Michael E. Salla, PhD

July 2003


 

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 -  Abstract

 

 

 -  About the Author

 

 

 -  Introduction

 

 

 -  Phase One - Crisis Management of the Extraterrestrial Presence

 

 -  Phase Two - The Truman Administration and the Decision to Maintain Secrecy

 

 -  Phase Three - The Erosion of Executive Oversight of Clandestine Organizations

 

 -  Phase Four - The Era of Autonomy and Impunity for Clandestine Organizations

 

 -  The Prominence of Henry Kissinger as PI-40’s Master Strategist
 

 -  Political Impotence of the Carter and Clinton Administrations - The Threat posed by Reagan

 

 -  Phase Five - The Political Management of Iraq and its Ancient ET Technology

 

 -  Endnotes

 

 

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ABSTRACT

Political management of the extraterrestrial (ET) presence on Earth has evolved during the course of the successive US Presidential administrations that had to deal with the policy issues that arose once irrefutable proof of such a presence was brought to the attention of policy makers. This evolution of responses by Presidential administrations can be broken into five historic phases which demonstrate a gradual erosion of Presidential/executive oversight, and the growing autonomy/independence of clandestine organizations embedded in military-intelligence and national security branches of government. This erosion of Presidential/executive oversight in the form of ultimate control of the ET presence being gradually taken away from elected Presidents and/or their congressionally approved political appointments appears to have all the characteristics of a 'political coup'. Presidents, in the case of Republicans, have been reduced to rubber stamps for those controlling political management of ET issues; or, in the case of Democratic Presidents, to political irrelevance.

In this paper, I will identify the political management approach taken in the various phases of how US administrations/clandestine organizations have responded to the ET presence. I will analyze the gradual erosion of executive oversight of these clandestine organizations, and the latter's increasing influence over the executive branch of government. I will also outline the increased role of Corporate America and the Council of Foreign Relations in politically managing the ET presence. I further examine the most current political management style as evidenced by the US led military intervention into Iraq and what this suggests for how the ET presence will be managed in the future. I conclude by identifying how political management of the ET presence has been conducted in a way that represents a threat to the principles of democracy and liberty in the US.


 


 About the Author
Dr. Michael E. Salla has held academic appointments in the School of International Service, American University, Washington DC (1996-2001), and the Department of Political Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (1994-96). He taught as an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University, Washington DC., in 2002. He is currently researching methods of Transformational Peace as a Researcher in Residence in the Center for Global Peace (2001-2003) and directing the Center's Peace Ambassador Program which uses transformational peace techniques for individual self-empowerment.

 

He has a PhD in Government from the University of Queensland, Australia, and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of The Hero's Journey Toward a Second American Century (Greenwood Press, 2002) and co-editor/author of three other books, and authored more than seventy articles, chapters, and book reviews on peace, ethnic conflict and conflict resolution. He has conducted research and fieldwork in the ethnic conflicts in East Timor, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Sri Lanka. He has organized a number of international workshops involving mid to high level participants from these conflicts. He has an academic website at http://www.american.edu/salla/ .

 


 Introduction

Political management of the extraterrestrial (ET) presence on Earth has evolved during the course of the successive US Presidential administrations that had to deal with the policy issues that arose once irrefutable proof of such a presence was brought to the attention of policy makers. This evolution of responses by Presidential administrations can be broken into five historic phases which demonstrate a gradual erosion of Presidential/executive oversight, and the growing autonomy/independence of clandestine organizations embedded in military-intelligence and national security branches of government. This erosion of Presidential/executive oversight in the form of ultimate control of the ET presence being gradually taken away from elected Presidents and/or their congressionally approved political appointments appears to have all the characteristics of a ‘political coup’. [2] Presidents, in the case of Republicans, have been reduced to rubber stamps for those controlling political management of ET issues; or, in the case of Democratic Presidents, to political irrelevance.

