Cosmic Communication Or Secret Intelligence Operation? The Accounts Of Andrija Puharich

Andrija Puharich, (born Henry Karel Puharich), remains one of the most fascinating and controversial figures of the twentieth century. His pioneering work in the field of the paranormal continues to captivate researchers and enthusiasts to this day. Known as a medical researcher, parapsychologist, and inventor, Puharich’s career is full of controversial studies of psychic phenomena. He also has numerous connections with famous psychics such as Uri Geller and Peter Hurkos, and rumors swirl around him about his involvement with U.S. intelligence agencies and mind control experiments.

Indeed with this last thought in mind, there is a significant argument to be made that Adrijas Puharich might have orchestrated many of his paranormal encounters, although not because he was a charlatan looking for money or fame, but because of his speculative connections to the intelligence agencies as he worked toward an unknown goal and agenda. And while it is important to highlight that such suggestions are indeed speculation, if there was any truth to the claims, it forces to look again at the paranormal world and perhaps reassess what we think we know.

Did Andrija Puharich make contact with otherworldly entities through famous psychics and mediums? Or was his work part of a predetermined operation that unfolded over several decades?

Early Interests In Energy And The Paranormal

Henry Karel Puharich, later known as Andrija Puharich, was born on February 19, 1918, in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of seven children in a family of Croatian immigrants who had arrived in the United States from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1912, just before the onset of World War I. When enrolling him in school, his parents registered him as Henry Karl Puharich, thinking “Karl” sounded more American than “Karel.” For much of his life, he signed his name as Henry Karl Puharich, only adopting the name Andrija—his parents’ affectionate nickname for him—later on.

From an early age, Puharich showed a keen interest in science and medicine. He earned a medical degree from Northwestern University in 1947 and soon ventured into unconventional areas of scientific research, particularly parapsychology. His early investigations centered on the possible medical applications of sound waves and electromagnetic fields, themes that would continue to be significant throughout his career.

He had, though, other interests.

In his book Mysteries: An Investigation into the Occult, the Paranormal, and the Supernatural, Colin Wilson delves into some of Andrija Puharich’s early parapsychology cases, which Puharich himself documented in The Sacred Mushroom. One of the earliest accounts involved a Dutch sculptor named Harry Stone, who experienced a strange, trance-like state while examining an ancient Egyptian pendant. During this trance, Stone began describing a past life in ancient Egypt and even sketched hieroglyphics on paper.

Teachings Of “The Sacred Mushroom”

Puharich continued to work closely with Stone, overseeing several additional trances during which the sculptor, apparently under the influence of Ra Ho Tep, produced more writings in ancient Egyptian. These messages referenced a mysterious cult or order largely unknown to modern historians—the “sacred mushroom.”

The situation took an even stranger turn during a hypnosis session at a property in Maine. Among those present was Puharich’s friend, Alice Bouverie, who unexpectedly fell into a trance herself. In this state, she claimed to be someone who had lived in ancient Syria and mentioned that the sacred mushroom used by the order was Amanita muscaria. Even more astonishingly, she predicted that Puharich would find a specimen of this mushroom near the house. Following her directions, they searched the area and indeed discovered the very mushroom she had described.

When these symbols were later analyzed, they were found to be both accurate and authentic, dating back to the era of Pharaoh Sneferu around 2500 BC. It appeared that Stone was channeling Ra Ho Tep, a high priest who served under Sneferu. The writings also referenced Sneferu’s wife, Nefert, who was later confirmed in the historical record.

Puharich’s Interest In Harry Stone

Here it is worth quoting Colin Wilson extensively, who wrote in his book Mysteries:

Puharich became convinced that Harry Stone had no knowledge of ancient Egyptian language, and that one of the main purposes of the communication was to reveal the long-lost knowledge of the sacred cult of the mushroom. Stone asserted that the mushroom could ‘take a man out of his body’—i.e., cause out-of-the-body experiences; coincidentally, Puharich had his one and only such experience during this investigation. In one of his trances, ‘Ra Ho Tep’ demanded a mushroom, and then, in the presence of Puharich and Aldous Huxley, applied it ritualistically to his tongue and the top of his head. When Stone woke up five minutes later, he was able to perform an ESP test with a hundred percent score and describe accurately what lay in the other side of a brick wall!”

