CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080014-9

"Approved For Releas - 2001/03/264 CIA-RDP96-007871.000200080014-9
A Stepchild
Of Science
Starts to
Win Friends
Parapsychology, often linked
with the occult and mystical,
is sparking new debate.
Skeptics debunk the subject, but
believers want more research.
Woman in parapsychology experiment undergoes test for extrasensory perception.
Slowly but steadily, parapsychology
is edging toward scientific respectabil-
ity after years of lurking on the fringes.
New and carefully controlled re-
search into extrasensory perception,
clairvoyance, telepathy and other psy-
chic phenomena is being carried out
by government, the military, medicine
and academia. The findings, some con-
tend, promise to reveal a vast, unreal-
ized potential within the human mind.
"It is hazardous to make predictions
in this field, but I believe we are on the
verge of discoveries at the outer
fringes of scientific knowledge that
may completely alter our notions of
the mind's capabilities," says Willis
Harman of the Stanford Research Insti-
tute in California.
Possible applications of psychic abili-
ty, advocates say, range from tech-
niques in warfare and crime detection
to predictions of new archaeological
discoveries, promising investments and
likely energy sources.
Burden of proof. Traditionally a "far
out" pursuit, parapsychology still gets a
cool reception from the scientific es-
tablishment. Philip H. Abelson, editor
of the authoritative journal Science,
agrees that parapsychological research
has improved markedly, but he is dubi-
ous about the results.
"These extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence," he contends.
"Findings that question the basic laws
of nature must be subjected to rigorous
scientific scrutiny, and must be able to
be duplicated by impartial investiga-
tors. Until then, many scientists will
remain unconvinced."
This continuing disagreement flows
out of differing views of the processes
and capaci
Many scholars see the subconscious
as a deep reservoir of acquired infor-
times, creating an impression of para-
normal activity because of the large
gaps in precise and verified knowledge
about the nature of the mind, con-
sciousness and the nervous system.
Parapsychologists argue that their
research proves the ability of humans
to reach beyond conscious limits of
communication by tapping submerged
powers of the subconscious.
That notion is a stumbling block for
many, says Norma Bowles, co-author of
a recent survey of parapsychology, Psi
Search. She says: "To contemplate that
we may be able to mentally 'fish' into
the future and the past at will-or that
the mind may not exist within the
brain-is such a troubling concept to
traditional Western thought that it
may block our acceptance of a devel-
opment that may be as significant as
our discovery of atomic energy."
Parapsychology's cause has been fur-
thered recently by accounts of psychic
abilities in some individuals.
In the past, such traits have been
given a variety of descriptions: déjà vu,
mind reading, sixth sense, premonition
and mind over matter.
Now, reputable researchers insist, re-
cent experiments have taken psychic
events out of the realm of the unlikely
and into the probable. Among them:
a Experimenters at the Maimonides
Medical Center in New York City
.. claim repeated success for mental te-
lepathy in transmitting images and
thoughts between widely separated in-
dividuals. Some results, they say, defy
chance by a ratio of 100 billion to 1.
" At the University of California, in-
vestigators found a woman who, they
said, could perceive computer-generat-
Approved For Release 200,1/03/26 )CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080014
concealed from her.
" Long-term projects at Duke Uni-
wwwiber and at the Kaundation for Ra.
search on the Nature of Man in
Durham, N.C., indicate that many per-
sons seem to be able to predict future
events with startling accuracy.
Such findings, backers of parapsy-
chology say, are often duplicated in the
everyday life of ordinary Americans.
Dreams come true. Researchers
have come across accounts of individ-
uals who suddenly voiced a great sense
of unease about a relative or friendl,
only to learn later that the person had
been injured, killed or placed in great
danger. Others relate vivid dreams
that are later re-created in real life.
Rex Stanford, research director of
the Center for Parapsychological Re-
search in Austin, Tex., theorizes that
most people unconsciously use their
psychic abilities to scan the world
around them, tuning in to individuals
and events that are important to them.
"The person who unexpectedly
meets someone he especially wants to
see, or gets a phone call from a distant
friend he had just thought about, or
even someone who always seems to
find a parking place no matter how
crowded the streets-these things may
be more than just leading a charmed
life," Stanford says. Such happenings,
he contends, may be proof that psychic
abilities are innate to humans, but may
have been repressed by overdepen-
dence on the five perceived senses-
touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
Even in an age of skepticism, inter-
est remains high in a subject that has
fascinated people since the beginning
of recorded history.
A Gallup Poll released in June found
that 51 percent of U.S. adults believe in
extrasensory perception. Among per-
e education, be-
lief in ESP rises to 64 percent.
Thirty-seven percent of adults be-
lique in pressantion the ability to

"Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080014-9
Louisa and J. B. Rhine, creators of modern techniques for researching psychic abilities.
foretell future events-while 30 per-
cent believe in déjà vu-the feeling of
having experienced a place or event at
an earlier time.
One result of such widespread be-
liefs is a continuing spate of sensation-
alist articles, books and movies about
the paranormal, most of which serve to
titillate rather than inform, in the opin-
ion of serious psychic researchers.
However, since J. B. Rhine began
his pioneering work in the field at
Duke University more than 40 years
ago, research in parapsychology has
been going on among a small group of
scientists who maintain traditional
standards of scientific proof.
"In the past, psychic research has
been sandwiched between a general
public that is overcredulous and a sci-
entific community that is overly dubi-
ous," contends Edward Kelly, a
parapsychology researcher at Duke.
"As a result, most legitimate parapsy-
chologists have become so sensitive
about reckless use of their data that
they are reluctant to make any broad
claims on their findings."
Into the mainstream. Now, such au-
thoritative bodies as the Smithsonian
Institution and the California Museum
of Science and Industry are promoting
credible information on the subject.
One Smithsonian traveling exhibit
called "Psi Search"-based on the book
of the same name-has been seen by
more than 2 million Americans in the
last 21/2 years. A growing number of
colleges, including the University of
Southern California and Iowa State
University, offer parapsychology semi-
nars as a result of increased interest.
health care, national security and the
arts. They assert that the U.S. is not
clevoting enough resources to studies
in parapsychology, and that Soviet-bloc
psychic explorations are far ahead of
American work in the field.
Soviet weapon? Some authorities
believe there are ominous implications
for the intelligence community. A re-
cently declassified document of the
Defense Intelligence Agency that ex-
amined Russian capabilities in parapsy-
chology cites repeated examples of
individuals who allegedly can will ob-
jects into motion, and "psychotronic"
generators that store psychic energy.
The report, some of which sounds
like science fiction from an undisci-
plined imagination, speculates that So-
Advocates of psychic research con-
tend Approved For-Release 2001/03/26 c@IA RDP96-00787R000200080014_9kely to remain
applications in education, business,
Charles Tart and card-guessing test.
viet research may someday enable the
Russians to perceive paranormally the
contents of top-secret U.S. documents,
psychically influence the thoughts of
U.S. military leaders and even cause
the instant death of any U.S. official or
the disabling of military equipment, in-
cluding spacecraft.
Guarding secrets. Last year the So-
viet Union deported Robert C. Toth, a
Los Angeles Times correspondent,
after he had been given a paper on
parapsychology by a Russian scientist.
All formal Western contact with Soviet
parapsychologists ended in 1972, when
the Russian government classified re-
search being done in the field.
U.S. government officials will not re-
veal the extent of research being con-
ducted into the military aspects of
parapsychology, but Stanford Research
Institute scientists are continuing re-
search into the area in conjunction
with government agencies.
These researchers say that in 1975,
working with two well-known psy-
chics, they demonstrated the possibili-
ty of clairvoyant spying. They relate
how a psychic described in remarkable
detail a secret, underground U.S. mili-
tary installation. Another individual,
given geographic coordinates of a
South Indian Ocean island, reportedly
made a fairly accurate sketch of a loca-
tion on the islandl.
"Funding of U.S. parapsychological
research averages about half a million
dollars annually, and that is mostly pri-
vate money spread through 14 labora-
tories," says Charles Tart, a noted
parapsychologist at the University of
California at Davis who has studied So-
viet research in the field. Tart says Rus-
sia spends the equivalent of 50 million
dollars each year, using hundreds of
top scientists and seriously exploring
parapsychology's military applications.
Nonetheless, parapsychology is find-
ing the road to acceptance a rocky one.
Scientific journals almost never pub-
lish reports of psychic research, though
the Parapsychological Association has
been affiliated with the American As-
sociation for the Advancement of Sci-
ence since 1969.
Moreover, a number of scientists,
educators and writers formed the
Committee for the Scientific Investiga-
tion of Claims of the Paranormal last
year to debunk parapsychology. The
committee contends that the current
vogue for unexplained happenings
may "break down society's critical
judgment, and may also jeopardize our
resistance to new and unforeseen
forms of tyranny."
Such arguments over the validity of
unresolved far into the future.
US NEWS
EWS & WORLD REPORT , 21 1078 #
An