It appears that the CIA, who experimented with psychics and “remote viewing” back in the 1950’s and 60’s didn’t share their experimental data with the British Ministry of Defense.

If they had, the could have saved British taxpayers around $40,000 and the MoD a heap of embarrassment:

Psychics were recruited by the Ministry of Defence to locate Osama Bin Laden’s secret lair, it was claimed yesterday.

Newly declassified documents revealed that the MoD conducted an experiment to see if volunteers could ‘see’ objects hidden inside an envelope.

It is claimed the ministry hoped positive results would allow it to use psychics to ‘remotely view’ Bin Laden’s base and also to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

However, after running up a bill of £18,000 of taxpayers’ money, defence chiefs concluded there was ‘little value’ in using psychic powers in the defence of the nation and the research was taken no further.

What makes this stupidity even more hilarious was that the MoD couldn’t get any “real” psychics and had to settle for “novices:”

The MoD tried to recruit 12 ‘known’ psychics who advertised their abilities on the Internet, but when they all refused they were forced to use ‘novice’ volunteers.

The report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows 28 per cent of those tested managed to guess the contents of the envelopes, which included pictures of a knife, Mother Teresa and an ‘Asian individual’.

But most subjects, who were holed up in a secret location for the study, were hopelessly off the mark. One even fell asleep while he tried to focus on the envelope’s content.

A former MoD employee who received a copy of the report said the timing of the study must have been related to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You know you’re pulling apples from the bottom of the barrel when even “internet psychics” refuse to help you out.”

It’s a shame. Just think if one of those “novices” had actually been able to prove “remote viewing” was actually true. The psychic who can prove it stands to make a helluva lot of money by winning the “James Randi Challenge:”

The Foundation is committed to providing reliable information about paranormal claims. It both supports and conducts original research into such claims.
At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by the formal test. Preliminary tests are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the “applicant” becomes a “claimant.”

To date, no one has ever passed the preliminary tests.

I’m not surprised.

So how do you defend the indefensible? If you’re a Brit, you add a little humor:

The MoD last night defended its decision to fund the secret tests despite the questionable use of taxpayers’ money.

And Mr Pope said: “I don’t think this was a waste of public money. Many people will say so, but I think it is marvellous that the Government is prepared to think outside the box.

“And this is as outside the box as it gets.”

Mr. Pope should be hired by the Democratic National Committee where he can put his talent for finding the humorous in the sublimely silly to good use.