URI GELLER has lifted the lid on his secret past as a SPY — and told how his
spoon-bending antics were just a cover.
The TV magician has revealed details of his years as an operative for the both
the CIA and Israel’s feared Mossad agency during the Cold War.
The extent of Uri’s secret past is revealed in new BBC2 documentary The Secret
Life Of Uri Geller, which airs on Sunday night.
It tells how the Israel-born star WIPED secret information from KGB spy
discs by using his abilities and psychically changed the mind of a Soviet
nuclear weapons negotiator.
But in an exclusive interview with TV Biz, Uri says he is now uneasy about
what the revelations will mean for him.
He says: “In the last 40 years I dropped hints that I did this and that but it
has never come out clearly before.
“For 40 years I have been immensely controversial but the main controversy was
whether I was real or not. Is it magic or supernatural powers I have?
“But for me the controversy was an inbuilt safety device, a camouflage
covering the dark, cloak-and-dagger secret missions I engaged in.
“But now this documentary is out, there is an uneasiness in me about it.”
Documentary maker Vikram Jayanti tracked down former CIA officer Kit Green and
Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who both said they had first-hand
knowledge of Uri’s activities.
Uri, who lives in Berkshire, first became interested in spying when he was
growing up in Tel Aviv and Cyprus — and was obsessed with James Bond.
He says his first contact with a spy came when the Israeli government used his
family’s guest house.
He says: “I was only 13 and I stopped a man living there and looked into his
eyes and said, ‘You’re not an archaeologist, you are a spy’.
“He was shocked but said he wanted to use my talents. That started the passion
for me, the emotional journey to become a super spy for Israel.”
Uri says his desire to defend his country grew when he was a soldier during
the Six-Day War in 1967 and was forced to killed a Jordanian soldier.
He recalls: “If I didn’t press the trigger of the Uzi he would have killed me
first. It was a matter of survival.”
After leaving the army he became a star in his home country with his
spoon-bending tricks and later went to the US and Britain.
He says: “All the fame and everything went to my head. I used to go to Studio
54 where I got together with John Lennon and Elton John.
“When I met Elvis, I envied his fame. I wanted to be like him.”
While Uri was conquering the showbiz world, he claims he was secretly being
wooed by spooks. He says he underwent a series of tests to prove his remote
viewing skills — in which he uses the power of his mind to see things that
are hidden — at the Stanford Research Institute in California in the
Seventies.
He says: “Can you believe I was asked to bombard the Russians to sign the
nuclear arms reduction treaty? I bombarded them with my thoughts. Nobody
would have believed it. I wiped the discs of the KGB. These are things out
of fantasy spy films.
“The Russians probably know what I have done but at the end of the day I have
the cover of being an entertainer and a showman.”
But now his cover has been blown, Uri admits he is worried about
recriminations.
He says: “I do look over my shoulder. You have to be alert.”
He confesses the revelations have caused shock for his wife Hanna and children
Daniel, 31, and Natalie, 30.
He says: “My wife must have suspected but nobody really knew about this from
my family.
“My family hasn’t reacted in a negative way to all of this. They have a lot of
questions but I can’t speak about a lot of this as I signed confidentiality
agreements.”
The documentary suggests that he might still be an active spy, working for the
Americans after they “reactivated” him to help in the War on Terror after
the Twin Towers attacks.
He admits: “Any good intelligence agency in any country will use anything to
bring them information. They don’t care how you bring it to them. They want
to see results.”
But he says he would never do anything to cause anyone harm and rejected a
request by the CIA to stop a pig’s heart with his mind, fearing they would
ask him to kill a human next.
He says: “Most of the latest things I am doing are positive. I am involved
with positive missions. They are for governments. You wouldn’t believe it if
I was able to mention names.”
Uri has been dismissed as a fraud by some in the past while he himself admits
he is a good storyteller. In his bid to keep an air of mystery about his
life — and perhaps his more hidden activities — he has left the way open for
others to dismiss the spying claims.
He says: “I intentionally kept the Uri Geller image quirky and quite strange.
That was a cover of course but now the cover has blown I don’t know what
will happen.
“This always borders on the line between is it real or not? Is it fiction? I
am an entertainer, a showman.
“I have always been a good storyteller, I can imagine and fantasise about
things.
“But what these guys in the documentary are saying verified all of those hints
and rumours that were said. The showbiz side is my passion but I have always
been excited by the James Bond side of life.”
Jayanti has said he believes the documentary’s spying claims.
He said: “A lot of people think Uri Geller is a fraud, a lot of people think
he is a trickster but at the same time he has a history of doing things that
nobody can explain.”
Footage in the BBC documentary also seems to bear this out, showing Uri using
his remote viewing skills.
And when we meet he tries it out on me. He asks me to make a drawing of an
everyday object and then to cover it up and stare at him as I visualise it.
He then correctly sketches the outline of the light bulb I drew.
He also bends a spoon from the hotel restaurant we are in, which is still
amazing to see, even after all of these years.
Uri is also known for his friendship with Michael Jackson, with the singer
acting as best man when he renewed his vows to Hanna.
Uri says he was shocked by the revelations of Michael’s state just before he
died and says he does not believe his friend would have been well enough to
complete all the shows planned for his comeback tour at the O2 in London.
He says: “There was a streak of frailty in him. Michael was a genius but an
incredibly naive individual.”
And he claims one of the final requests from Michael was related to his love
of espionage.
He says: “I designed Michael’s last album, Invincible. My drawings are in the
booklet. When I was designing it Michael asked me to secretly put the names
of his children, Paris and Prince, in it. You have to use a magnifying glass
to find them.”
The Secret Life of Uri Geller airs on BBC2 on Sunday at 9pm.