Presidential X-Files: Harry Truman and the Majestic 12
A number of conspiracy theorists believe that President Harry Truman created a group known as the Majestic 12, or MJ-12 for short. This is said to be the code name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, formed in 1947 by one of Truman's executive orders. Its mandate was to facilitate recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft, including one that had allegedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. Belief in the existence of the supposedly secret organization originated out a series of government documents that were said to have been leaked. These were first circulated by members of the ufologist community in 1984.
The original 12 members of the band were:
1. Lloyd Berkner-a physicist, engineer and inventor and a leader in atmospheric studies
2. Detlev Bronk-a biophysicist who went on to become President of Johns Hopkins University
3. Vannevar Bush-an engineer, inventor and science administrator; during World War II he was head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development through which almost all wartime military R&D was carried out, including important developments in radar as well as the initiation and early administration of the Manhattan Project
4. James Forrestal-the last Secretary of the Navy and first Secretary of Defense
5. Gordon Gray-a lawyer who went on to become Truman's Secretary of the Army
6. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter-an Admiral who was the third Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency
7. Jerome Clarke Hunsaker-a mechanical engineer and former army pilot, and chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
8. Donald H. Menzel-a Harvard educated theoretical astronomer and astrophysicist and the Vice President of the American Astronomical Society
9. Robert M. Montague-an army Lieutenant General who had served as deputy commander of the Army’s Air Defense Artillery Center at Fort Bliss, Texas and who wasthe commander of the Sandia Missile Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico
10. Sidney Souers-an Admiral and intelligence expert who Truman had appointed at the first Director of Central Intelligence (DCI); he was the person Truman talked to most regarding national security issues
11. Nathan F. Twining-commander of the Air Materiel Command, and of the Alaskan Air Command; on September 23, 1947, he a memo entitled “AMC Opinion Concerning 'Flying Discs'”
12. Hoyt Vandenberg-an Air Force general who served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence
A number of ufologists have posited the theory that there was a cover-up of the Roswell UFO incident and that members of the upper tier of the United States government was responsible. In 1984, 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 12". The documents purported to reveal a secret committee of 12, and the memo was supposedly authorized by Truman in 1952.
The memo explained how the crash of an alien spacecraft at Roswell in July of 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. Shandera and his colleagues Stanton T. Friedman and Bill Moore claim to have later received a series of anonymous messages that led them to find what has been called the "Cutler/Twining memo" in 1985, through a search of declassified files in the National Archives. This memo was said to have been written by President Dwight Eisenhower's assistant Robert Cutler to General Nathan F. Twining. It contained a reference to Majestic 12.
A man named Richard Doty claimed to be connected to the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He told filmmaker Linda Moulton Howe that the MJ-12 story was true. He showed Howe documents purporting to prove the existence of small, grey humanoid aliens originating from the Zeta Reticuli star system. He also promised to supply Howe with film footage of UFOs and an interview with an alien being, but no footage ever materialized.
Controversy over the authenticity of the MJ-12 documents erupted, even within the ufology community. Bill Moore was accused of taking part in an elaborate hoax. Philip J. Klass, a journalist and ufo researcher, conducted an 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". He also concluded that the Truman signature was what he called "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".
The FBI began its own investigation of the supposed "secret" documents and soon came to the same conclusion about the memorandum's lack of 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".
In 1996, another document called the MJ-12 "Special Operations Manual" was being circulated among ufologists, but its authenticity is also highly doubted. In spite of this, Linda Moulton Howe and Stanton T. Friedman maintain their belief that the MJ-12 documents are authentic. Friedman believes that the United States government has conspired to cover up knowledge of a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. If nothing else, Majestic 12 has made for some interesting fiction. A cartoon version of Harry Truman made an appearance in the animated TV show Futurama, in the episode entitled Roswell that Ends Well, the shows 51st episode. This episode won the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour), winning the show its first Emmy. Truman was voiced by Maurice LaMarche.
The original 12 members of the band were:
1. Lloyd Berkner-a physicist, engineer and inventor and a leader in atmospheric studies
2. Detlev Bronk-a biophysicist who went on to become President of Johns Hopkins University
3. Vannevar Bush-an engineer, inventor and science administrator; during World War II he was head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development through which almost all wartime military R&D was carried out, including important developments in radar as well as the initiation and early administration of the Manhattan Project
4. James Forrestal-the last Secretary of the Navy and first Secretary of Defense
5. Gordon Gray-a lawyer who went on to become Truman's Secretary of the Army
6. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter-an Admiral who was the third Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency
7. Jerome Clarke Hunsaker-a mechanical engineer and former army pilot, and chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
8. Donald H. Menzel-a Harvard educated theoretical astronomer and astrophysicist and the Vice President of the American Astronomical Society
9. Robert M. Montague-an army Lieutenant General who had served as deputy commander of the Army’s Air Defense Artillery Center at Fort Bliss, Texas and who wasthe commander of the Sandia Missile Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico
10. Sidney Souers-an Admiral and intelligence expert who Truman had appointed at the first Director of Central Intelligence (DCI); he was the person Truman talked to most regarding national security issues
11. Nathan F. Twining-commander of the Air Materiel Command, and of the Alaskan Air Command; on September 23, 1947, he a memo entitled “AMC Opinion Concerning 'Flying Discs'”
12. Hoyt Vandenberg-an Air Force general who served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence
A number of ufologists have posited the theory that there was a cover-up of the Roswell UFO incident and that members of the upper tier of the United States government was responsible. In 1984, 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 12". The documents purported to reveal a secret committee of 12, and the memo was supposedly authorized by Truman in 1952.
The memo explained how the crash of an alien spacecraft at Roswell in July of 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. Shandera and his colleagues Stanton T. Friedman and Bill Moore claim to have later received a series of anonymous messages that led them to find what has been called the "Cutler/Twining memo" in 1985, through a search of declassified files in the National Archives. This memo was said to have been written by President Dwight Eisenhower's assistant Robert Cutler to General Nathan F. Twining. It contained a reference to Majestic 12.
A man named Richard Doty claimed to be connected to the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He told filmmaker Linda Moulton Howe that the MJ-12 story was true. He showed Howe documents purporting to prove the existence of small, grey humanoid aliens originating from the Zeta Reticuli star system. He also promised to supply Howe with film footage of UFOs and an interview with an alien being, but no footage ever materialized.
Controversy over the authenticity of the MJ-12 documents erupted, even within the ufology community. Bill Moore was accused of taking part in an elaborate hoax. Philip J. Klass, a journalist and ufo researcher, conducted an 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". He also concluded that the Truman signature was what he called "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".
The FBI began its own investigation of the supposed "secret" documents and soon came to the same conclusion about the memorandum's lack of 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".
In 1996, another document called the MJ-12 "Special Operations Manual" was being circulated among ufologists, but its authenticity is also highly doubted. In spite of this, Linda Moulton Howe and Stanton T. Friedman maintain their belief that the MJ-12 documents are authentic. Friedman believes that the United States government has conspired to cover up knowledge of a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. If nothing else, Majestic 12 has made for some interesting fiction. A cartoon version of Harry Truman made an appearance in the animated TV show Futurama, in the episode entitled Roswell that Ends Well, the shows 51st episode. This episode won the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour), winning the show its first Emmy. Truman was voiced by Maurice LaMarche.