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Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, said in later UAP research to have received briefings on anomalous craft and to have overseen the classified handling of recovered material during his administration.

33rd President of the United States

Harry S. Truman served as the 33rd president of the United States. Within UAP research literature he is most frequently discussed in connection with the origins of alleged secrecy programmes concerning recovered anomalous material, and with a series of unexplained aerial sightings over Washington, DC during his presidency.

In July 1952, multiple UAP resembling lights penetrated downtown Washington, DC and buzzed the White House over two consecutive weekends while Truman was president.¹ The episode became front-page news worldwide, and Truman demanded answers.² Frank Edwards, in a 1956 lecture, maintained that Albert Einstein had delivered an urgent message to Truman that year warning that his shoot-down policy toward the UFOs over Washington was unwise.³ UAP researcher Luis Elizondo has said he believes Truman was among a line of US presidents - alongside Dwight D. Eisenhower, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George Herbert Walker Bush and Donald Trump - who received some form of briefing on UAP.⁴

Truman’s name recurs in claims tied to Majestic 12 (MJ-12), described as a secret cabal of scientists, military and intelligence officials formed in 1947 to facilitate the recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft.⁵ UAP Gerb has said that Truman is alleged to have established classified presidential executive orders in 1948 - referred to by Eric Davis as Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) - relegating custody of recovered disks to Atomic Energy Commission National Lab Control, to be studied under Vannevar Bush’s Joint Research and Development Board.⁶ Whitley Strieber has said that Arthur Exon told him, after Strieber published Communion in 1987, that everybody from Truman on down knew within twenty-four hours that what had been found at Roswell was not of this world.⁷

Researcher Jonathan Caplan has discussed Truman’s role in relation to newly found Majestic 12 documents and the Blair House meeting of 1949-07-14. Caplan considers the connection between James Forrestal’s directive from Truman and his speedy meetings with Henry Tizard and others a very significant development,⁸ and believes Truman and his military staff were very concerned about reports that non-human craft had crashed, presenting a new threat.⁹ Caplan finds that the detail of the Majestic 12 documents corroborates contemporary diaries not released at the time, including those of Truman, Forrestal and Eisenhower.¹⁰ According to David Lilienthal’s diary, Truman referred at the Blair House meeting to a report so unusual that only one copy existed, with no access permitted to an associated agreement,¹¹ and said the agreement was staying in his safe with nobody permitted access to it.¹² Caplan considers it likely that this agreement relates to Majestic 12.¹³ The Blair House meeting is recorded in the diaries of Truman, Eisenhower and Lilienthal.¹⁴ A newly disclosed page of the Blair House meeting annex discusses Truman wanting to share some of the Majestic 12 material with US allies,¹⁵ and Caplan has said that Truman and Eisenhower felt craft arriving in numbers with an unknown agenda might signal an imminent attack,¹⁶ and wanted to increase atomic weapons production because they felt there might be a war fought in or near space.¹⁷ Ross Coulthart has said that Caplan used the diaries of Truman and Eisenhower to help corroborate the provenance of the newly found Majestic 12 documents,¹⁸ and Caplan does not believe a forger of the Majestic 12 documents released in the 1980s would have had access to those diaries, since they were only released later and kept in secure conditions.¹⁹

Not all Majestic 12-related material referencing Truman is treated as genuine. A forged typescript document among the Majestic 12 papers, headed “Truman and Congress”, purports to show Truman being called to give evidence before the United States Congress in 1963 or 1964 about Majestic 12.²⁰ Caplan checked with the Eisenhower Library and confirmed that Truman was never in Washington at the time the document claims he testified.²¹

Separately, a week after the John F. Kennedy assassination, Truman wrote an article in the Washington Post that was critical of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), saying it was not the organisation he had set up and had got completely out of hand.²²

This article was generated from this brief.

