The Umbrella Academy’s Majestic 12 in Real Life vs Netflix: The True Story

In Episode 4 of The Umbrella Academy, we’re introduced to the concept of “The Majestic 12.” You might be interested to know that they exist in real life too. Read on to see the photo of them that was shared in the fourth episode and to learn more about the group in real life.

This article will have spoilers through Episode 4 of Season 2. 

The Photo from Episode 4

Netflix

In Episode 4, we’re shown the photo above of “The Majestic 12.”

We’re told that they’re a secret committee of science, military, and Deep State members. According to the show, President John F. Kennedy was the first president to try to push them into the limelight. “They are are not to be trifled with,” we’re warned. 

The photo above shows 11 out of 12 of the members of The Majestic 12. Apparently they are powerful, well-connected, and pull some serious strings. We’ll learn more about them on the show, but this article only focuses on what was revealed about them in Episode 4 (and what we know about them in real life.)

The Majestic 12 in Real Life

The mythology of The Majestic 12 is every bit as intriguing as their story in The Umbrella Academy. Also known as “MJ-12” among conspiracy theorists, this group is at the center of a number of UFO conspiracy theories. The myth is that they were formed in 1947 by an executive order issued by President Harry Truman, and they include scientists, government officials, and military leaders. Their mission was to investigate (and recover if possible) alien spacecraft. Supposedly, their first mission was to recover the craft in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

The first idea of their existence came from “leaked” government documents in 1984. Jaime Shandera, a documentary producer, said that the leaked files were dropped in his mail slot in an envelope in 1984, Slate reported. Shandera said he received a roll of film that, when developed, revealed eight pages of classified documents. These documents supposedly revealed not only the investigation of alien craft, but the creation of The Majestic 12.

Some people pointed out that the documents had flaws, like incorrect ranks, the use of “media” instead of “press” (when “press” was the more common term at the time), and formatting that didn’t match the formats of other government documents, Slate reported.

The FBI later announced that the pages were bogus and wrote “BOGUS” in all caps over the documents.

You can read the documents about the Majestic 12 on the FBI’s website here. The main pages are in screenshots below. 

FBI

FBI

FBI

FBI

FBI

Interestingly, The Umbrella Academy brings up the concept of The Majestic 12 right after it was revealed in real-life that the U.S. has continued investigating UFOs (not aliens.) The U.S. Intelligence Budget for 2021 includes a mandate for the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence to submit a report of all their collected information within 180 days from June 17.

In fact, an article in The New York Times reported that the Pentagon may have even obtained vehicles or parts of vehicles that aren’t from Earth. Eric W. Davis said he gave a classified briefing in March to an agency in the Department of Defense about retrievals of “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.” Davis is an astrophysicist who has worked as a consultant for the Pentagon’s UFO program.

And on April 27, the Department of Defense authorized the official release of three videos of UFOs taken by Navy pilots. (UFO implies that their origins aren’t known, not necessarily that they are aliens.)

FLIR1, GIMBAL and GOFAST – the 3 recently declassified US Navy UFO videosSource: US Navy FOIA server: https://www.navair.navy.mil/foia/documents2020-05-07T01:42:26Z

So although the “Majestic 12” mythology isn’t at the forefront of American’s minds anymore, the idea of unidentified objects in the sky indeed has renewed interest in real life.

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