I must chime in on
MAJIC, since it's my namesake and a classic conspiracy chestnut.
The whole
MAJESTYTWELVE program and its various spinoffs were a massive and very effective disinformation campaign that was itself part of an
elaborate and also very effective counterintelligence operation.
At the time of its inception, it was well known within the U.S. government that Soviet agents had successfully infiltrated almost every agency at
virtually all levels. America was experiencing a serious crisis in information security, and drastic measures were required. Enter
MAJESTYTWELVE.
The bogus information was used to track security leaks and proved very effective as a sort of "barium tracer" for tracking the flow of intelligence
data. Information on UFOs and extraterrestrial life is such explosive material that it is pretty easy to track. It creates a tremendous amount of
chatter and is unique enough to spot 12,000 miles away.
Stamped with an air of extreme secrecy, sincerity and authenticity, documents purporting to describe contacts, hostile encounters and technology
exchanges with alien races will freak out even the most hard-skinned enemy. They can't help but react in such a way as to reveal their sources and
methods.
The program was a huge success, and the U.S. enjoys benefits from it to this day.
MAJESTYTWELVE helped shape the face of the emerging field of
information warfare, which has, in turn, changed everything about everything. But it was neither the first nor only such program of its kind.
There are countless others.
Indeed, you should truly be skeptical of
everything you read, hear or see, because information warfare is now more rampant than ever before.
Disinformation is the "chaff" used to confuse and confound enemy intelligence efforts, and it litters the psychological battlefield that is the
press, public opinion, Internet forums and virtually every aspect of human perception. In its more sinister forms, it is and has been used by
governments to manipulate and control their citizens.
Today, we live in a world where more often than not the best way to disguise the truth is to tell the truth, and where fiction can itself sometimes be
more accurate than fact. Some of the very foundations of popular modern thought are themselves nothing more than clever and specious memetic
constructs used to support intelligence operations, information warfare and psychological warfare for decades (or more accurately, since the dawn of
history). And they keep piling up, skewing everything.
That is why I urge everyone not to believe everything they read. Yes, that includes this post. Skepticism and intellectual honesty are vital to seeing
through the haze of these battles.
Verily, verily I say unto thee, nothing is as it seems.