The first political management phase was crisis management during the Roosevelt administration when the ET presence became enmeshed within the foreign policy crisis of the Second World War, and was effectively controlled by a complex of scientific-military institutions set up under executive oversight to conduct the war effort. The second phase was an effort by the Truman administration in the post-war era to establish a framework for politically managing the ET presence through a series of ad hoc committees responsible for setting policy and coordinating response by the scientific-military-intelligence communities. The third phase was a comprehensive effort by the Eisenhower administration to manage the ET presence through improved policy coordination between different clandestine organizations embedded within military/intelligence and national security branches of government, and introducing more prominent roles for Corporate America and foreign policy elites in the political management of the ET presence.

The fourth phase was the effective loss of direct Presidential/Executive oversight during the latter part of the Eisenhower administration and the Kennedy administration, and the independence of clandestine organizations created to deal with the ET presence. There is evidence to suggest that the recent military campaign in Iraq marks a disturbing fifth phase in the political management of the ET presence where clandestine organizations effectively take control of a foreign government for the exclusive purpose of managing the ET presence.

For the purpose of this study, ‘political management’ will be defined as a coordinated series of policies for dealing with a set of issues that have important public policy implications. In the case of political management of the ET presence, this refers to the need for developing a coordinated and strategic approach to the ET presence that satisfactorily deals with all its public policy dimensions. More importantly, political management of the ET presence involves coordinating the various agendas, reverse engineering programs, covert military operations, intelligence gathering operations, and policy studies undertaken by a variety of clandestine organizations embedded within the military, intelligence and national security branches of government.

Chief among the clandestine organizations to be identified as taking the lead in politically managing the ET presence in the US is Majestic 12 (MJ-12 – aka ‘PI-40’ and ‘Special Studies Group’) is embedded within the Covert Operations Committee of the National Security Council. [3] The prominence of Nelson Rockefeller and Dr Henry Kissinger in influencing this clandestine organization, and the supporting roles given to Corporate America and elite policy study groups such as the Council of Foreign Relations, gives important insight into how the political management of the UFO presence has been historically conducted. This casts considerable light on motivations for the recent military intervention in Iraq, and the likelihood that this marks an important watershed in the political management of the ET presence.

In this paper, I will identify the political management approach taken in the various phases of how US administrations/clandestine organizations have responded to the ET presence. I will analyze the gradual erosion of executive oversight of these clandestine organizations, and the latter’s increasing influence over the executive branch of government. I will also outline the increased role of Corporate America and the Council of Foreign Relations in politically managing the ET presence. I further examine the most current political management style as evidenced by the US led military intervention into Iraq and what this suggests for how the ET presence will be managed in the future. I conclude by identifying how political management of the ET presence has been conducted in a way that represents a threat to the principles of democracy and liberty in the US.


 


 Phase One - Crisis Management of the Extraterrestrial Presence

Evidence for the emergence of ET piloted craft over US skies has been claimed to exist from as early as the 19th century. [4] The emergence of the ET presence as a phenomenon that required political management can be dated to the first instance where US policy makers had to grapple with irrefutable evidence of an ET presence and its tremendous policy implications. There is evidence from ‘whistleblower’ testimonies from clandestine government organizations that an ET craft crashed off the coast of California in 1941, and its secret retrieval was what initially set off efforts by the Roosevelt administration to politically manage the ET presence. [5] Furthermore, a famous incident in 1942 occurred where there was a naval bombardment in response to what at first perceived to be a Japanese air raid, but which closer evidence suggested was an intelligently piloted UFO. [6] US participation in the Second World War from 1942 meant that these astonishing events involving ET piloted spacecraft craft had to be politically managed in the context of a global military conflict requiring coordinated policy responses that involved the national survival of the US.

The approach taken by the Roosevelt administration was based on maintaining tight secrecy given the assumption that the ‘enemy’ – Japan and Nazi Germany - would take any advantage of the ET presence it could discover through its intelligence assets to bring about defeat of US forces on the battlefield. The Roosevelt administration delegated control of the ET presence to the US Department of War (renamed the Department of Defense) who were immediately aware of the military significance of such a development. Any technology and knowledge acquired from the ET presence would be used to develop weapons technology that could bring victory on the battlefield.

