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:Annie Jacobsen

{{short description|American investigative journalist and author (born 1967)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Annie Jacobsen

| image = Annie Jacobsen 0373.JPG

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|6|28}}

| birth_place = Middletown, Connecticut, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = St. Paul’s School

| alma mater = Princeton University

| other_names =

| occupation = Journalist, non-fiction writer

| known_for =

| website = https://anniejacobsen.com/

}}

Annie Jacobsen (born June 28, 1967) is an American investigative journalist, author, and a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist. She writes for and produces television programs, including Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan for Amazon Studios, and Clarice for CBS. She was a contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazine from 2009 until 2012.

Jacobsen writes about war, weapons, security, and secrets. Jacobsen is best known as the author of the 2011 non-fiction book Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, which The New York Times called "cauldron-stirring." She is an internationally acclaimed and sometimes controversial author who, according to one critic, writes sensational books by addressing popular conspiracies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/truly-unbelievable-tales-of-derring-do-and-gruesome-escapades-at-the-cia/2019/05/24/43a243fe-4f43-11e9-a3f7-78b7525a8d5f_story.html|title=Review | Truly unbelievable tales of derring-do and gruesome escapades at the CIA|first=Kai|last=Bird|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}

Books

Her 2011 book Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, about Area 51, makes the claim that the Roswell UFO incident was a Soviet plot to induce War of the Worlds style hysteria.{{cite news |first=Thomas |last=Harding |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/8512408/Roswell-was-Soviet-plot-to-create-US-panic.html |title=Roswell 'was Soviet plot to create US panic' |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=May 13, 2011 |accessdate=2011-05-15| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520225608/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/8512408/Roswell-was-Soviet-plot-to-create-US-panic.html|archivedate=20 May 2011 |url-status=live}} The New York Times called it "noteworthy for its author’s dogged devotion to her research".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/books/area-51-by-annie-jacobsen-review.html |work=The New York Times |title=A Military Post's Secrets: Espionage, Not Aliens |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=May 15, 2011 |accessdate=2011-05-18|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519095912/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/books/area-51-by-annie-jacobsen-review.html |archivedate=May 19, 2011|url-status=live}} Richard Rhodes, writing in The Washington Post, was more critical of her Roswell claim and its reliance on a single source, writing "Jacobsen shows herself at a minimum extraordinarily gullible or journalistically incompetent."{{cite news|last=Rhodes |first=Richard |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/annie-jacobsens-area-51-the-us-top-secret-military-base/2011/05/26/AGIZPLIH_story.html |title=Annie Jacobsen's "Area 51," the U.S. top secret military base |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2011-06-03 |accessdate=2015-11-10}}

Jacobsen's 2014 book Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/books/review/operation-paperclip-by-annie-jacobsen.html|title=Willkommen|date=2 March 2014|work=The New York Times}} was called "perhaps the most comprehensive, up-to-date narrative available to the general public" in a review by Jay Watkins of the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619205134/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 19, 2015|title=Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program to Bring Nazi Scientists to America |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}} Operation Paperclip was included in a list of the best books of 2014 by The Boston Globe.{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2014/12/06/the-best-books/OEl8OYXyz5Rcpc4AJHTsOO/story.html|title=The best books of 2014|work=The Boston Globe}}

The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top Secret Military Research Agency,{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-316-37165-0|title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA}} was chosen as finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in history.{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/annie-jacobsen|title=Finalist: The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency, by Annie Jacobsen (Little, Brown & Company)|first=|last=|publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes}} The Pulitzer committee described the book as "A brilliantly researched account of a small but powerful secret government agency whose military research profoundly affects world affairs." The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and the Amazon Editors chose Pentagon's Brain as one of the best non-fiction books of 2015.

Her next book was published in March 2017:

Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TGKfDAAAQBAJ |title= Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis |accessdate=October 14, 2016|isbn= 9780316349376 |last1= Jacobsen |first1= Annie |date= 2017-03-28 |publisher= Little, Brown }}

In May 2019, she released Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins. Apple audiobooks recorded SKV as one of the most popular audiobooks of 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/AnnieJacobsen/status/1197633120947716096|title=Apple Audiobooks reports SURPRISE, KILL, VANISH was one of the most popular audiobooks of the year. (!!) Thank you everyone who reads my books. I am hard at work on the next one, a contemporary story (also about the future) which is experiencing major plot twists in real timepic.twitter.com/lp2aKzbaT1|last=Jacobsen|first=Annie|date=2019-11-21|website=@AnnieJacobsen|language=en|access-date=2019-12-04}} J. R. Seeger, a retired CIA case officer who led the Agency's Team Alpha, the first Americans behind enemy lines after 9/11, reviewed the book, saying: "Jacobsen has a well-deserved reputation as a good writer and an excellent researcher,” but he criticized her attention to detail, and suggested that the book's focus was too general saying that "neither of the topics are discussed in anything resembling the detail required to understand the nuance of covert action".{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-63-no-3/surprise-kill-vanish.html|title=surprise-kill-vanish — Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=2019-12-04|archive-date=2019-12-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204003008/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-63-no-3/surprise-kill-vanish.html|url-status=dead}}