Despite the apparent momentous communication, however, Stone suddenly withdrew from Puharich, no longer interested in participating in his work. This left Puharich without a solid channeler with whom he could find out more, specifically about the apparent ancient sacred mushroom cult he believed he had uncovered.

Colin Wilson also notes the work of John Allegro, who made similar claims of an ancient mushroom cult in The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. He offered that he believed there was a “universal fertility cult based on sacred mushrooms in the Middle East in Biblical times”. He elaborated that the “mushroom was regarded as sacred to the god of fertility because of its phallic shape, and because it could thrust out of the ground so quickly”. Ultimately, he put forward that “Christianity was a mystery religion based on the sacred mushroom.

It is certainly and intriguing suggestion. For Puharich, though, this contact was only the beginning of such experiments.

Project Penguin And Contact With “The Nine”

Starting in 1952, Puharich became involved in a series of intriguing channeling sessions funded under the code name Project Penguin. The most remarkable outcome of these sessions was contact with an entity referred to as The Nine. Puharich gathered numerous mystics and psychics for these sessions, including both well-known figures and lesser-known practitioners. Among them was the Indian mystic Dr. Vinod.

According to Vinod, The Nine identified themselves as an eternal presence that had been watching over humanity since the dawn of time. When asked for a name, the entity responded, “I am Atum!” Subsequent research revealed that Atum was the name of the “Father God” in ancient Egyptian mythology, one of the nine creator gods worshipped in Heliopolis, known as the Ennead. Historically, pharaohs sought guidance from these deities on how to rule their people, leading to speculation that Vinod might have made contact with this ancient group, previously thought to be purely mythical.

The concept of nine divine beings guiding or influencing humanity is not unique to Egyptian mythology. Many ancient cultures around the world shared similar beliefs. The Aztecs revered nine Lords of the Night, while Buddhism references the Nine Unknown Men. Similar legends of nine wise and mysterious beings offering guidance can be found in Norse and Etruscan traditions. Perhaps most notably, ancient Greek mythology tells of Zeus leading a group of nine gods who would occasionally intervene in human affairs.

Could it be that these diverse legends, separated by time and geography, hint at the existence of The Nine—an enigmatic force that has been subtly influencing human history for millennia?

The Round Table Foundation

Officially, the channeling sessions were brought to an end shortly thereafter. However, Puharich continued his explorations privately at his New York estate, where he established the “Round Table Foundation” in 1958. This organization attracted writers, inventors, and prominent businessmen who sought to make contact with The Nine and gain insights from them. Among the attendees was Gene Roddenberry, who would later go on to create the iconic sci-fi series Star Trek. It’s intriguing to speculate whether Roddenberry drew inspiration from these mysterious entities, and if the title of the later series Deep Space Nine is more than just a coincidence.

Authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince delve into these channeling sessions in their book The Stargate Conspiracy, offering a compelling analysis. They propose that Puharich may have still been covertly working with intelligence agencies, as he maintained connections to organizations like NASA as late as 1977. According to them, the communications he claimed to receive could have been a continuation of the MKUltra and other mind-control and channeling experiments from the 1950s.

Picknett and Prince note that from the beginning of his career, Puharich had a deep interest in exploring and documenting paranormal abilities, especially how they might be “enhanced by electrical means.” They also highlight his fascination with the concept of using radio waves to communicate directly with individuals, effectively “beaming thoughts straight into their brains.”

Further, the authors describe Puharich’s interest in the phenomenon where individuals reportedly picked up radio transmissions through the fillings in their teeth, hearing voices as though they originated directly inside their heads. One of Puharich’s close collaborators on this concept was Warren S. McCulloch, a pioneer in cybernetics and a known CIA asset.

Hints Of Advanced Devices

Throughout the 1950s, Puharich explored the concept of transmitting sound to the brain, ostensibly to develop hearing aids for the deaf or hearing-impaired. He created and patented several devices, including one that could transmit radio waves directly to the brain through the skin. Perhaps the most intriguing was a device small enough to be discreetly implanted in a person’s tooth, resembling a dental filling.

Authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince observed that Puharich’s electronic experiments all seemed to serve a common purpose: “to find ways to make people hear voices in their heads.” They suggested that this capability could be particularly useful in creating belief systems based on “mystical” experiences, with auditory hallucinations of encounters with otherworldly beings.