References (24) · each quote links to the claim it came from

Truman's executive order authorising Project Paperclip specified that no ardent Nazis or war criminals would be admitted to the US under the programme
“President Truman's executive order authorizing the program was very specific: no "ardent Nazis" or war criminals would be allowed into the U.S. under Paperclip.”
Dark Mission ch12:100402-100552
Operation Majestic-12 is described as a secret cabal formed in 1947 by Truman to facilitate recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft
“Operation Majestic-12 was a supposed secret cabal of scientists, military and intelligence officials and government formed in 1947 by President Harry Truman to facilitate the recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft.”
In Plain Sight ch14:15460-15698
Whitley Strieber said Arthur Exon told him in 1989 that there was an unequivocal cover-up of a retrieved craft at Roswell that went 'from Truman on down'
“Strieber told the Senator in his letter that US Army Brigadier General Arthur Exon had told him personally in 1989 that there was a 'completely unequivocal cover-up' of a retrieved alien craft at Roswell and 'it went from [President Harry] Truman on down'.”
In Plain Sight ch25:22926-23176
The 1952 Washington DC UFO flap was front-page news worldwide, and Truman demanded answers
“The story was front-page news across the planet and even President Truman was demanding answers”
In Plain Sight ch8:17332-17420
In July 1952, multiple UAP resembling lights penetrated downtown Washington DC and buzzed the White House over two consecutive weekends while Truman was president
“July 1952: Harry S. Truman was president. Multiple UAP resembling lights penetrated downtown DC and buzzed the White House and the capital city over two consecutive weekends.”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs ch12:25771-25938
Luis Elizondo believes Truman was among the presidents briefed in some way on UAP, alongside Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Trump
“As far as I know, the following US presidents were briefed in some way: Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Trump.”
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs ch31:16189-16330
General Arthur Exon told Whitley Strieber, after Strieber published Communion in 1987, that everybody from Truman on down knew within 24 hours that what had been found was not of this world
“General Exon told me after I published Communion in 1987 that “everybody from Truman on down knew that what we had found was not of this world within twenty-four hours of our finding it.””
The Fourth Mind ch11:795-978
Frank Edwards, in a 1956 lecture, maintained that Einstein had delivered an urgent message to Truman in 1952 warning that his shoot-down policy toward UFOs over Washington DC was unwise
“Edwards maintained that just four years prior in 1952, Albert Einstein had delivered an urgent message to then-President Harry Truman. Einstein warned that Truman's shoot-down policy of UFOs over DC was unwise.”
Aliens and Albert Einstein - The Secret Document - DEBRIEFED ep. 33 00:08:40.5-00:08:54.2
Jonathan Caplan considers the connection between Forrestal's directive from Truman and his speedy meetings with Henry Tizard and others a very significant development
“the connection between Forrestal, who just had this directive from Truman, meeting very speedily with Sir Henry Tizard, Air Marshal Victor Goddard and others, I think is a very significant development.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:15:55.6-00:16:08.2
Jonathan Caplan believes Truman and his military staff were very concerned about reports that non-human craft had crashed, presenting a new threat
“truman was very concerned about this as were his his staff and military staff”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:18:50.5-00:18:54.2
Jonathan Caplan finds the detail of the Majestic 12 documents corroborates contemporary diaries not released at the time, including those of Truman, Forrestal and Eisenhower
“the detail of the documents check out with contemporary diaries, which were not released at the time. The meetings that are referred to in the documents are reflected in the diaries of not just the president, but Forrestal, Eisenhower.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:20:15.5-00:20:30.3
According to David Lilienthal's diary, Truman referred at the Blair House meeting of 14 July 1949 to a report so unusual that only one copy existed, with no access to an associated agreement
“And then there is reference to a report which Truman is so unusual out of this world that Truman, there's only one copy of it. And there's no access to this agreement.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:25:19.8-00:25:34.3 View the source record →
According to David Lilienthal's diary, Truman said the agreement referenced at the Blair House meeting was staying in his safe and nobody was to have access to it
“And Truman says in Lillian to record it. Well, that agreement is staying in my safe and nobody is having access to it.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:25:34.8-00:25:42.2