There is considerable evidence from witness testimonies that the US Navy led this clandestine military effort with a top secret project seeking to develop ‘stealth technologies’ for Navy ships from as early as 1943. [7] Dubbed the ‘Philadelphia Experiment’ this project established the primacy of the US Navy in reverse engineering ET technology, and subordination of the whole ET issue within military institutions. An important characteristic of this phase of the political management of the ET presence was the leading role played by military funded scientific laboratories that would play the critical role of reverse engineering ET technology. This ‘military-scientific complex’ was critical to the war effort and for responding to the ET presence.

As Commander-in-Chief in a war time situation, President Roosevelt’s political management of the ET presence was synonymous with the political management of the Manhattan Project which produced the first atomic bombs, and other secret weapons technologies that were part of the war effort. Both secrecy and a clear chain of command was required, and no effort would be spared to fund scientific laboratories working directly under the military to utilize this ET ‘presence’ for battlefield success. There is no evidence that the Roosevelt administration developed any special organizational structures for dealing with the ET presence, other than simply subordinating the whole ET issue to the Department of War that was conducting the war effort. As Commander in Chief, Roosevelt and his most senior advisors would be extensively informed and played the key role in exercising the necessary executive oversight for military projects utilizing technology and intelligence gained from ET sources. Most importantly, the Second World War meant there would be no congressional oversight of the ET presence since the latter’s existence and military significance required the utmost secrecy due dire national security implications it had for the War effort.


 


Phase Two: The Truman Administration and the Decision to Maintain Secrecy

When Harry Truman became President in 1945, a ‘successful’ outcome of the Second World War was already clear. This meant that a more organized institutional structure could be developed for politically managing the ET presence. The national security threat to the US was now over as far as the general public were concerned, which meant that there would soon pressure for Congressional oversight and public disclosure of the clandestine programs conducted by military and intelligence branches of government.

 

Since the US military exercised complete operational and logistical control over all aspects of the ET presence during the emergency conditions of the war, there needed to be a process for deciding how to politically manage the extensive policy implications of such a presence. Undoubtedly, the first policy issue to be confronted was the extent to which the ET presence should be disclosed to Congress and the general public. More importantly, there needed to be an institution created for ensuring policy coordination between the different military and intelligence units that were working on different operational aspects of the ET presence; and, critically, a means of ensuring that the President and his principal advisors would be sufficiently well informed to maintain executive oversight of the entire military-scientific-intelligence community that interfaced with the ET presence.

In 1947, Truman gave executive approval in the form of a memo to then Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal, for the creation of a clandestine committee to be formed that would play these three crucial roles of politically managing public disclosure of the ET presence; policy coordination of the various projects associated with the ET presence; and executive oversight of clandestine organizations dealing with the ET presence. [8] Titled Majestic 12 (MJ-12), this group initially comprised 12 senior individuals from the military, intelligence and civilian sectors who formed an ad hoc committee. MJ-12 was therefore a clandestine political entity created to politically manage all aspects of the ET presence in order to provide the best policy advice to the President. Significantly, MJ-12 was embedded within the National Security Council which was formed at the same time to coordinate policy recommendations from different government, military and intelligence departments into a coherent set of policy recommendations from which Presidents could choose.

 

The way in which policy advice would be gained was through a series of ad hoc committees that would be formed to investigate specific aspects of the ET presence to make policy recommendations. One of the more famous was an ad hoc committee comprising Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer who released a top secret report on “Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies” in June 1947, that outlined a number of recommendations for responding to the ET presence in terms of their foreign policy implications. [9] Thus executive oversight of the ET presence occurred through the President, his advisors and appointed officials who would steer US policy on the critical policy issues concerning the ET presence on the basis of policy advice gained from top secret ad hoc committees.

