Introduction
The Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest said to house the Ten Commandments, has fascinated humanity for millennia. According to newly declassified CIA documents from the 1980s, this legendary artifact—lost to history since the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem in 586 BC—may have been located in the Middle East by a psychic working under the secretive Project Sun Streak. This revelation, detailed in a report originally declassified in 2000, has thrust the Ark back into the spotlight as of March 2025, blending biblical lore with Cold War espionage.
The CIA’s Psychic Experiment
In the 1980s, the CIA’s Project Sun Streak employed "remote viewers"—individuals purportedly capable of perceiving distant objects or events through paranormal means. On December 5, 1988, Remote Viewer No. 032 was given coordinates and tasked with describing an unknown target. Without prior knowledge of the objective, the psychic detailed a “container fashioned of wood, gold, and silver,” adorned with a “six-winged angel,” hidden underground in a dark, wet location in the Middle East. The description eerily matches the biblical Ark of the Covenant.
The viewer noted Arabic-speaking individuals nearby, dressed in white, and described the object’s spiritual significance, tying it to “ceremony, memory, and historical knowledge.” The document, available on the CIA’s Reading Room, adds a layer of intrigue to this ancient enigma.
Historical Context of the Ark
According to the Bible, the Ark was constructed around 1445 BC to hold the tablets of the Ten Commandments, given to Moses by God. Housed in the Holy of Holies within Jerusalem’s ancient temple, it was accessible only to the High Priest on Yom Kippur. Its disappearance during the Babylonian conquest left its fate a mystery, with theories ranging from its destruction to its relocation to Ethiopia, where legend claims it resides in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum.
The CIA’s findings challenge these narratives, suggesting a Middle Eastern location guarded by “entities” and a lock system that defies unauthorized access. For more on biblical artifacts, explore this Live Science article.
Project Sun Streak and Modern Reactions
Project Sun Streak, part of a broader U.S. intelligence effort in the 1970s and 1980s, used psychics to gather intelligence on everything from hostages to fugitives. The Ark discovery gained renewed attention after featuring on the *Ninjas are Butterflies* podcast, where host Josh Hooper expressed shock at the document’s authenticity. “What am I looking at?” he remarked, reflecting public fascination with this blend of science and mysticism.
Skeptics, however, question the reliability of remote viewing, while historians like Tudor Parfitt dismiss Ethiopian claims as replicas. Whether the Ark truly lies hidden in the Middle East—or elsewhere—remains unresolved, keeping this sacred mystery alive in 2025.
