The MJ-12 (standing for "Majestic Twelve") mystery was sparked off with the 1987 publication of an alleged briefing document from ex-US President Truman to President-Elect Eisenhower in November 1953. The document dealt with government knowledge about UFOs, aliens, and above Top Secret projects. It listed the twelve members as:
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, Majority-12, Majesty-12) is allegedly a Top Secret research and development/intelligence operation setup by and answerable to the US President. All thirteen members had died by the time the briefing document was publicized, so none of the details could be checked out. What could be verified was the document's authenticity, and when it was found that the signature on the briefing document was identical in ratio to a 1947 memo from President Truman to Vannevar Bush the briefing document was proved to be a fake. However the MJ-12 controversy still rumbled on with people saying that although the document has been proved to be a piece of DISINFORMATION, parts of it must therefore be true.
The document touched upon the ROSWELL CASE, as well as PROJECTS SIGN, GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK and KENNETH ARNOLD's sighting of nine flying saucers, all of which have been proved to be true by UFO researchers. Ufologists were split as to whether there _ever_was_ a Majestic 12. When ROBERT LAZAR revealed that his work was classified as MAJESTIC, it added weight to the opinion that there may have indeed been such an organization. Opinions differ as to what MJ-12 could be if it exists, some say it was a simple committee that evaluated the UFO reports that were siphoned out of PROJECT BLUEBOOK, while others say that they are running the CIA, FBI,the world's drugs market and are planning to take over the world and rule in partnership with the GREYS.