| Atomic Robo | |
| Majestic Twelve | |
[[Image: | |
| 4 of 4 pages | |
| Date Published | Friday, July 30, 2010 |
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Cast Appearing[]
Setting[]
- The White House, President's Oval, September 24, 1947
Script[]
| Forrestal | Good morning, Mr. President. |
| Truman | Forrestal. I thought our meeting wasn't until eleven. |
| Forrestal | It's not, but I thought you'd want to see this. |
| He hands Truman a sealed portfolio labeled Project Majestic | |
| Truman | You've been busy, James. |
| Forrestal | Yes, sir. That document is the culmination of our efforts to understand post-Tesla technologies. Attached are my recommendations to incorporating them into Cold War strategies as well as a timetable for their implementation. |
| Truman | (eyeing him) This is... ambitious. |
| Forrestal | It has to be, sir. |
| Forrestal | No matter the measures we take there will be intelligence leaks. It happened to the Manhattan Project, it will happen with Majestic. |
| Truman | What good is the Office of the Secretary of Defense if I'm to be told that the Russians will learn of our highest military secrets? |
| Forrestal | Mr. President, it's better that you act on reality than fantasy. We can minimize it, but the Russians will gain access to this information, however piecemeal. They will spare no effort to fill in the gaps. Therefore, it is in our best interests to pursue these technologies with all due speed. It will both secure our superior position in the meantime as well as vex their inevitable attempts to catch up. With great enough development in our part, it won't matter what they learn. They won't have the time or resources to make meaningful progress relative to our extant programs. |
| Truman | You make a compelling case. But the scope of this plan... James, the war is over. We're demobilizing. |
| Forrestal | Sir, you know my position on that matter. |
| Truman | I do. And this Majestic project of yours looks suspiciously like an attempt to undermine those efforts in the guise of scientific research. |
| Forrestal | The pursuit of Soviet ends necessarily entails the dismantlement of all representative government. Their goals are fundamentally at odds with our way of life. We are uniquely positioned to develop whole new concepts in warfare while the Communists defeat themselves chasing a nuclear paradigm they don't know is obsolete. |
| Truman | You're calling for sweeping changes here. |
| Forrestal | If nothing else, allow me to establish the committee detailed in Section A. |
| Truman | To what ends? |
| Forrestal | We are just now, after four years, beginning to understand the full scope of Tesla's work. It is game changing. The continued study of post-Tesla technologies independent of Atomic Robo is paramount to national security. |
| Truman | It seems to me this panel of yours ought to include the world's foremost expert in Tesla's work. |
| Forrestal | Robo's loyalty cannot be... guaranteed. He's a vocal opponent of containment and, frankly, may have hindered Operation Paperclip. |
| Truman | (closes eyes) That's unfortunate. He was quite an asset. |
| Forrestal | Yes, sir. |
| Truman | Okay, James. You'll get your committee. But it's going to have to be beyond secret. |
| Forrestal | On that, Mr. President, we agree. |
| The letter states... | |
| TOP SECRET EYES ONLY THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON | |
| September 24, 1947 | |
| MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Dear Secretary Forrestal: As per our recent conversation on this matter, you are hereby authorized to proceed with all due speed and caution upon your undertaking. Hereafter this matter shall be referred to only as Operation Majestic Twelve. It continues to be my feeling that any future considerations relative to the ultimate disposition of this matter should rest solely with the Office of the President following appropriate discussions with yourself, Dr. Bush and the Director of Central Intelligence. | |
| It is signed, Harry Truman... | |
Trivia[]
- The letter is an actual document of the development of an actual secret committee known as Majestic 12. However, the committee supposedly investigated and covered up UFO activity on the aftermath of the Roswell, New Mexico incident in July of 1947. The legality of this letter and existence of this comittee is disputed.
- There is a typo on "secretay", which was supposed to be "secretary"