The authors also noted that records from Puharich’s channeling sessions indicate his frequent use of leading questions. This was significant, as many of the participants were hypnotized—an altered state that increases susceptibility to suggestion.

Puharich’s communications with The Nine appeared to continue into the 1970s, when he found a new “conduit” for contact. Reports of inducing the sensation of hearing voices reemerged, raising further questions about the true nature and intent of his experiments.

Work With Uri Geller

Among the many mystics and channelers Puharich worked with, one of the most notable was Uri Geller, although Puharich began collaborating with him before he achieved widespread fame. According to Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller, Puharich first met the Israeli psychic in 1971. While Geller was already fairly well-known in Israel, he had yet to gain recognition on the international stage.

Puharich described his experiences with Geller as “one of the most extraordinary adventures of a lifetime.” Together, they traveled across Israel, Europe, and America, demonstrating Geller’s remarkable abilities, such as bending keys and spoons or stopping watches. During this time, Puharich claimed they were contacted by “Spectra,” a voice they believed to be an extraterrestrial intelligence named “Hoova.” According to Puharich, this entity was the same presence as The Nine from his earlier channeling sessions.

These claims attracted significant criticism, as might be expected, but they also fueled fascination. Regardless of the controversy, Geller’s alleged gifts appeared genuine, and he claimed to have experienced contact with extraterrestrial beings since childhood.

A Case Of Alien Intervention?

In December 1949, at just three years old, Uri Geller had an unusual experience that would linger in his memory for years. After peering through a gap in the fence of an old Arab villa near his apartment, he managed to slip through a loose board and found himself in a garden filled with ancient olive trees. Enchanted by the serene setting, he even dipped his bare foot into a nearby swimming pool before eventually dozing off on the grass, feeling completely at peace. When he woke up, he realized he had been asleep for a long time, as the shifting shadows indicated that much of the day had passed. But the strangest part of his day was still to come.

Though he was aware he was already late, Uri decided to explore the garden a bit more before heading home. As he wandered, he looked up and was stunned to see a “huge, silent, bowl-shaped object” descending from the sky. Being so young, he initially thought it was a type of airplane he had never seen before, but he quickly noticed there were no engine sounds—it was completely silent. He later described the object as looking like “the bottom of his mother’s aluminum bowl.” As it came closer, he was overcome by a sense of calm and serenity.

The object eventually hovered a short distance above the garden, and as Uri looked up, he noticed the “shadow of a huge figure,” resembling a man draped in a long cape, standing between him and the mysterious craft. He gazed at the figure, captivated. Suddenly, a “blinding ray of light” shot out from the figure’s head and struck Uri, knocking him backward with such force that he lost consciousness. When he regained awareness, the strange object and the figure were gone, the sun was setting, and the air had grown noticeably cooler. After being away for several hours, Uri was also quite hungry.

When he finally returned home, his concerned mother asked where he had been. Eager to share his adventure, he told her everything, but instead of being intrigued, she scolded him for causing so much worry. As a result, Uri kept the incident to himself for many years. He would occasionally return to the garden, but he never saw the “bowl” again.

Reflecting on the events that would later unfold between Geller and Dr. Puharich, one might wonder whether this encounter was an early intervention meant to set future events in motion, or if it was something entirely different.

Paranormal Abilities From A Young Age

Uri’s abilities were evident throughout his childhood. For instance, when his mother, Margarete, played cards during visits with friends, Uri could accurately predict how much money she had won or lost, down to the last piastre, a talent that never ceased to amaze her. He also discovered, as a child, that he could alter the time on a watch purely through thought. He first noticed this at school, when, bored and wishing it were lunchtime instead of 10:30 a.m., he glanced at his watch only to see that it now read 12:00. This was a skill he repeatedly demonstrated to friends and family over the years.

After spending several years living in Cyprus with his mother, Uri returned to Israel by the mid-1960s and joined the Israeli Army. He was honorably discharged in 1968, marking the first time he had to navigate the wider world on his own. A few months later, while working at a textile company, a friend invited him to perform his “tricks” at a university event. Uri agreed, and from there, his reputation and the awareness of his unique abilities began to spread. By 1970, he had garnered enough attention to catch the interest of Andrija Puharich, who traveled to Israel the following year to meet the young psychic.

