Stanton Friedman
Stanton Terry Friedman was an American nuclear physicist and professional UFO researcher widely regarded as one of the most rigorous and productive investigators in the history of the field. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Friedman worked as a nuclear physicist for major defense contractors including General Electric, General Motors, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, McDonnell Douglas, and Westinghouse before devoting himself full-time to UFO research. He is credited with initiating the modern public investigation of the Roswell Incident, tracking down the living witnesses, and with first bringing the Majestic 12 Documents to public attention in the early 1980s.
| Role | Nuclear physicist; UFO researcher; author |
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UFO Research Career
Friedman began public UFO lectures in 1967 and spent decades conducting primary-source research — tracking down witnesses, filing FOIA requests, and interviewing government and military figures. He was a prolific author and public speaker who consistently argued that the evidence for extraterrestrial visitation was substantial and that a government UFO cover-up was demonstrably real, based on documentary evidence rather than speculation alone.
The Majestic 12 Documents
In the early 1980s, Friedman learned of a set of documents alleging the existence of a secret government group designated Majestic 12 (MJ-12), tasked by President Truman with overseeing the investigation and management of recovered UAP craft and non-human materials. Friedman's public release and promotion of these documents generated significant controversy in both the UFO research community and mainstream media. While many researchers and government officials have characterized the MJ-12 documents as forgeries — and some specific documents within the set are widely believed to be fabricated — Friedman maintained that the core documents may contain genuine information or may have been derived from authentic material.
It was Friedman's release of the MJ-12 documents that prompted William Steinman to contact Robert Sarbacher in 1983, and simultaneously prompted Eric Walker to respond to Steinman's inquiries by confirming he had known about MJ-12 for forty years.
The Sarbacher Conversation (1983)
In 1983, Friedman tracked down Robert Sarbacher — a physicist and DoD Research and Development Board consultant — after learning of the 1950 Wilbert B. Smith memo in which Sarbacher had confirmed that the study of flying saucers in the US government was classified higher than the hydrogen bomb. Friedman recorded a conversation with Sarbacher in which the scientist repeated key elements of his 1950 disclosures, including:
- Describing a meeting at Wright Field about a crash where recovered beings were described as "made like insects — they didn't have any skin on their bodies."
- Placing the crash likely in 1947, consistent with the Roswell timeline.
- Noting that the DoD's Research and Development Board was deeply interested in the UAP flight characteristics observed in the early 1950s.
- Speculating that a manipulation of gravity would be necessary to explain UAP flight behavior.
Friedman's recording of this conversation constitutes one of the most significant primary-source interview records in UAP research history.
Legacy
Friedman's approach — skeptical of individual claims but persuaded by the cumulative weight of documentary evidence and witness testimony — set a standard for rigorous civilian UAP investigation. He died in May 2019. His decades of primary research, particularly his interviews with government-connected figures like Sarbacher, remain foundational references in the field.