A lot of newspapers and magazines present "hogwash" and discuss it with apparent seriousness as if it were fact.

The Star Enquirer of January 11 1984 quotes a "KGB defector" to the effect that a Korean jet was brought down by a "psychic accumulator" -- a machine that concentrates the "mental powers from a number of psychics".

Flight 007 Was Destroyed By Psychic Force Amazing claim by KGB expert The 269 passengers aboard the Korean jet destroyed over the Sea of Japan may have been casualties of an accidental Russian-American psychic weapons shootout, it's been claimed by a former KGB man. Russian KGB defector Nikolai Khokhlov is convinced Flight 007 was hit by powerful forces emanating from a Soviet psychic accumulator device. The forces overrode the aircraft's computers and clouded the minds of both crew and passengers, causing the jet to stray from its course, he explains. "This may have been the first battle in a psychic war between America and the Soviet Union," said Khokhlov, who is employed by the Pentagon to develop psychic weapons. According to Khokhlov, the Soviets have been trying for 10 years to perfect an efficient psychic accumulator (PA). This amazing machine is designed to funnel mental powers from a number of psychics into a kind of "psychic storage battery." "The stored powers can be released in a single, powerful burst, enabling military technicians to control minds and machines with telekinetic and hypnotic energy," said Khokhlov....

The official explanations of what happened to the Korean aircraft are different.

Korean Air Lines have a bonus system for pilots who save fuel. The pilot of Flight 007 tried for a big bonus by taking a short cut over restricted Soviet airspace. After failing to respond to Soviet signals 007 received a bonus of two Soviet missiles from a Soviet fighter and 269 people died.

No one's ever proven the existence of any "psychic force" anywhere.

Star Enquirer is now defunct.