1953 Kingman, Arizona UFO Crash

On May 20, 1953 a UFO was reported to have crashed S/E of Kingman, Arizona.
The exact location remains unknown to date.


Some excerpts from the basic story which can be found here: www.ufosetc.com...

The same basic story here:www.ufomystic.com...


A few excerpts from the sites noted above.

"In 1953, Arthur G. Stancil was a project engineer on an Air Force contract with the Atomic Energy Commission."

"On May 21, Arthur worked at Frenchman's Flats until 4:30 PM, at which time he reported for his mysterious special assignment. He was driven to nearby Indian Springs AFB where he found that about fifteen other specialists had also been ordered to report for special assignment. At the base, they were ordered to leave all of their valuables for safekeeping, then they were flown by military aircraft to Phoenix, Arizona."


"Near Kingman, Arizona
May 21, 1953"

"At the site, two spotlights were centered on a crashed object that was encircled by security guards. The lights were so bright that while standing in front of them, it was impossible to see the surrounding area. The object was oval and looked like two deep saucers, one inverted atop the other. It was about thirty feet in diameter with convex surfaces, top and bottom. These surfaces were about twenty feet in diameter."

"The force of impact had buried the object about twenty inches into the ground. It was constructed of a dull silver metal like brushed aluminum. The metal was darker where the saucer "lips" formed a rim, around which were what looked like slots. A curved open hatch door was located on the leading end and was open."


There are several other Internet sites that comment on this crash, but none of them to date have mentioned a particular location other than noting that the crash was S/E of Kingman, Arizona.

Kingman is a bit of a crossroads of America with quite a bit of rail traffic coming through the area - one train every 20 minutes until the economy slowed down, but the rate now is probably one train every 30 minutes.
That's in a 24 hour period and some of the trains are over a mile long which means that even today a lot of merchandise is being moved.

The interesting part about the trains is the majority of them are container car trains and probably 90% of the containers are from China.



The general area where the UFO crashed is still fairly deserted although you will find abandoned farms and the like in the area, but for the most part it's rocky desert as the photo shows.


The trail into the area to give you an idea of terrain and the like.





A balancing rock in the general area.


The rock is bigger than an SUV and smaller than a small house.
More than likely the rock will crush the small boulders underneath and go over within the next 50-100 years.


A few pics of the long abandoned Holy Moses mine that’s not too far off the main trail.


The mine from a little closer up.


Looking at the ground level area of the mine.


And lastly looking down the shaft proper.
It appears to be 3-4 levels down.


Make no mistake, these old mines are very dangerous and floor areas can give way without warning.
Best to stay out, but we wanted photos and used a rope tied off to the Jeep so the photographer - yours truly - could walk along the outside edge of the shaft to shoot photos.
The idea being if the floor collapsed it would be an easy climb out since the photographer wouldn’t be hanging any lower than 4'-5' down from ground level.
On a short leash as it may.


So . . . the photos are interesting to an extent, but where we were was probably too far north for where the UFO could have crashed.

The basic purpose for this post is to ask if anyone has any more information about this UFO crash location.
I’ve done quite a bit of Internet research as well as ask a few old-timers around town what they know about it.
All I can find out about it is what you can read in the sites noted above.

There are quite a few sites that comment on this particular crash, but there isn’t any additional information available from what I can see.


Going further south from where the photos above were taken leads you into an area that is considerably more desolate.

More than likely the military cleaned up fairly well, but you can’t get it all as witness some of the smaller pieces found at the Roswell, New Mexico site in a not-too-old documentary that was on PBS not too long ago.

If nothing else, doing a search with a metal detector would be interesting.

We have several 4x4's and Jeeps at our disposal along with a metal detector.
I’m guessing as well that if a military bus could drive in then the trail into the area can’t be too bad.

Over the years which include more than a few years off-road dirt bike riding in the desert that terrain can change quite a bit due to the sometimes torrential rains that happen during the monsoon season.
To the extent that people very experienced about a particular area can have a hard time finding their way around.

Along those same lines, most trails stay in fairly good repair due to the constant exploration that goes on out here.

The basics on that is, if a trail is completely abandoned and not accessed for a few years it doesn’t take long to disappear.
If people use the trail with 2 or 4 wheel vehicles the trails are to an extent self-repairing.
Add in the yearly trail clean-ups done by the four wheel drive groups and - depending on the area - hunters, trails and the desert area in general get cleaned up and most folks treat the area quite well.
Get away from the highways and you won’t find much trash out in the desert.

Some of the more interesting finds have been automobiles abandoned in sandy washes and the like.
We’ve found a couple of Model T junkyards as well as what looks to be a very destroyed mid-30's area Packard roadster.
Parts from the latter are strung out for several hundred yards and they are so destroyed as to be unusable.