In March 2024 Jacobsen published Nuclear War: A Scenario.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=R6nKEAAAQBAJ |title= Nuclear War: A Scenario |accessdate=March 27, 2024|isbn= 9780593476093 |last1= Jacobsen |first1= Annie |date= 2024-03-26 |publisher= Penguin Publishing Group }}{{cite news |last1=Borger |first1=Julian |title='My jaw dropped': Annie Jacobsen on her scenario for nuclear war |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/31/annie-jacobsen-nuclear-war-scenario |access-date=March 31, 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=March 31, 2024}}{{Cite web |last=Gewen |first=Barry |date=March 24, 2024 |title=Let's Say Someone Did Drop the Bomb. Then What? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/24/books/review/nuclear-war-annie-jacobsen-countdown-sarah-scoles.html |website=The New York Times}} The book is being adapted into a screenplay, by director Denis Villeneuve.{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Jaden |date=2024-04-04 |title=Denis Villeneuve and Legendary Developing 'Dune 3' and 'Nuclear War: A Scenario' Film Adaptation |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/dune-3-denis-villeneuve-legendary-nuclear-war-1235960990/ |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

Television

Jacobsen co-wrote three episodes of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan TV series for Amazon Studios. She was a consulting and writing producer on all of seasons one and two.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jack-ryan-season-one-explained-1139572|title='Jack Ryan' Season 2 Will Focus on the Decline of Democracy|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-11-14|language=en}}

In 2017, Amblin Entertainment and Blumhouse TV{{Cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2017/03/blumhouse-tv-amblin-tv-adapt-phenomena-esp-book-tv-series-1202048398/|title=Blumhouse TV & Amblin TV Team For 'Phenomena' TV Series Based On Book About ESP & Psychokinesis Experiments|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|date=2017-03-22|work=Deadline|access-date=2018-11-14|language=en-US}} bought the rights to her book Phenomena for a scripted TV series, with Jacobsen and X-Files writer/producer Glen Morgan co-writing the pilot script.

On Flight 327

{{main|Northwest Airlines Flight 327}}

In 2004, Jacobsen wrote an article about an incident she witnessed with a group of thirteen foreign nationals on board a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. Two air marshals came out of cover during flight. FBI and homeland security agents met the aircraft when it landed.{{cite news |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/its-not-paranoia-if-theyre-really-out-to-get-you/ |title=It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out to Get You |work=The New York Times |first=Tobin |last=Harshaw |date=May 30, 2007 |accessdate=June 5, 2011}}

In May 2007, the Department of Homeland Security declassified a report about the flight. The men were identified as twelve Syrians, members of a musical group, and a Lebanese, their promoter; all were traveling illegally on expired visas. Eight of the men had "positive hits" for past criminal records and suspicious behavior.{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/may/29/20070529-040125-8213r/?page=all#pagebreak|title=Security flaws confirmed on Flight 327|work=The Washington Times}} They were involved in an earlier incident on an aircraft which had them on the FBI watch list. However, the report noted that the musicians were not terrorists and law enforcement assessments at the time were appropriate.{{cite web

| url = https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/terror-in-the-skies/

| title = FACT CHECK: Annie Jacobsen 'Terror in the Skies', False

| accessdate = May 1, 2018

| date = May 28, 2007

| publisher = Snopes}}

{{cite web | url=http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/files/DHS-IG-Northwest-327.pdf | title=Review of Department's Handling of Suspicious Passengers Aboard Northwest Flight 327 | publisher=Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General | date=March 30, 2006 | accessdate=May 1, 2018}}

Works

  • Terror in the Skies: Why 9/11 Could Happen Again. Spence Publishing Company, 2005, {{ISBN|1-890626-62-7}}.
  • Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, Hachette Digital, Inc., 2011, {{ISBN|1-4091-4113-6}}.
  • {{cite book|title=Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America|date=11 February 2014|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=978-0-316-22105-4}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/annie-jacobsen/operation-paperclip/|title=OPERATION PAPERCLIP|author=Annie Jacobsen|work=Kirkus Reviews}}
  • {{cite book|title=The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency|publisher=Little, Brown and Company |date=2015|isbn=978-0316371766|oclc=900012161}}
  • {{cite book|title=Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|date=2017|isbn=978-0316349369}}
  • {{Cite book|title=Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|year=2019|isbn=978-0316441438}}
  • {{cite book|title=First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance|publisher=Dutton |date=2021|isbn=978-1524746667}}
  • {{cite book |title=Nuclear War: A Scenario |date=26 March 2024 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-593-47609-3}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{C-SPAN|73984}}
  • [https://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=136356848&m=136356931 NPR interview]
  • [https://www.npr.org/2011/05/17/136356848/area-51-uncensored-was-it-ufos-or-the-ussr NPR's Fresh Air, "Was it UFOs or the USSR?" May 17, 2011]
  • [https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/questioning-area-51s-author-13699901 Jacobsen on ABC Nightline]
  • [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/investigative-reporter-annie-jacobsen/ Tavis Smiley interview]
  • [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-may-17-2011/annie-jacobsen The Daily Show], Jon Stewart, May 17, 2011
  • {{IMDb name|4466833}}
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VoVIpIzj_c Joe Rogan Experience #1299 - Annie Jacobsen]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7BscorPvo0&si=9KuZwUsaBc9x93nS Nuclear War - Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California],
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKY2heVWoU The Handmaidens of the Apocalypse - Dan Carlin]

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Category:American investigative journalists

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American women journalists

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:Los Angeles Times people

Category:People from Middletown, Connecticut

Category:1967 births