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Top Secret/Majic: Operation Majestic-12 & the United States Government's UFO Cover-up
Exposing the U.S. government's biggest-kept a fifty-eight-year UFO cover-up.
Top Secret/Majic is the result of nuclear physicist and renowned UFO investigator Stanton T. Friedman's twenty-one year search for the truth about the mysterious Operation Majestic 12, President Truman's top-secret UFO investigation team. In this updated edition of his landmark book, he tells the incredible tale of the July 1947 recovery of a crashed flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico, and the establishment by President Truman of a truly all-star cast to deal with the saucer and its non-human inhabitants. The first four Directors of Central Intelligence, the first Secretary of Defense, and several outstanding scientists and military leaders were part of the team. Through painstaking research and startling evidence—including documents that have never before been published.
Top Secret/Majic is the result of nuclear physicist and renowned UFO investigator Stanton T. Friedman's twenty-one year search for the truth about the mysterious Operation Majestic 12, President Truman's top-secret UFO investigation team. In this updated edition of his landmark book, he tells the incredible tale of the July 1947 recovery of a crashed flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico, and the establishment by President Truman of a truly all-star cast to deal with the saucer and its non-human inhabitants. The first four Directors of Central Intelligence, the first Secretary of Defense, and several outstanding scientists and military leaders were part of the team. Through painstaking research and startling evidence—including documents that have never before been published.
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 1996
14 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Stanton T. Friedman
34 books82 followersStanton T. Friedman was a nuclear physicist and professional ufologist who resided in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the original civilian investigator of the Roswell incident. He worked on research and development projects for several large companies.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 4, 2018
oh yes...there was a group of individuals that dealt with Alien craft etc...how do I know? ...this book full of painstaking research informed me. That's how.
March 24, 2011
I borrowed this book from Michael Miley's library while visiting him at his home in Sonoma, California. Stanton Friedman is strongly committed to a scientific materialistic interpretation of UFO phenomena and maintains relatively high standards in his work. If you want to consider the extraterrestrial hypothesis, Friedman's work is worth investigation.
This book is less about physics and more about the evidence for US cover-ups of UFOs retrievals, particularly in Roswell and Corona, NM as possibly evinced by purported governmental documents describing a secret, presidentially-appointed committee devoted to dealing with them. Friedman, the first serious civilian investigator of the crash events, is prejudiced in favor of the authenticity of these documents as they support and supplement his research. For a strong, thorough argument in favor of these documents, this book is recommended.
This book is less about physics and more about the evidence for US cover-ups of UFOs retrievals, particularly in Roswell and Corona, NM as possibly evinced by purported governmental documents describing a secret, presidentially-appointed committee devoted to dealing with them. Friedman, the first serious civilian investigator of the crash events, is prejudiced in favor of the authenticity of these documents as they support and supplement his research. For a strong, thorough argument in favor of these documents, this book is recommended.
April 21, 2020
The late, great Stanton Friedman brought some much needed respectability to this subject. A good read. Friedman’s research was well known and hugely respected in the UFO community, which lets face it, has its fair share of cranks, crooks and disinformation merchants. This guy was one of the elite UFO investigators, he can be mentioned in the same breath as a Jacques Vallee or Richard Dolan.
