EDITOR’S NOTE: “The Maury Island Incident” is a short film that was shot and produced locally during the summer of 2013 (including The Tin Room Bar), and released in May, 2014. It was Directed/Produced by BTB Founder/Publisher Scott Schaefer, Written/Produced by Steve Edmiston, Executive Produced by John White and Produced by Laura Beth & Scott Peterson and Dan House. The movie is currently on the film festival circuit, and will screen next at the Burbank Film Festival Sept. 6.
Today (Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014), is the 67th anniversary of FBI Special Agent Jack B. Wilcox’s 14-page memorandum to J. Edgar Hoover on the subject of “FLYING DISCS SIGHTED BY FRED CRISMAN and HAROLD A. DAHL, TACOMA, WASHINGTON,” as well as the release of film distributor IndieFlix’s “First original series: The Maury Island Incident“!
The link between the 1947 Wilcox memo to Hoover, and the film’s release on this date, is wholly intentional.
As filmmakers, we’re happy to share how inspired we were by the detail and thoroughness of this heavily-redacted memo; its candor, and upon multiple readings, its absolute accuracy in reporting the truth of what really happened off Maury Island in 1947. This overlooked, declassified document truly informed the spine of our film and series.
If you loved The X-Files; if you miss The Twilight Zone’s mix of strange tales and human frailties; if you are simply enthralled about periods of history where the entire country – or planet, even – falls under the spell of a powerful mythology and pop culture brew, then the story of what allegedly happened at Maury Island, and the indisputably twisted and true story of what happened after Maury Island, is for you.
Each week during the next month, we’ll release other once-classified documents obtained from the FBI that track their two week investigation that begins with the tragic August 1, 1947, crash of a B-25 bomber in the forests north of Kelso, Washington, and concludes with a series of clear statements that undermine the only thing you think you know about Harold Dahl’s June 21, 1947, “flying discs” sighting at Maury Island:
That the sighting itself was a “confessed hoax.”
Indeed, our investigation leads to some startling conclusions:
- The supposed “confessions” were the real hoax
- The FBI knew the confessions were invented, and
- That Harold Dahl had made a choice to invent the hoax story even though he knew he’d become “the biggest liar that ever lived” because he feared ongoing public ridicule about his sighting, family pressure, and threats from – you guessed it – the FBI and modern UFO history’s first alleged “Man In Black.”
And if this is true, and you’ve always dismissed Maury Island as a confessed hoax, then everything you think you know about the Maury Island Incident is wrong!
Sixty-seven years ago today, Special Agent Wilcox wrote the memo that explained it all – download a PDF of it by clicking here.
We hope you come back during the next month to track the investigation with us. And please, enjoy the IndieFlix series by clicking here.
– Steve Edmiston
Writer/Producer
– Scott Schaefer
Director/Producer
Here’s what IndieFlix had to say about the film:
Before Roswell, there was the Maury Island Incident. We couldn’t be more excited to present our first Original Series.
Based on declassified FBI documents, The Maury Island Incident tells the incredible, tragic, and forgotten story of Harold Dahl, who on June 21, 1947, alleged a UFO sighting over Puget Sound, Washington. This sparked ‘the summer of the saucers,’ the modern era of UFO obsession, the first appearance of Men in Black and a governmental battle over UFO sighting jurisdiction reaching directly to FBI Executive Director J. Edgar Hoover.
What our staff has to say:
“We are so glad to be working with local filmmakers on this project and hope our customers will enjoy the series as much as we do.” – Ashley, Film Acquisitions Manager
“UFO sightings near Seattle? I can’t wait to watch this series!” – Sara, Marketing and Programming Coordinator
And here’s the first episode:
“The Maury Island Incident – Episode 1: An Honest Man” from The Maury Island Incident on Vimeo.
Some relevant links:
- For a FREE two-week trial to IndieFlix (so you can watch the rest of the series), click here (then look for “Start 2 week trial” in the upper right corner).
- To read a Q&A of the filmmakers on this new series, click here.
- To “Like” the film on Facebook, click here.
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