Why the Stray Pen Mark Matters

Introduction

The most telling feature of Harry Truman’s signature on the disputed 24 September 1947 Truman–Forrestal memorandum is not simply that it resembles his genuine handwriting. It is that the signature tracks an authenticated Truman signature on a 1 October 1947 letter to Vannevar Bush with extraordinary precision, including a small, apparently accidental pen mark on the right-hand vertical stroke of the “H” in “Harry”. Philip J. Klass reported finding the Bush letter in the Vannevar Bush papers at the Library of Congress; questioned-document examiner Peter Tytell subsequently judged the MJ-12 signature to be a photocopied signature transplant.[Skeptical Inquirer]skepticalinquirer.orgSkeptical Inquirer SKEPTICALINQUIRER Vol. 14 No. 2/Winter 1990 $6June 27, 2006…Published: June 27, 2006

That stray mark matters because deliberate handwriting habits can recur, whereas an accidental slip is much less likely to recur at exactly the same place and in the same form. The signature comparison therefore poses a narrower and stronger question than whether the writing merely “looks like Truman”: are these actually two independent acts of signing, or two reproductions of the same physical signature? The surviving evidence strongly favours reproduction, although MJ-12 defenders have offered a mechanical multiple-pen signing device as an alternative explanation.[majesticdocuments.com]majesticdocuments.comrmwood mufon2000MUFONMUFON Symposium ProceedingsVALIDATING THE NEW MAJESTICMarch 26, 2026…Published: March 26, 2026

Point-for-point signature similarities

The comparison concerns two documents only seven days apart. The questioned memorandum is dated 24 September 1947 and purports to authorise Secretary of Defense James Forrestal to proceed with an undertaking thereafter called “Operation Majestic Twelve”.[Wikisource]en.wikisource.orgMJ-12 DocumentMJ-12 Document - Wikisource, the free online libraryNovember 18, 1952…Published: November 18, 1952 The comparison document is Truman’s genuine 1 October letter to Vannevar Bush. The Library of Congress confirms that its Manuscript Division holds the extensive Vannevar Bush Papers, including general correspondence and Truman among the significant correspondents.[Finding Aids]findingaids.loc.govOpen source on loc.gov.

The significant observation is not that both examples contain the same general letter forms. A person’s signatures naturally share habitual features. Rather, critics found that the overall paths of the two signatures could be brought into alignment. Klass reported that the MJ-12 reproduction was about 3.6 per cent larger than the Bush signature, a discrepancy he argued could arise through successive photocopying. Once scale was corrected, he maintained that the detailed strokes coincided.[Skeptical Inquirer]skepticalinquirer.orgSkeptical Inquirer SKEPTICALINQUIRER Vol. 14 No. 2/Winter 1990 $6June 27, 2006…Published: June 27, 2006

This basic overlap was acknowledged even from the pro-authenticity side. Robert Wood, who has argued for the authenticity of MJ-12 material, wrote in a MUFON symposium paper that scans of the two signatures, adjusted to comparable scale, “fall on top of each other”. An earlier account of his public comments similarly records him describing the pair as a “dead match”.[majesticdocuments.com]majesticdocuments.comrmwood mufon2000MUFONMUFON Symposium ProceedingsVALIDATING THE NEW MAJESTICMarch 26, 2026…Published: March 26, 2026 The disagreement, therefore, is less about whether there is an unusually close match than about what caused it.

That distinction is crucial. A general resemblance supports the unsurprising proposition that both images represent Truman’s signature. Point-for-point correspondence supports a different hypothesis: that the questioned image was derived from the genuine one. In questioned-document work, natural variation is expected even when the same person signs twice. Two signatures do not normally reproduce every transient movement and irregularity of a previous signing.

The reproduction history of the MJ-12 material also complicates simple measurements. The publicly circulated Truman–Forrestal memorandum is not an authenticated White House original available for ink, paper and indentation testing. The original MJ-12 material was reportedly received as images on 35 mm film, making comparison dependent on reproductions whose scale, density and geometry can change between copying generations.[Center for UFO Studies]cufos.orgCenter for UFO Studies<Greorge M. Eberhart Editor CENTER FOR UFO STUDIOctober 31, 2025…Published: October 31, 2025 That is why the shared configuration of distinctive details is more informative than a raw measurement showing that one reproduced signature is a few per cent larger than the other.