As Uri’s popularity grew and he began performing for larger audiences, Puharich took on the role of a quasi-manager, accompanying him at various events. This partnership, however, soon attracted the attention of authorities, who began to suspect that the pair might be connected to intelligence agencies or engaged in espionage.

Areas Of Concern

Additionally, it is worth noting that this situation created a rather convenient scenario for Puharich—since all the documented notes had gone missing, he was now required to reconstruct them from memory. This absence of proof regarding the notes’ existence and timing introduced ambiguity into the events, as they were now reliant on Puharich’s recollections of occurrences beyond his control. While there may be some sympathy for Puharich if these events were indeed genuine, it leaves him susceptible to accusations of orchestrating the claims and events himself.

This suspicion is further supported by the nature of the purported communications with extraterrestrials through Uri in the ensuing years. For instance, Uri often had little recollection of these sessions, essentially acting as a conduit for the messages, and the recordings of some of these voices were reportedly “wiped” by the aliens after Puharich had the opportunity to transcribe them.

It is crucial to emphasize that while Puharich might have been sincere in his claims of communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence through Uri Geller, it is also possible that he was a genuine intelligence agent using these “outlandish” ideas of alien communication as a cover for his activities.

Regardless of the truth, Puharich continued his collaboration with Uri. According to Puharich’s writings, he sought to understand the origins of Uri’s talents and why he possessed them. In contrast, Uri (as stated in Puharich’s book, Uri) was primarily focused on making enough money to achieve independence, expressing a desire for freedom and travel. Essentially, he was uninterested in the reasons behind his abilities; he only cared about the financial rewards from his performances.

This raises further questions: Was Uri merely a young Israeli who, while not impoverished, was certainly not wealthy? Or was Puharich attempting to portray Uri in a way that cast himself in a favorable light, allowing him to make increasingly ambiguous claims? Alternatively, could this all be part of a peculiar intelligence cover story?

Signs Of Subconscious Coercion

Despite the numerous shows and demonstrations Uri conducted during this period, the communications with otherworldly entities are particularly noteworthy for our discussion. One such communication referred to an encounter from Uri’s childhood—specifically when he was just three years old—according to Puharich’s book. The implications of this encounter are astonishing. The translations of these communications (reproduced verbatim) reveal that the otherworldly being stated:

…we were the ones who found Uri in the garden when he was three. He is our helper, sent to aid humanity. We prepared him in the garden for many years to come, but he was also designed not to remember. On this day, his work begins. Andrija, you are to take care of him.

We reveal ourselves because we believe humanity is on the brink of a world war. Plans for war have been made by Egypt, and if Israel loses, the entire world will plunge into conflict. There will be one final round of negotiations that may not prevent war. America is the problem. The negotiations will fail.

At that time, tensions in the Middle East were indeed high, with many on edge, anticipating a trigger for a broader conflict. However, the predicted world war did not materialize. This situation presents us with scenarios that cannot be revisited or examined in detail. If the war didn’t occur (which it didn’t), proponents of these communications can argue that it was this otherworldly intervention that averted the crisis. Conversely, if a war had occurred, it would have provided “proof” that the communications were authentic.

While Puharich and Uri collaborated, Puharich claimed to have made several attempts to persuade Uri—and the entities he was allegedly communicating with—to collaborate with scientists to validate their work. Here, however, we encounter another conveniently ambiguous situation: the entities in question—the aliens—did not want this to happen. This conveniently shielded both Puharich and Geller from public scrutiny.

It’s important to note, as previously highlighted by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, that when Puharich first hypnotized Geller, it was Puharich who suggested that the “entity” he was channeling was The Nine, to which Geller readily agreed. This notion had already been mentioned in the channeling sessions of the 1950s and 60s. Ultimately, Puharich was directing Geller’s responses through leading questions. This raises the question of how much of Uri’s memories regarding the alleged alien encounter at age three were truly his own and how many were, for lack of a better term, implanted by Puharich during hypnosis.

An Extension Of The MK Ultra Experiments?

