Carried out under control of the Majestic-12 (Majic-12) Group which was established by special classified executive order of President Truman on 24 September, 1947, upon recommendation by Dr. Vannevar Bush. MJ-1949-04P/78 (Top Secret – Eyes Only) should be held in continued readiness should the need to make a public announcement present. Top secret / majic eyes only 001 national security information. top secret. eyes only copy one of one. Briefing document: operation majestic 12 prepared for president-elect d. Eisenhower: (eyes only) 18 november, 1952 warning: this is a top secret - eyes only document containing.
Majestic-12 Government Files
This is where all hell broke loose in the ‘ufologist’ community, enjoy:
EYES ONLY
BRIEFING DOCUMENT: OPERATION MAJESTIC-12
PREPARED FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT EISENHOWER.
DOCUMENT PREPARED 18 NOVEMBER, 1952.
BRIEFING OFFICER: ADM. ROSCOE H. HILLENKOETTER (MJ-1)
NOTE: This document has been prepared as a preliminary
briefing only. It should be regarded as introductory to a
full operations briefing intended to follow.
......
OPERATION MAJESTIC-12 is a TOP SECRET Research and
Development/Intelligence operation responsible directly
only to the President of the United States. Operations of
the project are carried out under control of the Majestic-12
(MAJIC) Group which was established by special classified
executive order of President Truman on 24 September, 1947,
upon recommendation by Dr. Vannevar Bush and Secretary James
Forrestal. (See Attachment 'A'.) Members of the majestic-12
Group were designated as follows:
Adm. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
Dr. Vannevar Bush
Secy. James V. Forrestal
Gen. Nathan F. Twining
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg
Dr. Detlev Bronk
Dr. Jerome Hunsaker
Mr. Sidney W. Souers
Mr. Gordon Gray
Dr. Donald Menzel
Gen. Robert M. Montague
Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner
The death of Secretary Forrestal on 22 May, 1949, created a
vacancy which remained unfilled until 01 August, 1950, upon
which date Gen. Walter B. Smith was designated as permanent
replacement.
TOP SECRET -EYES ONLY-
On 24 June, 1947, a civilian pilot, flying over the Cascade
Mountains in the State of Washington observed nine flying
disc-shaped aircraft travelling in formation at a high rate
of speed. Although this was not the first known sighting of
such objects, it was the first to gain widespread attention
in the public media. Hundreds of reports of sightings of
similar objects followed. Many of these came from highly
credible military and civilian sources. These reports
resulted in independent efforts by several different
elements of the military to ascertain the nature and purpose
of these objects in the interests of national defense. A
number of witnesses were interviewed and there were several
unsuccessful attempts to utilise aircraft in efforts to
pursue reported discs in flight. Public reaction bordered on
near hysteria at times. In spite of these efforts, little of
substance was learned about the objects until a local
rancher reported that one had crashed in a remote region of
New Mexico located approximately seventy-five miles
northwest of Roswell Army Air Base (now Walker Field). On 07
July, 1947, a secret operation was begun to assure recovery
of the wreckage of this object for scientific study.During
the course of this operation, aerial reconnaissance
discovered that four small human-like beings had apparently
ejected from the craft at some point before it exploded.
These had fallen to earth about two miles east of the
wreckage site. All four were dead and badly decomposed due
to action by predators and exposure to the elements during
the approximately one week time period which had elapsed
before their discovery. A special scientific took charge of
removing these bodies for study. (See Attachment 'C'.) The
wreckage of the craft was also removed to several different
locations. (See Attachment 'B'.) Civilian and military
witnesses in the area were debriefed, and news reporters
were given the effective cover story that the object had
been a misguided weather research balloon.
A covert analytical effort organized by Gen. Twining and Dr.
Bush acting on the direct orders of the President, resulted
in a preliminary concensus (19 September, 1947) that the
disc was most likely a short range reconnaissance craft.
This conclusion was based for the most part on the craft's
size and the apparent lack of any identifiable provisioning.
