◆ SpookStack

reer aster of the German dirship "Hindenburg", which occurred on the after- noon of May 6, 1937, and that at his request two representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Inspector B. J. Connelley, and — . Special agent in Charge We 5. DeveReany atrented the hearings. in the . eapacity of observers - wie é a a Mr. Trimble stated that the Inveatigation Board had received numerous letters offering all sorts of suggestions and opinions as to the probable cause of the disaster; that while a great number of let. ters suggesting possible sabotage have already been given proper con~ sideration by the Board, he felt that there might be some other infor~ mation in these letters which could probably be handled with more thor~ oughness by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, than by the Invesatizga~ tion Board; that having this in mind, he furnished the Bureau with cer= tain letters and other data, in order that the Bureau might render any cooperation deamed advisable and appropriate by the Bureau in connection with this subject matter, Mr. Trimble furnished agent with aix sections of correspon- dence, consisting principally of letters from passengers, eye witnesses, and persons who claimed to have observed the flight of the Hindenburg, and who have been interested enough to express their ideas, conclusions, and opinions concerning the possible causes of the disaster. A review of these letters and correspondence by agent indicates that about 30% of them appear to place the responsibility for the disaster upon me chanical defects, 50% upon static discharges and other aerial causes, and about 20% upon possible sabotage perpetrated by Jews and directed against the Hitler regime in Germany. Merely for reference, and not to be used in any fudarer ine vestigation of this subjeot matter, Mr. Trimble invited agent's atten- tion to a strictly confidential memorandum dated May 29, 1937, prepared by the German Technical Commission, at the request of the Investigation Board of the Department of Commerce, on the subject of the possibilities of sabotage in connection with the loss of the Hindenburg. In this memorandum the possibilities of sabotage by the uge of bombs instalied in the ship and operated by clockwork, or affected by barometric bellows, or possible sabotage by incendiary bullet fired from the ground, are particularly mentioned, I+ is stated in this memo- randum that such a bomb could have been installed in Frankfurt only by a peraon having access to the remote parte of the ship, without being noticed by the crew, and set to a probable time shortly after landing, er to operate as soon as a certain barometric pressure would have been reached; that the device could also have been installed by a passenger =~ Ba