Burned Kennedy MJ memo
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 23 January 1999 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic), Disinformation & hoaxes (topic) |
| People | Tim Cooper, John F. Kennedy, Ryan Wood |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 137 |
| Year | 1999 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1999 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 12 |
The burned memo is a partly burned, nine-page document that UFO researcher Timothy Cooper said was sent to him in 1999, presented as a Kennedy-era message from the Director of Central Intelligence, identified as "MJ-1", to other members of the alleged Majestic 12 group. It is widely regarded as a forgery.[1][2]
Origin
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According to a cover letter from an anonymous "Source-1", who claimed to have worked for the CIA between 1960 and 1974 in the circle of counter-intelligence chief James Angleton, the pages were rescued from a fire when the agency was burning sensitive files. The memo is undated and unsigned.[1][3]
Contents
The memo's first page includes the line "LANCER has made some inquiries regarding our activities which we cannot allow", using President Kennedy's Secret Service code name, and it was addressed to recipients "MJ-2" to "MJ-7". It is often paired with another alleged Kennedy memo, dated 12 November 1963, in which the president supposedly asked the CIA for UFO files days before his assassination. Supporters argue the documents show Kennedy was seeking UFO information shortly before his death, a link some conspiracy theorists use to tie the subject to the assassination.[1][2]
Promotion
The memo was published on Robert and Ryan Wood's Majestic Documents website, together with the cover letter. Robert Wood suspected it was written by Allen Dulles or John McCone and suggested it had been dictated to a secretary.[1]
Criticism
Writer Seamus Coogan argued that a real CIA author would not have used Kennedy's widely known code name rather than an internal cryptonym, that no covert operator would have put such a plan on paper, and that the dictation theory implied implausibly many people in the loop. According to Coogan, Cooper later disowned all the MJ-12 documents he had received. No copy of such a memo has been found in official records, and the story of its rescue from a fire is unconfirmed; most historians regard it as fake.[1][3]
People and topics
- Tim Cooper — California researcher who said he received many MJ-12-style documents from anonymous sources in the 1990s.
- John F. Kennedy — 35th U.S. president, named in disputed MJ-12 memos.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Central Intelligence Agency — The U.S. foreign intelligence agency, which has followed UFO reports since the 1940s.
- Ryan Wood — Researcher who published the Majestic documents with his father Robert Wood.
- MJ-12 — Disputed documents describing a secret committee managing crashed saucers.
- Cooper documents — MJ-12-style documents that Tim Cooper said he received in the 1990s.
On the Timeline
- CAUS Phoenix Lights lawsuit (22 January 1999) — A civilian group sues for records on the Phoenix Lights.
- Homer Rowlette deathbed account (March 1999) — A man says his father told him on his deathbed about the Roswell crash.
See every 1999 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Seamus Coogan, "JFK and the Majestic Papers: The History of a Hoax", Kennedys and King (Aug 2011) · kennedysandking.com · archived copy
- "Is that JFK memo to the CIA about UFOs real?", NBC News (2011) · nbcnews.com · archived copy
- "CIA cover-up alleged in JFK's 'secret UFO inquiry'", Space.com (2011) · space.com · archived copy
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- How the FBI debunked the MJ-12 papers — Atlas Obscura · atlasobscura.com · archived copy
- On the Tim Cooper MJ-12 documents (1990s archive) · geocities.ws · archived copy
- Review of Kevin Randle's 'Case MJ-12' — Stanton Friedman · medium.com · archived copy
- The 'burned' JFK MJ-12 memo — SlideShare · slideshare.net · archived copy
- Cooper/Woods 'Majestic' leak grows into paper flood (archive) · oocities.org · archived copy
- Critique of the Cooper MJ-12 documents — Kennedys and King · kennedysandking.com · archived copy
- majesticdocuments.com · majesticdocuments.com · archived copy
- majesticdocuments.com · majesticdocuments.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Majestic 12 file — FBI Vault · vault.fbi.gov · archived copy
- UFO documents — CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
- John F. Kennedy — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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