When the CIA released millions of declassified documents in 2017 and placed them on a searchable online database, some serious material was expected to surface. It is a well-known fact that the CIA was engaged in researching all kinds of supernatural or other anomalous phenomena, from psychic abilities to UFOs, but documents found among millions of files prove that American intelligence services were even looking for the legendary Yeti in the mountains of Nepal. Ever found this elusive snow man-like monkey?
Who knows … Perhaps the CIA released these documents only in order to calm the public under the guise of transparency and, no doubt, hides in its dusty warehouses really real things, full of the highest secrets of the world. However, these new materials add to the growing body of evidence that the CIA is taking supernatural phenomena or legends about the Yeti seriously - or at least doing so to cover its tracks.
The documents were found and posted on the Web by Amish Malmi of the Kathmandu Post. In addition to the Yeti documents, these files show that the CIA was interested in at least seven different UFO sightings over Nepal and Bhutan in 1968. The unidentified objects described in the reports range from "white light" emitting "thunderous sounds and white smoke" to fast-moving cigar-shaped objects similar to other UFOs of the time.
Here is a detailed description of the object from a February 19, 1968 report: “A fast moving object, long and thin, with red and green lights as bright as daylight. In a few seconds after the appearance of the object, the sounds of thunder rumbling were heard.
Much like a ballistic missile test or an airplane breaking a sound barrier, and airplanes typically have red and green navigation lights. This would make sense given the historical and political context associated with these sightings, taking place at the height of the Vietnam War and at a time when the relatively young People's Republic of China was engaged in missile research and was building up its aircraft industry and nuclear arsenal.
Naturally, the CIA was interested in any observation of anomalous aerial objects in case it could shed light on what the Chinese were doing in the skies over the region. One report even mentions that a "huge disc-shaped metal object about 2 meters in diameter and 1.2 meters in height was found in a crater at the foot of the Himalayas." Was it a crashed Chinese plane, a rocket, or something weirder?
The documents recovered by the Kathmandu Post also include a telegram sent on November 30, 1959 from the US Embassy in Kathmandu to the State Department in Washington. The document sets out the official "Instructions governing American mountaineering expeditions to Nepal associated with the Yeti" and the procedure for American specialists conducting so-called "mountaineering and scientific expeditions in Nepal" in case of contact with the Yeti:
1. For permission to conduct an expedition in search of the Yeti, the government of Nepal needs to pay 5 thousand rupees.
Promotional video:
2. If a Yeti is found, it can be photographed or caught alive, but it cannot be killed or shot, except in emergencies caused by self-defense. All photographs of a living or dead creature must be submitted to the Government of Nepal as soon as possible.
3. News and reports shedding light on the actual existence of the creature must be submitted to the Government of Nepal, and in no event must be passed on to the press or reporters without the permission of the Government of Nepal."
While many may take this document as proof that the US government is confirming the existence of the legendary Yeti, it is possible that behind these telegrams was the true purpose of these alleged "mountaineering and scientific expeditions." In the late 1950s, the CIA and the US government were deeply concerned about the spread of Chinese communist forces throughout the region, as the Chinese actively defended their presence along the border with Nepal. It is possible that the Yeti hunt was just a cover for the spies who followed the actions of the PRC.
It is known that the CIA and other intelligence agencies often use "scientific expeditions" as cover for sending agents. If the instructions replace every mention of "Yeti" with "Chinese spies or scouts", these telegrams become clearer.
While these documents are far from smoking weapons, they show how government research on anomalous phenomena is being used to disguise the activities of the CIA or other intelligence-gathering agencies. Was the CIA really hunting the legendary Yeti and collecting information about UFOs? Perhaps, but most likely they were going about their true tasks.
Voronina Svetlana
