Criminal investigation

4 Craziest Paranormal Events Researched by the FBI

The FBI does not have a real-life version of the X-Files (1) and is not specifically charged with investigating paranormal activity. The Bureau’s mandate is the investigation of federal crimes, including espionage, drug smuggling, bank robbery, and offenses committed on federal land.

However, the FBI has occasionally found itself delving into paranormal subjects, such as UFOs, ESP, psychic abilities, and weird cults.

The United States government took a keen interest in UFOs from the late 1940s, when the Roswell Incident happened, to the end of the 1960s, when the Air Force’s Operation Bluebook was closed. FBI files are filled with references to UFOs, sometimes as a direct subject of an investigation; at times as an issue tangential to a different line of inquiry.

A fascinating UFO case concerned Silas Newton (2), who posed as a Denver oilman starting in the 1930s. Newton came under the Bureau’s radar when it suspected him of committing fraud by salting land he owned or leased and then bilking money from investors. He was eventually charged in a Los Angeles court in 1970.