CIA declassifies Jack Parsons' hidden occult files

CIA declassifies Jack Parsons' hidden occult files

The Central Intelligence Agency has declassified documents linking John Whiteside Parsons, co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and a pioneer of modern rocketry, to the occult and paranormal research inside the agency. Parsons, who died in 1952 in a chemical explosion ruled "accidental", was a trinc of Aleister Crowley and practiced sens magic alongside L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. His life —and his death— have fueled theories for decades, but the new papers go beyond the personal mystery.

The Collins Elite and the demonization of UFOs

The documents mention the Collins Elite, an internal CIA group that in the 1980s investigated whether the occult and supernatural entities could be used as weapons of mind control. Its central thesis: UFOs are not extraterrestrial technology, but demonic manifestations. Parsons fit that narrative, as he believed he was contacting supraterrestrial entities through the Babalon Working. For the Collins Elite, that was no ordinary esoteric experiment, but a real invocation that may have cost him his life.

JD Vance, Silicon Valley's far right and the ideological succession

Senator and vice-presidential candidate JD Vance appears in the discussion as one of the driving forces behind the declassification, according to his book *Hillbilly Elegy* and his connection to Peter Thiel's circle. Silicon Valley's tech far right has spent years fusing theology, accelerationism and a radical critique of liberal technocracy. Vance carries the Collins Elite's torch in his own way: he sells the idea that globalist elites serve dark forces. A narrative that, conveniently, aligns the conspiracy with his political agenda.

The cultural echo: from Philip K. Dick to Nick Redfern

The story has left its mark on pop culture. Philip K. Dick wrote *Eye in the Sky* (1957) right after his most paranoid period, processing his contacts with the occult and with Parsons. The book imagines alternative realities shaped by the mind, a clear elaboration of that experience. Researcher Nick Redfern has documented the Collins Elite in a book that mixes real interviews with former agents and speculation, but it remains the most detailed source on how the CIA linked UFOs, the occult and mind control.

The declassified documents answer no questions. On the contrary: they open an uncomfortable line of inquiry for the official narrative, one in which science and magic shared an office during the Cold War.