The whole MJ-12 saga is fascinating, and definitely worth further examination.

My feeling is that it was likely a real panel of experts led by Vannevar Bush, but its role had nothing do to with space aliens. Rather, its primary task was to keep UFOs hidden from the public because the phenomenon was largely the result of U.S. military innovation.

The Cold War catalyzed levels of subterfuge and deception never before instituted in peacetime American society.

Later, MJ-12 was hijacked by disinformation specialists, who rightly saw it as a propaganda goldmine. They created fake documents linking MJ-12 to aliens and anonymously delivered them to a prominent ufologist …

The purpose: to reinforce the association of UFOs to the lunatic fringe, thereby marginalizing the subject’s credibility … and the rest was faux history …

But, hey, it’s all in Flying Saucers!

Link to the article is here:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2016/12/06/the_fbi_debunked_the_majestic_12_ufo_documents_in_the_most_childish_way.html