A factor which increasingly impacted on the political management of the ET presence was the rise in public sightings of UFO craft in the post-war period making it more difficult to maintain a public policy of secrecy. In 1947, there was an extraordinary increase in the number of public sightings of UFO craft which led to a groundswell of support of an official response, and public disclosure of the ET presence. [10] The most famous of these was the 1947 Roswell incident which has spawned numerous books and testimonies from various individuals and officials. [11] This led to the decision of the Air force to launch an official public examination of the UFO presence. Project Blue Book began in 1952 and was the official public successor to earlier Air force investigations of UFOs from 1947-48 (Project Sign), and 1948-52 (Project Grudge). [12]

In the midst of the clamor generated by the public for news on the UFO presence, the Truman administration was evidently advised by the MJ-12 committee to maintain strict secrecy of the ET presence, while continuing to exercise executive oversight of clandestine projects concerning ET activity and their technology. Evidence of the nature of the executive control of the ET presence and the decision by MJ-12 to maintain public secrecy can be found in the circumstances surrounding the dismissal and death of James Forrestal as Truman’s Secretary of Defense in 1949. Secretary Forrestal had, according to whistleblower testimonies, developed a clear difference of opinion on how the ET presence should be politically managed, and was said to have favored public disclosure. [13] Forrestal, who was a member of the MJ-12 committee, was thwarted by President Truman, his principal advisors and others on the MJ-12 committee, who decided that the whole ET presence had to be politically managed in a way that maintained strict secrecy, thereby denying the general public and Congress the truth about the ET presence. Forestal was dismissed due to what was officially claimed to be a ‘nervous breakdown’ and later ‘committed suicide’ from the 6th floor of the Bethesda Naval Hospital. [14] According to several military ‘whistleblowers’, Forrestal was murdered. [15]

In conclusion, the political management of the ET presence by the Truman administration was one of firm executive oversight where he would be advised by his appointed committees such as MJ-12 in how to deal with the ET presence. MJ-12 would provide policy recommendations for coordination and oversight of clandestine organizations embedded in military and intelligence departments, and the military funded scientific laboratories that pursued reverse-engineering programs and communication with ETs.


 


Phase Three: The Erosion of Executive Oversight of Clandestine Organizations

The election of Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, brought with it not only a Republican administration, but also a profound policy shift in how political management of the ET presence would be conducted – the formal involvement of Corporate America and the Council of Foreign Relations in managing the ET presence. Eisenhower had been supported in his Presidential campaign by the Rockefeller family and it was therefore no great surprise that he chose Nelson Rockefeller to be in charge of reorganizing the government. Rockefeller from 1953-59 was Chairman of the President’s ‘Advisory Committee on Government Organization.’ In addition, he became the President’s Special Assistant in Cold War Strategy (1954-55) and was critical in shaping the Eisenhower’s views and responses to the ET presence.

The Rockefeller family derived much of its wealth and influence from the Standard Oil Company established by John Rockefeller which established a powerful monopoly in the US oil industry whose legacy continues today under the Exxon/Mobil/Chevron banners. [16] Nelson Rockefeller, the grandson of John Rockefeller, was a ‘moderate Republican’ who was a liberal in political issues and strongly supported the liberal internationalist idea of a global political institutions, but conservative in the economic sphere. [17] In asking Nelson Rockefeller to advise him and reorganize government in general and the policy making infrastructure concerning the ET presence in particular, Eisenhower was giving Corporate America a prominent role in the way in which government attempted to address policy issues – a view consistent with the ideological underpinning of the US Republican party.

As far as the ET question was concerned, this meant that Corporate America would play a prominent role in the clandestine efforts to reverse engineer ET technology. [18] The immediate consequence was that the scientific laboratories that were previously directly funded by the Department of Defense, were reorganized in terms of their location and funding base. These laboratories now received corporate funding through contracts awarded by military organizations, rather than being directly funded by the military as was the case during the Second World War and the Truman administration. Including Corporate America provided the important benefit of introducing a further layer of secrecy that could effectively keep prying Congressmen away from the truth about the ET presence. The Congressional oversight that was, in theory at least, possible for government/military funded scientific laboratories working on reverse engineering ET technology, would be impossible with corporations nominally in charge of the scientific laboratories working on the same clandestine military projects, using the same personnel, resources and funding.

 

With Project Blue book underway and Congress attempting to discover what was really happening concerning the ET presence, a through re-organization involving a prominent role for Corporate America, in Rockefeller’s view, was needed if secrecy was to be maintained. The ‘sleight of hand’ involving Corporate America provided an important means of politically managing the ET presence – total secrecy could be maintained by simply invoking the mantra of private sector market forces, thereby ensuring immunity from congressional investigation.

