Vannevar Bush

Dr. Vannevar Bush, recognized as one of America's leading scientists, organized the National Defense Research Council in 1941 and the Office of Scientific Research and Development in 1943, which led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb. After World War II Dr. Bush became head of the Joint Research and Development Board. As the Canadian government scientist Wilbert Smith noted in his top secret memorandum, Dr. Bush headed a "small group" set up to investigate UFOs, which matter "is the most highly classified subject in the United States government, rating higher even than the H-bomb." Could this "small group" have been Majestic 12? If so, Bush's background in coordinating top secret intelligence research projects would have made him the ideal choice to head the group. In 1949, for instance, the US Intelligence Board, the coordinating body of all the US government intelligence agencies, commissioned Bush to recommend methods of linking all the intelligence bureaucracies, a move initiated by James Forrestal--coincidentally another member of MJ-12.

Roscoe Hillenkoetter

Vice Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter was the third Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1947 to 1950, and the first Director of the CIA, which was established in the same month as MJ-12--September 1947. Hillenkoetter was one of the first intelligence chiefs to make public his conviction that UFO's were real, and that "through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense." Hillenkoetter was also on the board of Directors of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), and was therefore in an excellent position to monitor the activities of this influential civilian group.

Detlev Bronk

Dr. Detlov Bronk was an internationally known physiologist and bio-physicist who was Chairman of the National Research Council and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Atomic Energy Commission. With Dr. Edward Condon, Director of the National Bureau of Standards (who later headed the Air Force-sponsored UFO project at the University of Colorado), Bronk became a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Hoyt Vandenberg

Following a distinguished career in the Army Air Forces General Hoyt Vandenberg became the second Director of Central Intelligence in 1946, a position he held until May 1947. In August 1948, when a top secret "Estimate of the Situation" by the Air Technical Intelligence Center offered its opinion that UFOs were interplanetary, Vandenberg, Air Force Chief of Staff at the time, ordered the document to be burned.

Donald Menzel

Dr. Donald Menzel was Director of the Harvard College Observatory, and is chiefly remembered for his dismissive statements and books on UFOs, all of which, he said, could be explained in mundane terms. Menzel would have been helpful as an astronomical consultant to MJ-12, and later as the world's most widely read UFO debunker. He was also involved with the National Security Agency, and held a Top Secret Ultra security clearance.

Gordon Gray

Gordon Gray was Assistant Secretary of the Army at the time when MJ-12 was established, and became Secretary of the Army in 1949. In 1950 he was appointed as Special Assistant to President Truman on National Security Affairs, and in 1951, according to William Steinman, directed the Psychological Strategy Board, referred to in a 1952 CIA memorandum from Director Walter Bedell Smith discussing the psychological warfare implications of UFOs.

James Forrestal

James Forrestal served as Secretary of the Navy before becoming Secretary of Defense in July 1947 (the time of the Roswell incident), a position he held until a mental breakdown led to his resignation in March 1949. He committed suicide at Bethesda Naval Hospital in May 1949.

Jerome Hunsaker

Dr. Jerome Hunsaker was a brilliant aircraft designer who headed the Departments of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was Chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. His opinion on the materials recovered at Roswell would have been invaluable.

Lloyd Berkener

Dr. Lloyd Berkner, a scientist who was executive Secretary of the Joint Research and Development Board in 1946 (under Dr. Vannevar Bush), also headed a special committee to direct a study that led to the establishment of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group. He was also a member of the CIA's "Robertson Panel", a scientific advisory panel on UFOs requested by the White House and sponsored by the CIA in 1953.

Robert Montague

General Robert Montague was Base Commander at the Atomic Energy Commission installation at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, from July 1947 to February 1951.

Sidney Souers

Rear Admiral Sidney Souers was the first Director of Central Intelligence (January-June 1946) and in September 1947 (when MJ-12 was set up) became Executive Secretary of the National Security Council. Following his resignation in 1950 Souers was retained as a special consultant to the Executive on security matters.

Nathan Twining

General Nathan Twining was an outstanding commander of bombing operations in both the European and Pacific theaters during World War II. In 1945 he was appointed Commander General of Air Materiel Command, based at Wright Field (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). A declassified secret document reveals that in September 1947 Twining presented the conclusions of AMC that "the phenomenon reported is something real," further details of which will be discussed later. Significantly, Twining suddenly canceled a planned trip to the West Coast on 8 July 1947, the day of the first press release announcing the recovery of a crashed disk near Roswell, "due to a a very important and sudden matter." William Moore has learned that while reporters were told that Twining was out of the office, "probably in Washington, DC" he had in fact made a sudden trip to New Mexico, where he remained until 10 July.