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The CIA’s “Magic Manual”, a book on trickery and misdirection written by magician John Mulholland, has magically reappeared.
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The Central Intelligence Agency’s “Magic Manual”, a book on trickery and misdirection written by magician John Mulholland, has resurfaced. The CIA paid Mulholland $3,000 to write down advise on “misdirection, concealment and stagecraft” during the Cold War. But all known copies were believed to have been destroyed in 1973. “But recently, the manual resurfaced, and have now been published as ‘The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception.’ Topics include working a clandestine partner, slipping a pill into the drink of the unsuspecting, and ‘surreptitious removal of objects by women,’” reports Wired.

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