Just for the fun of it, here’s a photo of a 1957 Buick that’s been there for perhaps 20 years.
Other than being stripped and somewhat full of bullet holes the poor old car is slowly rusting its way back to the earth.



All in all, I’m finding Kingman to be an area full of things to do, rich in history and it’s tough to choose what to do sometimes.
If we can find some more information on where the UFO crashed or at least something that will lead us a little closer than what we have now, we’ll mount a full-on - amateurish for sure - expedition.
Rest assured that photos and a little poking around will do it for us.
Our thinking is, best to leave it for another generation as well as knowledgeable people who can do a more in-depth investigation.

Our hope is that future archeologists would appreciate what we’ve not done, how we’ve comported ourselves and not be flinging curses toward our past lives because we’ve screwed up something important....

Nice find. I used to live in the mohave area myself a while back, but am sorry to say that I've never heard much about this crash. I can't recomend the metal detector idea enough. This would have happened more than 50 years ago. Rain, wind and the elements would have long since burried any remains of what you are looking for.

Found another link for the story here: www.ufocasebook.com...

A quick google will show that this story is fairly popular, so I think it is pretty legitimate in terms of material for investigation (just keep in mind that the site I linked states that some researchers believe this story to be a hoax). Good work, and I can only hope we will be updated on any future discoveries.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by kholdstare]

I live in Kingman. I have heard about this on the TV maybe last year? not for sure. But I haven't been out to see if I could find anything.

Excellent find my friend! I spent time growing up in the Kingman/Golden Valley area and this story has always been intriguing to me. I remember hearing an older Hualapai Indian fellow recount his second hand story as well growing up. Perhaps this tale will begin to get a bit more attention.

Can you give directions to the area?

reply to post by Desert Dawg


I lived in kingman AZ for a little over three years. In that time I saw one aircraft that I could not identify. I went to the Air Force museum in the industrial area in hopes that I would be able to identify what I saw. What is importent for you to know is I meet three retired Air Force museum caretakers. If anyone in kingman knows where the 1953 crash site was, it is one of those guys there. Hope this helps.

Hello, This post is in regards to the Mine you have shown. Actually that mine is not the Holy Moses, it is the Boulder Creek Mine, which is now our property as we now have a claim on that mine. If one was to go up there, they will see that we have the mine posted heavily and advise that noone goes up there and trespasses. This is not to be mean or anything but now that the mine is once again active and a federal claim, it is required by us by the government that the mine be closed off to the public, hence it being heavily posted and a new door put on the mine entrance with a lock.

As for the depth of that mine, it is only one level and at a depth of almost 20 feet. Other than that, there is nothing more to the mine.

The Holy Moses mine is farther out the main road. Instead of taking the left onto the pipeline road to our mine, you will want to continue straight on the main road, then take the very first LEFT you come to. It will be a "Y". This will be about 400 feet past a yellow barrel you will pass out there. At that yellow barrel DO NOT TURN THERE as it only goes on the farther side of our mine and not in the direction of the Holy Moses. Then you continue on until you come to a second "Y" and continue LEFT. Follow that road completely out until you come to a deep wash in which you must cross. After you cross the wash and if you look carefully, you will see the Holy Moses mine up on the mountain off to your left. Out of respect though, that mine is also on an active mining claim and trespassing would be highly deterred.

Just to say I have been to the UFO crash site North of Kingman, AZ. Had been looking for it for awhile. Finally ran into it. Have been there several times. Parts of the light bars and other stuff is still in the area. Desert Dawg this is for you. Hope you get it. I see you have not been on for awhile.

S & F as I enjoyed reading and you sound like you're having fun - something that seems to be becoming rare to the point of extinction.

Has anyone thought to look at the Yucca Army Airfield? They call it the Chrysler Proving Grounds now. Rumor has it (from an electrician who worked there) that the floors of the hangars are made of some type of magnetized hardened concrete that kills jack-hammers. If you drop a tool, it sticks to the floor. Nice triangular non-existent runways...

en.wikipedia.org...

We've seen some strange stuff out that way...

oh yeah, and the proving grounds were featured in the recent "Conspiracy Theory" with Jesse Ventura. the 2012 Apocalypse episode where they talk about the underground bunker building.

reply to post by kingjim

Hi Kingjim, I would really like those coordinates. I know one guy at the museum but he did not know where the ship crashed. How can I find that site? There is a conference coming in May and I would really like those people, like Bob Dean and Robert Ferrell, to go to the right place.

reply to post by Desert Dawg


Desert Dawg did you ever follow up on kingjim's recommendation about the gray dogs at the airfield historic museum? What was the result; who knew first hand about the crash site?