Jaime Shandera is a Los Angeles television producer who became, by chance or design, the recipient of the most debated document in UFO history.
The Envelope
In December 1984 an envelope with an Albuquerque postmark and no return address arrived at Shandera's home. Inside was undeveloped 35mm film. Once developed, it showed an alleged 1952 briefing for President-elect Eisenhower describing the recovery of a crashed craft near Roswell and a secret committee called Majestic-12.
Working with Moore
- Shandera had joined William Moore around 1982 on a planned film project about government UFO secrecy.
- In 1985 the pair found a memo at the National Archives — the “Cutler/Twining memo” — referencing an “MJ-12 SSP” meeting, which they argued corroborated the papers. Critics note it was found in a box they were directed to by anonymous tips.
Obscure and Underappreciated Threads
- Shandera was present at meetings with the informants “Falcon” and “Condor,” and helped prepare the 1988 broadcast UFO Cover-Up… Live!
- Analysts later raised formatting and date issues in the MJ-12 papers; the FBI declared a copy “completely bogus” in 1988, yet the documents remain debated.
- Unlike Moore, Shandera largely avoided public statements, making him one of the least-known figures in a famous story.
Why Shandera Still Matters
Whether MJ-12 is history or a planted test of how rumors travel, the story began in Shandera's mailbox. It shows why recording the provenance, chain of custody and source status of every document matters.