May 21, 2021
Essential reading for both professional and independent ufologists
February 12, 2023
Great read and very informational
May 21, 2024
FRIEDMAN COMES OUT STRONGLY IN FAVOR OF THE DOCUMENTS’ AUTHENTICITY
Stanton Terry Friedman (1934–2019) was a nuclear physicist for 14 years, before becoming a professional ufologist in 1970.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1996 book, “For almost 40 years, I have been researching UFOs. I have written two books and dozens of articles, have spoken before hundreds of live audiences, and have appeared on many more call-in shows on television as well as radio… I am positively convinced that alien UFOs exist, that they are visiting earth, and that our government knows this… My conviction comes from a scientific analysis of facts that I and other researchers have gathered over the years. This growing body … of data overwhelmingly supports the idea that other civilizations, probably from nearby in our own galaxy, are checking us out from close range.” (Pg. 1)
He adds, “Much of what I learned in industry has come in handy during my ufological research… I learned early on that the absence of evidence is not the same as evidence for absence. And through my own classified research, I learned that secrets can certainly be kept; that an enormous amount of extraordinary scientific work is done in classified programs that the public never hears about. Thus, the data presented in this book is the result of long, painstaking research, and the logical conclusions that I make are based on my almost 40 years’ acquaintance with high-tech matters and high-security procedures… The objective of this book is to review a very substantial amount of research that has been done since receipt of the first Operation Majestic-12 documents in late 1984. In addition, more recently received MJ-12 documents will be presented here for the first time ever in a public report… With this book, the data is on the table. Make up your own mind.” (Pg. 13-14)
He states, “my confusion about [Donald] Menzel was giving way to the certainty that he was the best suited of all the members of Majestic-12 to provide disinformation to the public. He had written science fiction and popular newspaper articles about science. That his UFO efforts were disinformation is fairly clear if one carefully reviews criticisms of his UFO investigations by myself [and others]… In some cases, Menzel invented fictional concepts such as ‘reflections from clouds’ to explain sightings. When you carefully examine the data used by Menzel to justify certain conclusions about specific UFO cases, you find that it just doesn’t stand up. And Menzel was too smart not to know he was putting out nonsense.” (Pg. 33)
Later, he adds, “To establish Menzel’s own ability to segregate his activities, one has merely to consider that he could have saved himself a great deal of grief at the Air Force loyalty hearings by stating that he had an active Navy Top Secret Ultra clearance. Yet he didn’t do so, even though he later described the extended period surrounding the hearings are the worst time of his life… it wasn’t until January 1951 that the Air force cleared his record. During that whole period, Menzel was living with uncertainty.” (Pg. 36)
He recounts, “If the very existence of an organization was classified, then even a knowledgeable person would be bound to deny its existence. This would not mean that information did not exist. Over the years, I have spent many weeks at 15 different archives. Although some of those archives certainly have compartmentalized Top Secret documents, I have never yet been able to see any. The Eisenhower Library admitted having a drawer full, but could not even search it for material with the terms ‘Majestic,’ ‘MAJIC,’ or ‘MJ-12.’ Indeed, even at the highest levels of government there is compartmentalization of data. If an official does not need to know of the existence of a report or the information in a report, he does not get to see it. Period.” (Pg. 76)
He explains, “It must be stressed that the MJ-12 documents were prepared by people who never expected that they would serve any other purpose than to provide information to the recipients… the formats were often as not determined by the department head’s proclivities or a secretary’s experience… There is no rule that people in government must use a particular format for internal documents… Another concern about format and style is the use of the term ‘Executive Order #092447’ the identifies the Truman-Forrestal memo on page 6 of the briefing. Obviously, the numbers signify the date of the memo. People have checked a whole host of available unclassified executive orders… and find that this number doesn’t fit that numbering system at all. However, this is not the problem it might seem to be… this may very well have been the first time the memo was referred to as an Executive Order… it may not have been thought of as an Executive Order in the official sense.” (Pg. 81)
He rejects skeptic Philip Klass’s arguments about ‘suspiciously alike’ signatures proving the fraudulence of the MJ-12 documents, and summarizes, “This carries the analysis of the MJ-12 documents themselves about as far as it can go. Surprisingly, nothing that we found or that others had alleged indicated that the documents were anything other than legitimate. Barring independent confirmation of the briefing, you either believed its validity or you did not.” (Pg. 85)
He that Klass challenged him to find any Cutler or Lay memos that were in pica type, not elite. Friedman then recounts triumphantly, “I knew Klass’s statement that the White House didn’t use pica typewriters was untrue … I had in my own files numerous memos from Cutler and Lay typed in a pica typeface. I mailed him copies of twenty of these, and a month later, copies of fourteen more pica memos from Lay that I found at the Eisenhower Library. On March 3, Klass sent me a check for $1000. It appeared that the primary debunker of UFOs was satisfied that the typeface of the Cutler-Twining memo was legitimate.” (Pg. 95)
He notes, “On a 1991 Larry King show… with Kevin Randle, Klass was forced to admit that he had not then spoken to any of the more than 90 Roswell eyewitnesses who we had located up to that time. His minimal research, flawed logic, and propagandistic writing call into question the validity of his claims.” (Pg. 126)
He also recounts, “In 1991, Don Schmitt of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) and Kevin Randle were publicizing their book ‘UFO Crash at Roswell.’ I had shared a great deal of information with the two while they were working on the book, but when it came out I was surprised by the amount of misleading information it had… the treatment of Majestic-12 and the crash that occurred … was startlingly subjective.” (Pg. 126-127)
He states, “If the original Majestic-12 documents are genuine, as clearly appears to be the case, the person who risked so much in sending that roll of film in 1984 must have bene feeling terribly frustrated. Nine years were gone, and there were no truly solid results from the revelation. The original documents were still being attacked, and the government agencies involved continued to stonewall. The source couldn’t go public without revealing his identity and the fact that he probably broke several laws by distributing highly classified material to uncleared persons. The debunkers seemed to be holding the upper hand. Perhaps the documents that Tim Cooper received showed that the source was still alive, still trying to get the truth out. A year later, a new breakthrough confirmed this hope.” (Pg. 160)
He continues, “In December 1994, I learned of what is perhaps the mother of all Majestic-12 documents! I was on the phone with Don Berliner… when Don let it slip that he had received another MJ-12 document in March… Only when he had the film developed did he realize that he had black-and-white pictures of a document… entitled ‘Majestic-12 Group Special Operations Manual: Extraterrestrial Entities and Technology, Recovery and Disposal.’ It was marked TOP SECRET/MAJIC Eyes Only, and was dated April 1954. The report outlined how to secure, package, ship, and store artifacts and extraterrestrial biological entities from recovered alien flying saucers!” (Pg. 161)
He concludes, “it’s time for planetary discussion as to what it means to be part of a galactic neighborhood. International conferences should be convened, perhaps through the United Nations, to evaluate the religious, economic, military, political, and philosophical implications of our situation with regard to extraterrestrial visitors. I hope we can soon qualify for admission to the cosmic kindergarten---or at least the preschool… My own personal goal is to help move earthlings down this path. The current members of Operation Majestic-12 (or whatever it is now called) must have the courage to do the same.” (Pg. 219)
This book will be of great interest to those studying UFOs, MJ-12, and related issues.
Stanton Terry Friedman (1934–2019) was a nuclear physicist for 14 years, before becoming a professional ufologist in 1970.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1996 book, “For almost 40 years, I have been researching UFOs. I have written two books and dozens of articles, have spoken before hundreds of live audiences, and have appeared on many more call-in shows on television as well as radio… I am positively convinced that alien UFOs exist, that they are visiting earth, and that our government knows this… My conviction comes from a scientific analysis of facts that I and other researchers have gathered over the years. This growing body … of data overwhelmingly supports the idea that other civilizations, probably from nearby in our own galaxy, are checking us out from close range.” (Pg. 1)
He adds, “Much of what I learned in industry has come in handy during my ufological research… I learned early on that the absence of evidence is not the same as evidence for absence. And through my own classified research, I learned that secrets can certainly be kept; that an enormous amount of extraordinary scientific work is done in classified programs that the public never hears about. Thus, the data presented in this book is the result of long, painstaking research, and the logical conclusions that I make are based on my almost 40 years’ acquaintance with high-tech matters and high-security procedures… The objective of this book is to review a very substantial amount of research that has been done since receipt of the first Operation Majestic-12 documents in late 1984. In addition, more recently received MJ-12 documents will be presented here for the first time ever in a public report… With this book, the data is on the table. Make up your own mind.” (Pg. 13-14)
He states, “my confusion about [Donald] Menzel was giving way to the certainty that he was the best suited of all the members of Majestic-12 to provide disinformation to the public. He had written science fiction and popular newspaper articles about science. That his UFO efforts were disinformation is fairly clear if one carefully reviews criticisms of his UFO investigations by myself [and others]… In some cases, Menzel invented fictional concepts such as ‘reflections from clouds’ to explain sightings. When you carefully examine the data used by Menzel to justify certain conclusions about specific UFO cases, you find that it just doesn’t stand up. And Menzel was too smart not to know he was putting out nonsense.” (Pg. 33)
Later, he adds, “To establish Menzel’s own ability to segregate his activities, one has merely to consider that he could have saved himself a great deal of grief at the Air Force loyalty hearings by stating that he had an active Navy Top Secret Ultra clearance. Yet he didn’t do so, even though he later described the extended period surrounding the hearings are the worst time of his life… it wasn’t until January 1951 that the Air force cleared his record. During that whole period, Menzel was living with uncertainty.” (Pg. 36)
He recounts, “If the very existence of an organization was classified, then even a knowledgeable person would be bound to deny its existence. This would not mean that information did not exist. Over the years, I have spent many weeks at 15 different archives. Although some of those archives certainly have compartmentalized Top Secret documents, I have never yet been able to see any. The Eisenhower Library admitted having a drawer full, but could not even search it for material with the terms ‘Majestic,’ ‘MAJIC,’ or ‘MJ-12.’ Indeed, even at the highest levels of government there is compartmentalization of data. If an official does not need to know of the existence of a report or the information in a report, he does not get to see it. Period.” (Pg. 76)
He explains, “It must be stressed that the MJ-12 documents were prepared by people who never expected that they would serve any other purpose than to provide information to the recipients… the formats were often as not determined by the department head’s proclivities or a secretary’s experience… There is no rule that people in government must use a particular format for internal documents… Another concern about format and style is the use of the term ‘Executive Order #092447’ the identifies the Truman-Forrestal memo on page 6 of the briefing. Obviously, the numbers signify the date of the memo. People have checked a whole host of available unclassified executive orders… and find that this number doesn’t fit that numbering system at all. However, this is not the problem it might seem to be… this may very well have been the first time the memo was referred to as an Executive Order… it may not have been thought of as an Executive Order in the official sense.” (Pg. 81)
He rejects skeptic Philip Klass’s arguments about ‘suspiciously alike’ signatures proving the fraudulence of the MJ-12 documents, and summarizes, “This carries the analysis of the MJ-12 documents themselves about as far as it can go. Surprisingly, nothing that we found or that others had alleged indicated that the documents were anything other than legitimate. Barring independent confirmation of the briefing, you either believed its validity or you did not.” (Pg. 85)
He that Klass challenged him to find any Cutler or Lay memos that were in pica type, not elite. Friedman then recounts triumphantly, “I knew Klass’s statement that the White House didn’t use pica typewriters was untrue … I had in my own files numerous memos from Cutler and Lay typed in a pica typeface. I mailed him copies of twenty of these, and a month later, copies of fourteen more pica memos from Lay that I found at the Eisenhower Library. On March 3, Klass sent me a check for $1000. It appeared that the primary debunker of UFOs was satisfied that the typeface of the Cutler-Twining memo was legitimate.” (Pg. 95)
He notes, “On a 1991 Larry King show… with Kevin Randle, Klass was forced to admit that he had not then spoken to any of the more than 90 Roswell eyewitnesses who we had located up to that time. His minimal research, flawed logic, and propagandistic writing call into question the validity of his claims.” (Pg. 126)
He also recounts, “In 1991, Don Schmitt of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) and Kevin Randle were publicizing their book ‘UFO Crash at Roswell.’ I had shared a great deal of information with the two while they were working on the book, but when it came out I was surprised by the amount of misleading information it had… the treatment of Majestic-12 and the crash that occurred … was startlingly subjective.” (Pg. 126-127)
He states, “If the original Majestic-12 documents are genuine, as clearly appears to be the case, the person who risked so much in sending that roll of film in 1984 must have bene feeling terribly frustrated. Nine years were gone, and there were no truly solid results from the revelation. The original documents were still being attacked, and the government agencies involved continued to stonewall. The source couldn’t go public without revealing his identity and the fact that he probably broke several laws by distributing highly classified material to uncleared persons. The debunkers seemed to be holding the upper hand. Perhaps the documents that Tim Cooper received showed that the source was still alive, still trying to get the truth out. A year later, a new breakthrough confirmed this hope.” (Pg. 160)
He continues, “In December 1994, I learned of what is perhaps the mother of all Majestic-12 documents! I was on the phone with Don Berliner… when Don let it slip that he had received another MJ-12 document in March… Only when he had the film developed did he realize that he had black-and-white pictures of a document… entitled ‘Majestic-12 Group Special Operations Manual: Extraterrestrial Entities and Technology, Recovery and Disposal.’ It was marked TOP SECRET/MAJIC Eyes Only, and was dated April 1954. The report outlined how to secure, package, ship, and store artifacts and extraterrestrial biological entities from recovered alien flying saucers!” (Pg. 161)
He concludes, “it’s time for planetary discussion as to what it means to be part of a galactic neighborhood. International conferences should be convened, perhaps through the United Nations, to evaluate the religious, economic, military, political, and philosophical implications of our situation with regard to extraterrestrial visitors. I hope we can soon qualify for admission to the cosmic kindergarten---or at least the preschool… My own personal goal is to help move earthlings down this path. The current members of Operation Majestic-12 (or whatever it is now called) must have the courage to do the same.” (Pg. 219)
This book will be of great interest to those studying UFOs, MJ-12, and related issues.
