Pearl Harbor Advance-knowledge Conspiracy Theory - The McCollum Memo

The McCollum Memo

On October 7, 1940, Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum of the Office of Naval Intelligence submitted a memo to Navy Captains Walter S. Anderson and Dudley Knox, which details eight actions which might have the effect of provoking Japan into attacking the United States. The memo remained classified until 1994.

Sections 9 and 10 of the memo are cited as the "smoking gun", and a primary thesis of Stinnett's book, suggesting it was central to the high level conspiracy to lure the Japanese into an attack. Evidence the memo or derivative works actually reached President Roosevelt, senior administration officials, or the highest levels of U.S. Navy command, is largely conjectural.

In actuality, Stinnett attributes to McCollum a position McCollum expressly refuted. Furthermore, McCollum's own sworn testimony also refutes it.