The accidental mark on the H

The tiny mark on the “H” is the feature that turns a striking resemblance into a much harder problem for the independence hypothesis. Klass described identical accidental pen “skid-marks” on the right-hand vertical stroke of the “H” in “Harry” in both the genuine Bush signature and the questioned MJ-12 image.[Center for Inquiry]cdn.centerforinquiry.orgCenter for Inquiry SUN #58S KEPTICS UFO NEWSLETTER By Philip J. Kl…

An ordinary feature of Truman’s handwriting would have limited discriminatory value. If Truman habitually made a particular loop, crossed his “T” in a characteristic fashion or maintained similar proportions between “Harry” and “Truman”, those traits could naturally appear in many authentic signatures. A momentary skid or unintended stroke is different. It is not merely part of the writer’s standard signature design; it records something that happened during one particular execution of it.

That is why the mark functions rather like a copying fingerprint. For two independently written signatures to contain the same general handwriting habits is expected. For them also to reproduce an anomalous mark at the corresponding location requires an additional explanation. The copying hypothesis supplies one directly: the accidental feature appears twice because there was only one underlying act of writing.

The surrounding strokes supplied another alleged clue. In the authentic Bush letter, the upper stroke of the “T” in “Truman” reportedly encounters the end of the typed or printed closing “Sincerely yours”. Tytell’s analysis, as reported by Klass, held that this area of the donor signature showed signs consistent with the unwanted closing having been removed before the signature was copied into its new setting. Klass described Tytell’s conclusion as a “classic signature transplant”.[Skeptical Inquirer]skepticalinquirer.orgSkeptical Inquirer SKEPTICALINQUIRER Vol. 14 No. 2/Winter 1990 $6June 27, 2006…Published: June 27, 2006

This detail should be stated with appropriate caution. The available public evidence consists largely of reproductions and accounts of Tytell’s examination rather than a modern forensic report based on the alleged MJ-12 original. Claims about precisely what substance was used to alter a donor image therefore go beyond what can now be independently established from an original artefact. The stronger conclusion requires less speculation: the correspondence of the signatures, particularly the shared anomalous mark, is consistent with one image having been derived from the other.

Could a mechanical signer explain the match?

MJ-12 defenders have not simply denied the resemblance. One alternative proposes that Truman used a mechanical multiple-pen apparatus, sometimes described in this controversy as a pantograph or “autopen”, capable of producing several signatures from the same hand movement. Robert Wood cited a photograph of Truman using a master-and-slave pen apparatus in 1929 and argued that mechanically linked pens might explain signatures close enough to overlay.[majesticdocuments.com]majesticdocuments.comrmwood mufon2000MUFONMUFON Symposium ProceedingsVALIDATING THE NEW MAJESTICMarch 26, 2026…Published: March 26, 2026

That possibility is worth separating from the much weaker claim that Truman happened to sign twice identically. If two pens were physically coupled to the same movement, exceptionally close signatures would no longer require two independent repetitions of every hand motion.

But the explanation faces an evidential problem specific to these two documents. Wood acknowledged that evidence for the device having been taken to Washington was “murky”. His proposed test was revealing: finding another Truman signature sufficiently close to these two would provide support for the mechanical-signing explanation.[majesticdocuments.com]majesticdocuments.comrmwood mufon2000MUFONMUFON Symposium ProceedingsVALIDATING THE NEW MAJESTICMarch 26, 2026…Published: March 26, 2026 In other words, the hypothesis requires evidence of a repeatable signing process capable of generating this particular degree of correspondence; Truman’s having used such a device years earlier establishes possibility, not its use on these September and October 1947 documents.

The stray mark makes that burden harder. A mechanical device could plausibly reproduce the same intentional movement across several pens operated simultaneously. But if the feature on the “H” really was an accidental pen skid specific to the Bush signature, its duplication in a document supposedly signed a week earlier is less naturally explained by separate signing sessions. The copy hypothesis needs no additional mechanism: intentional strokes and accidental blemishes travel together because the whole image is reproduced.

There is also an awkward chronological aspect to a simultaneous-signing explanation. The questioned Forrestal memorandum is dated 24 September; the authenticated Bush letter is dated 1 October. A mechanism that produced both signatures during one signing operation would therefore require an explanation for why documents dated a week apart were signed together. A reusable template or other mechanical process could avoid that particular difficulty, but evidence demonstrating such a process for these two documents has not surfaced in the cited record.

