what really happened?

TOP SECRET

'Leaked' documents shed new light on outcome of 'Battle of Los Angeles'

By Robert Wood

THAT 1,430 ANTI-AIRCRAFT rounds were fired at an unidentified object or objects over Los Angeles, California, early the morning of February 25, 1942-approximately two and a half months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor-never has been seriously challenged. What's new in the story is that five "leaked" and formerly highly classified documents trace the beginnings of a reverse-engineering project of non-terrestrial craft back to that 1942 event, which has come to be known as the "Battle of Los Angeles."

According to the documents, two U.S. presidents were aware of the top-secret project. One memo provides evidence that U.S. military had recovered two craft believed to be of "interplanetary origin," prompting investigation of War Department files for evidence of any other such craft. The documents also indicate existence of a "Special Committee on Non-Terrestrial Science and Technology" and imply strong government interest in supporting study of non-terrestrial biology and physics.

The documents came into the possession of Timothy Cooper, a former Marine who in the early 1990s had requested documents pertaining to UFOs from federal agencies through the Freedom of Information Act. As a result, Cooper received a few official responses

JUNE 2010

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The "strange planes" involved in the "Battle of Los Angeles" made frontpage headlines in the Long Beach Press-Telegram the next day.

and a number of documents. (Evaluation of the content of documents Cooper received prior to 2000 is reported in MUFON Symposium Proceedings of 2000 and 2001.)

On September 6, 2000, Cooper received an envelope containing copies of several letters relevant to the "Battle of Los Angeles." Their content, scope, and implications are the topic of this article. In all, Cooper received more than 100 documents from 10 reported sources. All of the documents and in some cases the envelopes they came in DOW are in my possession. Letters received before 2000 have been published by Wood and Wood, along with a Special Operations Manual

Continued on page 4

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Searchlights focus on the dark sky and bursting explosives in the only known photograph taken during the 1942 "Battle of Los Angeles."

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describing procedures for the recovery and disposition of extraterrestrial technology and entities. Five of the documents received in 2000-memos and letters written by or to highly placed U.S. government officials-are relevant.

<Dlnitial Announcement

The original Los Angeles copy of this memorandum for President Franklin Roosevelt, dated February 26, 1942, is in the George C. Marshall Foundation Library in Lexington, Virginia. It has been declassified from "secret" to "unclassified," and its authenticity is not disputed. One of the copies with a handwrit-

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ten notation "file" also has an identification number erocs 21347-86 in the upper left corner, indicating that it was filed by the Office of the Chief of Staff.

®Two Days Later

The next memo is from President Roosevelt to Marshall, instructing him to ensure secrecy. The president especially was interested in preventing the Soviets from learning anything about this incident. This document authorizes Dr. Vannevar Bush to "proceed with the project without further delay." Cooper received a retyped version of the memo, with the following

4

handwritten note on the bottom:

"This is a retyped version ofFDR's memo from DOE's [Department of Energy's] TS [top secret] files.'

Three things are noteworthy.

First, it is suspected that a forensic linguistic evaluation would show consistency with syntax and language of President Roosevelt. This evaluation is underway but not complete. Second, since this is a retyped version of the original memo, it is not possible to analyze the ink paper or watermark in a useful way. Third, the handwritten notation at the bottom probably is the handwriting of the "leaker' and appears on other documents received by Cooper.

JUNE 2010

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@Two Weeks Later

On March 5, 1942 Marshall responded with a detailed memo declaring that he had established review of "unconventional aerial phenomenon" (sic) going back to 1897. The copy of this memo is illegible in places, but it provides confirming detail about the recovery of two objects associated with the "Battle of Los Angeles."

The following points are significant: (1) This probably is the first time that the Navy was in possession of a downed craft, since the recovery at Cape Girardeau in 1941 was by the FBI and the Army.

JUNE 2010

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(2) The file category, apparently added later since the type fonts are different, was "Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit" (LP.U.). This is consistent with other claims of the existence of such a unit. (3) One filing number is consistent with that of the original "secret" Marshall memo of February 26, and the reference to another oes number is OCS xx336-20. It would be good to determine the title of this filing category. (4) The caveat of "top secret" is underlined, consistent with the procedures of that era. (5) This memo would be consistent with the Army's initiation of a research project to investigate the phenomena

5

and naturally would have migrated in 1947 to the Air Force from the Army Air Corps.

@ Two Years Later

In 1944, Rooseve1t wrote a memo to the "Special Committee on Non-Terrestrial Science and Technology." This memo apparently was in reply to an earlier request for money, possibly for a "reverseengineering" project to evaluate the craft the United States had captured. FDR's skillfully written reply (also subject to forensic linguistic analysis) stated that when the Nazis were beaten and World War II was over,

Continued on page 6

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what real.ly happened after the 18ame of Los Angeles'?

