UFO sightings & psychic powers revealed in newly released CIA docs

There’s no shortage of intrigue amidst the CIA’s newly released archive of nearly 13 million pages of declassified records. Some of the more peculiar revelations detail the handling of UFO sightings and the potential weaponization of psychic powers.

In this particular document concerning such reporting, a UFO is defined as “any object which, by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to known aircraft or missiles.”

There are a number of documents relating to sightings in Norway,Spain and North Africa and the former USSR among the millions of pages. While many sightings feature throughout the extensive release, there have been no conclusive findings documented as of yet.

It seems the CIA was keen to emphasize the importance of rapid but thorough reporting of any such sightings as a matter of national security, listing the four phases of air defense as: detection, identification, interception and destruction. The Unidentified Flying Object Program requires that all US Air Force (USAF) commanders adhere strictly to these guidelines.

READ MORE: Chilean navy declassifies inexplicable UFO footage after 2yr investigation (VIDEO)

The procedure calls on air force commanders to report all UFO sightings including those received from other agencies, governmental bodies or civilians.

When reporting a sighting, the document states that the following data points must be specified and explained in as much detail as possible: shape, size, color, number, formation, distinct or unique features, any tail, trail or exhaust, any sounds and any other unusual features not covered by the preceding points.

READ MORE: 'Full history': Secret CIA documents now available online

The USAF also highlights the three major reasons for taking UFO sightings so seriously: air defense and the elimination of any potential threats to the United States or its armed forces; to determine the technical or scientific characteristics of such UFOs and thus maintain military intelligence and technological dominance; to explain or identify all such instances in order to maintain strategic readiness in all eventualities.

The CIA had also previously published its own handy set of guidelines for amateur stargazers out there to organize themselves and flood their local air force bases with sighting reports:

In another bizarre revelation, it's been revealed that the CIA conducted a series of experiments to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of employing psychic spies to “collect foreign intelligence information against documents shielded from normal perception,” in a project code-named ‘Stargate.’

These efforts weren’t limited to mere mortals, however, as none other than Israeli-born, celebrity psychic Uri Geller was brought in to test his psychic mettle against the researchers.

Geller attempted to duplicate a series of drawings produced in a nearby room without any knowledge of the topic or theme of the doodles.

They ranged from a firecracker to a bunch of grapes and even a quick sketch of our solar system. While Geller did have some surprising success throughout the experiments, the CIA decided not to pursue the research beyond its initial stage.

If this all sounds familiar, that’s because it is; the 2009 film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor named 'The men who stare at goats' drew heavily from rumors and reports about psychic warfare research conducted by the CIA and other US intelligence agencies.

While the release of millions of pages of documents may come as exciting news, it should be pointed out that they have been accessible since the year 2000, but only on specific computers housed in National Archives in College Park, Maryland in the United States.