Hercules Initiative

The Hercules Initiative is a secret, black-budget division of the United States government founded in 1898 by then-Assistant Navy Secretary Theodore Roosevelt? and managed by the recently established Office of Naval Intelligence? (ONI). Operating from secret extensive facilities beneath the US military reservation colloquially known as Camp Hero in Montauk Point, New York, the Initiative has been dedicated to defending the United States from extraterrestrial threats and technologies since its founding. The staff of the Hercules Initiative also manage several other, related research programs for the government, including the Orion Program?, the Phoenix Division, and Project Rainbow?. The primary entrance to the Initiative's facilities beneath Camp Hero are located in a cold storage warehouse behind the installation's mess hall.

History

After the United States government discovered the wreckage of an extraterrestrial scout drone? intermingled with the sunken remains of the USS Maine? in the waters of Cuba's Havana Harbor at the end of the Spanish - American War?. Although the apparently crashed drone neatly explained the Maine's 13 October 1898? explosion, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, then in Cuba, quickly ordered the ONI to cover up the discovery to avoid both diplomatic embarrassment and international panic. Using the United States' departure from Cuba to conceal the drone's evacuation, the ONI took the vessel to an underground storage facility at Camp Hero.

The drone's wreckage languished in unmarked storage containers at Camp Hero under ONI's care, until Roosevelt became President in 1901 in the wake of William McKinley's death. Upon learning that ONI had not studied the crashed drone in the intervening years, Roosevelt ordered ONI to initiate a comprehensive study of the alien technology, and an assessment of whatever had sent the drone to study the United States. On 31 December 1901?, Roosevelt signed the order authorizing the creation of a new organization within ONI: the Hercules Initiative was born.

Leadership and Personnel

ONI secretly approached well-known inventor Thomas Edison to lead the Initiative's investigation into the Maine wreckage. Edison agreed to provide technical direction, inspiration, and expertise with the Initiative, but refused to dedicate his time to the Initiative long term. Edison served as the Initiative's first interim Director, and chose his own permanent replacement, effectively ignoring suggestions from Inititiative staff and ONI leadership that Edison tap former employee and current rival Nikola Tesla? for the post. Instead, Edison chose former Naval officer Frank Sprague? to permanently head the project.

Director	Years of Service
Thomas Edison (interim)	1901 - 1902
Frank Sprague?	1902 - 1910
Charles Davenport?	1910 - 1914
Percival Lowell?	1914 - 1916
Charles Greeley Abbot?	1916 - 1928
Raymond Dugan?	1928 - 1930
John von Neumann?	1930 - 1934

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