Truman and Eisenhower wanted to increase atomic weapons production, feeling there might be a war fought in space requiring delivery of weapons in or near space
“And they wanted to increase the production of atomic weapons because they felt there might be a war that had to be fought in space. and they would have to deliver these weapons in or near space.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:32:37.5-00:32:52.1
Jonathan Caplan considers it likely that the agreement referenced by Truman at the Blair House meeting relates to Majestic 12
“But in the context of the discussion that we're having, it's very likely that it's something to do, I would say, with Majestic 12.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:25:44.6-00:25:52.6
A forged typescript document among the Majestic 12 material, headed 'Truman and Congress', purports to show Truman being called to give evidence before Congress in 1963 or 1964 about Majestic 12
“And one of them is a document, I think, involving or headed Truman and Congress. And it purports to be an account of Truman being called to give evidence at Congress in 1963 or 1964, where he's asked about MJ-12 and he is embarrassed and gives various answers.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:27:38.9-00:28:07.4
Jonathan Caplan checked with the Eisenhower Library and confirmed Truman was never in Washington at the time the forged 'Truman and Congress' document claims he testified before Congress
“Now that clearly didn't happen because I've checked with the Eisenhower Library and he was never in Washington at that time.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:28:08.0-00:28:13.2
The newly disclosed page of the Blair House meeting annex discusses Truman wanting to share some of the Majestic 12 material with US allies
“And this is the page which talks about Truman wanting to share some of the Majestic material with his allies.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:31:28.1-00:31:39.4
Truman and Eisenhower felt that craft arriving in numbers with an unknown agenda might mean an imminent attack was being faced
“And Truman and Eisenhower felt that the risk of these craft that were coming in numbers with an agenda that wasn't known might mean that we were facing imminent attack.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:32:23.4-00:32:36.2
Ross Coulthart said Jonathan Caplan used Truman's and Eisenhower's diaries to help corroborate the provenance of the newly found Majestic 12 documents
“I understand, for example, Truman and Eisenhower's diaries had useful information to help you corroborate.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:41:37.1-00:41:43.0
The Blair House meeting of 14 July 1949 is recorded in Truman's, Eisenhower's and Lilienthal's diaries
“So the meeting itself is recorded in those diaries. It's an off the record meeting. It's recorded, as I said, also in David Lilienthal's diaries.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:41:46.4-00:41:56.6
Jonathan Caplan does not believe a forger of the Majestic 12 documents released in the 1980s would have had access to Truman's and Eisenhower's diaries, since those were only released later and kept in secure conditions
“I don't believe so because these diaries have only been released in succeeding years and were not available. I'm sure somebody possibly in the Central Intelligence Agency might have been able to get special access to them, but they have not been available to the public and have been kept in pretty secure conditions.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 00:42:22.1-00:42:41.5
A week after the John F. Kennedy assassination, Truman wrote a Washington Post article critical of the CIA, saying it was not the organisation he had set up and had got completely out of hand
“a week after Kennedy's assassination, you get a very interesting article written by President Truman to the Washington Post... being very critical of the CIA and saying, look, this is not the organization that I set up or what we believed it was going to be. And it's got completely out of hand.”
Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check 01:06:47.4-01:07:21.1
UAP Gerb said that in 1948 Truman is alleged to have established classified presidential executive orders, referred to by Eric Davis as Presidential Emergency Action Documents, relegating custody of recovered disks to Atomic Energy Commission National Lab Control under Vannevar Bush's Joint Research and Development Board
“there are serious credible allegations that within the late 40s, 1948, to be specific, President Harry Truman established classified presidential executive orders, also referred to by your colleague, Dr. Eric Davis, as PEADS, presidential emergency action documents, that relegated custody of recovered disks to Atomic Energy Commission National Lab Control to be studied under Vannevar Bush, his soon to be Joint Research and Development Board and then Research and Development Board”
Episode 73: Science vs. Secrecy 00:56:53.3-00:57:19.8

Harry S. Truman

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