Another possibility must be considered, particularly given Puharich’s military background: he may have been actively working for intelligence agencies. As mentioned earlier, the Israeli authorities seemed to harbor suspicions about him—perhaps they were aware of more details regarding his background than they publicly disclosed. Furthermore, it’s conceivable that many of the communications with non-physical entities were orchestrated, at least in part, by Puharich himself, potentially without the knowledge of collaborators like Geller.

Returning to the research of Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince in their book The Stargate Conspiracy, they point out that Puharich was a skilled dentist. It has been proposed that he secretly inserted tiny, undetectable speakers into the teeth of several subjects after incapacitating them. During the subsequent channeling sessions, it is believed that someone spoke into a microphone connected to these small speakers. If set up correctly, this could lead participants to genuinely believe they were hearing voices in their own minds.

Did Puharich really fit small speakers into the teeth of his channelers, creating the illusion that they were hearing voices during their sessions?

Ultimately, was Project Penguin and the channeling sessions with The Nine simply a mind control experiment aimed at exploring how beliefs in communication with otherworldly entities could influence individuals?

Taking this concept a step further, could these experiments—whether intentional or opportunistic—have aimed to use the notion of channeled information to actively encourage people to carry out actions aligned with the interests of intelligence agencies?

Recruited Rather Than Recognized?

It’s worth briefly revisiting Uri Geller and his time with Puharich. We’ve already noted that Puharich would pose leading questions to Geller while he was hypnotized, seemingly guiding his responses to fit his agenda. Additionally, we’ve seen that, along with his genuine ties to U.S. intelligence, Israeli intelligence agencies also showed a keen interest in Geller following his collaboration with Puharich.

It’s intriguing to consider that during his time with Puharich, Geller underwent some dental procedures purported to enhance his paranormal abilities and facilitate communication. It’s not much of a leap to speculate that this dental work could have involved the installation of a device that enabled someone to “speak” directly into Geller’s mind.

If we entertain the possibility that Geller was unaware of such methods (if these theories hold any truth), it’s important to recognize that his personality may have made him particularly susceptible to manipulation. One might wonder if he was chosen to work with Puharich partly due to this trait, in addition to his psychic abilities. Furthermore, we can question how aware Israeli intelligence was of the situation. Were they simply fulfilling their obligations when they briefly detained Puharich and repeatedly questioned Geller? Or could they have been more involved from the outset, perhaps even identifying Geller to American intelligence after his military service? While this remains purely speculative, it is certainly worth considering.

If any of this is accurate—if Puharich was indeed an intelligence asset and much, if not all, of his work was linked to various intelligence projects—the most pressing question is: why? What purposes would such actions serve?

A Man Who Remains A Mystery

As we can see, Puharich is not only a fascinating figure who may have been involved in pioneering communication with intelligent life from beyond our planet, possibly even with “the gods” themselves, but there are also compelling reasons to believe he may have actively contributed to what amounts to disinformation entering the public domain.

As we have discussed, there is substantial cause to suspect that Puharich was an asset of intelligence agencies. While there is no direct evidence of this (which, of course, wouldn’t be expected), he associated with individuals in circles that included other loosely connected intelligence operatives. It’s not far-fetched to consider that Puharich might have participated in “psychic” experiments in response to the Soviet Union’s significant investment in similar investigations. Additionally, it seems likely that Puharich sought to establish a belief system centered around the narrative of The Nine—extraterrestrials who have guided humanity throughout history. This brings us to our final reflection.

Was Puharich aiming to create such a belief system for personal gain, fame, or power? Or was this part of the intelligence services’ broader psychic experiments? If the latter is accurate, we must ask again: what were the underlying reasons for conducting such experiments? Was this an active effort to gauge how widely these concepts could be disseminated among the population, using advanced electronic devices, suggestibility, and hypnosis?

Or could it have been part of a disinformation campaign aimed at confusing Soviet intelligence on Western affairs? Perhaps, most intriguingly, a group of high-ranking intelligence officials genuinely sought to establish a belief system based on the ideas of The Nine. If that’s the case, we must ponder whether The Nine are real and if their message is deemed so crucial that it should be conveyed by any means necessary. Or are they merely a creation of the intelligence agencies intended to manipulate the public for unknown purposes? Like Puharich himself, the truth remains shrouded in mystery.

The video below explored Puharich’s work a little further.