(See Attachment 'D'.) A similar analysis of the four dead
occupants was arranged by Dr. Bronk. It was the tentative
conclusion of this group (30 november, 1947) that although
these creatures are human-like in appearance, the biological
and evolutionary processes responsible for their development
has apparently been quite different from
those observed or postulated in homo-sapiens. Dr Bronk's tea
has suggested the term 'Extra-terrestrial Biological
Entities', or 'EBEs', be adopted as the standard term of
reference for these creatures until such time as a more
definitive designation can be agreed upon. Since it is
virtually certain that these craft do not originate in any
country on earth, considerable speculation has centred
around what their point of origin may be and how they get
here. Mars was and remains a possibility, although some
scientists, most notably Dr. Menzel, consider it more likely
that we are dealing with beings from another solar system
entirely. Numerous examples of what appear to be a form of
writing were found in the wreckage. Efforts to decipher
these have remained largely unsuccessful. (See Attachment
'E'.) Equally unsuccessful have been efforts to determine
the methods of propulsion or the nature or method of
transmission of the power source involved. Research along
these lines has been complicated by the complete absence of
identifiable wings, propellers, jets, or other conventional
methods of propulsion and guidance, as well as a total lack
of metallic wiring, vacuum tubes, or similar recognizable
electronic components. (See Attachment 'F'.) It is assumed
that the propulsion unit was completely destroyed by the
explosion which caused the crash.
A need for as much additional information as possible about
these craft, their performance characteristics and their
purpose led to the undertaking known as U.S. Air Force
Project SIGN in December, 1947. In order to preserve
security, liaison between SIGN and Majestic-12 was limited
to two individuals within the Intelligence Division of Air
Material Command whose role was to pass along certain types
of information through channels. SIGN evolved into Project
GRUDGE in December, 1948. The operation is currently being
conducted under the code name BLUE BOOK, with liaison
maintained through the Air Force officer who is head of the
project. On 06 december, 1950, a second object, probably os
similar origin, impacted the earth at high speed in the El
Indio - Guerrero area of Texas - Mexican border after
following a long trajectory through the atmosphere. by the
time a search team arrived, what remained of the object as
been totally incinerated. Such material as could been
recovered was transported to the A.E.C. facility at Sandia,
New Mexico, for study. Implications for the National
Security are of continuing importance in that the motives
and ultimate intentions of these visitors remain completely
unknown. In addition, a significant upsurge in the
surveillance activity of these craft beginning in May and
continuing through the autumn of this year has caused
considerable concern that new developments may be imminent.
It is for these reasons, as well as the obvious
international and technological considerations and the
ultimate need to avoid a public panic at all costs, that the
Majestic-12 Group remains of the unanimous opinion that
imposition of the strictest security precautions should
continue without interruption into the new administration.
At the same time, contingency plan MJ-1949-04P/78 (Top
Secret - Eyes Only) should be held in continued readiness
should the need to make a public announcement present
itself. (See Attachment 'G'.)
RENUMERATION OF ATTACHMENTS:
*ATTACHMENT 'A'........Special Classified Executive Order
#092447. (TS/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'B'........Operation Majestic-12 Status Report
#1, Part A. 30 NOV '47.
(TS-MAJIC/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'C'........Operation Majestic-12 Status Report
#1, Part B. 30 NOV '47.
(TS-MAJIC/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'D'........Operation Majestic-12 Preliminary
Analytical Report. 19 SEP '47.
(TS-MAJIC/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'E'........Operation Majestic-12 Blue Team
Report #5. 30 JUN '52.
(TS-MAJIC/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'F'........Operation Majestic-12 Status Report
#2. 31 JAN '48. (TS-MAJIC/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'G'........Operation Majestic-12 Contingency
Plan MJ-1949-04P/78: 31 JAN
'49. (TS-MAJIC/EO)
*ATTACHMENT 'H'........Operation Majestic-12, Maps and
Photographs Folio (Extractions).
(TS-MAJIC/EO)
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Dear Secretary Forrestal:
As per our recent conversation on this matter, you are
hereby authorized to proceed with all due speed and caution
upon your undertaking. Hereafter this matter shall be
referred to only as Operation Majestic-Twelve. It continues
to be my feeling that any future considerations relative to
the ultimate disposition of this matter should rest solely
with the Office of the President following appropriate
discussions with yourself, Dr. Bush and the Director of
Central Intelligence.