Another important policy shift was the inclusion of the Council of Foreign Relations as the source for suitable recruits for a top secret policy committee whose exclusive task was to provide policy recommendations the various political, economic, social, religious and legal issues concerning the ET presence. The Rockefeller Family became important benefactors in the establishment of the Council of Foreign Relations in 1921 by making significant yearly donations of $1,500; making a large donation of $50,000 for the Council’s new headquarters in 1929; donating the building that became the headquarters of the Council in 1945. [19] A measure of the Rockefeller influence could be seen in their support for individuals being appointed to powerful positions. In the early 1970’s, for example, David Rockefeller, who eventually became Chairman of the Council, went against the wishes of a nominating committee to appoint William Bundy to the editorship of the influential journal, Foreign Affairs. [20] By bringing the Council of Foreign Relations to the center stage of how the Eisenhower administration would gain recruits for clandestine organizations designed to make policy recommendations concerning the ET presence, Nelson Rockefeller had maneuvered himself and his family to the center stage of how the ET presence would be politically managed.

The most significant institutional reorganization as far as political management of the ET presence was concerned was expanding and formalizing MJ-12 as an autonomous institution fully authorized by executive order to deliberate upon and make policy decisions on the ET presence. MJ-12 became formally embedded in the Covert Operations Committee of the National Security Council - Committee 5412, named after National Security Council Edict 5412. MJ-12’s earlier existence as an ad hoc committee appointed by executive authority, was now transformed into a permanent sub-committee institutionally embedded within the most secret of all the National Security Council’s committees. Evidence from whistleblower testimonies suggest that Truman’s ad hoc committee, MJ-12, was reorganized so as to now comprise two layers. [21] The outermost layer was a group of up to 40 individuals who would form a Study Group (hence the names PI-40 and Special Studies Group also attributed to MJ-12) whose function was to provide specialized studies and policy recommendations concerning ET issues for a smaller decision making group (MJ-12) that would actually make official policy recommendations for implementation after gaining executive approval by Eisenhower.

The Special Studies Group/PI-40 formed under Eisenhower held their first meetings at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia and its 35 members were drawn exclusively from the Council of Foreign Relations. The Study Group had two directors Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, and comprised prominent individuals as Dr Edward Teller, Paul Nitze, David Rockefeller, and McGeorge Bundy (later Kennedy’s Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs). [22] According to Cooper, the Rockefellers built a lavish retreat for the Study Group in an exclusive area in Maryland. [23]

MJ-12 comprised 19 individuals who reviewed the various studies, and deliberated on policy issues concerning the ET presence on the basis of a qualified majority system of 12 votes being necessary for an issue to be passed. [24] According to William Cooper, who served on the Naval Intelligence briefing team for the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, this smaller group was headed by the President’s Special Representative for Foreign Affairs, and its composition was determined according to the following formula. The President’s Special Representative for Cold War Strategy (aka National Security Advisor - Nelson Rockefeller); the Director of Central Intelligence (Allen Welsh Dulles); Secretary of State (John Foster Dulles); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Admiral Arthur Radford); Director of the FBI (J. Edgar Hoover); six men from the executive of the Council on Foreign Relations (‘Wise Men’) and six men from a secret scientific organization called the JASON group (led by Dr. Edward Teller) that were all members of the Council of Foreign Relations. [25] It is likely that among the main organizational rules governing membership of MJ-12/PI-40 were that all appointments had to be approved by MJ-12; that individuals could not belong to both MJ-12 and PI-40; term limits applied to how long individuals could stay on the policy making body, MJ-12; and no term limits applied in the case of the PI-40.

