In a revelation that reads more like a science fiction thriller than historical fact, newly declassified CIA documents have laid bare one of the most bizarre chapters of the Cold War: the agency's deep and funded interest in the occult for mind control and espionage.
The files, part of the infamous Project MKUltra, detail a desperate and costly mission to harness psychic phenomena, including remote viewing—the ability to perceive distant locations with the mind—in a bid to outmanoeuvre the Soviet Union.
The Secret War Beyond Science
Driven by intelligence that the USSR was investing heavily in psychic research, the CIA launched its own programme to explore the potential of 'paranormal warfare'. This wasn't a fringe effort; it was a well-funded operation that recruited psychologists, scientists, and even self-proclaimed psychics.
The core initiative, often dubbed 'Stargate', aimed to utilise remote viewers to gather intelligence on enemy installations, track down kidnapped diplomats, and even predict global events—all from a secured room in the United States.
Inside the Bizarre Experiments
The declassified memos and reports confirm experiments that pushed the boundaries of science and ethics:
- Remote Viewing Targets: Psychics were given geographic coordinates and asked to describe secret Soviet military bases, with varying degrees of success.
- Psychokinesis Tests: Attempts to influence physical objects or events using the power of the mind alone.
- Precognition Trials: Efforts to predict future events, a potentially invaluable tool for intelligence forecasting.
While some reports from the time claimed astonishing accuracy, the overall scientific consensus and the programme's own eventual assessment deemed the results unreliable and not fit for actionable intelligence.
A Legacy of Secrecy and Scandal
Project MKUltra was ultimately shut down and its director, Sidney Gottlieb, ordered most of its files destroyed in 1973. However, a cache of surviving documents, discovered in 1977, has continued to be released to the public, piece by piece, fuelling decades of conspiracy theories and public fascination.
This venture into the occult remains a stark symbol of the extreme lengths governments will go to in the name of national security, blurring the lines between cutting-edge science, pseudoscience, and sheer desperation during a time of global ideological conflict.
