Although we are becoming accustomed to increasingly bizarre news stories across the world, sometimes there are stories which still surprise us. The most recent news story to fit into this category relates to recent revelations from declassified documents that America’s preeminent intelligence agency, the CIA, was deeply involved in a psychic quest for the Ark of the Covenant under the operational code name “Sun Streak”. This is not the first time that intelligence and military branches have employed unorthodox techniques to achieve their desired goals. Before expanding on the CIA’s operation concerning the Ark of the Covenant, let me present some of the more bizarre military and intelligence projects:
- Well before the invention of precision weapons such as laser-guided missiles, the US Army looked at other means to get their bombs on target. As strange as it sounds, pigeons were seen as a viable candidate for missile guidance. Apparently, this project began in 1940, with psychologist B.F. Skinner working with homing pigeons. Skinner believed that he could train the pigeons to look for a particular target — a ship, for example. His idea was to place the pigeons in the cone of a missile, send the missile towards the target, and rely on the pigeon to guide the missile towards its intended destination. It might have proven a theoretical boon for advancement in missile guidance but unfortunately, this process would not end well for the pigeons involved. However, much to the relief of pigeons worldwide, the project was abandoned.
- Operation Acoustic Kitty. Commencing in 1964, this operation planned to turn cats into portable spying devices. For anybody who owns a cat you will know perfectly well that getting cats to co-operate with their human masters is a task fraught with exasperation. Nevertheless, the CIA developed a “spy cat” by implanting a microphone in its ear and a radio transmitter at the base of its skull. CIA operatives hoped they could train the cat to sit near foreign officials. That way, the cat could secretly transmit their private conversations to CIA operatives. The technology worked perfectly. The cat, not so much. During limited field tests, the cat went wherever it felt like. After three years, the operation was abandoned. As one author highlighted: “The problem was that cats are not especially trainable.” As a cat owner, I wholly concur!
- Project Star Gate (not to be confused with the current AI initiative of the same name). The primary focus of Star Gate was to investigate the use of parapsychological and related biophysical interactions such as telepathy, psychokinesis and remote viewing. Declassified documents reveal the government’s earnest (and expensive) pursuit of extrasensory military intelligence gathering with the aim of gaining an edge over the Soviet Union. Films like “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and countless paranormal TV shows are loosely inspired by these experiments. The project was terminated in 1995 after a CIA report concluded that there was never any useful intelligence collected.
Sun Streak and Star Gate share similarities, since both explored the use of remote viewing to advance their cause. According to the since declassified CIA report, remote viewing is defined as: “The acquisition and descriptions by mental means of information blocked from ordinary perception by distance, shielding or time.” Simply put, it relies on paranormal means to access information about places that a person has not physically visited or previously known about. A 1988 declassified operational report indicates that a purported psychic described the location and appearance of the Ark of the Covenant using the power of remote viewing. Since the psychic was given coordinates and then asked to describe a target there, it has led many to wonder whether the CIA actually knows where the Ark of the Covenant is located.
We are first introduced to the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25:10-22 wherein God directs Moses to construct it. If you are familiar with the history of the Ark, you will know it occupied the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and later, the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:1-9). It has been conjectured that the Ark was taken out of the Temple during the reign of the evil King Manasseh (who desecrated the Temple with altars to foreign gods – 2 Chronicles 33:1-5) before being returned under Josiah’s direction. It is here that we see the final mention of the location of the Ark in 2 Chronicles 35:1-6. Although the 2 Chronicles 35:3 passage has been traditionally interpreted as referring to Josiah returning the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy of Holies, some Rabbinical scholars believe the passage should be interpreted to mean that Josiah directed the Ark of the Covenant to be moved to a subterranean chamber.
What we can say for certain is that the history of the Ark of the Covenant becomes far less clear after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem and raided the temple. What happened to the Ark? Was it taken by Nebuchadnezzar? Was it secreted to another far-off land? Was it destroyed with the city? Is it hidden below the Temple Mount? Was it hidden by Jeremiah at Mt Nebo as non-canonical sources claim? There are many theories concerning the existence and location of the Ark, some of them credible, many which are not. What we do know is that the Ark of the Covenant was not located in the Second Temple. When the Roman General Pompey conquered Jerusalem around 63 B.C., he demanded the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies. When he did, he came out saying that he could not understand what all the interest was about since it was only an empty room.
Since we believe the Scriptures speak about a Third Temple which is operational during the Tribulation Period, many are curious to know if the Ark of the Covenant will be found. Since the Second Temple period proves that the Temple may be declared a house of worship without the Ark of the Covenant, some speculate that the Sanhedrin may choose to construct the Third Temple without it. If the Ark does still exist, however, and it were somehow discovered, it would certainly give rise to a strong movement in Israel and around the world to rebuild the Temple to house the Ark properly.
According to the website of the Temple Institute: “While some claim to have evidence that the ark is in Ethiopia, and of course, moviegoers were treated to a fanciful version of the story in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ in reality, the expression ‘lost’ ark is not an accurate description for the Jewish people’s point of view – because we have always known exactly where it is. So the Ark is ‘hidden,’ and hidden quite well, but it is not lost.”
Speculation concerning the Ark of the Covenant ebbs and flows and it will remain a point of interest amongst Biblical scholars. Dr David Reagan says: “Conceivably, the Ark could be discovered, and Satan could use its discovery to incite the rebuilding of a Temple where an apostate sacrificial system would be re-instituted. We know that such a Temple will be built, but I doubt if its construction will be motivated by the discovery of the Ark.”
Whatever the case, mankind’s focus (whether Jew or Gentile) should not be on discovering the Ark of the Covenant but on discovering a saving faith in Jesus Christ. During this Easter season, let us remember the similarity of two scenes which beautifully expresses the point that Jesus should now be our focus. Keeping in mind that the mercy seat sat atop the Ark of the Covenant, Exodus 25:19 says: “Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat.”
Let us go now to the empty tomb and explore John 20:11-2: “But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. “
Let me finish with further words from Dr Reagan: “There is no more need for the Ark. Jesus has fulfilled all that the Ark stood for. He was deity who took on flesh. He rendered complete obedience to the Law, being made perfect and becoming the source of our salvation (Hebrews 5:8-9). His blood was shed for our sins, and His victory is attested by the fact and the power of His resurrection.”
