Elvis Nearly Gave His Entourage Heat Stroke While Trying to Prove He Had Magic Powers 

Elvis Presley’s entourage was intimately familiar with the singer’s interest in spirituality. He led Bible readings for them and spoke often about his belief in his own mystical abilities. Elvis attempted to heal members of his entourage with a touch and tried to control the weather in front of them. Once, he had them sit in a hot car while he tried to move a cloud with his mind.

Elvis tried to prove to his entourage that he could control clouds

Elvis and several members of his entourage were driving through Palm Springs on a day that was “hotter than hell,” said bodyguard Dave Hebler in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. As Elvis talked about the power of metaphysics, he instructed the driver to stop the car. Elvis pointed out the only cloud in the sky.

“Suddenly Elvis yells out, ‘Stop the car. I want to show you what I mean, Dave. Now see that cloud? I will show you what my powers really are. Now I want you all to watch. All of you, look at that cloud,’” Hebler said. “Well, we all look at the damn little cloud up there like a bunch of goats. Elvis is staring a hole through the damn thing. Well, the perspiration is dripping off us. Not a sound in the car, just a whole lot of dummies dying of heat stroke looking up at the cloud.”

Hebler said it was so brutally hot in the car that he began praying Elvis really did have the power to blow the cloud away. It seemed that the singer had no intention of moving until this happened. 

“Well, after about ten minutes, thank God, the damn thing dissipated a little,” Hebler said. “I mean, if you watch a single cloud, anyway after ten minutes, it will move or dissipate to some degree. I saved the day by noticing it first, and, because I didn’t want to die of dehydration, I said, ‘Gee, Elvis, you’re right. Look, it’s moving away.’”

Elvis looked smug about this development.

“That was just the right thing to say,” Hebler said. “Old Elvis gave me one of those sly little smiles that told me he had done it again. ‘I know, I moved it,’ he says.”

Another member of Elvis’ entourage had more faith in him

All through this experience, Hebler couldn’t tell if he was going to pass out from the heat or burst into laughter. He had little faith in Elvis’ so-called powers. Another one of his bodyguards, Red West, felt differently. 

While driving with West and his barber, Larry Geller, Elvis discussed wanting to accomplish something significant outside of show business.

“Anyway, suddenly just to show me what he is talking about, he says, ‘Hold on, Red, stop the trailer. Look up there, see what I mean?’ Anyway, I look up and I’ll be a sonofab****,” West recalled. “There is a giant cloud formation above us, and I don’t know whether it was autosuggestion or what, but this cloud formation is formed in the shape of two very definite likenesses of two heads. One was Elvis Presley and one was Joseph Stalin.”

In Geller’s memory, Elvis seemed shaken when he saw the face of Stalin, but the clouds appeared to shift into the face of Jesus (via Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick). Elvis was incredibly moved by this and even West admitted the moment shook him.

He appeared to stop the rain on the day he died

Elvis believed he had magical abilities until the day he died. On the final day of his life, Elvis walked out to Graceland’s racquetball building through the rain. As they walked, Elvis’ cousin, Billy Smith, complained about the weather.

“Ain’t no problem,” Elvis told his cousin. “I’ll take care of it.”

He lifted his hands and the rain stopped. Elvis told Smith that with a little faith, anything was possible.