TOP SECRET

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there would be plenty of money for this project.

The classification "double top secret" originally was thought to be too good to be true. A short hunt in the Library of Congress, however, yielded a great example of the same caveat being used on a document relevant to the invasion ofItaly later in World War II. An obvious issue of major impact is the apparent existence of such a committee and who its members might have been.

@Five Years Later

The last letter in the "leaker" files is one from Vannevar Bush to President Harry Truman. Bush was the recognized bead of the Of-

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fice of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) during and at the end of World War II It would have been the logical for him to have been involved with the "NonTerrestrial Science and Technology Committee," and he may have been its chairman.

Since Franklin Rossevelt was dead, Bush apparently felt it necessary (and also timely in view of massive media coverage of flying saucers in June and July of 1947) to formally brief Truman about the early wartime recoveries and to encourage implementation of an aggressive reverse-engineering program. The two-page letter clearly states that it will be in the

6

United States' best interests to discover this technology and apply it to achieve a higher standard of living in the United States.

Authenticity Arguments

Stanton Friedman and some other researchers have offered specific challenges about the authenticity of a small number of documents received by Cooper, None of the challenges involve the documents here discussed. While it is conceivable that one of Cooper's sources may have provided deceptive copies, the other seven sources may have been independent and genuinely attempting to convey the truth as they knew it.

JUNE 2010

T

TOPSE

The following arguments support the authenticity of the five documents discussed in this article:

• The original envelope they arrived in clearly went througb the mail.

• Photograph analysis ofthe object in the searchlights is not inconsistent with a UFO.

• The original memo from Marshall to Roosevelt is of unchallenged authenticity and has a file number.

• The same file number shows up on the Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit memo.

• The style of language is reminiscent of Roosevelt, and objective syntax evaluation is expected to disclose a high probability that he is the author of the memos that bear his name.

• Linguistic forensic evaluation of Vannevar Bush's letter also is expected to confirm its authenticity.

Events mentioned in the correspondence match history.

• The timing of crash recoveries during World War II is consistent with the United States' speedy ability to make new discoveries after the war. All of these factors indicate that the "Battle of Los Angeles" may have been the most important event in the development of modem societyand well could have prompted the remarkable sophistication of the secrecy surrounding the capture and recovery of UFOs and UFO technology .•

Robert Wood, who has a Ph.D. in experimental physics, retired from MeDonnell Douglas in 1993. He worked on the design for the International Space Station, is a long-time MllFON member, and he and his son, Ryan, created the television documentary The Secret, which highlights the scope and process of "leaked" classified documents about UFOs.

Bright lights over Hollywood

With dozens of epic space films released in the past few decades, an extraterrestrial invasion of California is hardly news. Interplanetary conflicts are the stuff of which action-packed sciencefiction movies are made.

One of Hollywood's latest, Battle: Los Angeles, features a Marine platoon facing off against an invasion of space aliens in-you guessed itthe movie capital of planet Earth. Battle: Los Angeles

is directed by Ionathan Liebesman, the creative force behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). His latest flick is set to be released in February. Whether it will be another stellar hit like 2001: A Space Odyssey or go the sad way

of Robinson Crusoe on Mars remains to be seen. -J C

These "leaked" and formerly highly classified documents trace the path of non-terrestrial reverse engineering in the early 1940s,
Texts of the documents are reprinted in their entirety beginning on page 18.
Date From To Title Content Classification
Feb. 26, 1942 George Marshall Franklin Roosevelt Memorandum "expended 1430 rounds of SECRET
for the President ammunition" declassified
Feb. 27,1942 Franklin Roosevell George Marshall Memorandum do not share information "with our TOP SECRET
for the Chief of Staff ally the Soviet Union"
of the Army "Army will have the fruits"
Mar. 6. 1942 George Marshall Franklin Roosevelt Memorandum United States captured two craft; TOP SECRET
for the President thorough investigation of War
Department files ordered
Feb. 24, 1944 FrankJin Roosevell Special Committtee Memorandum "not to engage in exploratory DOUBLE TOP SECRET
on Non-Terrestrial for the Special research but to win the war as soon
Science and Committee on Non- as possible"
Technology Terrestrial Science
and Technology
July 5,1944 Vannevar Bush Harry Truman Letter of Transmittal "It is clear ... he had in mind the OSDR TOP SECRET
non-terrestrial sciences. including OPERATION MAJESTIG·12
biology and physics"
"rewards of such exploratlon for the
Nation and the individual are great' JUNE20JO

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