Shhh.... when illusionist Uri worked as a CIA spy

ILLUSIONIST Uri Geller is better known for bending spoons than bending the ears of top Soviet politicos — but that may be about to change.

The celebrity Seventies spoon-bender, who lives in Sonning, has never been far from the headlines, what with his famous friends hanging out at his riverside pad (the late Michael Jackson, for example) and the fancy metal sculpture that was recently erected in his garden.

But now shocking news. A BBC documentary has claimed that Geller worked as a CIA spy in a “psychic arms race” with Russia.

In The Secret Life of Uri Geller — Psychic Spy? Geller is said to have used his powers to wipe secret Soviet floppy disks while they were being hand-couriered out of the Soviet embassy in Mexico City and change the mind of an unnamed Russian leader to help the US.

It may be a surprise to most but Geller tells me he’s been dropping hints about his secret life throughout his career before the documentary, which is currently available on iPlayer, shed some light.

He says: “They were very light, almost subliminal hints but I knew that no one would ever take it seriously or believe me.

“When the BBC approached me about a year ago I thought no one will get anywhere anyhow but I went along with this notion.

Geller says the introduction of two-time Oscar winner Vikram Jayanti as director opened up the possibilities and admits he was “shocked” at the material he gathered.

He says: “I say almost nothing in the documentary so I was quite surprised how he got all these people talking.”

One of the revelations that Geller had been unaware of was that religious reasons forced the CIA to end its “remote viewing” programme, in which it utilised dozens of psychic operatives, in 1995 although it was reactivated after 9/11.

In a 90-minute version of the documentary that is due to be broadcast in October, it is also revealed how in the Seventies an American psychic managed to beat Soviet intelligence using satellite imagery in locating a Russian jet that crashed in the Zaire jungle.

In one part of the film, Dr Kit Green, a former CIA officer, explains how Geller used his powers to work out what he had on his desk.

Dr Green had written “architecture of viral infection” on a page he randomly opened in a book sat next to him and Geller correctly read out what it said.

Geller hopes the revelations about his secret life will help his credibility.

He says: “Sceptics will always stay sceptics but credibility-wise, I guess it will help because I have always been taken very lightly.

“I did quirky, unusual and bizarre things. But now the documentary addresses the serious side of my work, people will say ‘right, these guys have real powers’.”

Geller has already received hundreds of emails from around the world expressing their admiration for his work, including a policewoman based in the north of England saying she found it “extremely amazing” and confessing to how it would now settle arguments within her family about whether his powers were genuine.

He says: “The showbusiness side of Uri Geller and the controversy always acted as an in-built safety device for me.

“It protected me and provided a camouflage. Now the documentary is out it’s going to be more difficult for people to attack me and say it’s not real.

“The work I did was for a good cause I always did positive things and said no to dark things.”

Among Geller’s checklist of Nobel Prize-worthy duties was a role in coercing a Russian delegation to sign a nuclear disarmament treaty.

He claims to have bombarded the mind of the delegation leader with messages saying “sign” before he duly acknowledged the subliminal request.

After three years of trying to ensure the Palestine Red Crescent and Israeli Red Cross were accepted into the International Red Cross, Geller, who is Israeli, used his signature spoon-bending trick to force a breakthrough in negotiations.

He says: “In the end I asked the president of Switzerland to produce a spoon and I bent it in front of the two parties in the last round of negotiations.

“I gave it to the Palestinian and it continued to bend in his hand. He freaked out and signed the agreement.

“People still say to me that a bent spoon paved the way to this agreement.”

Geller’s impact does not stop there and he has numerous stories to tell of dropping the jaws of influential leaders.

As director of the CIA in the Eighties, you might expect that it would have taken a lot to shock Bill Casey but he was forced to hang up the phone after one conversation with the illusionist.

Geller says: “Casey called me and said ‘I’m holding something in my hand, can you tell me what it is?’

“I told him he was holding a dagger with a white handle and all I heard him say was ‘well I’ll be darned’ and he put the phone down. I heard later it was actually ivory.”

And we all thought he just bent spoons all day.



ends



ILLUSIONIST Uri Geller made his name with an ability to bend spoons with apparently nothing more than the power of his mind.

But, according to a new TV documentary, he put his “skills” to much more serious use during the Cold War.

The 65-year-old Israeli, who has lived in Sonning for 30 years, worked for the CIA in a “psychic arms race” between America and Russia.

In the BBC documentary, called The Secret Life of Uri Geller — Psychic Spy?, Geller is said to have used his powers to wipe Soviet floppy disks being smuggled out of the Russian embassy in Mexico City and to have persuaded an unnamed Russian to help the US.

But he tells me he has been dropping hints about his secret life throughout his career.

“They were very light, almost subliminal hints but I knew that no one would ever take it seriously or believe me,” says Geller.

“When the BBC approached me about a year ago I thought no one will get anywhere but I went along with this notion.”

So he was “shocked” at the material gathered by the documentary, which is directed by Oscar winner Vikram Jayanti and will be broadcast in October.

He says: “I say almost nothing in the documentary so I was quite surprised how he got all these people talking.”

Dr Kit Green, a former CIA officer, recalls how Geller used his powers to work out what he had written in a book on his desk — the words “architecture of viral infection”.

Geller himself recalls shocking Bill Casey when he was director of the CIA in the Eighties.

He says: “Casey called me and said, ‘I’m holding something in my hand, can you tell me what it is?’

“I told him he was holding a dagger with a white handle and all I heard him say was, ‘well I’ll be darned’ and he put the phone down. I heard later it was actually ivory.”

He also claims to have coerced a Russian delegation into signing a nuclear disarmament treaty by bombarding their thoughts with messages saying “sign”.

He also forced a breakthrough in negotiations between the Palestine Red Crescent and the Israeli Red Cross using his signature spoon-bending trick.

Geller recalls: “I asked the president of Switzerland to produce a spoon and I bent it in front of the two parties in the last round of negotiations.

“I gave it to the Palestinian and it continued to bend in his hand. He freaked out and signed the agreement.People still say to me that a bent spoon paved the way to this agreement.”

Geller hopes the revelations about his secret life will boost his credibility.

He says: “I have always been taken very lightly. I did quirky, unusual and bizarre things.

“The documentary addresses the serious side of my work and people will say, ‘right, these guys have real powers’.”

He adds: “The work I did was for a good cause — I always did positive things and said no to dark things.”