials and board members to certify that the reports did exist. This served to ensure the integrity and reliability of the information received despite the witnesses remaining publicly anonymous.
Keyhoe did not use any information which was classified, and respected requests for anonymity, especially from serving members of the military. Keyhoe referred to these cases as “hidden.”
The report by Lt. Davies was one such “hidden” case where his name was not released until many years later after he had left the Service.
Robert Emerson, a reserve Army officer, and head of a testing laboratory was a NICAP board member. His letter contains a certification that he had seen Lt. Davies report when it was still confidential.
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