Majestic 12

Majestic 12

Case File:	Majestic 12 Main Page

Majestic 12 (also known as MJ-12, Majic-12, Majority-12, MJ12, Majority-12, Majesty-12, MAJESTIC , MAJI or Operation Majestic-12) is the name of a purported secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, alleged to have been formed in 1947 by executive order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman to investigate and manage the aftermath of the recovery of unidentified flying objects and their occupants near Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947.

The concept of Majestic 12 emerged publicly in 1984, when ufologist Jaime Shandera received an undeveloped roll of 35mm film through his mail slot containing what appeared to be Top Secret briefing documents. The core documents — including the Eisenhower Briefing Document and the Truman-Forrestal Memo — were made public in 1987 and sparked significant controversy. The FBI declared the documents "completely bogus" in 1988 after investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Both the White House and the National Security Council denied the existence of any organization called Majestic 12.

Nonetheless, over 3,500 pages of purported MJ-12 documentation have emerged from various sources since 1984. Researchers Dr. Robert M. Wood and Ryan S. Wood catalogued and analyzed these documents extensively, publishing their findings in Majic Eyes Only (2005) and on MajesticDocuments.com.

Alleged Founding Members

According to the Eisenhower Briefing Document, the original twelve members were:

1. Vice Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter — Director of Central Intelligence (MJ-1)
2. Dr. Vannevar Bush — Chairman, Joint Research and Development Board (MJ-2)
3. Secretary James V. Forrestal — Secretary of Defense (MJ-3; died 1949; replaced by Gen. Walter B. Smith)
4. General Nathan F. Twining — Commanding General, Air Materiel Command (MJ-4)
5. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg — Chief of Staff, USAF (MJ-5)
6. Dr. Detlev Bronk — Biophysicist; Chairman, National Research Council (MJ-6)
7. Dr Jerome Hunsaker — Aircraft designer; MIT and NACA (MJ-7)
8. Mr. Sidney W. Souers — First Director of Central Intelligence (MJ-8)
9. Mr. Gordon Gray — Special Assistant to the President for National Security (MJ-9)
10. Dr. Donald Menzel — Harvard astronomer and public UFO skeptic (MJ-10)
11. General Robert M. Montague — Commanding General, Fort Bliss (MJ-11)
12. Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner — Research director; State Dept. consultant (MJ-12)

Subsequent Members:

General Walter Smith 1949

James Forrestal had a mental breakdown and committed suicide in 1949 and was replaced by General Walter Smith. MJ-12 (also known as Majic-12,

Document Corpus

The full corpus of known Majestic 12 documents is catalogued in this wiki, organized chronologically:

Pre-1948 (1942–1947)

• Majestic 12 — FDR Memo to George Marshall (27 February 1942)
• Majestic 12 — George C. Marshall to Franklin D. Roosevelt (5 March 1942)
• Majestic 12 — Franklin D. Roosevelt Memo on Non-Terrestrial Science and Technology (22 February 1944)
• Majestic 12 — Oppenheimer-Einstein Draft: Relationships With Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies (June 1947)
• Majestic 12 — General Eisenhower Memo to Col. K. W. Ireland (30 June 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit Field Order (4 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Vannevar Bush Letter to President Truman (5 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Directive to General Twining by Eisenhower (8 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Directive to General Twining by President Truman (9 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Air Accident Report by Twining to Headquarters (16 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Metallurgical Laboratory Personnel List (17 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining to Curtis LeMay: Meteorological R&D Memo (18 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Counter Intelligence Corps / Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit Report (22 July 1947)
• Majestic 12 — CWO Marcrau Memo to Commanding General Army Air Forces (12 August 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Flying Saucer Analytical Report (2 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Hillenkoetter Memo to Joint Intelligence Committee (19 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Twining's 'White Hot' Report: Mission Assessment of Recovered Lenticular Aerodyne Objects (19 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Malcolm Grow to Lt. Gen. Twining: Aero Medical Laboratory Report (20 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Lt. Col. Tucker Memo to Office of Air Surgeon (22 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Secretary of State Marshall Memo to The President (24 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — President Truman to Secretary of Defense James Forrestal (24 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Eisenhower Executive Order — Founding of Operation Majestic-12 (24 September 1947)
• Majestic 12 — Memo to General Spaatz (25 September 1947)

