Majestic 12
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Majestic-12 (sometimes written simply as MJ-12 or MJ-XII) is the codename of a secret committee presumed to have been formed in 1947 at the direction of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, in order to investigate UFO activity. This alleged committee is an important part of the UFO conspiracy theory.
The existence of MJ-12 has been denied by the United States government, which insists that documents suggesting its existence are hoaxed. The FBI investigated the documents, and concluded they were forgeries. Opinions among UFO researchers and enthusiasts are divided: Some argue the documents may be genuine, others contend they are phony, due primarily to errors in formatting and chronology.
The document in question is rather widely available on the Internet, including on the FBI's own website, linked below.
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History
Majestic 12 first entered the public consciousness in 1982. Television producer (and amateur ufologist) Jamie Shandera says he received a roll of film in the mail from an anonymous sender. Once developed, the film was of two documents: The first document was supposedly written by U.S. President Harry S Truman, authorising the formation of a committee called "MJ 12", charged with evaluating the 1947 Roswell UFO incident. The second document was supposedly prepared by MJ-12 in 1952, to brief incoming president Dwight Eisenhower on the committee's progress. The documents discuss United States Air Force investigations and concealment of a crashed alien spacecraft near Roswell, New Mexico.
The committee was supposed to have been chaired by Vannevar Bush, Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein, with alleged membership including James Forrestal, Edward Teller, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Nathan F. Twining.
All the alleged members of MJ-12 were all notable for their military or scientific acheivments, and all were deceased when the documents first surfaced.
The alleged members of the Majestic-12 committee were:
- Rear Adm. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
- Dr. Vannevar Bush
- James Forrestal (replaced after his death by Gen. Walter Bedell Smith)
- Nathan Twining
- Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg
- Dr. Detlev Bronk
- Dr. Jerome Hunsaker
- Rear Adm. Sidney Souers
- Gordon Gray
- Dr. Donald Menzel
- Maj. Gen. Robert Montague
- Dr. Lloyd Berkener
Shandera first publicly discussed the MJ-12 documents in a 1982 made-for-television documentary, The UFO Experience (Wright, p95-96). MJ-12 remained something of a fringe topic until a few years later, following the publication of Timothy Good's best-selling book, Above Top Secret, which reprinted the MJ-12 documents. The Federal Bureau of Investigations began their own study of the MJ-12 documents: The MJ-12 documents were supposedly classified as "Top Secret", and the FBI's initial concern was that someone within the U.S. government had illegally leaked secret information.
The FBI investigated the matter, and quickly formed doubts as to the documents' authenticity. FBI personnel contacted the U.S. Air Force, asking if MJ-12 had ever existed. The Air Force reported that no such committee had ever been authorised, and had never been formed. The FBI presently declares that the MJ-12 documents are "completely bogus".
Other MJ-12 documents have since surfaced, and again, opinions differ as to their authenticity. Wright argues that the MJ-12 documents are phony, and speculates that they may have been disinformation.
NARA archives, however, contains one document relating to MJ-12: "Memorandum for General Twining, from Robert Cutler, Special Assistant to the President, Subject: "NCS/MJ-12 Special Studies Project" dated July 14, 1954. The memorandum, one page, refers to a briefing to take place on July 16. The memorandum does not identify MJ-12 or the purpose of the briefing (see links).
MJ-12 in later conspiracy theory
Soon after their disclosure, MJ-12 was absorbed into many other alleged conspiracies; William Milton Cooper's works are key in this intoducing MJ-12 to a wider, conspiratorialy-minded audience. Some of these later versions insist that the "M" in "MJ-12" stands not for "Majestic" but for "Majority". Many theories suggest that MJ-12's efforts continue to the present.
According to the testimony of Dan Burisch, Majestic-12 are today in fact working for the Committee of the Majority, a Masonic organisation which is coordinating alien contact with earth, as well as the operations towards a New World Order. Under this direction, MJ-12 are responsible for all scientific operations at Area 51, Dulce, New Mexico, and the Frenchman's Mountain installations. This is but one conspiracy theory suggesting that MJ-12 have far-reaching powers (not unlike the Illuminati), and are aiming for one-world government.
According to less extravagent conspiracy theory lore, Majestic 12 was created with a more humble goal: to cover up alien activities on Earth, and liaise with the aliens to obtain technology in exchange for knowledge and testing on human biology.
Influences in popular culture
This conspiracy has widely inspired the main conspiracy theme of the popular TV series The X-Files and Dark Skies. An episode of Serial Experiments Lain featured a brief overview of the Majestic 12 conspiracy.
In addition, the Majestic-12 conspiracy makes a prominent appearance in the PC game Deus Ex and is mentioned in its sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War, as well as another PC game called Majestic. "The Patriots", an American Majestic-12 like organization, also exists in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, they also have twelve members and in an earlier form had relations with Russia and China, back when they were called "The Philosophers".
Political satirist Christopher Buckley parodied Majestic-12 in his novel Little Green Men. Majestic-12 also appears in Scarecrow, a recent action novel by Matthew Reilly.
The N64 game Perfect Dark hinted at a Majestic-12 type conspiracy.
See also
Sources
- Susan Wright, "UFO Headquarters: Investigations on Current Extraterrestrial Activity", 1998, St Martin's Press, ISBN 0312193475
External links
- FBI site on Majestic 12 (http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/majestic.htm)
- The Majestic Documents (http://www.majesticdocuments.com/)
- The history of Majestic 12 (http://www.thewhyfiles.co.uk/majestic12.htm)
- NARA about Majestic 12 (http://www.archives.gov/research_room/foia_reading_room/project_bluebook.html)de:Majestic 12