Ep. 642 - Zener Cards, the CIA and Psychic Phenomenon

Ep. 642 - Zener Cards, the CIA and Psychic Phenomenon

From History Goes Bump: Ghost Tours For The Mind by Diane Student

June 18, 2026 · 1h 2m · Episode 642

About this episode

This episode explores the history of parapsychology, the use of Zener Cards, and the CIA's interest in psychic phenomena.

Anyone who has followed and listened to History Goes Bump for any amount of time knows that we consider ourselves open-minded skeptics when it comes to paranormal activity. Particularly the kind of activity connected to psychics. When science gets involved in the paranormal, it lends it some credibility. Parapsychology became a part of college curriculum and at that same time, scientists and government agencies also started paying attention to psychic phenomenon. Intelligence organizations even tried to use it to spy on other countries. On this episode, we are going to look at one of the main tools used to test psi abilities - Zener Cards - and wind our way through the history of parapsychology and some of the famous names connected to this and operations like Project Stargate. The Moment in Oddity features a 1986 Concept Car. Check out the website: http://historygoesbump.com Show notes can be found here: https://historygoesbump.blogspot.com/2026/06/hgb-ep-642-zener-cards-cia-and-psychic.html Become an Executive Producer: http://patreon.com/historygoesbump Music used in this episode: Main Theme: Creepy Carnival Theme Created and produced by History Goes Bump Licensed under…

People in this episode

Host: Diane Student

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA

Products: Zener Cards

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