MJ-12

MJ-12

Type	Document
Also known as	Majestic-12, Majestic 12, MJ12, Majestic documents
On the Timeline	33 events, 1947–2022

Majestic 12 (MJ-12) is the name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders and government officials said to have been formed by President Harry Truman in 1947 to manage the recovery of crashed flying saucers. The name comes from a series of documents that surfaced from 1984 onward. The FBI judged the best-known document "completely bogus", and historians and most UFO researchers regard the papers as forgeries, though their origin remains debated.^[1][2]

Origins

The earliest known reference to "MJ Twelve" appears in a 1981 document used to deceive physicist Paul Bennewitz, who believed alien craft were operating near Kirtland Air Force Base. The campaign involved Air Force Office of Special Investigations agent Richard Doty and UFO researcher William Moore. In 1982 Moore, journalist Bob Pratt and Doty worked on an unpublished manuscript, The Aquarius Project, originally titled "MAJIK-12". In 1983 Doty described MJ-12 to lawyer Peter Gersten and told journalist Linda Moulton Howe the story was true.^[1]

The documents

On 11 December 1984, television producer Jaime Shandera, who was working with Moore, received an anonymous package with a New Mexico postmark containing an undeveloped roll of 35mm film. It showed two documents: a memo from Truman to Defense Secretary James Forrestal dated 24 September 1947, and the "Eisenhower Briefing Document", dated 18 November 1952, which presents itself as a briefing for President-elect Dwight Eisenhower by former CIA director Roscoe Hillenkoetter.^[1]

The briefing describes the recovery of a crashed disc and four bodies near Roswell in 1947, a second crash near the Texas–Mexico border in 1950, and the creation of MJ-12. It names twelve members: Lloyd Berkner, Detlev Bronk, Vannevar Bush, James Forrestal, Gordon Gray, Roscoe Hillenkoetter, Jerome Hunsaker, Donald Menzel, Robert Montague, Sidney Souers, Nathan Twining and Hoyt Vandenberg.^[1] Researcher Tom Deuley later investigated the claimed 1950 Mexican crash for MUFON and found no evidence of it.^[1]

In 1985 Shandera, Moore and Stanton Friedman said anonymous tips led them to a memo in the National Archives, from Robert Cutler to Gen. Twining and dated July 1954, that mentioned an MJ-12 meeting. Archivists found that it bore a marking not used until the Nixon administration, was on onionskin paper rather than the watermarked paper used at the time, and referred to a National Security Council meeting that did not take place. In the 1990s many more papers appeared, including documents supplied by researcher Timothy Cooper from 1992 and a "Special Operations Manual" dated April 1954, sent on film to researcher Don Berliner in 1994; these too are widely regarded as fakes.^[1]

Investigations and analysis

In September 1988 an Air Force OSI agent contacted the FBI's Dallas office about a copy of the briefing. In November the OSI reported that no such committee had ever been authorised, and the FBI called the document "completely bogus".^[1][3]

Skeptic Philip Klass identified several problems: the briefing used a date format that matched Moore's own correspondence rather than government practice of the 1940s, and the Truman signature was a copy of a real signature on an October 1947 letter to Vannevar Bush, including stray marks. He also found that Cutler was abroad on the date of his supposed memo. Friedman, who defended the documents for years, showed that some later MJ-12 papers had been adapted from real wartime letters about "Magic", the U.S. codebreaking program, with words changed.^[1][4][5]

Confessions and disinformation theories

At a MUFON conference in July 1989, Moore admitted that he had cooperated with intelligence agents and helped feed false information to UFO researchers, including Bennewitz. Doty later said he had given fabricated information to researchers while stationed at Kirtland, and appeared in the 2013 documentary Mirage Men.^[1] Some writers, including skeptic Brian Dunning, have suggested the documents may have been part of a government disinformation effort rather than a private hoax.^[1][6]

Influence

Despite their doubtful origins, the MJ-12 papers had a lasting effect. They were publicised in Timothy Good's Above Top Secret (1987), debated by Friedman and Klass on ABC's Nightline in June 1987, defended in Friedman's Top Secret/Majic (1996), and inspired The X-Files, Dark Skies and video games such as Deus Ex.^[1]

