# CIA and NSA exotic programs

> **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: "CIA and NSA exotic programs," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-satan-church-nsa-investigation/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Two obscure U.S. intelligence programs John Kiriakou has discussed — a late-1980s FBI/Defense Department investigation into a senior NSA officer who came out as a member of the Church of Satan and was accused of ritual sacrifice (which found no evidence), and a 1990s CIA battlefield laser weapon designed to blind rather than kill enemy soldiers, shelved after lawyers determined it violated international law.*

- **Satan Church investigation:** Late 1980s, FBI and Defense Department; senior NSA officer accused of ritual sacrifice; no evidence found
- **Blinding laser weapon:** Developed 1990s under Clinton; CIA Directorate of Science and Technology with DARPA; shelved as a violation of international law

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) has described two obscure U.S. intelligence programs from recent decades.

## The Church of Satan investigation

In the late 1980s, per Kiriakou, the FBI and Defense Department launched an investigation into a relatively senior NSA officer who had come out publicly as a member of the Church of Satan and was accused of engaging in ritual sacrifice. The investigation, he says, found no evidence to support the accusation.[1]

## The blinding laser weapon

Kiriakou also describes a CIA battlefield weapon developed in the 1990s under the Clinton administration: a laser designed to blind enemy soldiers rather than kill them. The weapon was shelved after CIA and White House lawyers determined that, under international law, blinding a soldier on the battlefield is illegal even though killing one is not.[2]

## See also

- [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou Answers the Questions Everyone Wants to Ask (2026-07-06), at 24:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmH5nEr0MkI&t=1499s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-06-the-jason-jones-show/
2. John Kiriakou Answers the Questions Everyone Wants to Ask (2026-07-06), at 39:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmH5nEr0MkI&t=2373s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-06-the-jason-jones-show/

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