As with the policy coordinating role played by the National Security Council in providing advice to the President, MJ-12 had a similar function in coordinating policy concerning the different clandestine organizations involved in various aspects of the ET presence. As the organization developed to study specific policy issues concerning the ET presence, PI-40 had a significant role in framing policy issues and determining priorities that would influence the way MJ-12 made policy recommendations. As the architect of the institutional reorganization that led to the expansion of MJ-12, and as the President’s Special Advisor, Rockefeller assumed the critical role of head of MJ-12. Furthermore, Rockefeller through his family’s connections, also could influence the selection of appointments from the Council of Foreign Relations and the JASON Group for PI-40. Accordingly, Rockefeller played a critical role in influencing the strategic principles and imperatives that would subsequently govern policy making on the ET presence. Rockefeller’s influence gradually led to his estrangement with Eisenhower as a result of the latter realizing that executive oversight of the ET presence was being eroded due to Rockefeller’s reorganization. Eisenhower’s concern resulted from two main ways in which executive oversight was eroded: the role of Corporate America, and the way information was provided by MJ-12/PI-40 in dealing with the ET presence.

The shift from the Roosevelt/Truman administration models of government funded military-scientific laboratories that conducted clandestine military projects, to a model that made US corporations nominally in charge of these clandestine projects, led to a cooperation that Eisenhower believed became a threat to executive government. This was immortalized for the general public by Eisenhower’s famous warning in his January 1961, departure speech of the danger of the ‘military-industrial complex’:

In the councils of Government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought by the Military Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together. [26]

At the end of his administration, Eisenhower evidently felt that the military-industrial complex had grown too powerful and had slipped out of the control of him and his principal advisors in how the ET presence was to be politically managed. Essentially, clandestine military projects with Corporate America receiving funding through contracts awarded by the military, meant that the President and his principal advisors, had lost control of what was occurring in the clandestine projects and organizations that formed an elaborate ‘military-industrial complex’ weaving through the various military and intelligence organizations that worked on different aspects of the ET presence. The loss of control of what was happening in military-corporate laboratories carried with it a loss of control of over the quality and accuracy of the intelligence information that found its way back to the President and his senior advisors. The ‘military-industrial complex’ evidently was able to frame policy issues and contingencies concerning the ET presence in ways that dictated government policy to the extent that Eisenhower and his advisors felt frustrated and alarmed. This suggested that the MJ-12 and/or PI-40 had been compromised by the military-industrial complex, and was framing policy issues and imperatives in ways that eroded executive oversight of these clandestine organizations.

Nelson Rockefeller, the architect of the reorganization that included Corporate America in how the ET presence would be politically managed, resigned from his position as the President’s Special Assistant for Government Reorganization in 1959 to successfully run for New York governor. Rockefeller’s prominent role in both Corporate America and in MJ-12/PI-40, however, ensured that control of how the ET presence was to be politically managed increasingly lay with the MJ-12/PI-40 and the military-industrial complex responsible for reverse engineering ET technology, and the various intelligence agencies focused on the ET presence. What Eisenhower was alluding to in his departure speech was that, at least as far political management of the ET presence was concerned, a political coup had occurred. [27] Eisenhower had been maneuvered into a role that merely gave constitutional validity to policy recommendations that were crafted on information that the President had no independent means of confirming. That Eisenhower felt this way is evidenced in reports by one of the military officers who directly served under Eisenhower, Brigadier-General Stephen Lovekin who wrote:

But what happened was that Eisenhower got sold out. Without him knowing it he lost control of what was going on with the entire UFO situation. In his last address to the nation I think he was telling us that the Military Industrial Complex would stick you in the back if you were not totally vigilant…. And I think that he realized that all of a sudden this matter is going into the control of corporations that could very well act to the detriment of this country. This frustration, from what I can remember, went on for months. He realized that he was losing control of the UFO subject. He realized that the phenomenon or whatever it was we were faced with was not going to be in the best hands. As far as I can remember, that was the expression that was used, “It is not going to be in the best hands. [28]

The Kennedy administration marked an important milestone in the erosion of executive oversight of the ET presence. Kennedy was made aware of the ET presence when, as a young Senator serving on the Foreign Relations Committee, he was informed of the ET presence. Like his Republican predecessor, the new Democratic President, Kennedy, found that the political management of the ET presence was dominated by the clandestine military and intelligence organizations, in concert with MJ-12/PI-40, that released information on ETs in a way that was biased towards a particular outcome, the most obvious being the need for continued funding of their respective programs. If an information ‘spin’ was indeed occurring, and certainly that is what the Eisenhower experience suggests, then the ET presence would permanently remain in the category of a national security threat that required strict secrecy, with minimal government oversight and extravagant funding levels. The involvement of Corporate America in fulfilling military contracts meant that executive oversight would not succeed in discovering the true ramifications of the ET presence and what clandestine organizations were really up to. This problem of having no way of checking and confirming the information supplied by clandestine organizations that was suspected of being ‘spun’ in a way that supported particular outcomes was certainly what concerned Eisenhower, and was a problem that Kennedy also confronted.

