# Astrology at the CIA

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Astrology at the CIA," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/astrology-at-the-cia/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's confirmation that astrology played a role in CIA work in the 1950s and early 1960s as part of MK-ULTRA, alongside time travel and teleportation — and his explanation for why: officials with unlimited budgets and no obligation to report to the public reasoned that there was probably nothing to it, but that if there were, it would make them a star.*

- **Period:** The 1950s into the early 1960s
- **Umbrella programme:** MK-ULTRA
- **Others in the same list:** Time travel, teleportation, LSD
- **Stated motive:** Panic that the Russians were doing it and were ahead
- **The incentive he names:** "It'll make me a star if it leaks out"

**Astrology at the CIA** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s confirmation, in answer to a viewer question, that the agency did in fact pursue astrology — and his account of the institutional logic that made such projects possible.

## The answer

*"Somebody also asked at the very beginning of the show about the role of astrology. Has astrology ever played a role in the CIA's work? And the answer is yes. It did in the 1950s into the early 1960s as a part of that overarching MK Ultra program."*[1]

His characterisation of the programme's breadth: *"Like every bit of craziness that you can come up with that had the MK Ultra label attached to it, they tried."*[1]

Pressed for the list, he supplied it without hesitation — time travel, teleportation, LSD — *"all of it. Because they were panicked at the idea that the Russians were doing it too, and they were ahead of us."*[2]

## The link to the occult

Asked whether there was any connection to the Nazi interest in the occult a decade earlier, Kiriakou said there was, and located it in incentives rather than ideology.

*"There is a link because all these people in positions of authority where they don't have to report back to the public and they have unlimited or virtually unlimited budgets think, you know what, there's probably nothing to it. But just in case there is, and it'll make me a star if it leaks out."*[2][3]

## Astrology in the White House

Later in the same conversation, a viewer noted that Nancy Reagan had been influenced by an astrologer over the war on drugs. Kiriakou confirmed it: *"Yes, very much so."*[4]

The agency's related attempts to turn animals into listening platforms — cats, pigeons — are covered at [CIA animal surveillance experiments](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-animal-surveillance-experiments).

## See also

- [MK-Ultra](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mk-ultra)
- [CIA animal surveillance experiments](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-animal-surveillance-experiments)
- [Havana Syndrome](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/havana-syndrome)

## Sources

1. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “France In Crisis” (2025-09-08), at 1:06:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDOspNoh9IA&t=4016s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-08-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-fra/
2. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “France In Crisis” (2025-09-08), at 1:07:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDOspNoh9IA&t=4047s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-08-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-fra/
3. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “France In Crisis” (2025-09-08), at 1:08:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDOspNoh9IA&t=4080s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-08-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-fra/
4. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “France In Crisis” (2025-09-08), at 1:11:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDOspNoh9IA&t=4299s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-08-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-fra/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/astrology-at-the-cia/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt