All Episodes

July 8, 2025 • 17 mins
Prepare to enter the twilight zone of Cold War espionage with "Whispers From The Dark" as we decode the unnervingly peculiar language of Project Sun Streak. This declassified US government program sought to harness alleged psychic abilities for intelligence gathering, revealing a world where "psychoenergetics" and "remote viewing" were considered viable tools against the Soviets. Delve into the unsettling official documents and ponder the bizarre reality behind these clandestine psychic endeavors. #ColdWarSecrets #ConspiracyTheories #RemoteViewing #CIAFiles #ProjectSunStreak #GovernmentSecrets #ParanormalEspionage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
When the lights go out, they speak the vanished, the cursed,
the crueler. Their echoes live here. I'm Raven Vail, and
you've just crossed the threshold. Welcome to Whispers from the Dark,

(00:32):
the esoteric language of Project sun Streak. Fellow travelers into
the unknown, Welcome to another expedition with Whispers from the Dark. Tonight,
We're not diving into ancient folklore or unsolved murders, but
into something far stranger yet entirely real, the declassified documents

(00:55):
of a highly unusual, top secret government program. We're talking
about Project sun Streak, an endeavor borne from the Cold
War's desperate search for any advantage, no matter how unconventional.
And what makes this project truly unsettling isn't just its premise,

(01:16):
but the bizarre, almost sci fi language used in its
official Stone Cold intelligence reports. Imagine the height of the
Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union locked
in a technological and ideological arms race, each side scrambling

(01:37):
for every scrap of intelligence on the other. Conventional spies, satellites,
and eavesdropping devices were the bread and butter of espionage.
But what if there was another way? What if the
human mind itself could be weaponized, capable of perceiving secrets
across vast distances, influence events, or even locating hidden targets.

(02:04):
This was the tantalizing, if utterly speculative premise that led
various US intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the Defense
Intelligence Agency DIA, down a rabbit hole of psychic research.
Project Sunstreak was part of a larger umbrella of programs

(02:24):
evolving from earlier initiatives like Project Stargate, active primarily in
the late nineteen eighties. Sunstreak's mission was to explore and,
if possible, exploit, psycho energetic capabilities for intelligence gathering. Now,
just the term psycho energetic itself feels like it leaped

(02:47):
straight out of a forgotten science fiction novel, doesn't it.
Yet in these declassified documents, it's used with an almost
clinical detachment, a chilling format that attempts to legitimize the
truly extraordinary. Let's break down this remarkable vocabulary directly from

(03:09):
the declassified files. Psycho Energetics is defined as the process
by which an individual may psychically interact with objects, locations, organisms,
of events. It's then broadly subdivided into two classes, mental
affects on the physical world, which is helpfully clarified as

(03:33):
psychokinesis physical actions performed by mental powers. Think about that
official government documents discussing psychokinesis the ability to move things
with your mind. It sounds like something out of a
comic book, not a serious intelligence brief. Purely mental collection

(03:54):
of information described as e sp telepathy, remote viewing perceptions
which cannot be explained by known sensory means. This is
where the core of Sun's streak lay. The concept of
remote viewing r V. Remote viewing was the star of

(04:15):
the show. The program sought individuals, often civilians, who allegedly
possessed the innate capacity to describe remote areas or concealed
data via unknown mental processes. Unknown mental processes. That phrase
alone is enough to send a shiver down your spine,

(04:35):
implying a fundamental mystery at the heart of their intelligence operations.
They weren't just looking for clues, They were looking for
people who could mentally transcend physical barriers. The documents speak
of remote action RA, defined as the ability to influence

(04:56):
physical or biological systems via undefined find physical mechanisms. This
goes beyond just seeing it suggests an active manipulation of
reality through thought. One can only imagine the clandestine attempts
to influence Soviet missile launches or political decisions through sheer

(05:18):
mental force. The sheer audacity of such a concept being
formally researched by a national intelligence agency is almost comical
if it weren't so indicative of the Cold War's pervasive
paranoia and willingness to explore every conceivable avenue. When reviewing

(05:39):
these reports, the bureaucratic language attempts to normalize the fantastical.
Phrases like PSINT psychic intelligence appear as if psychic espionage
was just another established discipline alongside HUMENTT human intelligence and

(06:00):
SIGNT signals intelligence. They discuss viewer interviewer mix, signal recognition
and structure execution as if they were discussing standard reconnaissance protocols,
not the supposed mental projection of consciousness. One declassified DIA briefing,

(06:21):
for instance, talks about maintaining a basic organizational critical mass
of operative personnel for psycho energetics collection. They even note
that the individual operative in this situation is to be
functioning somewhat as a biological machine, and that factors affecting

(06:44):
the emotions, mentality, or physical status quo of the individual
must be taken into account in evaluating that individual's readiness posture,
much as one would evaluate the physical electronic condition of
an MLQ twenty four A ntsq one one two trailblazer

(07:08):
emit a locator to determine readiness of a tactical sigent system.
This comparison is particularly jarring treating a psychic human being
as a piece of electronic equipment, with their emotional and
mental state affecting their readiness posture for intelligence production. It

(07:30):
reveals a mindset that was attempting to quantify and standardize
something inherently unquantifiable to turn the ethereal into a reliable
military asset. The very concept of training someone to remotely
view or to develop their psychic impressions feels like a

(07:50):
dark parody of a spy thriller. One of the most
famous or infamous applications of Project sun Streaks remote viewing
capabilities involved the search for the mythical arc of the Covenant.
In a declassified nineteen eighty eight session, a remote viewer
identified only as number zero three two was given coordinates

