Discovery of the MJ-12 Papers
In December 1984, television producer and UFO researcher Jaime Shandera received an anonymous package containing an undeveloped roll of 35mm film. When developed, the film revealed what appeared to be a classified briefing document dated November 18, 1952, prepared for President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower regarding a secret operation called "Majestic 12."
Shandera shared the documents with researchers Stanton Friedman and Bill Moore, who spent years investigating their authenticity before making them public in 1987. The documents purported to describe a top-secret committee of twelve scientists, military leaders, and intelligence officials assembled by President Harry Truman in 1947 to manage the recovery of a crashed extraterrestrial vehicle near Roswell, New Mexico.
Content of the Documents
The core MJ-12 documents included a briefing paper allegedly prepared by Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the first director of the CIA, for incoming President Eisenhower. The briefing described the recovery of a crashed disc-shaped craft and four small humanoid bodies near Roswell in July 1947, and the subsequent formation of Majestic 12 to oversee all matters related to the discovery.
The named members of the committee included prominent figures such as Secretary of Defense James Forrestal, General Nathan Twining, scientist Vannevar Bush, and astronomer Donald Menzel. A separate document, purportedly a memorandum from President Truman to Secretary Forrestal dated September 24, 1947, authorized the creation of the MJ-12 group as a top-secret research and development operation.
Arguments for Authenticity
Proponents of the documents' authenticity, led primarily by nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman, pointed to several factors supporting their legitimacy. The named committee members all held appropriate security clearances and occupied positions consistent with such an assignment. General Twining's known travel schedule aligned with events described in the documents, and some formatting details matched genuine classified documents of the era.
Friedman also noted that a 1950 memorandum from Robert Cutler to General Twining referencing "MJ-12" was later discovered in the National Archives, seemingly independent of the original film. Supporters argued that the level of insider knowledge required to fabricate such detailed and internally consistent documents would have been extraordinarily difficult for any private citizen to achieve.
Evidence of Fabrication
The FBI investigated the MJ-12 documents and stamped them "BOGUS" after a preliminary review. Critics identified numerous problems, including an incorrect date format on the Truman memorandum that used a style inconsistent with other verified Truman-era documents. Forensic analysis suggested the Truman signature may have been lifted from a genuine letter and copied onto the fabricated memo.
Skeptic researchers, including Philip Klass and Joe Nickell, also noted that astronomer Donald Menzel's inclusion was suspicious, as he was publicly one of the most vocal UFO debunkers of his era. The Cutler-Twining memo found in the Archives lacked proper registration markings and may have been planted. The majority of historians and researchers today consider the MJ-12 documents to be an elaborate hoax, though debate continues among some UFO researchers.