Guy Hottel Memo
The Guy Hottel Memo is a one-page FBI document dated March 22, 1950, addressed to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover from Special Agent in Charge Guy Hottel of the FBI's Washington Field Office. The memo describes a report from an Air Force investigator regarding three recovered "flying saucers" and occupant bodies in New Mexico. It is one of the most widely cited FBI documents in UFO research and is frequently associated with the Roswell Incident, though its actual reference is ambiguous.
Content of the Memo
The memo states:
"An investigator for the Air Force stated that three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico. They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in diameter. Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall, dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots."
The memo continues:
"According to Mr. redacted, informant, the saucers were found in New Mexico due to the fact that the Government has a very high-powered radar set-up in that area and it is believed the radar interferes with the controlling mechanism of the saucers."
Context and Interpretation
The memo was written in March 1950 — nearly three years after the July 1947 Roswell crash. It is unclear whether the memo references:
- The Roswell incident (retroactively reported)
- The alleged 1948 Aztec, New Mexico crash (documented in researcher Frank Scully's work)
- An entirely separate incident
- Disinformation or a hoax report passed to the FBI
The memo does not identify the Air Force investigator or the informant, and no follow-up FBI investigation appears in declassified records. The document became publicly available through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and is accessible through the FBI's online records vault.
Relevance to Crash Retrieval Research
The Guy Hottel Memo is cited as early documentary evidence that the FBI was receiving reports of crash retrievals and non-human bodies in connection with UFO phenomena. In UAP Gerb's video on the 1950s Del Rio, Texas UFO Crashes, the memo is referenced alongside a December 8, 1950 FBI memo to J. Edgar Hoover directing Army intelligence to high alert for "flying disc" data — contextualizing a pattern of FBI involvement in UAP crash retrieval intelligence during the early Cold War.