1948–1959

• Majestic 12 — Hillenkoetter to Truman: Majic Black Book Summaries (11 February 1948)
• Majestic 12 — Majestic Twelve Project: 1st Annual Report — Cover Page (c. 1948)
• Majestic 12 — CIA JOIA Memo (12 April 1949)
• Majestic 12 — White Shot Memo (October 1949)
• Majestic 12 — CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence: Oscura Peak Analysis (30 October 1950)
• Majestic 12 — Communist Propaganda Charging United States with Use of BW in Korea (20 August 1951)
• Majestic 12 — Majestic Twelve Project: Purpose and Table of Contents (c. Summer 1952)
• Majestic 12 — Majestic Twelve Project: Annual Report (5th) (Summer 1952)
• Majestic 12 — Truman to Secretary of Defense: Communications Intelligence Activities (24 October 1952)
• Majestic 12 — Eisenhower Briefing Document (18 November 1952)
• Majestic 12 — Annex C Fragment (c. Early 1950s)
• Majestic 12 — President Eisenhower to the Director of Central Intelligence (4 November 1953)
• Majestic 12 — SOM1-01: Majestic-12 Group Special Operations Manual — Part 1 (pp. 1–13) (April 1954)
• Majestic 12 — SOM1-01: Majestic-12 Group Special Operations Manual — Part 2 (pp. 14–25) (April 1954)
• Majestic 12 — Cutler-Twining Memo (14 July 1954)
• Majestic 12 — 'Nature of Survey' Fragment (c. 1955)
• Majestic 12 — Bowen Manuscript (c. 1959)

1960–1969

• Majestic 12 — John F. Kennedy to Director, CIA — MJ-12 Psychological Warfare Update (June 1961)
• Majestic 12 — Operations Review: The MJ-12 Project — by Allen W. Dulles (5 November 1961)
• Majestic 12 — Authority of Director of Central Intelligence Clarified (c. Early 1962)
• Majestic 12 — Marilyn Monroe Document (3 August 1962)
• Majestic 12 — CIA Director Hillenkoetter to Donald Menzel (19 September 1963)
• Majestic 12 — John F. Kennedy to CIA — UFO Downgrade Request (November 1963)
• Majestic 12 — NSA Intercept — JFK Hot Line Conversation (12 November 1963)
• Majestic 12 — Source S-1 to Cooper: 'Burned Memo' Cover Letter (c. 1963)
• Majestic 12 — Burned Memo — Pages 1–2 (c. Early 1960s)
• Majestic 12 — Burned Memo — Pages 3–9 (c. Early 1960s)
• Majestic 12 — Isotope Thermal Thrusters and Applications — ASTIA 28710 (c. Early 1960s)
• Majestic 12 — Summary of NICAP Cases (c. Mid-1960s)

1970–Present

• Majestic 12 — UFO Sovereignty Over Air Space: A Defense Intelligence Problem (c. 1976)
• Majestic 12 — UFO Implication for National Security and Human Survival (December 1976)
• Majestic 12 — Edward Teller's Pitch to President Reagan for SDI (c. Early 1980s)
• Majestic 12 — UFO Technology and the Imbalance of Power — by Edward Teller (c. Early 1980s)
• Majestic 12 — Aquarius Teletype (17 November 1990)
• Majestic 12 — Aquarius Briefing Document (Undated)
• Majestic 12 — S-Aircraft Drawing and Memo — by Thomas Cantwheel (30 January 1996)
• Majestic 12 — Handwritten Note from Salina to Tim Cooper (5 June 1996)
• Majestic 12 — CIA to MAJSEC — TOP SECRET JEHOVAH (November 1998)
• Majestic 12 — UFOs, The CIA, and Congress — Essay by Source S-1 (Undated)
• Majestic 12 — Important Memo from Source S-1 (7 July 1999)

Official and Skeptical Assessments

• The FBI declared the documents "completely bogus" (November 30, 1988).
• White House and NSC spokesmen denied any organization called Majestic 12 existed (Summer 1987).
• Philip J. Klass established that the Cutler-Twining Memo's alleged author was out of the country on the date it was written, and that Truman's signature on the Truman-Forrestal Memo was a photocopy of a genuine signature from an unrelated document.
• Historians and archivists at the National Archives identified improper security markings and missing registration numbers on the Cutler-Twining Memo.

Further Reading

• Wood, Robert M. & Wood, Ryan S. Majic Eyes Only. Wood Enterprises, 2005. ISBN 978-0977205943.
• Friedman, Stanton T. TOP SECRET/MAJIC. Marlowe & Company, 1996.
• Klass, Philip J. "The MJ-12 Crashed-Saucer Documents." Skeptical Inquirer, Winter 1987–1988.
• Goldberg, Robert Alan. Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America. Yale University Press, 2008.

External Links

• FBI Vault — Majestic 12
• MajesticDocuments.com
• National Archives — USAF UFO Records