May 30, 2025
Stanton Friedman spent his life on an obstinate quest for the truth. We're fortunate that folks as passionate as Friedman chose to take on this daunting piece of folklore.
"Top Secret/MAJIC" presents a damning case for the legitimacy of a certain subset of the infamous Majestic-12 documents. While it can't serve as definitive proof, Friedman's research is invaluable. UFO enthusiasts are all too familiar with armchair skepticism on the subject. Experts are marched out for articles and documentaries to make the case against "conspiracy theories" while totally ignoring the mountain of data to support them! Friedman spent considerable time putting boots to the ground and doing the real work; interviewing witnesses, visiting Presidential libraries and the National Archives, and consulting true subject matter experts. Not only are his arguments credible—they're verifiable, accessible, and exciting.
As is the case with most UFO research, this book does leave you with more questions than answers. Sure, the Majestic-12 likely existed, but their footprints start and stop in the late 40s to early 50s. Where is this mysterious group now? What have they learned about the visitors who crashed in New Mexico after the second World War? These are questions Friedman can't answer without the government finally ponying up what they've hidden.
Positives aside, I did only give this book 4 stars. Friedman & Berliner's book "Crash at Corona" suffered from similar problems encountered here: lots of repetition and occasionally clunky organization. I do love his writing style, but I wish he'd spent less time speculating on certain points. This mainly occurs later in the volume when he presents his theories on the intention behind ET visitation. I do appreciate his optimism that the visitors are here for peaceful reasons, but it's simply not an wholly informed position. This book was originally published in 1996 (a dark period for ufology!) before information about certain CE3 were readily available for everyone. I think he'd agree with me were he still alive.
However, Friedman does seem to fare better when working alone. I love his writing style. It so perfectly emulates the rhythm he found in his speaking engagements, many of which I've watched in poor quality on YouTube and elsewhere. I wish more ufologists were as well spoken and measured as he was. Friedman was a gift to our community, and the rigor he brought to UFO research is sorely missed.
"Top Secret/MAJIC" presents a damning case for the legitimacy of a certain subset of the infamous Majestic-12 documents. While it can't serve as definitive proof, Friedman's research is invaluable. UFO enthusiasts are all too familiar with armchair skepticism on the subject. Experts are marched out for articles and documentaries to make the case against "conspiracy theories" while totally ignoring the mountain of data to support them! Friedman spent considerable time putting boots to the ground and doing the real work; interviewing witnesses, visiting Presidential libraries and the National Archives, and consulting true subject matter experts. Not only are his arguments credible—they're verifiable, accessible, and exciting.
As is the case with most UFO research, this book does leave you with more questions than answers. Sure, the Majestic-12 likely existed, but their footprints start and stop in the late 40s to early 50s. Where is this mysterious group now? What have they learned about the visitors who crashed in New Mexico after the second World War? These are questions Friedman can't answer without the government finally ponying up what they've hidden.
