Editing Milton William Cooper (section)

==Early whistleblowing and alleged harassment==
Cooper described experiencing harassment after his initial attempts to leak information. According to his account, he was [[vehicular homicide|forced off a cliff]] by a [[limousine|black limousine]] in the hills of [[Oakland, California]]. While he was injured and covered in blood, the two men checked if he was still alive before leaving him at the scene.<ref>Cooper, p. 28.</ref> He survived the incident but claimed that a month later, the same limousine forced him into another accident, resulting in the [[amputation|loss of his leg]]. While recovering in the hospital, Cooper stated that two men visited him, [[intimidation of witnesses to paranormal events, disputed events, and conspiracies|warning him to remain silent or face fatal consequences]]. He alleged that these events were attempts to intimidate him into silence regarding his knowledge of government involvement in UFO activities and other conspiracies.

Despite these incidents, Cooper continued his efforts to share his information. He described these experiences as pivotal moments that solidified his resolve to disclose what he believed to be hidden truths.<ref>Cooper, pp. 28–29.</ref>

In 1988, Cooper claimed to have read about [[Operation Majestic 12]] in a magazine article by [[William Moore (ufologist)|William Moore]], [[Jaime Shandera]], and [[Stanton Friedman]]. The article described the [[UFO retrieval|recovery]] of a [[UFO crash landing|downed saucer]], [[recovery of alien remains|dead alien bodies]], and [[government cover-up of UFOs|government efforts]] to [[concealment of UFO-related evidence|conceal]] these events under a [[classified program|secret program]] called [[Majestic 12]]. Cooper alleged that this information was disinformation intended to mislead UFO researchers but nonetheless aligned with certain elements of what he believed to be true.

That same year, he began publicly sharing his controversial theories, many of which involved government complicity in UFO-related cover-ups.<ref name="Carroll">{{cite book|last=Carroll|first=Robert Todd|title=The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions|year=2003|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons, Inc.]]|location=Hoboken, NJ|isbn=978-1118045633|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6FPqDFx40vYC&pg=PA175|author-link=Robert Todd Carroll|access-date=January 17, 2013|page=175}}</ref> He disseminated his claims through mailings, lectures, and [[computer bulletin boards]] to reach a wider audience.