Jonestown Audiotape
Primary Project : Summaries
Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee, III. If you
use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.
Tape Number : Q 927
To read the Tape Transcript, click here. MP3 is available.
To return to the Tape Index, click here.
FBI Catalogue: Jones Speaking
FBI preliminary tape identification note: None
Date cues on tape: Late 1974/early 1975 (date provided by Garry Lambrev)
People named:
Public figures/National and international names:
Vladimir Ilich Lenin, father of Russian Revolution
Member of Peoples Temple
Linda Swaney (cries out) (identification provided by Garry Lambrev)
Bible verses cited: “As it was on the day when I gave a double portion of the Elisha spirit, a part of the spirit, there’s someone here that this soul belongs to.” (2 Kings 2:9, “…And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”)
Summary:
Note: This tape duplicates Q 928.
In this short tape, Jim Jones tells the congregation that they’ll be able to hear what he hears, then summons a tormented spirit from the netherworld into the Temple sanctuary. The spirit has been separated from its body in the current incarnation, and the body which the spirit seeks is among them. The action of reuniting the two will give completion and comfort to both. “You need a body…,” Jones says. “[T]here’s someone here that this soul belongs to. You’re not integrated, and that’s why you’re having trouble in your mind.”
The sound of distant singing wafts into the sanctuary, but then starts to draw near. People stir as they hear it, but Jones commands silence, so he can translate the singing for them. He says the soul seeks Jones’ forgiveness for its betrayal of him in his own incarnations both as Jesus and Vladimir Lenin. (He similarly names himself as both Buddha and the Baab of the Bahai faith.)
Jones claps his hands to free to soul from its torment and allow it into the body, a woman screams, and the crowd murmurs its thanks for the completion of the integration.
The tape is almost theatrical in tone. The singing voice is ethereal, and Jones’ responses to her seem declaimed rather than spontaneously delivered in oratory. Even the scream of integration seems measured.
FBI Summary:
Date of transcription: 7/9/79
In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.
On June 21, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B110-4. This tape was found to contain the following:
Approximately four minutes of a religious rally led by JONES while in the United States.
The remianing [sic] portions of this tape were blank and appear to be of no evidentiary value.
Differences with FBI Summary:
The summary meets the FBI’s purposes. The description of the tape Q 928 contains more detail and is more accurate.