Kennedy and his most trusted senior advisors evidently labored hard to reestablish executive oversight and control but were similarly frustrated as was Eisenhower and his team of advisors. Kennedy’s Special Assistant on International Affairs (aka National Security Advisor), McGeorge Bundy, and other cabinet members from the Departments of Defense and State, the Director of Central Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were most likely members of MJ-12 but this did not apparently assist Kennedy in gaining the changes he required. According to a former steward aboard Air Force One, Bill Holden, he and Kennedy had the following conversation when flying to Europe in the summer of 1963: " What do you think about UFOs, Mr. President?” Kennedy became quite serious for a moment, and replied, "I'd like to tell the public about the UFO situation … but my hands are tied." [29] Rockefeller’s institutional reforms made it impossible for one individual, even a sitting President, to take control of the policy making process concerning the ET presence.

Kennedy’s efforts to reestablish executive control and overturn the disturbing reality that the military-industrial complex was acting with minimal executive oversight in dealing with the ET presence and, more importantly, influencing how the ET presence was to be politically managed, certainly led to an escalating series of confrontations. For example, Kennedy’s initiative to improve relations with the Soviet Union under Nikita Krushchev and cooperate more in responding to the ET presence certainly disturbed those clandestine organizations that held real influence in how to politically manage the ET presence. Documents have been found supporting this idea that Kennedy desired greater cooperation with the Soviet Union, and that this was opposed by the military-industrial complex. Furthermore, it has been claimed that Kennedy issued an ultimatum to Majesty 12, that “he intended to reveal the presence of aliens to the American people within the following year [1964], and ordered a plan developed to implement his decision.” [31]

The institutional restructuring under Rockefeller that made possible for Corporate America to participate in conducting highly classified programs with clandestine organizations embedded in military and intelligence departments, was not going to be overturned by an upstart Democratic President committed to a more transparent and cooperative national and international effort to politically manage the ET presence. It is likely that Kennedy’s assassination was partly linked to his efforts to wrest control back control over how to manage the ET presence. [32] Those responsible could have come from any of the clandestine organizations that felt their operations threatened by Kennedy’s policies. An outcome of the crisis involving the Kennedy administration would have been that the formal policy making group, MJ-12, would have begun making policy choices without necessarily gaining Presidential approval. This marked a departure from the Eisenhower administration where, at least, Eisenhower had to give formal approval for major MJ-12 policy recommendations to be implemented.

Kennedy’s assassination marked the culmination of a process that in all constituted a ‘de facto political coup’ where executive oversight of the ET presence came to an end in less than a decade. Eisenhower’s Republican affiliation and choice of Rockefeller to reorganize government structures and play a leading role in reforming how the ET presence was to be politically managed, was what effectively led to the erosion of executive oversight of the ET presence. Eisenhower became aware later in his administration that he had lost control, and that a ‘silent political coup’ was occurring. Kennedy’s unsuccessful effort to reestablish control and assassination marked a turning point in the erosion of executive oversight. The kind of executive oversight achieved under the Roosevelt and Truman administrations where the President and his senior advisors were fully informed and exercised firm control over the political management of the ET presence was now a distant memory. Real control over how to politically manage the ET presence had slipped into the hands of the clandestine military and intelligence organizations that operated secretly, with no executive oversight and lavish budgets. It is therefore understandable why, at least from a bureaucratic perspective if not a national security stand point, that clandestine organizations had a strong interest in maintaining the status quo and opposing efforts to yield to greater transparency and executive oversight.

