Watergate, the JFK assassination and a UFO secret at the center of it all | Reality Check

Host Ross Coulthart interviewed Jonathan Kaplan KC, a senior British barrister with over 50 years' experience in high-profile fraud and intelligence cases, about his newly published book on UFOs and the Majestic 12 documents. Kaplan, who served on the editorial board of Flying Saucer Review and personally delivered copies to Prince Philip's equerry at Buckingham Palace, applied his forensic legal skills to authenticate leaked government UFO documents. The conversation centered on previously undisclosed Majestic 12 documents retrieved from the late Timothy Cooper's archive, including a July 1949 Blair House meeting memo showing Truman and Eisenhower discussing atomic weapons production for potential space war against alien craft, and a 1953 CIA letter ordering secrecy around an alleged alien contact meeting at Holloman Air Force Base. Kaplan presented evidence he believes links the JFK assassination directly to Kennedy's intention to disclose UFO secrets, citing CIA contractor Frank Sturgis's alleged confession to NYPD detective Jim Rothstein that he was a grassy knoll gunman, and Howard Hunt's deathbed statement that Kennedy was killed 'because he was about to reveal the alien presence.' Kaplan authenticated documents through corroboration with presidential diaries, Atomic Energy Commission records, and contemporary sources unavailable when documents first surfaced in the 1980s. He disclosed Prince Philip's active UFO interest and Sir Peter Townsley's witness interviews at Buckingham Palace, including Townsley's account of meeting a mind-reading being seeking introduction to the Duke. Kaplan expressed skepticism about imminent disclosure under Trump, arguing intelligence agencies will never admit to murders, crashed craft retrievals, or contact with non-human intelligence, settling instead for acknowledging anomalous phenomena only.

• Kaplan stated CIA contractor Frank Sturgis confessed to NYPD detective Jim Rothstein that he was a grassy knoll gunman in the JFK assassination over UFO disclosure.
• Previously unseen Majestic 12 documents show July 1949 Blair House meeting where Truman and Eisenhower discussed atomic weapons for potential space war against alien craft.
• Newly disclosed June 1953 CIA letter from Richard Drain ordered secrecy around Holloman Air Force Base alien contact meeting corroborating Bush Sr. briefing to Eric Davis.
• Kaplan verified Defense Secretary Forrestal met UK Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Henry Tizard one week after September 1947 Majestic 12 directive establishing UK Flying Saucer Working Party.
• Kaplan personally delivered Flying Saucer Review to Prince Philip's equerry and disclosed Sir Peter Townsley interviewed UFO witnesses at Buckingham Palace for the Duke.
• Documents authenticated through corroboration with presidential diaries at Princeton and Eisenhower Library unavailable when documents first leaked in 1980s ruling out elaborate hoax.
• Kaplan expressed certainty non-human intelligence is real and multi-source but stated intelligence agencies will never disclose crashed craft retrievals murders or contact agreements.