Why anomalous features strengthen the copying claim

The strongest way to understand the stray mark is as an anomaly match. When investigators compare potentially duplicated material, commonplace similarities carry less weight than features that should not normally recur. A standard letter shape can arise repeatedly because it belongs to the writer’s habits. A random defect, interruption or unintended stroke has much greater value because it is tied to a particular physical execution or reproduction.

The Truman comparison contains several layers of correspondence rather than one isolated resemblance:

The existence of the Bush document in an established archival collection is especially important. The Vannevar Bush Papers were donated to the Library of Congress by Bush in 1967 and comprise roughly 60,000 items spanning his scientific and governmental career.[Finding Aids]findingaids.loc.govOpen source on loc.gov. That gives the comparison signature an archival history independent of the anonymous MJ-12 film. The donor candidate therefore does not have to be reconstructed hypothetically: there is an authentic Truman correspondence collection against which the questioned image can be compared.

There is an important logical limit, however. Showing that the signature image was copied does not, by itself, establish who created the Truman–Forrestal memorandum, when the assembly occurred or what motive lay behind it. Nor does the signature comparison alone resolve every claim ever made under the MJ-12 label. Its force is document-specific: it substantially weakens the proposition that the signature on this particular memorandum represents Truman independently signing that sheet in September 1947.

What the stray mark ultimately establishes

The signature dispute is strongest when its conclusion is kept narrow. There is little evidential value in saying simply that the MJ-12 signature “looks exactly like Truman’s”: an effective fabrication would be expected to contain a convincing Truman signature. What matters is that an independently archived Truman signature provides a plausible source image and that the questioned version reportedly carries not only its normal handwriting characteristics but its accidental irregularity.

Even researchers sympathetic to MJ-12 have acknowledged the exceptionally close overlay, while proposing mechanical signing as the alternative mechanism.[majesticdocuments.com]majesticdocuments.comrmwood mufon2000MUFONMUFON Symposium ProceedingsVALIDATING THE NEW MAJESTICMarch 26, 2026…Published: March 26, 2026 The critical difference is that copying directly predicts the observed combination of matching deliberate strokes and matching anomalous marks. The mechanical explanation requires additional historical assumptions for which the available documentation is considerably thinner.

This conclusion also fits the broader archival position without depending upon it. The National Archives reports extensive searches of Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff and related records, together with searches by the Truman and Eisenhower presidential libraries, without locating corroborating records for the publicly circulated MJ-12 material.[National Archives]archives.govNational Archives Project BLUE BOOKNational ArchivesProject BLUE BOOK - Unidentified Flying Objects | National ArchivesJune 25, 2024…Published: June 25, 2024 That archival absence does not prove the signature was transplanted. The signature evidence stands on its own comparison. But without an authenticated government original to counterbalance it, the point-for-point match and shared stray mark remain a particularly difficult anomaly for the Truman–Forrestal memorandum’s authenticity.

The tiny stroke on the “H” therefore matters precisely because it is trivial. A fabricator choosing a genuine presidential signature would want Truman’s characteristic handwriting; an accidental pen skid would simply come along unnoticed. Its survival in both images is consequently more informative than another elegant loop or familiar flourish. The normal features say “Truman”. The stray mark points towards the same Truman signature image.[Center for Inquiry]cdn.centerforinquiry.orgCenter for Inquiry SUN #58S KEPTICS UFO NEWSLETTER By Philip J. Kl…

Amazon book picks

Further Reading

Books and field guides related to Why the Stray Pen Mark Matters. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.

Book

Forensic Document Examination: Principles and Practice

By Katherine M. Koppenhaver

This book introduces the reader to the basic principles of handwriting and the factors that affect their development. The book discusses...

See on Amazon

Book

Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents

By Ordway Hilton

Disputed document inquiries encompass extensive and varied technical examinations, unique phases of investigation, and specialized legal...

See on Amazon

Book

QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

By Albert Sherman 1858-1946 Osborn

See on Amazon

Book

The Scientific Examination of Documents: Methods and Techniques

By David Ellen

See on Amazon

Browse more on Amazon:Forensic Document Examination: Principles and PracticeScientific Examination of Questioned DocumentsQUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

eBay marketplace picks

Marketplace Samples

Live-tested eBay searches with available results related to this page.

Shop location

UsingUSA USA USAUKCanadaAustraliaIreland

Selected fromTruman memorabilia oneBay.co.uk.

