 "The New York Times" reported that McFarland's claim that she had written part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" speech was false and had actually been written by Reagan's "top national security advisers", which did not include McFarland.Regarding her being the highest-ranking woman of her time at the Reagan Pentagon, the newspaper reported that this was also false and that two women at the Pentagon at the time held higher ranks.Also at issue was her claim that she had been the first female professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which she had not been.