CIA Reveals Declassified Documents: Aliens, Parapsychology, Invisible Ink, and Fish?
According to the Freedom of Information Act – or FOIA – all classified documents over 20 years old have to be declassified, and available to the public. Previously, these declassified documents were only available at four computers in the National Archives in Maryland, but the CIA resolved to make an online database available to the public regardless of geographical location. In October of 2016, the CIA estimated that the database would be completed by late 2017, but they because of hard work and perseverance were able to release the database with over 13 million pages of previously classified documents onto the CIA website’s library, under the Freedom of Information Act Reading Room page.
None of the documents released in the database were recently declassified and were all previously accessible, but it’s still big news that these documents are available to anyone with an electronic device and the internet. Now, even the most undedicated of conspiracy theorists can easily find some relatively incriminating documents, but it might not be as easy as previously thought. Though all pages are available, some information is redacted. In an interview with CNN, CIA spokesperson Heather Horniak said that the redactions were done to protect sources in order to protect the national security of the United States.
The information surrounding the situation of the files being released is interesting, but what actual information is contained in these nearly 13 million pages of documents? While much of the information is very monotonous, crude, and unhelpful, a lot of interesting things can be found with a few carefully placed searches. One of the most interesting things contained in these files is reported sightings of UFOs. A document made in 1957, ten years after the creation of the CIA, detailing the whole chain of command regarding Unidentified Flying Objects research, with the Office of Scientific Information seeming to be deeply rooted in the UFO research at the CIA, and the whole research project spearheaded by a man named General Philip Strong. Strong is often considered one of the “Founding Fathers of the CIA” and played a major role in its early years, especially helping to further research and work into extraterrestrial life. This early report of interest in alien life and technology proves that from its early stages the CIA was involved in the research of things beyond this world – or believed to be at least. There are more recent documents about UFO, extraterrestrial objects, etc., but this is still a significant document because it links an interest in extraterrestrial life to the early years of the CIA.
Contained in these millions of pages are several different recipes for invisible ink. Why does the CIA need so many invisible ink recipes? It is very unclear why, but I’m sure having several invisible ink recipes is justifiable for an intelligence agency.
The CIA has a long history of conspiracy following them around – like any intelligence agency – and in this release of these millions of pages, a project called the Stargate program. Unlike, the 1990s and early 2000s television show, Stargate, this program was researching parapsychology, which is the study of mental phenomena that are unorthodox in the regular psychology field like hypnosis, telepathy, etc. The Stargate program strived to find psychics, and experimented with human telepathy. In one of the documents outlining procedure of recording experiment, there was a random drawing of a fish. There was no explanation and no mention of fish anywhere, except for the drawing.
Most of the CIA documents are strange and contain weird nonsense, and most have nothing to do with anything important, but there is some good information to be found if you look hard enough.