Current eBay listing

The Truman Show Movie Poster Cast Signed Printed Autograph A3 Framed Memorabilia

GBP 29.99 | Free shippingNewSeller: hwctradingltd (99.9% positive)Ships from: GB

View listing on eBay

Current eBay listing

The Truman Show Movie Poster Jim Carrey Film Memorabilia Collectable Item

GBP 7.99 | Shipping GBP 4.29UsedSeller: sartoristores (99.9% positive)Ships from: GB

View listing on eBay

Current eBay listing

Truman Show Film Lobby Card Fold Out Collectable Memorabilia

GBP 16.15 | Shipping GBP 2.94UsedSeller: statictransit (100.0% positive)Ships from: GB

View listing on eBay

Browse more oneBay.co.uk

Example items shown for inspiration; availability and pricing can change. Branchoria may earn a commission if you purchase through outbound eBay links.

Endnotes

1. Source: majesticdocuments.com
Title: rmwood mufon2000
Link:https://majesticdocuments.com/pdf/rmwood_mufon2000.pdf

Published: March 26, 2026

2. Source: en.wikisource.org
Title: MJ-12 Document
Link:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/MJ-12_Document

Published: November 18, 1952

3. Source: cufos.org
Title: Center for UFO Studies<
Link:https://cufos.org/PDFs/books/The_Roswell_ReportR2.pdf

Published: October 31, 2025

4. Source: archives.gov
Title: National Archives Project BLUE BOOK
Link:https://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/ufos

Published: June 25, 2024

5. Source: majesticdocuments.com
Title: documents dated prior to 1948
Link:https://majesticdocuments.com/documents/majestic-documents/documents-dated-prior-to-1948/

6. Source: majesticdocuments.com
Title: Document Sources | Majestic Documents
Link:https://majesticdocuments.com/documents/document-sources/

7. Source: congress.gov
Title: ional Record | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
Link:https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-146/issue-113/senate-section/article/S8885-2

8. Source: historyhub.history.gov
Title: seeking information about the manhattan project in the national archives records
Link:https://historyhub.history.gov/f/discussions/25608/seeking-information-about-the-manhattan-project-in-the-national-archives-records

9. Source: skepticalinquirer.org
Title: Skeptical Inquirer SKEPTICAL
Link:https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2019/03/Issue-02-12.pdf

Published: June 27, 2006

10. Source: cdn.centerforinquiry.org
Title: Center for Inquiry SUN #58
Link:https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/docs/SUN/SUN58.pdf

11. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/repositories/19/resources/2249

12. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Title: archival objects
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/repositories/19/archival_objects/3105257

13. Source: guides.loc.gov
Title: chronological index microfilm
Link:https://guides.loc.gov/united-states-newspapers/chronological-index-microfilm

14. Source: guides.loc.gov
Link:https://guides.loc.gov/cold-war-mss/science

15. Source: phatsoheff.tripod.com
Link:https://phatsoheff.tripod.com/ufo.html

16. Source: ro.scribd.com
Link:https://ro.scribd.com/document/472644084/196986

17. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/subjects/19249

18. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/subjects/17667

19. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Title: archival objects
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/repositories/19/archival_objects/3105265

20. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/subjects/19269

21. Source: findingaids.loc.gov
Link:https://findingaids.loc.gov/agents/people/40123

22. Source: loc.gov
Title: Image 44 of Evening star (Washington, D.C.),
Link:https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1947-10-01/ed-1/?sp=44&st=text

Additional References

23. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq0Ae3eO5Lw

24. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Majestic 12 Documents | The Truman Memorandum | A UFO Researcher’s Discovery
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gVxTygJ79E

25. Source: en.ikwipedia.org
Title: List of Majestic 12 members
Link:https://en.ikwipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Majestic-12_members

Published: July 21, 2026

26. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJplVuElLs

27. Source: trumanlibrary.gov
Link:https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/white-house-central-files-presidents-personal-file

28. Source: trumanlibrary.gov
Link:https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers?page=35

29. Source: trumanlibrary.gov
Link:https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/online-collections/truman-marshall-plan

30. Source: trumanlibrary.gov
Link:https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/197/letter-committee-chairmen-situation-western-europe

31. Source: medium.com
Link:https://medium.com/[stanton-friedmans

32. Source: studylib.net
Link:https://studylib.net/doc/9820999/2.-%25E2%2580%2593-birdplay.—wordpress.com