As the key policy coordinating body, MJ-12/PI-40, would certainly have been aware of the advantages of such a ‘de facto political coup’ and most likely played a supporting, if not principal, role in the erosion of executive oversight of all aspects of the ET presence. MJ-12/PI-40 was institutionally positioned to benefit greatly from this loss of executive oversight which meant that Presidential administrations knew less about what was really happening on ET issues, and would have to rely on MJ-12/PI-40 for accurate information on what was occurring within the military industrial complex. MJ-12/PI-40 could play its policy coordinating role with little real interference or scrutiny from Presidents and their policy advisors who simply did not have the means of confirming or challenging the information provided to them by the various clandestine organizations involved in dealing with the ET presence; and/or the policy advice provided by MJ-12/PI-40. The inability of Presidential administrations to gain independent and accurate information on the ET presence meant that MJ-12/PI-40 could put its own spin on the available information to produce policy outcomes inline with MJ-12/PI-40’s priorities and needs. One of these needs was to ensure a degree of autonomy that minimized executive interference in affairs that MJ-12/PI-40 probably decided were outside of the experience and abilities of Presidential administrations that were at best only temporary players in the need to politically manage the ET presence. The loss of executive oversight meant that MJ-12/PI-40 became the main player in determining how the ET presence was to be politically managed. [33] This led to the fourth phase in the political management of the ET presence – The Era of Autonomy and Impunity for Clandestine Organizations.


 


Phase Four– The Era of Autonomy and Impunity for Clandestine Organizations
President Lyndon Johnson, like Kennedy, was not trusted by MJ-12/PI-40 and was simply denied information concerning the ET presence. [34] MJ-12/PI-40 during the Johnson administration operated without executive oversight and politically managed the ET presence by coordinating between four main constituencies. The first was the various clandestine organizations embedded in the different military services that were part of the military-industrial complex involved in reverse engineering ET technology for weapons production. The second constituency was the intelligence organizations that attempted to gather information on ET activities; the ET agenda; establish channels of communication with the ETs; and which were embedded in the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and the Defence Intelligence Agency. The third constituency was the President and his senior advisors who while not fully aware of the scope of the ET presence, were at least aware of the existence of these clandestine organizations and of the policy coordinating role played by MJ-12/PI-40. [35] The fourth and last constituency was Congress and the general public who were most out of the information loop, and simply unaware of the extent of the clandestine programs set up to deal with the ET presence.

The Air force investigation begun at the end of the Truman administration, Project Blue Book, had been, according to Col Phillip Corso, who served in the Eisenhower administration and was also briefly the head of a secret Pentagon project to reverse engineer ET technology, “pure public relations from the start,” that was designed to keep the general public focused on debating whether or not there was sufficient evidence for the existence of ET piloted UFOs. [36] The termination of Project Blue Book in 1969 represented the confidence of those politically managing the ET presence that numerous UFO sightings and public reports of contact with ETs no longer represented a threat to the official policy of non-disclosure of the ET presence.

In its role as the key policy coordinating body in the web of clandestine organizations that dealt with the ET presence, MJ-12/PI-40 now assumed firm control over how the ET presence was to be politically managed. Identifying the chief function of MJ-12/PI-40 and who its key players were is therefore central to understanding how the ET presence was politically managed, and how the erosion of executive oversight of the ET presence and the autonomy of MJ-12/PI-40 would impact on future Presidential administrations. The organizational function of MJ-12/PI-40 can be likened to that of a chess player who has to manage a whole range of pieces with different functions, values and strengths in order to achieve an ultimate goal – victory. This meant that MJ-12/PI-40’s primary role was that of developing a grand strategy to deal with the ET presence in terms of the variety of ET races, their varying agendas and activities, and foreign national governments and clandestine governments on one side of the chess board (the opponent); and on the other side, the four different constituencies that made up the pieces of one’s own side of the chess board. The architect of this strategic role for MJ-12/PI-40 was Nelson Rockefeller and the Council of Foreign Relations who essentially designed the institutional rules by which MJ-12/PI-40 would interact with other constituencies involved in various aspects of the ET presence. There is strong evidence from whistleblower sources that the master strategist of the Special Studies Group that made up the outer layer of MJ-12/PI-40, was a key Rockefeller protégé, Dr Henry Kissinger whose experience in managing the ET presence went further back than is commonly appreciated. [37]