Secrets of Lennon's FBI Files

The FBI agreed yesterday to make public the final 10 documents about the surveillance of John Lennon that it had withheld for 25 years on the grounds that releasing them could cause "military retaliation against the United States." Here are some of the more intriguing facts the U.S. tried to keep secret:

● John’s favorite color was not blue as reported in the June 1963 issue of Tiger Beat Magazine, but was in fact orange.

● While former manager Brian Epstein was known as the fifth Beatle, inside the group, John was known as the fourth Beatle.

● If you play “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” backwards, you can clearly hear John singing, “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine”.

● Paul really is dead. After the Ram album, with the help of a plastic surgeon and a vocal coach, he was replaced by Shawn Cassidy.

● The whole peace-loving hippy persona was a cover story dreamt up by the FBI and Lennon so that he could snitch out those actually attempting to overthrow the U.S. Government: Donovan, Tiny Tim and Sha Na Na.

- Corny O'Connell