
07/05/2025
June 11, 1979. LOOK Magazine. “Seven months after he sailed out of the world aboard a sloop christened with the name from a fantastical poem, the Brillig,John Arthur Paisley has become a legend of the Times -“The Missing CIA Man,” who, according to the wilder speculation, appearing in nationally, circulated magazines, may be alive and well and walking about in Russia. There have been allegations that Paisley may have been murdered by the Soviet KGB, that he may have been a long suspected communist “mole” in the central intelligence agency, even allegations that it was not Paisley‘s body that was found floating in the waters of Chesapeake Peak Bay last October 1978, with a bullet wound in the head.”
At least 10 years ago, I purchased a large tub of photos, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and other items belonging to John Paisley and his girlfriend. He was a CIA agent in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70s. I asked the buyer where he got all these items and he had said they were buried in the basement of a church in Maryland. Now 10+ years later, I’ve decided to pull out this group and read it, research and finally share it, as it will be the subject of our next podcast. The group is so incredibly mysterious because on some of the binders are titles such as secret logbooks, codes, life after his death?, dream journals, and so much more. What happened to John Paisley? Well, I think after researching this lot, I’ll definitely know what his girlfriend thought happened to him. And if the CIA asks, I don’t really have these items….