In the paranoia of the Cold War, many programs were created that seem strange or even paranoid by today’s standards, but few of these held a candle to the experiments involving Nina Kulagina and the mysterious powers she demonstrated after joining the Red Army. Kulagina would demonstrate an incredible prowess at moving objects with the power of thought, even showcasing her abilities for scientists hoping to unlock the mystery of her abilities when cold war paranoia was reaching an all time high. But was Kulagina the real deal or a simple charlatan?
Few people in the long history of the paranormal exploration of super soldiers seem to have the same level of ability when it comes to the sheer force of concentration and raw telekinetic power. But Kulagina, after revealing how objects moved when she was a child whenever she was angry, clearly demonstrated something that caught the attention of Soviet scientists. After returning from World War II a veteran of her tank regiment, she was revealed to be a scientific curiosity and began the long and often impromptu scrutiny of her abilities by a team of dozens of scientists. And these were no simple Soviet paper pushers, but included in their ranks two Nobel prize laureates.
Kulagina is an enigma to us today to say the least. And there are those who say she inspired the program that would eventually inspire the Soviet Union to take a second look at the phenomenon of telekinesis. With her incredible extrasensory and telekinetic powers, Kulagina would often move objects around the table with great concentration, allowing scientists to examine her demonstrations under controlled environments on film and without warning. Video footage of one particular experiment shows Kulagina moving a salt shaker across the table pushing match-sticks ahead of it toward her without touching it. One of the scientists nearby can be seen moving up and placing a clear plastic box over the moving salt shaker – which does not impede its progress across the table at all.
Unfortunately, as she aged, Kulagina suffered a near fatal heart attack. As she lay in the hospital doctors urged her to reign in her experiments and think of her health. Though she still demonstrated the ability, scientists at the time did not know what that level of concentration may do to her and suggested she ease back. For the moment, at least, the Soviet telekinesis project would have to come to a screeching halt.
But before she stopped, Kulagina did demonstrate a feat that would later become the partial inspiration for the United States’ own Project Jedi and MK ULTRA project. Kulagina was able to concentrate on a frog, slow and stop its heart by concentrating and then bring it back to life. Such power of the mind has been sought off and on ever since by the militaries of several nations. But how could she have done it? It seems no small matter to stop a frog’s heart just by staring at it, but to bring it back to life is even more incredible.