Positives aside, I did only give this book 4 stars. Friedman & Berliner's book "Crash at Corona" suffered from similar problems encountered here: lots of repetition and occasionally clunky organization. I do love his writing style, but I wish he'd spent less time speculating on certain points. This mainly occurs later in the volume when he presents his theories on the intention behind ET visitation. I do appreciate his optimism that the visitors are here for peaceful reasons, but it's simply not an wholly informed position. This book was originally published in 1996 (a dark period for ufology!) before information about certain CE3 were readily available for everyone. I think he'd agree with me were he still alive.
However, Friedman does seem to fare better when working alone. I love his writing style. It so perfectly emulates the rhythm he found in his speaking engagements, many of which I've watched in poor quality on YouTube and elsewhere. I wish more ufologists were as well spoken and measured as he was. Friedman was a gift to our community, and the rigor he brought to UFO research is sorely missed.
July 19, 2020
I believe in Stanton Friedman.
January 31, 2024
Was interesting
September 6, 2024
A very, VERY dry, deep dive into MJ12 and the complicated history of typeface / letter formating...
September 30, 2025
A tad tiresome and meandering at times, but an overall well done book. The only thing that it is sorely lacking is more rigorous citation of references.
January 19, 2012
A roll of film was dropped into the mailbox of UFO researcher, Jaime Shandera. When
developed, the pictures showed documents that appeared to verify the existence of Majestic-12...a secret government organization established in 1947 by President Truman. Its purpose: to conceal the fact that extraterrestrial life has been visiting Earth for years and to study the technology and even the bodies of aliens recovered from crashed spacecraft. While these documents are called hoaxes by many debunkers, scientist and author Stanton Friedman offers this book as a detailed account of his painstaking research into the so-called "Majestic documents" and argues for their authenticity.
There is perhaps no one in the field of Ufology that I respect more than Stanton Friedman. He is a nuclear physicist who spent years working for the government on projects such as nuclear aircraft engines. He is level-headed and he applies the scientific method to UFO research. If something is cockamamie and off the wall, he is the first to call it as such.
For this reason alone, I am prepared to hear what he has to say about the purported Majestic 12 documents and almost ready to concur as to their veracity. Almost.
In his book, Friedman begins with an analysis of the documents themselves as well as biographical research into who the men of Majestic-12 (supposedly) were and why they would have been excellent candidates for such an enterprise. The breadth and depth of this information demonstrates that if the documents are indeed forgeries, then they were a herculean undertaking on the part of the hoaxer(s). While this in itself is not dissuasive to the hoax theory, it does give one pause to wonder.
By citing papers found at the library archives of these men as well as documents
obtained through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), Friedman is able to create a compelling case that President Truman did indeed assemble a collective of twelve men who were scientific or military intelligence experts and that their charge was management of alien contact.
Friedman devotes a fair amount of space to countering allegations of fraud and forgery from the skeptical community. These charges seem to fall into one of a few different areas. The skeptics are quick to point out discrepancies in the format and the typeset of the documents, claiming them contrary to government texts of the time. Friedman is able to cite numerous examples that show how formats were often disregard in governmental/military correspondence. There are also claims that a few of these officials never met on the days that certain memos and documents allege that they do. Friedman is quick to point out that many meetings of federal officials occur off the schedule. Finally, there is the tired old cry of "how could anything involving thousands of people be kept so secret?" Friedman, himself a former employee of once classified defense projects, interviews former members of the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort to build the first atomic bomb and (officially) the most top secret work our nation has ever undertaken. These men all say the same thing: of course it can be kept secret. We did it. The key is to compartmentalize, compartmentalize, compartmentalize.
There are times when the book gets tedious. Friedman is forced the spend a few necessary pages on how FOIA works and what the exceptions are. His refutes to the skeptics often turn into pissing contests with notorious UFO critic, Phillip Klass. There is also a chapter devoted to the "alien autopsy" video of 1996, something that has largely been proven to be faked. Why this is tacked on to a book about Majestic 12 is something I can't explain.
