Majestic 12

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'''Majestic 12''' (also known by a variety of other names and abbreviations, including '''Majic 12''', '''MJ 12''', '''M12''', '''Mars-Jupiter 12''', '''Majority 12''', '''Majestic Trust''') refers to an alleged cabal of government and military officials and scientists as well as the set of forged documents purporting the existence of said cabal. [[UFO]] proponents claim that the Majestic 12 was a committee commissioned by President Harry Truman in 1947 to investigate UFO sightings which subsequently [[Coverup|covered them up]].

==Original Majestic 12 documents (1984)==
In 1984, UFO hobbyist and film producer Jamie Shandera claimed to have received an anonymously mailed set of documents on film detailing the creation of a committee of twelve government officials and scientists by [[Harry Truman]] as well as a briefing received by [[Dwight Eisenhower]]. These documents discuss the discovery and cover-up of UFO discoveries in [[Roswell]], New Mexico and a secondary site near the Texas-Mexico border. In ''The Demon-Haunted World'', [[Carl Sagan]] notes the documents make reference to appendices that supposedly contain information about [[Extraterrestrial|alien]] [[biology]] and the technology of their spacecraft, but no such appendices were included on the film.<ref>Sagan, p. 90. [http://books.google.com/books?id=q_Fp3tjPnkwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=demon+haunted+world&hl=en&ei=It5GTu7QJ5DUgQfeoomyBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mj%2012&f=false]</ref>

==Cutler-Twining memo (1985)==
In 1985, Shandera and his associate William Moore received a tip to go to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Maryland, where they discovered what was called the "Cutler-Twining memo." This memo, dated 1954, references a "NCS/MJ-12 Special Studies Project" but makes no further mention of MJ-12 or UFOs. The memo was later investigated as part of [[Project Blue Book]] by NARA, which found no further mention of MJ-12 (or variations on that name) in the archives.<ref>[http://www.archives.gov/foia/ufos.html Project Blue Book FOIA requests], National Archives</ref> The document is widely believed to be a plant due to the fact that it doesn't bear a Top Secret register number as do other documents in the series it was found in, and that its typeface cannot be matched precisely to any brand of typewriters in use in 1954.

==Release and early investigations==
The set of documents were released in 1987 by Shandera, Moore, and Stanton Friedman. Soon after, UFO [[skeptic]] Phil Klass performed a number of analyses on them, finding a number of problems with the documents. Among a number of other inconsistencies, the typewriter used to type them matched a model that wasn't released until 1963 and Truman's signature had been cut-and-pasted onto the memos relating to him.<ref>Philip J. Klass. "The MJ-12 Crashed Saucer Documents." ''[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|Skeptical Inquirer]]'', Winter, 1987-1988.</ref><ref>Klass. "New evidence of MJ-12 hoax." ''Skeptical Inquirer'', Winter 1990</ref> The FBI conducted a joint investigation with the Air Force in 1988 after being sent a copy of the Eisenhower memo and determined it to be fraudulent.<ref>[http://vault.fbi.gov/Majestic%2012 Majestic 12], FBI Records: The Vault. (You're probably a [[sheeple]] if you give any credence to this "investigation," though.)</ref>

==Further alleged MJ 12 documents and investigations==
In 1994, UFO proponent Don Berliner received an anonymous mailing containing documents purporting to relate to Majestic 12. Berliner later denounced them as a [[hoax]]. Throughout the 1990s, Tim Cooper and Robert Wood brought forth a number of other MJ 12 documents, which Klass also exposed as forgeries.<ref>Philip J. Klass. [http://www.csicop.org/si/show/new_bogus_majestic-12_documents/ The New Bogus Majestic-12 Documents.] ''[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|Skeptical Inquirer]]'', vol. 24.3, May/June 2000</ref> Various documents not explicitly mentioning anything relating to Majestic 12 are often touted as "definitive proof" of MJ 12 by internet conspiracy theorists and [[ufology|ufologists]].

A 1995 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report reaffirmed NARA's findings.<ref>[http://www.roswellfiles.com/Articles/TheGAOReport.htm 1995 GAO Report] (hosted at Roswell Files)</ref> An inquiry was made to [[NASA]] and it claimed to be unaware of a Majestic 12 program.<ref>[http://www.majesticdocuments.com/official.investigations.nasa.php NASA's MJ 12 press release] (hosted at Majestic Documents)</ref>

[[Brian Dunning]] of Skeptoid argued that the Majestic 12 document was a piece of deliberate disinformation. Bill Moore, a ufologist who was a friend of Shandera, explained that some of his information came directly from the US military in exchange for information ufology groups, and that he had in fact been a part of specific disinformation projects, such as the [[Dulce base|case of Paul Bennewitz]], who was institutionalized after the government said the classified aircraft crash he photographed was alien technology. Dunning concludes that the Majestic 12 document was disinformation designed to distract the ufologist community from meddling in US Air Force activities.<ref>Dunning, B. (2016, July 19) [https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4528 The Secret History of Majestic 12]. Skeptoid Media.</ref>

==Legacy==
The MJ 12 documents have become something of the ''[[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' of the UFO conspiracist subculture, with some viewing them as "proof" of a conspiracy and others believing them to be a hoax used to muddy the waters by a larger conspiracy. The alleged Majestic 12 committee has become a bridge for UFO hobbyists to cross over into conspiracy theory territory and vice versa, with the committee claimed to be "proof" of [[Men in Black]] and part of the [[Illuminati]]/[[New World Order]]/(insert conspiracist bogeyman here).

Majestic Twelve (''Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV'') is also an alternate name for the [[video game]] known as ''Super Space Invaders '91'', part of the famous ''Space Invaders'' franchise.<ref>[https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Majestic_Twelve:_The_Space_Invaders_Part_IV Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV]</ref> Majestic 12 are also the main antagonistic force in ''Deus Ex''– which also uses other real-world conspiracy theories to enhance its setting, such as [[black helicopters]] crushing freedom from above and [[FEMA concentration camps|FEMA controlling parts of the American government]].

==See also==
*[[Area 51]]

==External links==
*[http://www.majesticdocuments.com/index.php Majestic Documents], archive of the MJ 12 documents operated by Wood
<!-- *[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/archive/category/the_skeptics_ufo_newsletter The Klass Files], archive of articles by Klass written for the UFO Skeptics newsletter -->
*[http://www.roswellfiles.com/FOIA/majestic12.htm The Majestic 12 papers - an analysis], Roswell Files
*[http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicmaj.html Do I think that President Kennedy was assassinated solely because he was asking questions about UFOs? Yes, I do.]

==References==
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[[Category:Hoaxes]]

Categories: Hoaxes