(08:15):
without being told the target The viewer then proceeded to
describe a container made of wood, gold and silver, coffin
shaped and adorned with images of six winged angels. It
was hidden underground, dark and wet. The viewer also noted

(08:36):
that the purpose of the target is to bring a
people together. It has something to do with ceremony, memory, homage,
the resurrection. Perhaps most chillingly, the viewer warned that the
ark was protected by entities and that any unauthorized attempt
to access it would result in destruction by the protectors

(08:58):
of the container by a force unknown to us. This
report reads like a script for an Indiana Jones movie,
not a sober intelligence assessment. The causual mention of entities
and forces unknown to us within a government document used

(09:19):
to describe a biblical artifact is simply astonishing. It highlights
the blurred lines between scientific inquiry, religious belief, and pure
speculation that existed within these programs. Was it a genuine
psychic impression, a highly suggestive hallucination, or merely an elaborate

(09:41):
training exercise gone wild. The declassified documents don't offer definitive answers,
leaving the unsettling feeling that the US government, at some
level took these claims seriously enough to commit resources to them.
The underlying motivation for these programs, as stated in the documents,

(10:02):
was twofold to establish whether a threat exists from foreign sources,
i e. Whether the Soviets were already doing this, and
if so, to determine what are its dimensions and can
the phenomenon be exploited. This reveals a deep seated fear

(10:23):
of being out maneuvered by an unseen, unconventional weapon. The
idea that the enemy might be harnessing psychic powers was
enough to launch a counter effort, regardless of how outlandish
it seemed. Ultimately, by the mid nineteen nineties, after millions
of dollars had been spent, a CIA review concluded that

(10:46):
while some psychic impressions were detailed and accurate, the overall
results were inconsistent and lacked scientific rigor. The programs, including
Sun Streak, were terminated. Yet the existence of these declassified
documents continues to fascinate and disturb. They pull back the

(11:09):
curtain on a hidden chapter of history where the pursuit
of intelligence led the most powerful government agencies into the
realms of the truly bizarre. The language of Project Sun
streak is not merely freaky for entertainment value. It's a
window into a peculiar moment in time when the desperate

(11:31):
anxieties of the Cold War pushed the boundaries of what
was considered plausible. It forces us to confront the extent
to which official bodies, driven by national security concerns, are
willing to engage with the esoteric, the pseudo scientific, and
the outright paranormal. The casual bureaucratic terms applied to extraordinary,

(11:57):
unexplained phenomena create a discs quieting dissonance, reminding us that
sometimes the true horrors aren't just in the shadows, but
in the official reports of what our governments once believed
to be real. The history of psychic research within intelligence
agencies stretches back further than many realize, fueled by anecdotal

(12:21):
accounts and a pervasive anything goes mentality. During the Cold
War's peak, the Soviets were reportedly pouring resources into what
they termed psychotronics, leading to a reciprocal fear in the
West that they might be falling behind in this unseen
arms race. This concept, known as defensive paranoia, meant that

(12:47):
even if the US didn't fully believe in the efficacy
of psychic abilities, they felt compelled to investigate them, just
in case the Soviets were gaining an advantage. This environment
created for fertile ground for projects like sun Streak, where
the most outlandish claims could find funding and official backing.

(13:09):
The initial proponents of these programs often came from within
the scientific community, or at least those on its fringe,
who genuinely believed in the existence of psychic phenomena. They
argued that conventional science simply hadn't developed the tools to
properly measure or understand these abilities. Their passion, combined with

(13:32):
the government's desperate need for an edge, created a powerful,
if improbable alliance. The training protocols for remote viewers often
involved meditation, visualization techniques, and meticulous record keeping, attempting to
bring a semblance of scientific methodology to an inherently subjective experience.

(13:56):
The viewers themselves often reported strange sensations, fragmented images, or
symbolic representations rather than clear objective data, making interpretation a
constant challenge and a source of perpetual ambiguity. The declassified
documents also reveal a subtle, almost academic tone when discussing

(14:21):
potential successes. Reports detail remote viewing sessions where viewers accurately
described details of foreign military installations, the layout of buildings,
or the contents of sealed containers. While these hits were impressive,
they were often interspersed with misses or vague, uninterpretable data,

(14:46):
leading to the inconsistent and lacked scientific rigor conclusion. This
inconsistency was the ultimate downfall of the programs. Intelligence agencies
require reliable, actionable intelligence, not data that might or might
not be accurate. Nevertheless, the legacy of Project Sunstreak endures

(15:11):
not just as a historical footnote, but as a recurring
element in popular culture and conspiracy theories. It feeds into
the idea of hidden government powers, of secret knowledge, and
of the human mind's untapped potential. The very strangeness of
the official language used anomalous cognition, non local perception extended

(15:37):
remote viewing continues to tantalize, suggesting a reality far more
complex and mysterious than we typically imagine. It serves as
a fascinating case study in how desperate times can lead
rational minds to explore irrational concepts. The sheer scale of

(15:58):
the investment and the seriousness with which these highly speculative
phenomena were treated underscore the profound pressures and anxieties of
the Cold War. It wasn't just about bombs and armies.
It was about every conceivable advantage, even those that seemed
to defy the known laws of physics. So the next

(16:22):
time you hear a strange story or glimpse something out
of the corner of your eye, consider the whispers that
once echoed through the halls of power. Whispers of minds
capable of reaching across continents, of psycho energetic forces, and
of an arc protected by entities unknown. It's a reality

(16:47):
far stranger than fiction. Join us again on Whispers from
the Dark as we continue to explore the unsettling truths
and terrifying legends lurk just beneath the surface of our world.
Until then, keep an eye on the shadows and listen

(17:07):
closely for the whispers, especially the ones from declassified files.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.