There have been legends for a long time about secret, shadowy societies and organizations that hide in the shadows and work behind the scenes of government and world events, pulling strings and changing the way things are. A long history of conspiracy theories has included the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and other mystery organizations that have been blamed for a variety of international events as well as influencing the world as we know it. They sometimes work alongside world governments, but more often work behind their backs. One of them is a highly secret cabal of individuals with extremely high security clearances who are rumored to be working secretly to gather knowledge and evidence on UFOs and aliens that could change the world forever if ever revealed. Secret government groups dedicated to safeguarding UFO evidence and data are nothing new in the UFO industry. Perhaps the most well-known of these is Majestic 12, a formidable 'black arm' of the government that goes by the acronym MJ-12 and claims to have been in operation since 1947. In order to expedite the recovery and research of extraterrestrial spacecraft, MJ-12 was created by an executive order from U.S. President Harry S. Truman. It is a group of scientists, military commanders, and government officials entrusted with being the guardians of UFO material so classified that not even the president of the United States is aware of its existence. Although MJ-12 is commonly cited as the government's ultimate UFO information control and policy body, functioning in full secrecy, it is not the only one. Another, possibly even more ominous, covert agency is also said to operate behind the scenes of UFO lore. MJ-12 has been at the core of numerous UFO conspiracy theories. Researchers and policymakers working on various UFO-related issues purportedly met in the 1970s to exchange information, coordinate data, and discuss various theories about extraterrestrial lifeforms and spaceships. Initially, the group seemed to be very informal, but with time, the group started to coalesce into a cohesive organization that had its own distinct personality. The dozen or so people in this secret group used bird names as code names, which is how they got the name 'The Aviary.' The list of alleged members is like a 'who's who' of top military professionals, researchers, and UFO experts who have security clearances. The alleged members of Aviary were: - Dr. Christopher 'Kit' Green, MD, Ph.D, Biomedical Sciences Department, General Motors, former head of the CIA’s UFO files. His codename was 'Blue Jay.' - Ron Pandolfi, who was CIA Deputy Director for the Division of Science and Technology. His codename was 'Pelican.' - Bruce Maccabee, Ph.D., research scientist in optical physics and laser weapons applications at the U.S. Naval Surface Weapons Lab, Maryland, and prolific author of supposed leaked government UFO data. His codename was 'Sea Gull.' - Hal Puthoff, a physicist with the Institute for Advanced Research in Austin, Texas. His codename was 'Owl.' - John Alexander, Ph.D. in Death Sciences; Lt. Col., U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command; and director of the Non-Lethal Weapons Department, Los Alamos National Laboratory. His codename was 'Penguin.' - Cmdr. C.B. Scott Jones, Ph.D., former officer with the Office of Naval Intelligence and other agencies and eminent researcher for the Defense Nuclear Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other organizations. His codename was 'Chickadee.' - Jacques Vallee, former astrophysicist and famous UFO researcher, Ph.D. His codename was 'Parrot.' - Capt. Bob Collins, retired USAF; Special Agent, Air Force Office of Special Investigations. His codename was 'Condor.' - Sgt. Richard 'Dick' Doty, USAF (Ret.); Special Agent, Air Force Office of Special Investigations. His codename was 'Falcon.' - Ernie Kellerstrauss, supposedly security cleared for UFO information and who worked at Wright-Patterson AFB in the 1970s, His codename was 'Hawk.' - Dale Graff is a UFO-related technology specialist who is said to be a researcher of ESP for the 'military' UFO Working Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His codename was 'Harrier.' 'Chicken Little,' 'Buzzard,' 'Nightingale,' and 'Woodpecker,' who happens to be Hollywood producer Jaime Shandera, round out the roster of civilian UFO researchers, contacts, and disinformation specialists. This top-secret information is being collected by the Aviary with the sole purpose of leaking it to the public, which is at odds with MJ-12's iron-fisted approach to secrecy and has apparently caused conflict between the two groups. Members of each organization are supposedly continually seeking to infiltrate the other. According to rumors, the Aviary's members disagree on how to handle their information, with some believing the public should know, while others prefer to keep it secret as a type of 'trump card.' This has apparently caused a rift within the Aviary group. According to UFO researcher Dr. Richard J. Boylan, Ph.D.: 'Leaked reports from sources close to some Aviary members, suggest that there is a split within the group, which may well mirror a split within MJ-12. On one side are Aviary members who feel that information about UFO and ET contacts should be broadly disclosed. They feel that the public is ready for this information and generally can handle it. Others within the Aviary resist such disclosure. They do not want to lose the power their “information monopoly” gives them. They do not welcome close public scrutiny of their role in the UFO cover-up, either. Additionally, some have reportedly engaged in illegal and sometimes injurious projects and operations. The split over disclosure is creating a climate in which leaks are increasing, as some try to force disclosure and establish a track record for themselves of (belated) candor with the American public. Most Aviary members appear to be well-intentioned scientists or former military or intelligence officers with careers spanning the Cold War, who no doubt sincerely believe that secrecy about UFOs was once vital.' If genuine, some of the information that the Aviary is rumored to have access to is quite amazing, including hard, irrefutable evidence of UFO crashes and both live and deceased aliens. 'The Yellow Book' is a physical record of communications with an alien creature called EBE-1, who was rescued after a crash and held in captivity by MJ-12. They are reported to have access to this document. The information contained in the Yellow Book is said to be stored on a holographic compact disk that may be projected into holograms. They also have something called the 'Red Book,' which is said to be 'a human compendium of information derived from extraterrestrials.' It is said to contain predictions about world events, disasters, environmental disasters, and all kinds of amazing revelations from the past decades. This is when the story goes off the deep end, as it appears that these volumes also contain information on forecasts that appear to be biblical in nature. Dr. Richard J. Boylan notes: 'The red and Yellow Books are also supposed to contain the prediction that there is one “Horseman of the Apocalypse” left to arrive. (The other three, War, Famine and Pestilence have inarguably already arrived on Earth.) The remaining Horseman is the White Rider wearing the Crown, which is interpreted to mean the Second Coming. This raises profound questions and concerns within the Aviary. Does this mean that a formal ET landing in 1997 signifies, or is, the Second Coming of the Christ? Will the ETs be bearing an ET with Christ Consciousness? Will fundamentalist Christians against the ETs as supposed threats to Christ’s supremacy? Et cetera. The Aviary are quite concerned that fundamentalist Christians will experience spiritual, if not ontological, shock at the revelation of ET visitation, and over the reported contents of the Red and Yellow Books, which contain information that suggests that Jesus had some connection with the extraterrestrials. Adding more fuel to Aviary concerns, BT reports that a European television station reported that vatican experts on the Fatima Prophecies held a reported briefing for government representatives from the UK, France, Germany and the U.S., concerning the third remaining publicly-unannounced Prophecy. This Prophecy is rumored to deal with ET Visitation. A spokesman for the Vatican reportedly confirmed that such a briefing took place. Some within the Aviary are concerned that the theological and religious social implications may be the most serious ones resulting from open extraterrestrial contact.' Is this a hoax or is there anything more going on here? There are also claims that the Aviary has access to alien artifacts and is in regular touch with aliens, meeting them and acting as emissaries for Earth and a liaison between races. In the end, it paints a picture of a genuinely strange secret organization that truly soars into the stratosphere of the crazy. Inquiring minds want to know: Who is the Aviary, and what kind of information does it hold? It's a question of whether they'd prefer to work toward releasing the evidence or to keep it private. Is it even possible that they exist? It's impossible to know for sure, and it's simply another strange tale in the annals of UFOs and secretive secret groups.