American Intelligence monitored use of paranormal phenomena for spying since the 1950s. Are they still in the business of recruiting psychics? And why was former NSA Senior Official Thomas Drake, who is now under indictment for espionage, working with UK 'psychic spy' Chris Robinson?

(STARpod.org) -- Why is the US Justice Department pursuing the Thomas Drake whistle-blower case under the Espionage Act? And why did Thomas Drake work with UK 'psychic spy' Christopher Robinson for seven years?

In the United States of America v. Thomas Andrews Drake, Defendant, Drake is identified as the Chief of the Change Leadership and Communications Office in the Signals Intelligence Directorate at the National Security Agency, later transferring to Technical Leader in the Directorate of Engineering.

Drake is under indictment for five counts of Retaining Classified Information, Obstruction of Justice, and Making a False Statement, concerning his whistle-blowing over NSA waste and mismanagement related to NSA monitoring of US citizens.

NSA provides Signals Intelligence to US policy makers and military forces.

Drake was indicted under the espionage act -- but he is not accused of passing secrets -- only the improper handling of classified information he had access to as an employee at NSA with TOP SECRET clearance.

According to an NSA-related source to author Gus Russo, NSA Signals Intelligence includes the use of paranormal phenomena. And in the footnote to a declassified CIA article, NSA is reported to study paranormal topics, such as telepathy.

Exploitation of paranormal phenomena for intelligence purposes is nothing new.

In December 1963, the late Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms, then Deputy Director for Plans, wrote a memo concerning the application of paranormal science for operational intelligence purposes.

"Recently, reports from various sources on life science research in the Soviet Union have been called to my attention," wrote Helms, "These reports indicate a current preoccupation by an important sector of Soviet biological science with cybernetics, telepathy, hypnosis, and related subjects."

Helms then noted that a small group in CIA Technical Services Division had been monitoring the situation for ten years, pushing American intelligence interest in paranormal activities back to at least 1953.

Helms identified areas where he believed paranormal phenomena might be applicable for "operational applications" for the clandestine services -- "agent communication, interrogation, telemetry, and in the general area of control of human behavior."

By the early 1970s, CIA was clandestinely funding research into the use of persons with self-proclaimed 'psychic powers' -- notably three talented individuals who had demonstrated an unexplained ability to collect information without the use of ordinary senses. Those individuals -- Uri Geller, Pat Price, and Ingo Swann -- would be tested by CIA , and eventually Price and Swann were tasked against real-world targets in the Soviet Union.

During one CIA experiment, Ingo Swann and Pat Price were tasked to 'remote view' a secret NSA installation. According to an article for CIA's 'Studies in Intelligence' by Ken Kress, who worked with the psychics, "Pat Price provided a list of program titles associated with current and past activities, including one of extreme sensitivity. Also, the codename of the site was provided. Other information concerning the physical layout of the site was accurate."

NSA had expressed "considerable interest" in the CIA's psychic research. With Price, it had transformed into a matter of US national security.

VIEW REPORT: ON REMOTE VIEWING THE SECRET SUGAR GROVE WEST VIRGINIA NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY FACILITY FOR THE CIA

Shortly after the tasking, Price would suddenly die and Swann would later claim to have been contacted by a mysterious leader of a black operation.

In the early 1990s, the Defense Intelligence Agency had taken control of paranormal research and tasked SAIC, a top ten US defense contractor, to uncover the secrets behind paranormal phenomena.

Dr. Ed May was placed in charge of STAR GATE research at SAIC, and by 1994 was reporting a potential 'breakthrough' according to SAIC reports commissioned for the US government.

Then, unexpectedly, Congress and the CIA intervened, moving the DIA program to CIA where it was summarily killed and partially declassified.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Congress directed project researchers to reach out and connect with their foreign counterparts in the paranormal field. Records suggest that DIA had resisted the request for information sharing, eventually loosing control of the program. CIA then moved to explain to the public why the psychic spy programs existed in the first place, tapping Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing as a former Director of Central Intelligence, for ABC News popular "Nightline' program with Ted Koppel.

Appearing next to Gates, was an unidentified CIA official who had tasked DoD psychics, and Dr. Ed May, who defended the research.

In 1998, I contacted a Chinese researcher in Beijing, who shared an interest in the theory behind faster-than-light-speed communication. Our discussion, conducted over the Internet, was only one of countless discussions then taking place concerning 'future technologies' that might emerge from a better understanding of the quantum nature of our universe. My Chinese friend, who was eventually contacted in Beijing by a former CIA analyst to discuss experiments involving an fMRI machine, believes he can prove the existence of a mind-to-mind communication channel.

According to STAR GATE documents, released by CIA in 2004, foreign activities in the paranormal and alternative science fields were no longer viewed as an immediate threat to US interests, but CIA would continue to monitor foreign developments, nonetheless.

In 2001, Dr. May's Russian research associate Larissa Vilenskya, who had accompanied him to the Former Soviet Union to collect intelligence for the DIA at SAIC, walked in front of a train and was killed. The incident was reported to be an accident by authorities.

One of the researchers participating in our on-line discussions was Dr. Gary E.R. Schwartz of the University of Arizona. Shortly after, Dr. Schwartz was contacted by Chris Robinson, the UK psychic who was known for predicting terror attacks in Britain.

By the time Robinson arrived in the US in August 2001 to participate in a series of informal tests devised by Schwartz and his colleagues, he was suffering from a series of nightmares about airplanes striking the tall buildings in New York City, according to interviews with Robinson and Schwartz in the documentary "Premonition Man."

When I asked Robinson about his US intelligence contacts, he wrote to me, "Many people from many agencies contacted me after 911. I think they kept it compartmentalized."

Among the many contacts was Thomas Drake, the Senior NSA Official. At the time, Robinson claims to have been unaware that Drake worked for the NSA.

In the early 1970s, according to US government memos, CIA faced a similar situation in approaching psychic Uri Geller. One memo presented various ideas of how to approach Geller, including a cover story where CIA agents would, "with appropriate backstopping," pass themselves off as "NIH officials."

According to Robinson, who has come forward concerning his work with Drake -- Robinson's story about knowing Drake has been vetted -- intelligence contacts in the US were interested in his methods, in addition to tasking against targets, such as the secret location of Saddam Hussein after the US-led invasion of Iraq. Gus Russo's source identified NSA research affiliations with Johns Hopkins and The Monroe Institute.

For more about American Intelligence and paranormal activity, see Spies, Lies, and Polygraph Tape -- Knowing the Future: The UFO Spy Games. To read about the book, click here.

For additional information, please visit STARpod.org.

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