Max Clark, Oswald and Project Rock

One of the names in Lee Harvey Oswald's address book was Mrs. Max Clark, the Russian-born wife of Max Clark, the Chief of Security at the Corvair plant of General Dynamics in Fort Worth.

Peter Dale Scott, one of the keenest minds among assassination researchers, had this to say about Max Clark in his unpublished essay "Government Documents and the JFK Assassination":

In his curious "translation" of Marina Oswald's testimony, Peter Gregory, who was a close friend of Max Clark and his Russian wife, suppressed the name of one of the Oswald's contacts in the Russian community: other testimony suggests that the missing name was almost certainly that of his own friend Clark. This pattern of cover-up was repeated by the Warren Commission.

Scott has this to say about Corvair in his unpublished book-length manuscript "The Dallas Conspiracy":

Corvair, up to the time of the Kennedy assassination was being investigated by a Senate committee for possible major scandals surrounding the controversial contract award to build the TFX experimental fighter plane.

CIA analysts examined the listings in Oswald's address book and ran name traces on them. From CIA document RIF#104-10111-10125, dated January 12, 1959

MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Security Suppport Division
ATTENTION:: Chief, IB/4
FROM: Project ROCK/IDIO/ ph._________ (Illegible) (Clearance)

re:

CLARK, Max Edward
DPD-SO 10291

GIST:

Clearance determination requested on the above employee(s) of the cited project.

DETAILS:

Attached is (are) PSQ on above employee(s) of the cited project, who is (are) of interest to this office in connection with Project ROCK. The Subject(s) will become aware that his (their) firm has undertaken a Top Secret government project, and will ablso become exposed to, and familiar with, highly sensitive technical equipment which is being developed.

This raises the question: just what was Project Rock?

Another document gives us a clue. Another name in Oswald's address book is Bill Stuckey, who was a journalist who interviewed Oswald in New Orleans. In attempting to trace this name analyst M.D. Stevens came up with one Clarence William Stuckey, who, as it turns out, was not the Bill Stuckey in Oswald's book.

This Stuckey, however, according to CIA document RIF#104-10439-10222 was "originally of interest to CIA in 1955 in connection witkh project ROCK [AQUATONE (OARFISH)]. At that time he was (or recently had been) employed by the Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, California.

Although this was the wrong Stuckey please note that the CIA did not think it odd that Oswald was apparently linked to two people cleared for the same secret project. The use of the codenames OARFISH AND AQUATONE do give us an idea as to just what Project Rock was. Both names related to the top-secret U-2 project which was built at Lockheed Aircraft. And Oswald, of course, was familiar with the U-2 from his time at Asugi Air Force Base in Japan.

One other person, who Oswald did not know (to my knowledge) was cleared for Project Rock. That would be, according to CIA document RIF#104-10106-10582, dated 9/17/59, legendary CIA officer William Harvey:

It is requested that the file of the above captioned Staff Employee be reviewed with regard to a security determination fo utilization on Project ROCK.

Don't ask me what this all means.