On March 13, 1962, a memo from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed by Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer, proposed staged pretexts to justify invading Cuba. The proposals included faked attacks at Guantanamo, a 'Remember the Maine' ship incident, a terror campaign in Miami and Washington, and staging the shootdown of a civilian airliner. McNamara received it; Kennedy rejected it on March 16, 1962, and moved Lemnitzer to Europe that fall. It stayed classified for 35 years until the JFK Assassination Records Review Board released it in 1997.
JCS proposed false-flag pretexts, including a staged airliner shootdown and a 'Remember the Maine' incident
JCS memo, 13 Mar 1962
proposal
Kennedy rejected it (16 Mar 1962); Lemnitzer was reassigned
Documented
rejected
Declassified 1997 by the ARRB among 1,521 pages of JCS records
ARRB
35-year hold
How it was handled
Method
What happened
Tag
WITHHELD
Classified until a JFK-specific statute forced review
35-year hold
Why it matters for the vault
It's documentary proof that top military planners put fabricated pretexts on paper. It proves nothing about any other event; it's the reference case for "proposed, on paper."