On the UAP Timeline

• Hillenkoetter MJ-12 memo of 19 September 1947 (19 September 1947) — A disputed memo attributed to CIA Director Hillenkoetter calls for a presidential directive and scientific study of the discs.
• Twining memo (1947) (23 September 1947) — Gen. Nathan Twining writes that the flying discs are real and could be a secret U.S. or Soviet project.
• Hillenkoetter letter of 24 September 1947 (24 September 1947) — A letter attributed to the CIA director allegedly names Air Force and Navy intelligence units as leads on recovered objects.
• Research and Development Board dismisses the discs (1948) (31 January 1948) — A Pentagon research board publicly dismisses flying saucers as mirages and mass self-hypnosis.
• Alleged CIA report on recovered disc technology (1949) (17 August 1949) — An alleged CIA report names a secret Defense Department program for exploiting recovered disc technology.
• MJ-12 Fifth Annual Report (1952) — A disputed, possibly hoaxed 'Majic' report describes the 1947 recovery of craft and five bodies.
• SOM1-01 Special Operations Manual (1954) — Engineer Bob Wood reportedly suspects the 'SOM1-01' manual was created as Cold War disinformation.
• NSC 5412 Special Group (28 December 1954) — A secret National Security Council group is formed to coordinate covert operations.
• Hill AFB landing claim (1958) (1958) — An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB.
• Hillenkoetter's 1960 call for hearings (22 June 1960) — Former CIA Director Hillenkoetter tells a newspaper UFOs are under intelligent control.
• Kennedy MJ-12 memo of June 1961 (28 June 1961) — An alleged Kennedy memo asks the CIA to review 'MJ-12' operations.
• Robert Wood's McDonnell Douglas study (1967) — McDonnell Douglas physicist Robert Wood says he was tasked with gravity propulsion research.
• Twelve officials to study UFOs (1974) (2 June 1974) — Puthoff relays that 12 senior officials have decided to focus on UAP study.
• Spread of the Bennewitz disinformation (1980s Undefined) — Doty's fake document spreads to the public and into books and media.
• Kit Green on MJ-12 (1988) (23 October 1988) — Kit Green tells Vallée that 'MJ12' was real.
• Vallée on the disinformation campaign (1989) (17 September 1989) — Vallée writes there is a large disinformation campaign around UAP.
• Eric Walker interview (1990) — An interview attributed to scientist Eric Walker discusses secret UAP knowledge.
• Tim Cooper's German saucer source (1991) (July 1991) — A retired colonel says early UAP were first thought to be German and used unknown materials.
• NRO Blue Fire document (28 July 1991) — An alleged NRO document warns of UFO-group protests near Area 51.
• FBI MJ-12 espionage file (22 July 1993) — The FBI says it has a closed 'Majestic-12' file labelled espionage.
• Richard Weaver on MJ-12 (1993) (12 October 1993) — An Air Force colonel calls MJ-12 and its documents bogus but can't say how that was decided.
• Jehovah teletype (Cooper documents) (November 1998) — An allegedly leaked CIA teletype is given to a researcher.
• Jim Westwood's MJ-12 disinformation theory (1 January 1999) — A former CIA consultant suggests the MJ-12 briefing document was a fake to fool the KGB.
• Burned Kennedy MJ memo (23 January 1999) — An alleged JFK-era 'MJ' memo is sent to a researcher.
• Westwood on MJ-12 disinformation (2001) (5 May 2001) — A consultant tells Vallée the MJ-12 documents are disinformation.
• Bill Cooper and Behold a Pale Horse (2004) — Bill Cooper claims underground bases host cooperation between aliens and humans.
• Four "iron post" sources (6 March 2004) — A consultant tells Vallée that four trusted insider sources back Puthoff and Davis.
• DIA source notes on fake MJ-12 papers (2004) (26 March 2004) — Davis receives notes from a DIA source about fake MJ-12 papers and a secret project.
• Dan Burisch and J-Rod (2008) — Dan Burisch claims he studied an extraterrestrial being at the S-4 facility.
• Politico "Skull and Bones" faction report (16 May 2022) — An official tells Politico a 'secret society' withholds UAP information from Congress.
• Mellon on the Majestic documents (September 2022) — Mellon says the 'Majestic' documents are very controversial.
• Cosmos Club MJ-12 forerunner claim (14 October 2022) — Warner's son describes a 'Cosmos Club' as a forerunner of a group like MJ-12.
• Dulles–Kennedy meeting of 28 June 1961 (17 December 2022) — A declassified calendar shows CIA chief Allen Dulles met President Kennedy on 28 June 1961.

References