Case file · Retrieval claim
Kingman, Arizona
An engineer's later claim of a recovered craft in the Arizona desert.
1953 CE · 35.19, -114.05 · status: claim
The researched reading
A single late affidavit with no documents or other witnesses. At best a garbled memory of secret test work, at worst an invention.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Undetermined | 55% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | The story rests on one man, Arthur Stansel ("Fritz Werner"), with a 1973 affidavit two decades after the event and no corroborating document or witness; even UFO researchers such as Kevin Randle reject it. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 10% | A Nevada Test Site worker may have conflated rumours or real test-recovery work with saucer lore. |
| Something known, misidentified | 8% | May 1953 saw the Upshot–Knothole nuclear test series and drone recoveries; real debris recoveries could underlie the story. |
| Secret human technology | 6% | A crashed test vehicle or drone recovered under secrecy is the most plausible real core if there was one. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 4% | Recent whistleblower claims mention Kingman but have produced no evidence. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 1% | No natural event is reported. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 1% | Nothing points to an unusual natural event. |
Official position: No official investigation or record; the claim is uncorroborated.