Harry Truman
Majestic 12 (or MJ-12) is a purported organization that appears in UFO conspiracy theories. The organization is claimed to be the code name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, formed in 1947 by an executive order by U.S. PresidentHarry S. Truman to facilitate recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft. The concept originated in a series of supposedly leaked secret government documents first circulated by ufologists in 1984. Upon examination, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declared the documents to be 'completely bogus', and many ufologists consider them to be an elaborate hoax.[1][2] Majestic 12 remains popular among some UFO conspiracy theorists and the concept has appeared in popular culture including television, film and literature.
History[edit]
The concept of 'Majestic Twelve' emerged during a period in the 1980s when ufologists believed there had been a cover-up of the Roswell UFO incident and speculated some secretive upper tier of the United States government was responsible.[3] Their suppositions appeared to be confirmed in 1984 when ufologist Jaime Shandera received an envelope containing film which, when developed, showed images of eight pages of documents that appeared to be briefing papers describing 'Operation Majestic Twelve'.[3] The documents purported to reveal a secret committee of twelve, supposedly authorized by United States President Harry S. Truman in 1952, and explain how the crash of an alien spacecraft at Roswell in 1947 had been concealed, how the recovered alien technology could be exploited, and how the United States should engage with extraterrestrial life in the future.[3][4]
Shandera and his ufologist colleagues Stanton T. Friedman and Bill Moore say they later received a series of anonymous messages that led them to find what has been called the 'Cutler/Twining memo' in 1985 while searching declassified files in the National Archives. Purporting to be written by President Eisenhower's assistant Robert Cutler to General Nathan F. Twining and containing a reference to Majestic 12, the memo is widely held to be a forgery, likely planted as part of a hoax.[5] Historian Robert Goldberg wrote that the ufologists came to believe the story despite the documents being 'obviously planted to bolster the legitimacy of the briefing papers'.[3]
Claiming to be connected to the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations, a man named Richard Doty told filmmaker Linda Moulton Howe that the MJ-12 story was true, and showed Howe unspecified documents purporting to prove the existence of small, grey humanoid aliens originating from the Zeta Reticuli star system. Doty reportedly promised to supply Howe with film footage of UFOs and an interview with an alien being, although no footage ever materialized.[3]
Soon, distrust and suspicion led to disagreements within the ufology community over the authenticity of the MJ-12 documents, and Moore was accused of taking part in an elaborate hoax, while other ufologists and debunkers such as Philip J. Klass were accused of being 'disinformation agents'.[4]
Analysis[edit]
Klass's investigation of the MJ-12 documents found that Robert Cutler was actually out of the country on the date he supposedly wrote the 'Cutler/Twining memo', and that the Truman signature was 'a pasted-on photocopy of a genuine signature —including accidental scratch marks — from a memo that Truman wrote to Vannevar Bush on October 1, 1947'. Klass dismissed theories that the documents were part of a disinformation campaign as 'ridiculous', saying they contained numerous flaws that could never fool Soviet or Chinese intelligence. Other discrepancies noted by Klass included the use of a distinctive date format that matched one used in Moore's personal letters, and a conversation reported by Brad Sparks in which Moore confided that he was contemplating creating and releasing some hoax Top Secret documents in hopes that such bogus documents would encourage former military and intelligence officials who knew about the government's (alleged) UFO coverup to break their oaths of secrecy.[6]
The FBI began its own investigation of the supposed 'secret' documents and quickly formed doubts as to their authenticity. The United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations stated that no such committee had ever been authorized or formed, and that the documents were 'bogus'. The FBI subsequently declared the MJ-12 documents to be 'completely bogus'.[2]
