This revelation of the Russian independent media The Insider has something to make an eyebrow. Would Indiana Jones have worked for the Central Intelligence Agency? Documents found in declassified archives of the CIA reveal that in the end of the 1980s, the American intelligence services embarked on an improbable quest: that of the Ark of Alliance, a biblical relic surrounded by mystery and taking on a major religious importance for the Jews, Christians and Muslims.
The agents put all the odds on their side by calling … a medium, visibly inspired by the film of the Indiana Jones saga, The adventurers of the lost arkdirected by Steven Spielberg in 1981. In 1988, the CIA would have asked a person, identified under the code name “032”, to locate the relic thanks to its psychic capacities. A story that the declassification of documents in March 2025 today makes it possible to tell.
The archives do not allow to know precisely what the medium engaged by the CIA had to seek. The only description of the target, however, makes it possible to understand that the coveted object is exactly the same as that sought by the Nazis in the Spielberg blockbuster. A sacred arch supposed to contain the tables of the law as well as other invaluable relics, and whose presence would be at the origin of several miracles.
CIA in a Hollywood quest
Agent 032 described a place, somewhere in the Middle East, surrounded by mosques and people speaking Arab, and whose protection would be ensured by mysterious guards. A description there still surprisingly close to the scenario co -written by George Lucas.
But why did the CIA launched into such a mission? Didn’t she better do, as orchestrate yet another coup in Latin America for example? The answer is not clear. The motivation of the American agency undoubtedly was due to the mystical aura surrounding this object, to the fascination it arouses throughout the world and to its exceptional character which make it a powerful cultural symbol. Putting your hands on it is also, for an intelligence agency, a way of showing its power.
For the archaeologist Israel Finkelstein, the Ark of Alliance is a simple myth, based on the existence of a fictitious event – Exeod, whose historicity has never been proven – and which served as a foundation for Jewish identity during their tormented history. Who knows, in a dark office in the basement of the Langley HQ, a medium perhaps continues today this insane hunt.
