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INSIDE UFOLOGY
February 1989
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FRIEDMAN 1, KLASS 0
ParaNet Alpha 02/05 -- A minor victory may have been won by MJ-12
proponents in their never-ending battle against UFO "negativist"
Phil Klass, a victory that could cost Klass up to $1000.
First, a little refresher on some of the finer points of MJ-12.
A central document in the controversy is the Cutler-Twining Memo of
July 14th, 1954, in which Presidential Assistant Robert Cutler
informs Gen. Nathan Twining of a slight change in the scheduled
meeting of MJ-12. This document is said to be independent
confirmation of the existence of the super-secret Presidential UFO
panel, since it was found in the National Archives. The closest
scrutiny has been paid to this memo, and thus far it has
seemingly eluded debunking. For all intents and purposes, it has
the look, feel, and tenor of the real thing.
However, it is not without controversy. For starters, an Archives
expert has denied its authenticity on historical grounds. The
alleged maker of the memo, Robert Cutler, was out of the country
when it was typed. Researchers counter that Cutler's assistants,
James Lay and Patrick Coyne, routinely sent out memos under
Cutler's name, and they point to the fact that the memo (extant now
in carbon copy only) is unsigned.
Since the release of the MJ-12 package of documents in April of
1987, CSICOPer Klass has hammered away at the Cutler/Twining memo,
and in his latest barrage, argues that it is in a typeface known as
Pica, or 12 point, referring to the height of the characters. In a
letter to MJ-12-ologist Stan Friedman dated January 16th of this
year, Klass states, "You will note that in the tradition of that
era, these White House executives used the smaller Elite typeface."
He encloses a "representative sample of typefaces used by Cutler
and Lay's offices during the 1953-1957 period," all of which are in
the Elite or 10-point typeface. "I challenge you to produce
known-to-be-authentic White House/business letters/memoranda
written by Cutler or Lay during the 1953-55 time period which use a
typeface identical in size and style to that used in the _alleged_
Cutler/Twining memo..."
Klass emphasises his challenge in traditional style by offering to
pay Friedman $100 for each such sample, up to a maximum of $1000.
In a response dated January 20th, Friedman provides no fewer than
20 such exemplars, more than enough to win the maximum prize.
His letter to Klass is sprinkled with almost gleeful invective. "I
am enclosing copies straight from my files of various Lay and
Cutler material...first ones at hand, but just the tip of the
iceberg...As usual you are flat out wrong because YOU DO NOT DO
YOUR HOMEWORK AND ARE NOT INTERESTED IN TRUTH." In addition, he
takes exception to Klass' statement that Elite is the "traditional"
White House typeface. "How do you dare speak of a tradition of
using elite type at the White House? Just how much White House
material have you examined? The Ike Lib. [Eisenhower Presidential
Library] alone has 250,000 pages of NSC material. The National
Archives has loads as well, but I guess it is too far for you."
(Klass lives in Washington, D.C., Friedman in Canada, yet the
MJ-12-ologist makes frequent trips to the Archives in Washington).
It is not the first major gaffe on Klass' part regarding the
documents. Back in November of 1987, the debunker sent out a memo
criticizing William Moore's seeming misspelling in "Air Materiel
Command", and slyly noted that the same misspelling crops up in the
Hillenkoetter Briefing, the central MJ-12 document, the implication
being that Moore, and not Hillenkoetter, authored the document. But
true to military tradition, "Materiel" is, for some reason, the
correct spelling in that context. To his credit, Klass was quick to
find his error and redistribute his memo with the words "I GOOFED"
plainly scrawled across the top. However, the incident is cited
by many as a prime example of Klass' quickness to point a finger
at Moore, whom he has all but accused of outright hoax in the MJ-12
affair.
It is not altogether certain that Friedman has won this round hands
down. Klass' letter specifically called for "letters" and
"memoranda"; Friedman provides only headings and dates in his
initial response. However, he promises more to come from his visits
to the Truman and Eisenhower libraries; presumably at that time he
will provide full copies of the documents, if he comes across any.
MUFON TO COOPER: NO THANKS
It is not known yet exactly why, but self-ordained Cosmic Watergate
prophet Bill Cooper was invited, and now has been DISinvited, to speak
at the upcoming MUFON convention in Las Vegas. At first, plans
called for a roundtable discussion of MJ-12 researchers, including
Cooper, John Lear, William Moore and Stan Friedman. But in a letter
from MUFON's International Director Walt Andrus, it was implied
that a credibility problem caused the convention planners to change
their minds about including Cooper, who for the past eight months has
flooded computer networks and radio talk shows with sensational
charges of conspiracies involving multi-layered government UFO
projects, underground alien bases, and government cooperation in
alien abductions.
Cooper, one of three individuals banned from using this network,
has made claims ranging from a "mere" UFO sighting to inside
knowledge of the structure and function of what he insists is the
Majority Agency for Joint Information, or MAJI. He has leveled
charges of disinformation against William Moore, who he claims is
purposely obfuscating the truth by propagating "Majestic-12"
information rather than "MAJI-Controlled" (MAJIC) information. He
has even implicated this reporter in the disinformation campaign.
Cooper's only corroboration is a Hawaiian named Robert Swan, whom
he claims he showed several documents back in 1972. Swan made
several generally corroborative statements to ParaNet's Tom Mickus,
but has thus far refused an in-depth interview with another ParaNet
operative in Hawaii.
Cooper was banned from most ParaNet outlets in October due to what
was termed "gross prevarication" regarding his claims. It is
against ParaNet's Code of Operating Standards to deliberately
provide false or misleading information regarding government
involvement in UFO research. Cooper, by his own admission, provided
contradictory data to the network, ostensibly for the purpose of
"finding out who knew what." Since then he has consistently failed
to provide documentary evidence to support his claims, and has
exhibited what many have termed a "paranoia" that his life is in
danger from sinister government forces for his campaign. That fear,
however, has not thus far stayed him from his continuous cries of
"cover-up" and "conspiracy"; whether his actions to this point
constitute heroism or histrionics remains unclear.
--Jim Speiser