Arthur Stansel Jr
Arthur G. Stansel Jr. was an American aerospace engineer who served as a project engineer for the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base during the early 1950s. He is the primary known witness to the alleged 1953 Kingman, Arizona Crash Retrieval, and the only witness to have produced a notarized sworn affidavit describing the incident. Stansel initially disclosed his account using the pseudonym "Fritz Werner" — a name borrowed from a German rocket scientist — when he came forward to UFO researcher Raymond Fowler in 1973. Fowler later confirmed Stansel's real identity and published it. His credentials are independently verifiable through declassified DOD records, D-Day service documentation, and Manhattan Project participant records, placing him among the more credentialed figures in the UAP crash retrieval literature.
| Role | U.S. Air Force engineer; primary witness to the 1953 Kingman crash retrieval |
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Professional Background
Stansel served in World War II, participating in the D-Day landings in Normandy. Following the war, he began his engineering career at Wright-Patterson, then known as Wright Field, working as an aircraft engineer and test mechanical engineer for the Air Material Command. He also worked on aspects of the Manhattan Project and spent 16 years as an engineer on the Apollo program.
At Wright-Patterson, Stansel was assigned to the Air Material Command Installation Division within the Office of Special Studies, which was headed by Dr. Eric Henry Wang — an Austrian-born scientist alleged by UAP researchers to have directed early non-human craft exploitation programs. Stansel's documented presence within Wang's organizational unit during a critical period of alleged UAP crash retrieval activity is a recurring data point in legacy program research.
In early 1953, Stansel was working at Frenchman's Flat, Nevada, at the Nevada Proving Ground, measuring the blast effects of nuclear detonations on constructed structures as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole — a series of 11 tactical nuclear weapons tests overseen by the Atomic Energy Commission.
The Kingman Incident
On the evening of May 20, 1953, Stansel received a telephone call from Ed Doll, physicist and project director for Operation Upshot-Knothole at the Nevada Test Site, informing him of a special assignment the following day. Stansel reported to Indian Springs Air Force Base, surrendered his valuables to military police, was flown to Phoenix, and transported by bus with blacked-out windows for approximately four hours. A U.S. Air Force Colonel briefed the personnel en route, stating that a "super secret Air Force vehicle" had crashed and each specialist was to investigate only within their area of expertise.
On arrival, two high-intensity spotlights illuminated a crashed object surrounded by armed guards. Stansel's account, sworn into affidavit on June 7, 1973 (with Raymond Fowler as witness, published in Fowler's Casebook of a UFO Investigator), described the following:
"The object was oval and looked like two deep saucers one inverted upon the other. It was about 30 ft in diameter with convex surfaces top and bottom... It was constructed of a dull silver metal like brushed aluminum. The metal was darker where the saucered lips formed a rim around which were what looked like slots. A curved open hatch door was located on the leading end and was vertically lowered."
The craft had impacted approximately 20 inches into the desert sand, bore no landing gear, and showed no structural damage — no dents, scratches, or marks — despite Stansel's engineering-based estimate of approximately 1,200 mph impact velocity. A colleague who briefly entered or observed the interior reported two swivel-like seats, an oval cabin, and anomalous instrument displays. In a nearby guarded tent lay a single dead occupant: a humanoid approximately 4 feet tall, dark brown complexion, two eyes, nostrils, ears, and a small round mouth, clothed in a silvery metallic suit and matching skull cap with no helmet or face covering.
The 16 AEC specialists were sworn to secrecy by an Air Force Colonel and instructed to record findings longhand only — no typed or reproduced documents were permitted. Stansel wrote his report and was returned to Phoenix.
Researcher Investigation
Richard Gild Jr. conducted archival research that confirmed Stansel's professional background — his employment at Wright-Patterson, his AEC contract work, and his involvement in nuclear testing programs — through records including a Medium article Gild published. This independent verification distinguishes Stansel from more contested figures in UAP disclosure who lack verifiable biographical records.
Connection to Eric Henry Wang
The significance of Stansel's posting under Dr. Eric Henry Wang at the Office of Special Studies is a point of ongoing research. Wang is alleged by researchers including William Steinman to have been brought into UAP material exploitation as early as 1949 following the 1948 Aztec UFO Crash Retrieval, and to have led reverse-engineering efforts on recovered craft. Wang relocated his department from Wright-Patterson to Kirtland Air Force Base around the time of Operation Upshot-Knothole and died in 1961; his papers were reportedly confiscated by military intelligence upon his death.