Guy Hottel
Guy Hottel was a Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office who on March 22, 1950 wrote a memorandum to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover relaying claims that three flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico. The document, known as the Hottel Memo, is one of the most frequently cited pieces of government paper in UFO research history and was released publicly through FOIA — eventually becoming the FBI's most-viewed public vault document.
| Role | FBI Special Agent in Charge, Washington Field Office |
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The Hottel Memo
The March 22, 1950 memo relayed information Hottel received from an Air Force investigator — believed to have been affiliated with the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) — describing the recovery of three flying saucers in New Mexico. Key details as reported:
- Three flying saucers had been recovered.
- Each craft was circular with a raised center, approximately 50 feet in diameter.
- The craft were occupied by humanoid figures approximately three feet tall, dressed in metallic suits.
- A source named "Mr. Carl Howe" claimed the discs were found in New Mexico because high-powered radar in the region interfered with the craft's control mechanisms, causing them to crash.
The memo was addressed to Hoover and is classified within FBI records as a "flying disc" communication. Whether it references the 1947 Roswell crash or a later, separate recovery is debated by researchers; the memo was written three years after Roswell.
Assessment
Hottel does not appear to have conducted an independent investigation or to have had direct knowledge of the recovered craft himself — he was relaying secondhand information from an Air Force source. His significance lies entirely in the document he authored: as a credentialed FBI official, his transmission of this information to the director of the FBI in an official internal memorandum carries greater evidentiary weight than a civilian claim would. The memo does not evaluate or endorse the claims; it simply transmits them through official channels.