Later in 1996, a document called the MJ-12 'Special Operations Manual' circulated among ufologists. It is also widely considered to be a fake and 'a continuation of the MJ-12 myth'.[7]
Ufologists Linda Moulton Howe and Stanton T. Friedman believe the MJ12 Documents are authentic. Friedman examined the documents and has argued that the United States government has conspired to cover up knowledge of a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft.[3]
According to journalist Howard Blum the name 'Majestic 12' had been prefigured in the UFO community when Bill Moore asked National Enquirer reporter Bob Pratt in 1982 to collaborate on a novel called MAJIK-12. Because of this, Blum writes, Pratt had always been inclined to think the Majestic 12 documents a hoax.[8]
Scientific skeptic author Brian Dunning investigated the history of the subject, and reported his findings in the 2016 Skeptoid podcast episode 'The Secret History of Majestic 12'. He concluded that, rather than a hoax perpetrated by the UFO community, it is likely the papers were actually part of a disinformation campaign of the US government meant to deflect attention from secret Air Force projects.[9] Referring to the MJ-12 documents, Dunning states:
They were classic disinformation, false documents created to play a role in real national security. They were designed and written for specific marks who did with them exactly what they were meant to. They took advantage of well-meaning patriots who wanted enhanced national security, and who, by being easy to fool, ended up providing exactly that.[9]
Alleged members[edit]
The following individuals were described in the Majestic 12 documents as 'designated members' of Majestic 12.[5]
References[edit]
- ^Donovan, Barna William (2011-07-20). Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious. McFarland. pp. 107–. ISBN9780786486151. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ^ ab'FBI – Majestic 12 Part 1 of 1'. An FBI archive containing details of 'Majestic 12'. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
- ^ abcdefRobert Alan Goldberg (1 October 2008), Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America, Yale University Press, pp. 189–, ISBN978-0-300-13294-6
- ^ abPeter Knight (1 January 2003), Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, pp. 490–, ISBN978-1-57607-812-9
- ^ abKendrick Frazier, The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal, Prometheus Books, Publishers, pp. 338–, ISBN978-1-61592-401-1
- ^Klass, Philip. 'The New Bogus Majestic-12 Documents'. CSI. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^Brenda Denzler (2001), The Lure of the Edge: Scientific Passions, Religious Beliefs, and the Pursuit of UFOs, University of California Press, pp. 190–, ISBN978-0-520-93027-8
- ^Howard Blum (1 January 1991), Out there: the government's secret quest for extraterrestrials, Simon and Schuster, ISBN978-0-671-66260-8
- ^ abDunning, Brian. 'Skeptoid #528: The Secret History of Majestic 12'. Skeptoid. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
Further reading[edit]
- Stanton T. Friedman, TOP SECRET/MAJIC, 1997, Marlowe & Co., ISBN1-56924-741-2
- Philip J. Klass, The MJ-12 Crashed Saucer Documents, Skeptical Inquirer, vol XII, #2, Winter 1987–88, 137–46. Reprinted (sans figures) as chapter 7 of The UFO Invasion.
- Philip J. Klass, The MJ-12 Papers – part 2, Skeptical Inquirer, vol XII, #3, Spring 1988, 279–89.
- Philip J. Klass, MJ-12 Papers 'Authenticated'?, Skeptical Inquirer, vol 13, #3, Spring 1989, 305–09. Reprinted as chapter 8 of The UFO Invasion.
- Philip J. Klass, New Evidence of MJ-12 Hoax, Skeptical Inquirer, vol 14, #2, Winter 1990, 135–40. Reprinted as chapter 9 of The UFO Invasion. Also reprinted in The Outer Edge: *Classic Investigations of the Paranormal, edited by Joe Nickell, Barry Karr, and Tom Genoni, CSICOP, 1996.
- Joe Nickell and John F. Fischer, The Crashed Saucer Forgeries, International UFO Reporter, March 1990, 4–12.
- Curtis Peebles, Watch the Skies: a Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth, 1994, Smithsonian Press, ISBN1-56098-343-4, pp. 264–68.
- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, 1995, Random House, ISBN0-394-53512-X, p. 90.
- Kathryn S. Olmsted, Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11. Chapter 6: Trust No One: Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories from the 1970s to the 1990s. 2009 Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-975395-6
External links[edit]
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