Despite all of this, I believe that Friedman is on to something. As always, his research methods are sound and when he cites data it is virtually incontestable. Therefore, I'm ready to say with 75% certainty that the MJ-12 documents are the real deal. Why only 75%? Well, despite Friedman's extraordinary efforts, I suppose I'm just...cautious.
developed, the pictures showed documents that appeared to verify the existence of Majestic-12...a secret government organization established in 1947 by President Truman. Its purpose: to conceal the fact that extraterrestrial life has been visiting Earth for years and to study the technology and even the bodies of aliens recovered from crashed spacecraft. While these documents are called hoaxes by many debunkers, scientist and author Stanton Friedman offers this book as a detailed account of his painstaking research into the so-called "Majestic documents" and argues for their authenticity.
There is perhaps no one in the field of Ufology that I respect more than Stanton Friedman. He is a nuclear physicist who spent years working for the government on projects such as nuclear aircraft engines. He is level-headed and he applies the scientific method to UFO research. If something is cockamamie and off the wall, he is the first to call it as such.
For this reason alone, I am prepared to hear what he has to say about the purported Majestic 12 documents and almost ready to concur as to their veracity. Almost.
In his book, Friedman begins with an analysis of the documents themselves as well as biographical research into who the men of Majestic-12 (supposedly) were and why they would have been excellent candidates for such an enterprise. The breadth and depth of this information demonstrates that if the documents are indeed forgeries, then they were a herculean undertaking on the part of the hoaxer(s). While this in itself is not dissuasive to the hoax theory, it does give one pause to wonder.
By citing papers found at the library archives of these men as well as documents
obtained through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), Friedman is able to create a compelling case that President Truman did indeed assemble a collective of twelve men who were scientific or military intelligence experts and that their charge was management of alien contact.
Friedman devotes a fair amount of space to countering allegations of fraud and forgery from the skeptical community. These charges seem to fall into one of a few different areas. The skeptics are quick to point out discrepancies in the format and the typeset of the documents, claiming them contrary to government texts of the time. Friedman is able to cite numerous examples that show how formats were often disregard in governmental/military correspondence. There are also claims that a few of these officials never met on the days that certain memos and documents allege that they do. Friedman is quick to point out that many meetings of federal officials occur off the schedule. Finally, there is the tired old cry of "how could anything involving thousands of people be kept so secret?" Friedman, himself a former employee of once classified defense projects, interviews former members of the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort to build the first atomic bomb and (officially) the most top secret work our nation has ever undertaken. These men all say the same thing: of course it can be kept secret. We did it. The key is to compartmentalize, compartmentalize, compartmentalize.
There are times when the book gets tedious. Friedman is forced the spend a few necessary pages on how FOIA works and what the exceptions are. His refutes to the skeptics often turn into pissing contests with notorious UFO critic, Phillip Klass. There is also a chapter devoted to the "alien autopsy" video of 1996, something that has largely been proven to be faked. Why this is tacked on to a book about Majestic 12 is something I can't explain.
Despite all of this, I believe that Friedman is on to something. As always, his research methods are sound and when he cites data it is virtually incontestable. Therefore, I'm ready to say with 75% certainty that the MJ-12 documents are the real deal. Why only 75%? Well, despite Friedman's extraordinary efforts, I suppose I'm just...cautious.
December 11, 2008
I enjoyed reading a book on UFO's by a physicist, he approached the subject in a manner that works for my mind set as he provides charts and numbers. I actually appreciated how Friedman spent so much time accounting for his process in searching archives; The information becomes mundane, but (assuming he isn't just outright lying) tells the reader a lot about his dedication to the subject. It also is a comment on how "free" information actually is. He does provide a chapter by chapter bibliograpghy at the end, but I will never understand why an author who is trying to prove a fringe theory does not provide footnote references.
October 2, 2013
Stanton Friedman is the man who broke the Roswell story back in 1978 when he first talked to Jesse Marcel. This book is about the other great contribution he made to UFOlogy, the discovery and vetting of the Majestic-12 documents, purportedly a briefing paper for President-elect Dwight Eisenhower back in 1952. Friedman is a dogged researcher and this is his seminal book.
June 15, 2008
Incredible!
December 10, 2016
This is fascinating stuff! You don't have to believe, but after reading this book you just might.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews