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REMOTE VIEWING: PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL POTENTIAL
FOR INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION?
by
Michael E. Zarbo
Captain, United States Army
Graduate Class 9201
1
Thesis submitted to the Faculty
of the Defense Intelligence College
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence
November 1992
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and
do not reflect the official policy or position of the
Department of Defense or the US Government
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES.
.vii
Chapter
1.
INTRODUCTION
.2
Riddled With Controversy
.5
Early US interest.
6
-
2. THE SOVIET ADVANTAGE
15
Marked Differences
15
Historical Perspective.
19
Mind Over Matter
27
3.
HUBRIS IN THE US GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE?
32
A Need to Believe?
33
Stanford Research Institute (SRI) Tests
36
4. AN INTELLIGENCE TOOL?
50
Political and Military Applications
50
5. CONCLUSION
76
What We Don't Know Could Hurt Us
76
Insurmountable Obstacles ?.
78
BIBLIOGRAPHY
88
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LIST OF FIGURES
Page
FIGURE
1
Photographs and remote viewer's drawings of
targets contained in 35mm film canisters,
Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, CA.
21 June 1979.
41
2
Photograph and remote viewer's drawing of a
Research and Development site in the Soviet
Union, Spring 1977.
56
3
Remote viewer's drawing of water fountain
at Washington Square in New York City, 6 July
1976
62
4
Remote viewer's drawing of an airport in San
Andres, Colombia, March 1976.
63
5
Remote viewer's drawing of a merry-go-round
March 1976
64
6
Remote viewer's drawing of tennis courts
March 1976.
65
7
Remote viewer's drawing of typewriter target
March 1976
66
8
Remote viewer's drawing of video monitor
March 1976
69
9
Remote viewer's drawing of xerox machine
March 1976.
70
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ABSTRACT
(U)
£
Remote viewing could be a potentially profitable
intelligence collection tool if accepted as valid by those who
have the power to promote its research. Blindly overlooking
the persuasive experimental data that this phenomenon has
yielded on
numerous occasions could
equate,
from
a
counterintelligence perspective, to disregarding a potentially
dangerous threat. This study is not designed to persuade the
reader that this phenomenon is absolute, but rather to bring
to light,
that in time, through continued study and
application of this phenomenon, it could prove a worthwhile
collection tool.
(U)
Research in this area is at a standstill in the
United States. The general premise, threaded throughout this
paper, is that a great majority of professionals from
government, military, and academic circles are reluctant to
accept this phenomenon, regardless of significant findings.
The fear of humiliation for accepting something which so
strongly cuts across the lines of conventional wisdom appears
to be the overriding reason. This paper illustrates, through
informed opinions of prominent government, military, and
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academic officials, the roller coaster of differing attitudes
this phenomenon has weathered over time.
(U)
While this study addresses the inherent short
comings of this phenomenon, it also uncovers a great deal of
credible information in
the form of experimental
£
test
procedures and results, interviews with reputable authorities,
and suggestions for employing this phenomenon, which if ever
accepted, could contribute to acceptance of remote viewing as
an intelligence force multiplier.
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CHAPTER 1
You're
travelling
through
another
dimension.
A dimension, not only of
sight and sound, but of mind. A journey
into a wonderous land whose boundaries
are that of the imagination.
Rod Serling
"The Twilight Zone"
(U) During the course of researching this topic, chosen
prior to the break up of the Soviet Union, much of the
information obtained applies to what today exists as the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
For clarity's sake,
readers should know that in those cases where the events
addressed occurred prior to August 1991, the terms Soviet
Union and Soviet are used to indicate the nation which existed
at that time.
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INTRODUCTION
(U) The field of parapsychology is large, encompassing
numerous independent topics, therefore, this thesis will focus
on the study of telepathic clairvoyance,
recently termed
"remote viewing"
by Stanford Research
Institute (SRI)
scientists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ.
Benjamin B.
Wolman author of Handbook of Parapsychology defines remote
viewing as an experience, either spontaneous or induced, in
which one's center of consciousness seems to be in a spatial
location separate from that of one's physical body.1 Other
commonly used synonyms include astral projection, and out-of-
body-experience. In research conducted under the sponsorship
of the former Soviet Union, the Russians, who study this
concept seriously, believe that when it is finally developed,
remote viewing will allow an operator in one location to
gather intelligence information from another area, up to
several thousand kilometers away, without ever leaving the
security of his initial location.
This collection is not
conducted with the aid of electronic equipment, but strictly
by mental processes.
(U) Research shows that the US does not consider remote
viewing a viable threat.
More importantly, the US has
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consistently overlooked remarkable experimental data which
illustrates that remote viewing could also prove an invaluable
complimentary intelligence collection asset.
(U)
Parapsychology is a controversial phenomenon both
among the general public and in respected academic circles.
The most striking hypothesis threaded throughout my research,
is that parapsychological data, no mater how convincing, is
frequently
dismissed as
1
superstitious hocus pocus
and
nonsense.
This paper will illustrate that the intelligence
community,
schooled to "think red," should focus on the
potential value this phenomenon has demonstrated on numerous
occasions.
(U) The biggest obstacle in the path to further
research, which has plagued this branch of inquiry since the
1920s, is the intelligence community's reluctance to accept
remote viewing. It appears to threaten their conventional
beliefs, and many people associated with this controversial
issue are labelled charlatans or freaks.
I personally
encountered this skepticism during my research for this paper.
Many of the people I approached with the hope of obtaining
leads or information met me with
raised eyebrows and
disdainful smirks.
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(U)
The current umbrella of intelligence disciplines;
Signals Intelligence; Imagery Intelligence; newly introduced
Measurement and Signature Intelligence; and Human Intelligence
are
considered sufficient by the intelligence community to
adequately meet our intelligence collection needs. However,
what if a force multiplier could be added that could
substantially enhance this overall collection umbrella?
Available evidence is increasingly persuasive that such a
multiplier may indeed exist in the form of remote viewing. In
addition, if such a multiplier does exist, it stands to reason
that steps toward preparing defensive countermeasures would
merit the concern of the counterintelligence community.
However, interest in demonstrating its potential has seriously
subsided in the US since the mid 1970s.
(U)
The importance and ramifications of remote viewing
to the field of intelligence if used by an opposing force
could be monumental. Consider the following scenario: On the
modern battlefield the opposition might have the ability to
retrieve intricate battle plans from a US tactical operations
center far enough in advance to plan a counterattack to squash
an upcoming operation.
The US force would be placed at a
serious disadvantage at best, and utterly defeated in the
worst case. To take it a step further, let us suggest that
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the opposition could obtain this
information in advance
undetected, regardless of stringent security. The final blow:
There is apparently no serious effort underway by the US
Government to counter this possibility.
RIDDLED WITH CONTROVERSY
(U)
The two major subcategories of parapsychology
are
extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) .2
The
phenomenon of remote viewing falls within ESP and pertains to
the acquisition and description, by mental means,
of
information blocked from ordinary perception by distance or
shielding, and generally considered to be secure.3
(U) According to Robert A. Monroe, author of the landmark
book Journeys Out of the Body, which he based on several years
of personal out-of-body experiences, remote viewing includes
events in which the experiencer (1) seems to perceive some
portion of some environment which could not possibly be
perceived from where his physical body is known to be at the
time; and (2) knows at the time that he is not dreaming or
fantasizing because the person experiencing this event
maintains normal consciousness.'
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(U) Ray Hyman, professor of psychology at the University
of Oregon and author of Psychological Inquiry, defines remote
viewing as an incident when a subject is able to describe a
target site even though he has no sensory basis for doing so.
This can be achieved by giving the subject the longitude and
latitude of any place on the globe, or by sending a team of
observers, who act as a conduit for the remote viewer, to a
randomly selected site that is unknown to the subject.5
EARLY US INTEREST
( S/NF )
US national
security agencies have been
interested in remote viewing since at least World War II when
Hitler reportedly relied on astrologers and seers
for
intelligence information.
Approximately 50 years later the
government still cannot disprove that psychic phenomena is
something to be taken seriously.
The FY 1992 Defense
Authorization Act tasked the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
to initiate an aggressive study on anomalous phenomena. The
FY 1992 Act directs "a continued robust effort to evaluate the
activities of foreign governments, particularly the activities
of the Soviet Union. "6
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SG1A
(U)
According to William J. Broad, a New York Times
reporter, US concern over Russian interest in paranormal
phenomena was nothing new. His article, "The Pentagon is Said
to Focus on ESP for Wartime," claimed that in 1977 President
Carter ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to "conduct a
high-level review of psychic research behind the Iron Curtain
in an attempt to assess a possible Soviet threat. "7
(U)
However, Admiral Stansfield Turner, CIA director
appointed by President Carter, was a self-confessed skeptic of
parapsychology and Carter's tasking was never taken seriously.
Turner once remarked, "twenty years from now, I may wonder how
I could be so dumb as to question the evidence for psychic
phenomena, but then again, I may feel the same way I do now. "8
(S/NF )
Ronald McRea, in his article "Psychic Warfare, "
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which appeared in the October 1981 issue of The Investigator,
claimed that the US Navy, as early as 1952, was the first
armed service to look into employing psychics, in an attempt
to enhance its efforts to locate Soviet submarines.º Also in
1952 the Department of Defense received information on the
possible usefulness of ESP in psychological warfare. 10
In
1961, because of mounting interest in paranormal phenomena,
the CIA's Office of Technical Service commissioned the
=
Director of the Parapsychological
Laboratory at Oxford
University in London to review the validity of ESP.
The
project, codenamed ULTRA, claimed that ESP was demonstrated
but not understood or controllable. The report was read with
interest at the CIA but produced no further action. 11 This
inaction by the US military reflected their reluctance to
accept something of this magnitude which so strongly ran
counter to their innate conservatism.
(U)
Nevertheless, in time, Congress and the military,
namely Military Intelligence, demonstrated increased concern
over the concept of remote viewing and psychic warfare during
the early 1970s. This concern focused on the fear that the US
was losing the "race of psychic supremacy" to the Soviets.
Moreover, it was also during this time that the US news media
and noteworthy scientific journals such as Nature, Science,
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and Proceedings of the IEE (Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) started to seriously address psychic
issues . 12
In addition, conferences organized by reputable
scientific bodies, and attended by high-ranking military and
government officials, started to reexamine the laissez-faire
attitude of the US toward psychic phenomena.
(U) It was also during the 1970s that Stanford Research
Institute scientists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ convinced
-
1
some
within the intelligence community, through numerous
controlled experiments, that remote viewing should not be
overlooked as a collection tool:
(U) In these experiments, a psychologist would sit
with a "psychic" subject in a laboratory, while
another scientist would stand at an unknown site,
sometimes several kilometers away. The subject
would attempt to describe the site, of which he had
no prior knowledge. In many cases the scientists
said, these descriptions -- of objects as large as
clock towers and
as small as pins
were
remarkably accurate, the evident result of some
telepathic mental process not yet understood. 13
(U)
However, since the 1970s, when support for remote
viewing reached its apex, its more recent examination has been
marked by a roller coaster of attitudes, from overwhelming
ridicule to reluctant attempts at understanding it. Some have
even tried to exercise the sketchy knowledge uncovered.
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(U) Dr. Edgar M. Johnson, Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist for the US Army, claims that the overriding
reason why research for parapsychology is at a standstill is
that there is no theoretical basis put forward on why we would
expect to find the existence of paranormal phenomena. This,
he claims, is a more damning fault than not having the data.
According to Dr. Johnson:
(U) After 30 or 40 years of sustained support in
this area there still is not very convincing data.
You can only pursue a dream so long. In many cases
phenomena have explanations based on known physical
principles, so one tendency is, if we see something
unusual, we conclude that it must have an unusual
explanation. The problem with parapsychology is
that it has no explanation, unusual or otherwise. 14
SG1J
(U)
Chief of Special Projects for the
Defense Intelligence Agency, holds a bachelor's degree in
aeronautical engineering, and a master's degree in physics.
He has spent fifteen years following the progression of world-
wide parapsychological research.
He has also been actively
involved, in what he refers to as "hands-on experimentation"
in the US. In fact, he is the person most referred to, by
many of the people consulted for information on this topic, as
the intelligence community's premier source on paranormal
phenomena. He counters Dr. Johnson's opinion on this issue:
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(U)
Because of my background, I look at things
from a scientific perspective, fully realizing that
not all science can be explained in advance by
theory .
Some science has got to be evolved and
determined through the empirical, or the 'getting-
the-hands-dirty approach. '
Over my fifteen years
of study
in this
area
I
have noted strong
correlations, too striking, and well beyond chance,
even when you rule in coincidences and other types
of factors.
This phenomenon is not totally
predictable,
but then again, what is
totally
predictable
in
the human
side
of
things,
particularly when you are looking at psychological
factors? Therefore, why should we expect an area
like this to yield direct, easy answers when you
first encounter it? It does not work that way, but
it does not invalidate the basic phenomenon. 15
(U)
Nevertheless, an overwhelming number of government
and military officials still appear to fear humiliation for
accepting the existence of psychic phenomena.
However, an
intelligent general public, with nothing to lose, appears to
overwhelmingly believe. According to a poll conducted by the
CBS News program 48 Hours, which aired on 8 February 1990, Dan
Rather conceded, "Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe in
ESP or mental
telepathy and 25
they had
personally experienced so called 'paranormal' phenomena. "16
(U)
This paper addresses this phenomena which still
defies explanation. However, due to the secretive nature of
this topic and the promise to protect the sensitivity of
current programs and the anonymity of some sources consulted,
reporting the totality of current research is not possible.
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Therefore, the information in this paper includes only that
which several US government sources involved in this sensitive
research deemed releasable during the summer and fall of 1992.
Nevertheless, the data provided will contribute to better
informed judgements about whether this branch of inquiry
deserves
a
further look for possible application in an
intelligence gathering capacity.
(U) Chapter 2 addresses the alleged Soviet advances in
this field, Chapter 3 details the research conducted in the
US, Chapter 4 focuses on the potential that remote viewing has
as an intelligence collection tool, and counterintelligence
threat, and Chapter 5 posits conclusions based on the previous
4 chapters.
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NOTES
1.
Benjamin B. Wolman, ed.,
Handbook of Parapsychology (New
York:
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1977), 929.
2.
Richard
S.
Broughton,
Ph. D.,
Parapsychology:
The
Controversial Science (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1991), 6.
3.
Russell
Targ and Harold E.
Puthoff.
Remote Viewing
Replication, Evaluated by Concept Analysis.
(Menlo Park, CA:
Radio Physics Laboratory, Stanford Research Institute, 1982), 3.
4.
Monroe, Robert A. Journeys Out of the Body.
(Garden City,
New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971), 7.
SG1A
5.
Ray Hyman, "Psychics and Scientists:
Mind-Reach and Remote
Viewing." The Humanist, 36, no. 3, May/June 1977, 16.
7.
William J. Broad.
"Pentagon is Said to Focus on ESP for
Wartime Use." New York Times, 10 January 1984, sec. C,l.
8.
Ronald M. McRea.
Mind Wars :
The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons. (New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1984), 35.
9.
Ronald McRea and Susan Merrow,
"Psychic Warfare, " The
Investigator, October 1981, 60.
10.
(SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Parapsychology
in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions."
Studies in
Intelligence. TR-SINT 77-001, 21, no.1, Spring 1977, 7.
11.
(SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Parapsychology
in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions. "
Studies in
Intelligence. TR-SINT 77-001, 21, no. 1, Spring 1977, 8.
12.
Charles Wallach, "The Science of Psychic Warfare, " Journal of
Defense Diplomacy, 3, no.9 (September 1985), 39.
13. Christopher Hansen "Superpowers Said to be Studying Psychic
Phenomena for Military Use. "
Reuters North European Service, 12
November 1985.
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14. Edgar M. Johnson,
PH.D.
Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist, US Army.
Interview conducted by author at the US
Army Research Institute
(ARI) for the Behavioral and Social
Sciences, 21 October 1992.
SG1J
15.
Chief of Special Projects Office (DTI-S), Defense
Intelligence Agency. :
Interview conducted by the author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, 26 October, 1992.
16.
"Psychics and Skeptics, " 48 Hours, narr.
Dan Rather, CBS
News, 8 February 1990.
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CHAPTER 2
THE SOVIET ADVANTAGE
(U) The Soviets are working on dramatically exotic
new weapons, twenty-five years ahead of anything
ever conceived in the US -- so awesome as to lead the
Soviets to believe that in the coming decade they
would be capable of total neutralization of our
ballistic and submarine missiles.17
Major General George J. Keegan
Former Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence
United States Airforce 1977
MARKED DIFFERENCES
(U)
Historically, scientists from the former Soviet
Union researched paranormal phenomena from a more empirical
standpoint than the US.
They generally accepted that this
phenomena was explainable through controlled experiments along
the same lines as biology and physiology. In contrast, the US
tried to prove that paranormal phenomena does not deserve the
same serious inquiry as do the hard sciences.
(U)
The results of these two conflicting philosophies
has lead to a well-organized, well-disciplined parapsychology
program in the former Soviet Union as opposed to a splintered,
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unorganized program in the US. Additionally, the Soviets'
regard for parapsychology as a science added legitimacy for
their policymakers to sanction and fund paranormal research.
(S/NF) In addition to these differences in philosophical
approaches there exist stark differences in the experimental
techniques used by former Soviet and US researchers. In the
US the subject, or remote viewer, is in a completely normal,
conscious state.
The Russians reportedly rely heavily on
hypnotism, biofeedback, yoga, and drugs to induce trances and
trance-like states. 18
(U)
Seriousness in
the former Soviet Union about
paranormal phenomena is evidenced by a 25 to 50-year advantage
in research. Addressing this contrast in approaches regarding
paranormal research, US Army Medical Service Corps Captain
Richard Groller stated in 1984:
(U) The general premise in this country regarding
parapsychological phenomena has been, "First prove
to me that it exists, then I'll believe it."
Counter to this has been the basic Soviet premise
regarding parapsychology phenomena which is, "We
believe that something exists that has no normal,
rational, explanation -- let us investigate it. "19
(U) Captain Groller's outlook still applies today in the
Dr. Edgar M. Johnson, Technical Director and Chief
US.
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Psychologist at the US Army Institute for Behavioral and
Social Sciences (ARI), questioned about this perspective in
October of 1992, answered:
(U) Why would we expect it to exist?
Where are
the principles on which it should operate? Whether
or not you can find it, what is the theoretical
basis that leads us to believe it is there?
An
example of what I mean, in military context, is the
creation of the first atom bomb. We spent several
billion dollars building it, but at the end of its
construction, it worked. There was a theoretical
basis for believing that, if we did things a
certain way, the results were predictable. There
is no theoretical basis for believing that remote
viewing, ESP, and other parapsychological skills
should exist. We do not know the theory that says
it should be there. Moreover, we do not know of
any body of data that supports its existence. 20
SG1J
(U)
When questioned on the issue of parapsychology
lacking a theoretical basis for existence,
provided
a counterpoint :
(U) This has not been too much of a concern from
my point of view, although it's bothering. I have
been caught up in a lot of the quantum physics
issues and concepts in the parapsychological area,
but there are topics from conventional physics that
have no real good clear explanation even today, yet
we accept them readily. One example is gravity.
While it is certainly proven and highly repeatable
time after time, everybody accepts the fact that
there is something called gravity, but what is
unknown about gravity is exactly how does it work?
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What is the mechanism?
Is there an action at a
distance, and if so, how?
No one, so far, has
actually measured and detected a graviton, although
this is the speculative particle for how such
action at a distance should work.
So, once you
think about gravity in this light, given the fact
that there are some elegant theories that have been
developed to explain how it behaves, it still does
not explain how gravity reaches out into
the
universe and causes these interactions.
The
graviton is as elusive today as it was when it was
speculated decades ago, so, given the fact that we
do not fully understand such readily accepted
things as gravity, I do not have any particular
difficulty, psychologically, 'in not being able to
explain ESP. The fact that there is no theoretical
model for this phenomenon should not be a deterrent
to striving to find what that theoretical base is,
or even more practically, trying to apply the
phenomenon . 21
(U)
Thus, while the former Soviet Union has apparently
been able to steadily continue its parapsychological research
unburdened by philosophy, research in the US has been hindered
by a lack of philosophical consensus.
£
Almost a decade has
gone by since Captain Groller estimated the strategic threat
posed by Soviet remote viewing research:
(U) In time, the Soviets may be able to learn the
contents of top secret documents, trace
the
movements of our troops and ships, and know the
location and nature of our military installations.
Additionally, the Soviets may be able to mold the
thoughts of key US military and civilian leaders
from a distance, cause the instant death of any US
Army official at a distance, and disable US
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military
equipment
of
all
types
including
spacecraft . 22
(U) The former Soviets' seriousness was also indicated
in a report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, an
arm of the Library of Congress.
This report states that
Soviet
spending on parapsychological
related phenomena
throughout the 1980s resulted in tens of millions of dollars
-
spent
annually.
By
contrast,
total
funding
for
parapsychological research in the US did not exceed $500,000
annually, with most of the money coming from foundations and
other private sources. 23
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
(S)
Russian and, later,
Soviet parapsychological
research is traceable back to World War I, when the Institute
of Brain Research in Petrograd was formed.
The founder, V.M.
Bechterev, promoted investigation into this phenomenon by
forming a Commission for the Study of Mental Suggestion.
In
1924, as a result of positive findings at the Brain Research
Institute, the Second All-Russian Congress of Psychoneurology
recommended additional
research
into the study of the
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paranormal and formed the Society for Neurology, Reflexology,
Hypnotism and Biophysics. 24
(S)
In the 1930s, L.L.
Vasilyev, a protegee of
Bechterev, was commissioned with the task of uncovering the
mysticism associated with telepathy.
The results of his
findings, not published until early 1960, apparently revealed
some eye-opening findings, because during the same year,
Vasilyev formed a new group to study telepathy within the
Physiology and Biology Department of Leningrad University. 25
(U)
£
Nevertheless, while the subject was afforded more
respect in the USSR than the US, it was not always the case
throughout the 20th century.
Up until the late 1950s,
parapsychology was
looked upon in the former USSR with
skepticism and indifference because of no "hard" scientific
data.
Actually, what only amounted to little more than the
stern ostracism by the orthodox US scientific community toward
Americans pursuing parapsychology, was severe by comparison in
the Soviet Union.
Because Marxist philosophy claimed that
history was determined by material reality, Stalin, a staunch
opponent of anomalous study, considered scientists who dabbled
in it as heretics. Their penalty was either death by firing
squad, or a one-way ticket to Siberia. Therefore, research
prior to the death of Stalin in 1953 was conducted underground
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by curious scientists, without government
sanctions, who
provided their own funding and facilities. 26
(U)
However, in 1960, spurred by popular press reports
of Party Chairman Brezhnev's affiliation with a psychic
healer, as well by a French press report that the US was
conducting telepathic sub-to-shore experiments from the US
Navy submarine Nautilus, located at the North Pole, the
,
Soviets reevaluated their own interests in mental telepathy.
Although later revealed as untrue, this press report caused
quite a stir in the Soviet Union and acted as a catalyst for
its own paranormal research. Reportedly, this bogus Nautilus
episode prompted the Soviets to conduct their own sub-to-shore
experiment. Ronald M. McRea recounts in his book Mind Wars:
The True Story of Government Research into the Military
Potential of Psychic Weapons that the Soviets implanted
electrodes deep inside the brain of a mother rabbit who had
just given birth. 27
While observing the behavior of the
mother rabbit in a laboratory on the shore, the newly born
babies were taken out to sea in a submarine.
The Soviets
noted that at each synchronized time that a baby rabbit was
intentionally butchered, a sharp reaction in the mother
rabbit's brain was recorded by the electrodes.
The Soviets
concluded the experiment a success because the signals from
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the electrodes revealed that communication had taken place
between the mother rabbit and her displaced babies.
This
experiment was viewed as a response to Party philosophy of not
falling behind in any area of research no matter how little
understood.
(S/NF)
Soviet difficulties in remote viewing research
surfaced in 1973 at a parapsychology conference in Prague,
Czechoslovakia.
Questions asked by Soviet
scientists
indicated that they were trying to learn as much as possible
about western work without revealing the extent of their own
research.
Their inquiry also reflected that they were
encountering some problems with emotional reactions on the
part of their psychic subjects, and that they considered
remote
viewing
to
be
the most promising
area
of
parapsychology . 28
Subsequently, two visiting Soviets in the
US, a space systems engineer and a cosmonaut, sought out US
scientists with strong backgrounds in remote viewing research.
Although these two Soviets tried to present themselves in a
nonchalant, uninterested demeanor when asking
specific
questions about the status and progress of US remote viewing
research, their well-rehearsed agenda of questions indicated
that they had been well briefed on items of interest to their
Specifically,
they were
interested
in
the
homeland.
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following:
methods of inducing trance-like states, and
whether machines or the techniques of suggestion, hypnosis,
special training, or repeated practice, were used in training
personnel to use "abnormal" abilities. 29
(S/NF)
The Central Intelligence Agency concluded from
these attempts by the Soviets to collect information on remote
viewing that:
(S/NF) The Soviets either had encountered research
difficulties or were trying to gain expertise from
US researchers, or trying to acquire details about
what they believed to be a large, covert research
program. Nevertheless, the Soviets believed that
US researchers had experimental expertise that
would significantly benefit the Soviet program. 30
SG1B
1
(U) Possibly illustrative of former Soviet resolve to
cash in on using the power of the mind, is the mysterious
bombardment of microwaves on the US Embassy in Moscow 1975 and
1976.
One probable reason for this bombardment appears to be
that the microwaves were used to make detection of Soviet
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listening devices extremely difficult, or that they were being
used as an electronic countermeasure to jam US electronic
eavesdropping equipment in the embassy. Another, much less
conventional, hypothesis offered by Martin Ebon in his book,
Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?, is that the Soviets
were using this radiation to effect mind-changes in embassy
personnel by tuning microwaves to the level of brain waves and
recording feedback activity in the form of emotions, images
and thoughts.
Ebon claims that the potential of microwave
brain manipulation stretches the farthest reaches of our
imagination, and that the possibility of President Carter
being subjected to some form of esoteric mind manipulation
during the Vienna SALT II talks cannot be ruled out. 32
It
was noted by the majority of the White House staff that when
President Carter returned to Washington after Vienna, he was
appeared mired by indecision, and demonstrated
erratic
personality and behavior
swings.
This change
in the
President's character prompted the resignation of thirty-four
of his cabinet and staff members. According to Ted Stevens,
an Alaskan Republican, "some of us are seriously worried that
he might be approaching some sort of mental problem. "33
(U)
Ebon's claim is not without
merit
because
ironically, Vasilyev's work, published in 1960, entitled
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"Experiments in Distant Influence," asserted that very low-
level radiation could affect living organisms by causing
dizziness, emotional instability, and hallucinations. He also
hypothesized that thoughts could be grafted into microwaves in
the same way television signals carry pictures and sound,
opening the possibility of long-distance hypnosis or mind-
control. 34
SG1B
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SG1B
MIND OVER MATTER
(U) In addition to the former Soviets' interest and
study in remote viewing, they have also shown considerable
enthusiasm in the examination of telekinesis; the ability to
move small objects by using the power of the mind.
One
frequently reported mind-over-matter event involved a Mrs.
Nina Kulagina from Leningrad.
On 10 March 1970, she
demonstrated her mental ability to stop a frog's heartbeat in
40 seconds. A cardiogram linked to the frog's heart, which
was separated from its body and placed on a container of
saline solution, revealed a sudden burst of electric energy
resembling the impact of an electric shock.
Although the
separated heart would have ultimately stopped beating after
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approximately two hours, there was a pronounced correlation
between Kulagina's concentration to cease the heart's activity
and the electronic cardiogram's record of the abruptness and
abnormal circumstances under which it stopped.
(U)
Mrs.
Kulagina, never accused of any kind of
trickery, conducted most of her demonstrations in the company
of respected medical professionals, including numerous western
observers.
She also demonstrated the mental ability to move
small objects while keeping her hands a substantial distance
away, the ability to move a magnetic compass needle in a 360-
degree motion, and the power to induce painful skin burns on
the arms of people she simply touched.
SG1B
(U)
Although the political and economic unrest which
continues into the Autumn of 1992 in Russia and throughout the
Commonwealth of Independent States will most likely cause
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significant setbacks to their investigative research, it seems
apparent their continued study and possible breakthroughs in
this field could add significant dimensions to the modern-day
battlefield.
(U)
Such paranormal abilities would pose significant
problems if used in a military capacity.
In the US, the
phrase "if looks could kill" is commonly used but dismissed as
an impossibility.
Suppose, as demonstrated in Russia by the
stopping of the frog's heartbeat, thoughts could kill?
Potential military applications would revolutionize warfare to
an extent scarcely imaginable.
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NOTES
SG1A
17.
Martin Ebon. Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion? (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 215.
19.
Ronald M. McRae, "Psychic Warriors, " Omni, April 1984, 62.
20.
Edgar M. Johnson, Ph.D. Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist, US Army. Interview conducted by author at the US
Army Research Institute (ARI) for Behavioral and Social Sciences,
21 October 1992.
SG1J
21
Chief of Special Projects Office (DTI-S0, Defense
Intelligence Agency.
Interview conducted by the Author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, 26 October, 1992.
22.
Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare:
Threat or Illusion ?
( New
York :
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983) , 17.
23.
B. Reppert, "Study Cites Soviet Progress on Mind Weapons, "
Associated Press, 6 November 1983, 6.
24.
(SECRET) Thomas A. Fields. Parapsychology and Intelligence:
Is Remote Viewing a Viable Intelligence Collection Technique? MSSI
(Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence School, June 1979), 24.
25.
(SECRET) Thomas A. Fields. Parapsychology and Intelligence:
Is Remote Viewing a Viable Intelligence Collection Technique? MSSI
(Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence School, June 1979), 24.
26. Ronald M. McRea.
Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons (New York:
St.
Martin's Press, 1984), 31.
27.
Ronald M. McRea. Mind Wars:
The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons (New York:
St. Martin's Press, 19840, 32.
28. (SECRET/NOFORN)
Central Intelligence Agency.
"Soviet and
East European Parapsychology Research. "
Studies in Intelligence.
SI-77-10012, April 1977, 4.
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29.
(SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency.
"Soviet and
East European Parapsychology Research. "
Studies in Intelligence.
SI-77-10012, April, 1977, 4.
SG1A
30.
(SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency.
"Soviet and
East European Parapsychology Research."
Studies in Intelligence.
SI 77-10012 April 1977, 4.
32.
Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion? (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 129.
33.
Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?
(New York :
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 119.
34.
Ronald M. McRea, Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New
York:
St. Martins Press, 1984), 73.
SG1A
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CHAPTER 3
HUBRIS IN THE US GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE ?
ROBOTMAN by Jim Meddick
OUR CLINIC IS VERY
INTERESTED IN
MARGARET HERE ...
SHE APPARENTLY
IT'S PSYCHIC
DREAMS THAT
FORETELL THE
FUTURE-
LAST NIGHT I
DREAMT THAT A
SURPRISE STATE
INSPECTION
CLOSED THIS
CLINIC ON
ETHICS
NOUSTIONS.
HAHA!HA! BUT
CLEARLY NOT ALL
OF MARGARETS
DREAMS CAN BE
TAKEN SERIOUSLY!
DID YOU NOTICE A CALENDAR
IN THE DREAM? WAS THERE ANY
MENTION OF A DATE ? THINK!
THINK! THINK !....
DREAMS ..
8
Source: Jim Meddick, "Robot Man," The Boston Globe, 21
March 1992.
(U)
Skepticism and a lack of faith epitomizes the less
serious
approach in the US toward
remote
viewing.
Unfortunately, it seems that irrefutable proof is the criteria
for acceptance.
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A NEED TO BELIEVE ?
(U) Many who are skeptical about parapsychology claim
its data so inconclusive that it stifles their belief, while
supporters of this phenomenon argue that their belief is
justified by positive experimental data.
Most of those
reluctant to accept remote viewing as a valid study claim that
convincing "proof" does not exist. Faith in the fact of this
phenomenon is an important ingredient for acceptance. Thus,
the promotion of paranormal research, can, for the scientist,
be considered similar to that of a clergy member promoting
religion.
V.M. Bleykher pointed out in 1972, in his book
Parapsychology :
Science or Superstition ?:
(U) In parapsychological convictions it is chiefly
faith which operates.
People believe blindly
in
the myths they have chosen.
The similarity to
religious beliefs is striking.
Those who have
spoken with believers on subjects of religion know
full well how difficult it is to approach them with
deductions of logic or arguments of a scientific
sort.
Fanaticism and a
unique intellectual
blindness are
common traits
of
religious and
parapsychological beliefs.39
(U)
Dr. J.B. Rhine of Duke University in North
Carolina, who started exploring paranormal phenomena in the
early 1920s agreed. He wrote in 1974:
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(U)
A
wide variety of practices in which
capacities of parapsychical nature were assumed
have prevailed throughout the history of mankind in
all its cultures. We may note first the more
formal religions; in these, the assumptions of
parapsychical powers and agencies are an essential
part of the doctrine.40
-
(U)
Christians do not deem irrefutable proof as a
condition for accepting that Jesus Christ walked on water or
created wine from water.
Yet, these believers are not
considered crazy for their convictions .; In fact, the Catholic
Church recognizes controversial subject matters like exorcism,
and does not shun claims that near-death experiences occur.
With this in mind, one might reasonably ask if remote viewing
or out-of-body experience should be such a far-fetched
concept?
25X1A
(U)
a member of the Foreign
Counterintelligence faculty at
the Defense Intelligence
College in Washington, DC, with over twenty three years of
counter intelligence investigative experience, believes that
remote viewing should not be considered foolish:
(U) Over the years, I have met people who have had
near-death experiences, or accomplished out-of-body
experiences while in meditation.
Some of these
people, highly religious, believe that every human
being
is capable of
effecting out-of-body
experiences. While undergoing these experiences,
these people claim that they were able to mentally
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travel, from the location of their physical self,
to another location
where they could observe
activity remote from their physical self. Also, I
read Robert Monroe's book Journeys Out of the Body,
and believe very much in what Monroe claims, that
most, if not all, humans have this capability. 4
25X1A (U)
willingness to accept the fact of
psychic phenomena, including remote viewing, provides evidence
that
attention
continues to be paid to research and
scholarship in this field. In the 1980s, for example, one may
read two authorities who provided substantial basis for the
views of Schweitzer and others who continue to have scholarly
interest in this field.
(U)
Thomas E. Beardon, a retired US Army Lieutenant
Colonel who has written extensively on the parapsychology
program in the former Soviet Union, observed in 1981:
(U) The West has been solidly imprisoned in its
own orthodox view of psychics, and hence has been
unable to surmount the stone walls of its self-
imposed mental barriers. In fact, it has not even
tried. The `orthodox establishment continues to
vigorously attack the experiments as unscientific,
and the experimenters who struggle with paranormal
research as frauds and charlatans. 42
(U)
In 1985, Dr. Russell Targ, a laser physicist at
Stanford
Research Institute who has conducted numerous
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experiments on remote viewing, echoed the sentiments of
Beardon:
(U)
The reasons more people have not actively
explored their psychic capabilities are clear.
Everywhere we look, we find images of psychic
functioning that are confusing, intimidating,
misleading, and terrifying ... Meanwhile, critics of
parapsychology, who often know next to nothing
about this phenomenon, condemn the scientific work
in this field out of fear of its philosophical
implication. 43
SRI TESTS
(U)
It is ironic that the US is apparently at a
disadvantage regarding research on remote viewing because,
despite the lack of support for this research, the CIA
conducted controlled tests as early as 1973 on this phenomenon
with astonishing results.
These tests were conducted at
Stanford Research Institute (SRI) at Menlo Park California, by
the two most noteworthy mavericks and pioneers of remote
viewing: Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ, both of whom have
impeccable credentials as scientists.
Targ has important
copyright patterns to his credit in the laser field. Puthoff,
a Stanford Ph.D., in addition to also having laser copyright
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patents,
has
coauthored
a
textbook
in
quantum
physics ... neither is a novice in physical research.4
(U) The general procedure for these tests was to closet
the remote viewer with an interviewer from the institute, in
a windowless room within a laboratory of the SRI complex. At
a prearranged time, an SRI researcher, who acted as a conduit
for the remote viewer, retrieved one of 60 targets cards from
a locked safe and departed for a location dictated on his
target card. The target cards, numbered from one to sixty,
were selected by the conduit by using a random-number function
on a Texas Instruments hand calculator, therefore, the target
selected from the safe was neither known by the remote viewer
nor the interviewer. Thus, the interviewer could not aid or
elicit a positive target response from the remote viewer. The
target sites were all within a 30-minute driving time from
SRI .. When a predetermined viewing time arrived, the remote
viewer was asked to draw and describe what he envisioned at
the target site. Verbal descriptions of the target site were
also recorded on a tape recorder. The person at the target
site simply paid attention to the environment of the site for
15 minutes then returned to the lab.
After all of the raw
data was compiled, the target person, the remote viewer, and
the interviewer returned to the target site to discuss the
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test.
This was done to afford the remote viewer an
opportunity to evaluate his own abilities.
(U) After six of these experiments were completed and
their data compiled, data packages, to include the remote
viewer's sketches, transcripts, and target card, were
forwarded to SRI researchers, or "judges," who were tasked to
revisit the target sites and assign a package to the site. To
assign a quantitative , value to these tests, the SRI judge
assessed the viewer's transcript against the target. From the
transcript
a
list of six concepts were developed and
numerically rated on a scale of zero to ten. A concept was
usually descriptive in nature and represented by a one-word
adjective (i.e. "red, " "tall," "bright") or phrase. A zero
constituted no correlation between the transcript and the
target site, and a ten represented exact correlation.
The
judge then computed the arithmetic average of the six concepts
and arrived
at
a success rating for each
individual
experiment. As described by Puthoff:
(U) The quality of the results was such that the
judges, who had to determine in a blind fashion
which viewer-generated
data
packages
were
associated with which target sites, were able to
match transcripts to targets in first place in
roughly half
the
cases,
an
exceptionally
significant result. 45
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(U) In 1978, Puthoff and Targ conducted a similar series
of experiments designed to determine the resolution capability
of remote viewing. In these experiments, the remote viewer
was again closeted with an interviewer while a target person
proceeded to a randomly selected location approximately 1/8 of
a mile from the SRI complex. In these experiments, however,
the remote viewer was not to report on the location of the
target person, but on an item concealed in a 35mm film
canister carried by the target person.
(U)
To prepare for this series of experiments, an
experimenter previously unassociated
with remote viewing
experiments, was tasked to select ten small items and deposit
each
in separate
35mm
light-tight
canisters.
This
experimenter then sealed the canisters. The canister and its
contents were neither known by the interviewer nor the target
person. The canisters were then numbered from one to ten and
secured them in a locked safe.
(U) In these tests, like in those discussed above, the
location to where the target person carried the canister was
determined by a random number function on a calculator. The
target person remained at this site for ten minutes then
returned to the laboratory where the remote viewer, the
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interviewer, and the target person learned the contents of the
canister for the first time.
(U) The transcripts of ten experiments were then turned
over to an independent judge who evaluated and compared
descriptions given by the remote viewers to the actual
contents in the canisters.
Examples of the quality of the
descriptions, as well as sketches prepared by the remote
viewer are shown in Figure 1.
(U)
In addition to local remote viewing experiments
conducted within the San Francisco area, Puthoff and Targ also
conducted long distance experiments with equally
significant results.
(U)
In these tests, conducted in 1973, two renowned
American psychics projected their minds over long distances
and accurately described secret military installations as well
as classified materials within these installations. One of
the psychics described in minute detail a remotely located
Soviet installation in the Ural Mountains. Reportedly, this
description was verified by CIA agents in the Soviet Union.
The two psychics then focused on China, and once again CIA
contacts in China reportedly confirmed their accuracy. When
he saw the results of the tests, a security officer at the
test facility exclaimed, "Hell, there's no security left. "46
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SPOOL AND PIN
IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THIN AND
LONG. . . WITH A NAIL HEAD AT THE
END . . . SILVERED COLORED "
CURLED UP LEAF
" NAUTILUS SHAPE WITH A TAIL."
.
B
LEATHER BELT KEYRING
"THE STRONGEST IMAGE I GET IS LIKE A DELT-
CAN OF SAND
-LIKE A MINIATURE TOWER ... SCALLOPED
BOTTOM . . . LIGHT BEIGE."
RS
GREY AND WHITE QUILL
"LIKE A PENGUIN . .. GREY AND BLACK AND
WHITE ... POINTED OR SLIGHTLY ROUNDED
OFF AT THE TOP . .. OPEN OR POINTED AT
THE BOTTOM."
Figure 1: TARGET OBJECTS IN METAL CONTAINERS. Captions under subject drawings
a quote from fire paragach of transcript.
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Bourse: Puthoff, Resolution in Remote Viewing Studies:
Mini- and Micro- Targata.
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(U) Although the nature of these test results seemed
apparent in their complimentary value to Human Intelligence,
Dr. Kenneth A. Kress sums up the Agency's reluctance to accept
this remarkable data at face value:
( S/NF )
The Agency took
the
initiative by
sponsoring serious parapsychological research, but
circumstances,
biases, and
fear
of ridicule
prevented
CIA
from completing a
scientific
investigation of parapsychology and its relevance
to national security ... also there tend to be two
types of reactions to parapsychology: positive or
negative, with little in between ... add a history
replete with proven frauds and many people
instantly reject the subject saying, in effect, "I
would not believe this stuff even if it were
true, #47
(U)
In
addition, the west's hostile attitude on
parapsychological research is further apparent in Doctor
Richard
S.
Broughton's
book ,
Parapsychology:
The
Controversial Science.
According to Broughton, in December
1987, the US Army Research Institute for Behavioral and Social
Sciences (ARI) contracted with the National Research Council
(NRC) to review human-performance technologies on paranormal
ability. Normally, ARI would have hired an outside agency to
supervise the NRC contracts in order to retain an impartial
evaluation of the tests. However, on this occasion ARI hired
a civilian army psychologist and former Deputy Director of
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Human Resources at the Pentagon's Advanced
Research
and
Projects Agency (ARPA) to perform this task.
According to
Broughton, the irony in hiring this psychologist was that "he
already had a record of being firmly opposed to some of the
technologies under study. "48
More
importantly,
the
subcommittee formed by the NRC consisted of no one with
parapsychology experience.
(U) Dr. Edgar M. Johnson, Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist at ARI, who directed this 1987 study defends the
hiring of the NRC:
The overriding question in this study was what data
is there to explain any of these parapsychological
claims? That was the biggest reason that we handed
it off to the National Research Council through a
contract. We believed that any in-house laboratory
would not be credible if they said that these
technologies did not work. The National Research
Council, on the other hand, while their conclusions
sometimes get watered down, represent the most
impeccable source of scientific judgement that you
can provide to the country. 49
.>
(U)
However, according to the Parapsychological
Association (PA), the NRC's report failed to deliver an
objective and unbiased assessment of the tests.
The PA
concluded :
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(U)
With respect to the committee's central
mission for the US Army, we have shown that the
committee's prejudice against parapsychology has
lead it to ignore research, the further development
of which could have important implications for our
national security. 50
(U) Ironically enough, even though the PA's review of
the NRC's report uncovered erroneous and incomplete data, a
significant breakthrough had occurred:
The military was
looking at parapsychology as a "technology" for possible
application. Surprisingly, the NRC report concluded with a
recommendation that the Army monitor the Soviet Union's
research in parapsychology. Prior to this mention there was
no evidence of the committee's familiarity with parapsychology
research in the Soviet Union.
(U)
Dr. Johnson reflects on the council's findings and
comments :
(U)
What the council found was that there was no
theoretical basis for believing that this phenomena
existed. However, we do not want to say, and this
leads us to the least common denominator, that its
impossible, so we periodically look to see what has
turned up. Although we have not done any research
in this area since the report, I am quite certain
that some research still continues. I think that
the reason that this phenomena attracted so much
interest back when it did was that every body was
looking for an edge. So, if we could have found
something, it would have been a fantastic edge. 51
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(U) The fear that the Soviet Union might beat the US at
something, which in the past has probably caused more military
money to be spent on parapsychology than any other factor, was
dying hard even in the era of glastnost.
(U) The media noted Congressional and military interest
during the early 1980s. What outwardly seemed to be a short-
lived spurt of support was developing into a steadily
increasing flow. According to a press report in 1981, a study
prepared for the House Science and Technology Committee said
that the esoteric world of parapsychology -- involving such
heavily disputed phenomena as remote viewing -- merited
serious assessment by Congress. 52
Additionally, remote
viewing was apparently used by the US military in 1981 to aid
in the manhunt for General James L. Dozier who was abducted
from his apartment in Verona by Italian terrorists. 53
Although remote viewing proved unsuccessful, and it frustrated
US intelligence agencies who had to work alongside the
psychics, it further exemplified the US military's willingness
to employ this concept. On 5 November 1982 General Maxwell R.
Thurman, then Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel wrote in a
memorandum to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Army, "Can areas of emerging, nontraditional psychology offer
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the American soldier an advantage over his adversary?
Does
remote viewing hold potential value to the Army?"54
(U) Eventually, even skeptics like the Washington Post's
Jack Anderson, who in 1981 referred to the Pentagon's study of
the paranormal as "futuristic fantasies," "hogwash, " and
"voodoo warfare"55, was singing a different tune. In 1984 he
wrote:
(U) But there are legitimate laboratory projects
that may eventually unlock the mysteries of the
human mind. One of the most promising is the
testing of "remote viewing" -- the claimed ability
of some psychics to describe scenes thousands of
miles away. 56
(U) Regardless, an abundance of skeptics, termed by Ray
Hyman as the
"loyal opposition," battled against this
controversial
subject
matter, and
the media
tainted
parapsychology with sarcastic comments.
Although a certain
few, mainly those associated with this phenomenon, studied
this activity seriously, a vast majority of others were
skeptical and reluctant to accept that parapsychology merited
valid concern.
Nevertheless, the number of government and
military professionals, as well as professionals in respected
academic circles, who were willing to look further, increased
because the mounting impressive evidence of successfully
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conducted
parapsychological experiments was sufficiently
compelling to keep them curious. Remote viewing was surviving
the test of time and the wear and tear of hostile critics.
1
-
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NOTES
35.
Bleykher, V.M.
Parapsychology:
Science or Superstition ?.
JPRS 60883, 28 December 1973, 74.
40.
(U) Rhine, J.B., and Associates. Parapsychology From Duke to
FRNM, Durham, NC: The Parapsychology Press 1965, 46.
25X1A
41.
Foreign Counterintelligence faculty
member, Department of National Intelligence Studies at the Defense
Intelligence College. Interview conducted by the author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., 16 October 1992.
42. Thomas E. Beardon. Excalibur Briefing: Explaining Paranormal
Phenomena (San Francisco, CA: Strawberryhill Press, 1981), 197.
43.
Russell Targ and Keith Harary.
The Mind Race (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1985), 119.
44. Ray Hyman, "Psychics and Scientists:
Mind-Reach and Remote
Viewing, " The Humanist, 37, no. 3 May/June 1977, 16.
45.
Russell Targ and others.
Remote Viewing Replication,
Evaluated by Concept Analysis, Stanford Research Institute, Menlo
Park, CA., April 1982, 14.
46. Henry Gris and William Dick.
The New S
Psychic
Discoveries: A First-hand Report on the Latest Breakthroughs in
Russian Parapsychology, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1978), 292.
47.
(SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Parapsychology
in Intelligence: a Personal Review and Conclusion." Studies in
Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-001, 21, no.1, Spring 1977, 7.
48.
Richard S. Broughton, Ph. D.
Parapsychology:
The
Controversial Science, (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1991), 324.
49. Edgar M. Johnson, Ph.D.
Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist, US Army. Interview conducted by author at the US
Army Research Institute
(ARI )
for the Behavioral and Social
Sciences, 21 October 1992.
50.
Richard
s.
Broughton,
Ph.
D.,
Parapsychology:
The
Controversial Science (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1991), 324.
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51. Edgar M. Johnson, Ph. D., Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist, US Army.
Interview conducted by author at the US
Army Research Institute (ARI) for the Behavioral and Social
Sciences, 21 October 1992.
52.
"Reagan, House Democratic Leaders Reach the Slugging Stage, "
Associated Press, 25 June 1981.
53. Sally Squires,
"The Pentagon's Twilight Zone," Washington
Post, 17 April 1988, Sec. C3.
54. Sally Squires,
"The Pentagon's Twilight zone," Washington
Post, 17 April 1988, sec. C3.
55. Jack Anderson,
"Pentagon
Invades
Buck
Rogers'
Turf."
Washington Post, 9 January 1981, D16.
50.
"Psychic Studies Might Help US Explore Soviets," Washington
Post, 23 April 1984, B14.
-- >
.
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CHAPTER 4
AN INTELLIGENCE TOOL ?
Attacking the mind is superior while attacking
fortifications is :
mind
war
is
superior, while combat is inferior.
Kung Ming
"Collected Writings of
Zhuge Liang" 181-234 BC
POLITICAL AND MILITARY APPLICATIONS
(U) The concept of remote viewing, if ever accepted as
a valid phenomenon, would provide a remarkable military
surveillance technique, possibly enable a combatant to ensure
victory, and save thousands of its side's lives.
In Brad
Steiger's book Astral Projection, Loring B. Williams, a 30-
year veteran of research in paranormal phenomena, discusses
optimistic strategic uses for remote viewing, as he recalls
the US embarrassment after Gary Powers' U-2 surveillance
mission was shot down over the Soviet Union. Williams writes
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on the possible advantageous role remote viewing could play in
complimenting espionage:
(U) If mind-travel is accepted scientifically we
could place some well-trained subjects anywhere in
the world who could survey the military might of
any threat without the risk of detection or danger.
These mind-travelers could tune in on high council
meetings; could mentally search through political
archives,
and slip inside the minds of
the
political bodies of any nation's political and
military's leaders.
No longer would it be
necessary for our agents to endanger their lives by
spying around the world. 57
: :
-
(U) Steiger's book also illustrates beneficial tactical
applications of remote viewing through out-of-body experience.
Reportedly, a young German soldier in World War I had the
ability to project himself out of his body to spy on the
divisional headquarters of a nearby French unit. When the
soldier reported to his intelligence officer that the French
were planning to attack German positions the following evening
at 2300 hours, the officer scoffed at him until a number of
the young soldier's comrades convinced the officer to let the
soldier prove his ability. The officer challenged the soldier
to project himself upon their own headquarters, several
kilometers away, and report to him activity that was taking
place there. The young soldier agreed and lapsed into a
trance-like state. 58
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(U) When he stirred a few minutes later he reported that
an Austrian General had just arrived at division headquarters
with orders.
After copying down the general's orders as
relayed by the young soldier, the intelligence officer phoned
division headquarters to confirm the soldier's report.
Headquarters showed immediate concern that there was a leak in
security, because there was no conceivable way that the
intelligence officer, so far away from division headquarters,
could possibly know the orders that headquarters had just
moments before received from the general. The intelligence
officer explained his source and reported the young soldier's
claim that the French were planning an offensive scheduled for
2300
hours the following night.
The newly convinced
intelligence officer requested reinforcements. The officers
at
division
headquarters
dismissed
this
convincing
demonstration
as nonsense, and as a result, the young
soldier's unit was overrun and captured by the French the next
night at 2300 hours. 59
(U) The proposition that remote viewing is a phenomenon
that warrants further research as a collection tool is also
voiced by Martin Ebon in his book Psychic Warfare: Threat or
Illusion. He compares his thoughts with Lieutenant Colonel
John B. Alexander, a respected authority on this subject.
Alexander's article looked at the possibility of remote
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viewing as an employable weapon on the future battlefield. He
noted that the Soviets are "well in advance" in weapons that
operate on the power of the mind. He also noted that the
lethal
capacity of these
weapons has
already
been
demonstrated.
He pointed to the "intelligence gathering
capability" of remote viewing and claimed that the strategic
and tactical applications of this technique are unlimited.
According to Alexander:
: :
(U) When finally developed, this capability could
ultimately allow an operator to enter an enemy
headquarters
at will
to observe plans and
dispositions.
On the battlefield, one could
reconnoiter an area from the physical safety of his
own location. 60
(S/NF) Dr. Kress in his 1977 article, "Parapsychology
and Intelligence," outlines the CIA's interest in remote
viewing as an intelligence gathering tool. According to his
report, personnel from the CIA's Office of Scientific
Intelligence (OSI) and Office of Research and Development
(ORD) met with Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff in April 1972.
From April 1972 to February 1973 the CIA was so impressed with
the results of Stanford Research Institute experiments on
remote viewing that the CIA's Office of Technical Services
(OTS) encouraged "the development of a more complete research
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plan. #61
It was during this time period that Kress, the
CIA'S
Project
Officer,
was
introduced
to
ex-police
commissioner and vice mayor of Burbank, California, Pat Price.
Price, to date, is noted as Stanford Research Institute's most
successful remote viewer.
(U) One notable experiment involving Price, as recounted
by Ronald M. McRea in his book Mind Wars: The True Story of
Government Research into the Military Potential of Psychic
Weapons,
produced some
noteworthy
results.
In this
experiment, the CIA passed the geographic coordinates of a
series of targets in an area of Virginia approximately 135
miles southwest of Washington, DC, to Price. The results of
this experiment were not scoffed at by the CIA:
(U) beginning with a description of the area from
an altitude of 1,500 feet and ending with a tour
through building interiors, the results were
complete with descriptions of equipment, names from
desks, and -- just to show that Price was serious -- a
list of a dozen labelings on file folders locked in
a file cabinet.
Three weeks later,
the CIA
informed Puthoff that Price was right.
Exactly
right. 62
( S/NF )
The
first
actual
intelligence collection
operation conducted by the CIA and Price using remote viewing
took place in early 1974.
The target was an unidentified
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-
SG11
Soviet research and development facility.
Dr. Kress, after
reviewing satellite reconnaissance photos, decided to have
Price focus on a tall crane and four structures resembling oil
well derricks at the location. Price was furnished with the
geographic coordinates of these targets, a world atlas map
marked with the approximate location of the facility, and was
told that it was Soviet research and development facility. 63
(S/NF)
The next day Price furnished Kress with a
drawing of what Price described as a "damned big crane" (see
Figure 2.) Regardless, Kress remained skeptical because Price
never mentioned the derricks. When asked why he did not see
the derricks Price replied that they were not there any more.
Kress, because he had not verified his data during the past
three months, rechecked the latest reconnaissance photos. To
his surprise, the new photos revealed that two of the derricks
were partially disassembled.64
(S/NF) Nevertheless, Kress maintained that all four were
visible, therefore, he concluded:
(S/NF) In general, most of Price's data were wrong
or could not be evaluated. He did, nevertheless,
produce some amazing descriptions, like buildings
then under construction, spherical tank sections,
and the crane. But, again, since there was bad
information mixed in with the good, the overall
result was not considered useful. The ORD officers
concluded that since there were no control
experiments to compare with, the data were nothing
but lucky guessing. 65
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TTT
i
(a) TARGET SITE
.
. CRANE COMPARISON
Figure 2:
Comparison of Target Site and Drawing by Remote Viewer
Source:
Kress, "Parapsychology in Intelligence ... ,"
Studies in Intelligence, 21, no. 1, Spring 1977.
:
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(S/NF )
Nevertheless, Kress, who must not have been
wholeheartedly convinced that this bad data spoiled the whole
test, sought the opinion of a disinterested consultant. The
man chosen,
a theoretical physicist with a reputable
intellectual background, was tasked to first review the field
of parapsychology, and then evaluate the CIA's data.
He
determined that, "a large body of reliable experimental
evidence points to the inescapable
conclusion
that
extrasensory perception does exist as a real phenomenon,
albeit characterized by rarity and lack of reliability. "66
According to Kress, even though there was still skepticism,
this simple opinion, offered by a competent scientist, was
enough to keep the CIA's parapsychological research alive.
(S/NF)
Price's next test was to remotely view the
coderooms within two foreign embassies. His results were to
be verified by US audio teams who had years before gained
access into these chosen facilities. He was given photographs
of
the embassies' ' exteriors and
their
geographical
coordinates. The results of these tests revealed:
(S/NF) In both cases, Price correctly located the
coderooms. He produced copious data, such as the
location of interior doors and colors of marble
stairs and fireplaces that were accurate and
specific.
As usual, much was also vague and
incorrect.
Regardless, the operations officer
involved concluded, "It is my considered opinion
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that
this technique -- whatever
it
is -- offers
definite operational possibilities.67
(S/NF) This operation, considered a success by the CIA,
further justified the continuation of CIA's interest in remote
viewing.
In fact, it was after these sets of tests that the
CIA, in order to protect Price's identity and abilities,
stopped testing through Stanford Research Institute and signed
Price to a personal services contract.
:
(S/NF) The last test involving Price before his untimely
death involved viewing a request for intelligence (RFI) on a
Libyan training facility:
(S/NF) A report describing a guerrilla training
site was quickly returned by Price. It contained a
map-like drawing of the complex. Price described a
related underwater sabotage training facility site
several hundred kilometers away on the sea coast.
This information was passed to the Libyan desk.
Some data were evaluated immediately, some were
evaluated
only
after
ordering
special
reconnaissance coverage. New information produced
by Price was verified by reconnaissance.
The
underwater sabotage training facility description
was similar to a collateral agent's report. 68
(U)
Evidently, the CIA could not determine if Price's
seemingly fruitful demonstrations merited further exploration
because, since his death in 1975, there have been no further
CIA-sponsored tests on remote viewing as a collection tool.
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The Associated Press claimed that the CIA scaled down its
involvement in paranormal research because it was under
intense scrutiny on Capital Hill during the mid-seventies
resulting from the Agency's alleged involvement with the
Watergate
scandal.
The Agency's apparent view was that
continued
involvement in something as controversial
as
parapsychology
experiments would further denigrate
its
professional standing among community clients, as well as
among Congressional oversight committees.
(U)
The Agency's subsequent lack of seriousness on
remote viewing is reflected in CIA director Admiral Stansfield
Turner's
attitude.
While attending a breakfast
for
journalists in 1977, Turner responded to a question asked
about the validity of remote viewing by commenting that the
CIA:
had an individual who from time to time was able to
draw very elementary sketches of street scenes in
foreign
countries
where he had never been.
Sometimes
these
sketches
had
a
reasonable
relationship to reality, however, this subject died
in 1975, and we haven't heard from him since. "69
(U) Meanwhile, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) picked up
the slack.
Neither agency was shy to admit that they would
continue modest testing into remote viewing with the hope of
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SG1J
SG1J
perfecting this phenomenon to the point of application.
According to Ronald McRea, author of the book Mind Wars: The
True Story of Government Research into the Military Potential
of Psychic Weapons,
who headed
the Defense Intelligence Agency's office responsible for
tracking leads on MIAs who may still be alive, employed
psychics to assist in his operation.
In 1982
claimed,
"some of these psychics' leads have checked out ... they have
been able to visualize aircraft crashes, and we have found the
wreckage where they indicated. "70
Subsequently, DARPA'S
director, Dr. George Lawrence, was ordered by his superiors to
find something to satisfy Congressional demands to match
purported Soviet efforts in the field.71
(U)
A 1983 New York Times article echoed the claim by
the Associated Press that DARPA exhibited interest in remote
viewing.
The article recounts an experiment conducted by
Russell Targ in 1976.
In this instance Targ acted as a
conduit in New York City while a remote viewer at Stanford
Research Institute in California typed his impression of
Targ's location.
The site, chosen only minutes prior to the
actual test time, was the central water fountain in Washington
Square Park.
On a terminal linked into DARPA's computer
network the viewer typed, "The first image I got was of a
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cement depression -- as if a dry fountain -- with a cement post in
the middle or inside. There seemed to be pigeons off to the
right flying around the surface of the depression (see Figure
3. )72 This report was confirmed by Targ who relayed that the
fountain was dry, had a cement post in the middle from which
to spray water, and was surrounded by pigeons.
(U) In addition to this test SRI conducted numerous
other tests throughout the later 1970s with equally persuasive
results (see Figures 4 , thru 9. )73
1 :
(U) According to Charles Wallach, who has published
several authoritative articles in the field of remote viewing,
the most encouraging consideration of remote viewing is the
fact that "such a large percentage of the population is found
to be capable of conducting it, whether or not they are aware
of this capability or have had any experience or interest in
psychic phenomena. "74
Moreover, he discusses the cost
effectiveness of remote viewing in intelligence collection as
compared to the significant amount of money allocated to
established sciences toward the detection of underground
tunnels and the mapping of minefields. In his 1985 article in
the Defense Intelligence Journal Wallach proposes:
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S
!
7
5
Figure 3:
COAST TO COAST REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT
WITH TARGET AT WASHINGTON SQUARE IN NEW
YORK CITY. SUBJECT'S FIRST PERCEPTION WAS
OF A "CEMENT DEPRESSION - AS IF A DRY
FOUNTAIN - WITH A CEMENT POST IN THE
CENTER OR . YSIDE".
or still
WASHINGTON SQUARE IN NEW YORK CITY, USED AS TARGET IN COAST-TO-COAST REMOTE-VIEWING
EXPERIMENT, 6 JULY 1976 (U)
·Source:
Puthoff and Targ, Advanced Threat Technique
Assessment - Final Report (1977), July 1977.
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BRER
LEROYVIDEO LES
ococo
=
-
Figure 4: Airport in San Andres, Colombia, used as a
remote viewing target, along with a sketch produced by
subiect in California.
Source: Puthoff and Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information
Transfer Over Kilometer Distances:
Historical Perspective and Recent Research," Proceedings
of the IEEE, 64, DO. 3. March 1976.
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.
.
1
Top view
..
Figure 5: Subject drawing of merry-go-round target.
Source:
Puthoff and Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information
Transfer Over Kilometer Distances:
Historical Perspective and Recent Research, " Proceedings
of the IBBE, 64, no. 3, March 1976.
.
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TARGET-TENNIS COURTS
AND
Tuit
Figure 6: Drawings in response to tennis court target.
Source:
Puthoff and Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information Transfer Over Kilometer Distances:
Historical Perspective and Recent Research," Proceedings
of the IEEE, 64, no. 3, March 1976.
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TYPEWRITER TARGET
4.
Figure 7:
Drawings of a typewriter target by two
subjects.
Source:
Puthoff and Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information Transfer Over Kilometer Distances:
Historical Perspective and Recent Research, . Proceedings
of the IEEE, 64, no. 3, March 1976.
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LIO
TARGET: VIDEO MONITOR FOR TEXT EDITING
Side
all out Blick :
B
-
Œ
L
(b)
Figure 8: Drawing of two subjects of a video monitor
target. (a) is a subject drawing of a "box with light
coming out of it ... painted flat black and in the middle
of the room." In (b) the subject saw a computer terminal
with relay racks in the background.
Source:
Puthoff and Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information
Transfer Over Kilometer Distances:
Historical Perspective and Recent Research, " Proceedings
of the IEEE, 64, no. 3, March 1976.
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CPYRGHT
TARGET LOCATION :
XEROX MACHINE
TO ADD INTEREST TO TARGET
LOCATION EXPERIMENTER WITH
HIS HEAD BEING XEROXED
(TECHNOLOGY, SERIES)
2
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
Figure 9: Drawings by three subjects for
Xerox machine
target. When asked to describe the square on the left,
subject said, "there was this predominant light source
which might have been a window, and a working surface or
desk." In response to the square on the right the
subject said, "I have a feeling that there is something
silhouetted against the window."
Source:
Puthoff and Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information
Transfer Over
Kilometer Distances:
Historical Perspective and Recent Research, " Proceedings
of the IEEE, 64, 00. 3, March 1976.
.
.
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(U) ... the creation of an effectively structured
"Psychic Service Corps" (PSC) be implemented in the
United States -- with its own dedicated recruiting
arm and training command that should remain
independent branches of the PSC for at least a
generation -- before being integrated with parallel
armed force functions. This special treatment is
necessary because of the unusual and unconventional
roles that will be played by the PSC personnel in
strategic defense, tactical maneuvers, battlefield
operations, and espionage and counterespionage.75
25X1A
in a thesis he
(S)
prepared
for the Defense Intelligence School in 1979,
summarized probable uses for remote viewing in military
intelligence. He claimed that remote viewing has been proven
sufficiently effective through experiment and could be used in
the following applications:
(S) - Surveying of remote geographical locations,
facilities, and installations to identify unknown
or suspected activities or functions.
(S) - Locating and/or surveying individuals
(S) - Locating sensitive areas within facilities
such as code rooms in embassies.
(S) - Reading written material
sealed within
envelopes or otherwise secured;
or at least
obtaining an impression of the general content of
the material.
(S) - Intercepting remote conversations.
(S) - Detecting remote viewing activities directed
against
US
targets
by
hostile
powers
(counterintelligence) .76
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25X1A (U)
echoed the sentiments of Charles Wallach in
that he, too, concluded that research into remote viewing does
not require inordinate amounts of money or personnel.
The
simple experiments outlined earlier in this chapter illustrate
this shared claim.
(U)
The roller coaster of attitudes for support for
parapsychology exemplified by Ronald McRea, previously cited
authority of a study of US governmental research on psychic
: :
phenomena, clearly shows that there are no fence-sitters on
this issue. He depicted the spectrum of differing opinions in
Congress by describing Thomas McNamara, a former influential
aide to Tennessee Congressman Robin Beard, who claimed that
"This kind of research makes the whole defense establishment
look ridiculous. "77
On the other hand, Dick Giza, a member
of
the
House
Intelligence Committee
staff
countered,
"Considering some of the half-assed things this government has
funded in the past, like studies of ethnicity in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, this is not a bad area to throw money into. "78
G.
Gordon
Liddy, who used to study the exploitation
of
unconventional
intelligence methods and devices, supported
McNamara's sentiments and claimed that research in this area
only threatened the taxpayers. "I think that stuff ought to
be left to Stephen King," he quipped in 1981.79
:
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(U) Representative Charlie Rose, a member of the House
Select Committee on Intelligence, probably the most versed in
remote viewing called the concept "really something." Rose
attended classified CIA-arranged briefings on remote viewing
and witnessed some incredible demonstrations, however, he
thinks skeptics in the Pentagon and CIA hindered research, and
he questioned their motives:
-
(U) Some of the intelligence people I've talked to
know that remote viewing works. They block further
research on it, however, because they claim that
it's not yet accurate as satellite photography.
But it seems to me that it would be a hell of a
cheap radar system, and if the Russians have it and
we don't we are in serious trouble. This country
wasn't afraid to look into the strange physics
behind lasers and semiconductors, and I don't think
that we should be afraid to look into this.80
(U)
£
It is becoming increasingly apparent, as we trace
attitudes in both executive and legislative branches of
government in this paper, that the biggest obstacle in the
path to further exploration of remote viewing is the large
number of professionals who appeared to focus only on the
inconsistencies inherent in this type of phenomenon instead of
crediting its many successes. If remote viewing was employed
in an interdisciplinary role in support of human intelligence,
the possibility of increasing the reliability rate of these
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agents' reports, which are always in question, could be
greatly enhanced.
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NOTES
57.
Brad Steiger, Astral Projection (Westchester), PA:
Publishing, Ltd., 1982), 140.
Schiffer
58.
Brad Steiger. Astral Projection (Westchester, PA:
Schiffer
Publishing, Ltd., 1982), 84.
Schiffer
59.
Brad Steiger. Astral Projection (Westchester, PA:
Publishing, Ltd., 1982), 85.
60.
Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion. (New York :
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 17.
61. (SECRET/NOFORN)
The Central
Intelligence Agency.
"Parapsycholgy in
Intelligence:
A
Personal
Review and
Conclusions. " Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no. 4,
Winter, 1977, 8.
62. Ronald M. McRea, Mind Wars:
The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons, (New York :
St. Martin's, 1984), 100.
63. (SECRET/NOFORN)
The
Central
Intelligence Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal Review and
Conclusions." Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no.4,
Winter 1977, 12.
64.
( SECRET/NOFORN )
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal Review and
Conclusions." Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no.4,
Winter 1977, 12.
65.
(SECRET/NOFORN)
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal Review and
Conclusions. " Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no.4,
Winter 1977, 12.
66. (SECRET/NOFORN)
The Central
Intelligence
Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal
Review and
Conclusions. "
Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no.4,
Winter 1977, 14.
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67. (SECRET/NOFORN)
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency .
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal
Review
and
Conclusions. "
Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004,
Winter 1977,21, no.4, 14.
68.
( SECRET/NOFORN )
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal
£
Review
and
Conclusions." Studies in Intelligence.
TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no. 4,
Winter 1977, 15.
69. Ronald M. McRea Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1984), 113.
70. Ronald M. McRea.
Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New York :
St.
Martin's Press 1984). 18.
71. Ronald McRea.
Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New
York: St. Martin's Press 1984), 107.
72.
William J. Broad, "Pentagon is said to Focus on ESP for
Wartime Use," The New York Times, 10 January 1984, sec. C, 1.
73.
Harold E. Puthoff and Russell Targ, "A Perceptual Channel for
Information Transfer Over Kilometer Distances:
Historical
Perspective and Recent Research," Proceedings of the IEEE, 64,
no.3, March 1976, 330-344.
74. Charles Wallach, "The Science of Psychic Warfare," Journal of
Defense Diplomacy, 3, no.9, September 1985, 41.
75. Charles Wallach, "The Science of Psychic Warfare," Journal of
Defense and Diplomacy, 3, no.9, September 1985, 44.
25X1A
76. (SECRET)
"Parapsychology and Intelligence: Is
Remote Viewing a viable Intelligence Collection Technique ?" MSSI.
Defense Intelligence School, June 1979, 84.
77. Ronald M. McRea. Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1984), 63.
78. Ronald M. McRea. Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1984), 63.
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79. Ronald M. McRea.
Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons.
(New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1984), 64.
80. Ronald M. McRea, "Psychic Warriors," Omni, April 1984, 62.
Congressman Rose accepted my invitation to interview him in early
October 1992, however he was called out of town and the interview
had to be canceled.
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW COULD HURT US !
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
(U) In 1976 my mother visited a psychic with some of her
friends. Although reluctant at first because of her disbelief
in this type of phenomenon, as well as her feeling that it
would be a waste of time and money, she was finally convinced
by her friends to go. The psychic told my mother that one of
her two sons "would be laid-up for a while because of an
accident." He also told her that both of her sons would "be
professionals and wear military uniforms," In 1976, at 14
years of age, a career choice was the farthest thing from my
mind, let alone a career as a military officer. Nevertheless,
in 1977 I was involved in an auto accident that killed one of
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my closest friends and seriously injured three other occupants
in the car. I shattered my lower back and broke my left leg
into two separate pieces.
I was "laid-up" in traction for
four months, and my leg required a ten-inch metal plate and 13
screws to put it back together.
I
wore a cast
for
approximately three years.
(U) Concerning the second prediction, my brother is also
an army captain in military intelligence. My mother did not
inform me about her visit to the psychic until well after the
auto accident, and not until a few years ago, after my
interest in joining the service, did she inform me about the
psychic's latter prediction. To this day my mother, a former
skeptic, refuses to ever return to a psychic for fear of more
bad news.
(U) While researching this topic, through the help of
two Defense Intelligence College faculty members, I met a man
and a woman who reportedly possess psychic abilities.
The
woman, who claimed to have the capacity to "contact" me
through mental ability, was unsuccessful in her attempt.
However, the man, who makes his living as a psychic, rattled
off approximately 10 remarkable facts about me after looking
at my hands for roughly 15 seconds. It is extraordinarily
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unlikely that this man could have known these personal issues
about me without talking to some of the people closest to me
who have known me since childhood. He even made me wonder
whether I had shared any of these matters with anyone.
INSURMOUNTABLE OBSTACLES ?
(S/NF) Although skeptics largely outnumber supporters of
this research frontier, several impressive results of remote
viewing experiments have been made available to the academic
world with enough force to encourage a further look. Despite
the fact that this phenomenon appears to run contrary to known
properties of physical law as currently understood, the need
for further research is supported by Dr. Kenneth Kress, CIA
project officer during the Stanford Research Institute tests:
( S/NF )
It is my opinion that, as it relates to
intelligence,
sufficient
understanding
and
assessment of parapsychology has not been achieved.
There are observations that defy explanation.
Coincidence is not likely, and fraud has not been
discovered. The implication of these data cannot
be determined until an assessment is done.81
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(U)
Unfortunately, but scarcely surprising, my
investigation of remote viewing shows that support for
something this controversial, which flies offensively in the
face of traditional science, appears to hinge heavily on
experimental success in excess of what would probably be
considered acceptable for further experimentation into an
established science.
Ironically, experiments conducted have
repeatedly
yielded
findings which should not be so
extraordinarily difficult to accept. Perhaps Herbert Spencer
said it best:
(U)
There is a principle which is a bar against
all
information, which is proof against all
arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in
everlasting ignorance -- that principle is contempt
before investigation. 82
(U) Unless all of these discoveries and observations for
and against this phenomenon can be dismissed as sheer
nonsense, remote viewing has certainly sufficiently generated
the interest of many professional doctors and scientists to
warrant further exploration.
(U) Ray Hyman quotes a statement that philosopher Antony
Flew penned in 1975 concerning research on remote viewing:
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(U) It seemed to me that the situation in this
misbegotten area could be summed up by saying that
there was too much evidence for one just to dismiss
it as all a lot of nonsense, and enough to require
that one should maintain a continuing interest in
the field, even if a distant interest.83
(U) The Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense
Intelligence Agency, the latter of which continues to mandate
this type of research, have allotted considerable man-hours
and money with the obvious intent of acquiring a clearer
perspective of remote viewing.
This should propel the
phenomenon's potential past mere speculation, not only for its
value to the intelligence community as a collection resource,
but also because of its danger as a possible threat against
which we should be prepared to defend.
In time, as the
mystery of this controversy unfolds, what today
is
overwhelmingly regarded as science fiction, might very well
turn out to be science fact.
(U) As noted by Captain Groller:
(U)
It is sobering to remember the Manhattan
Project, undertaken in fear of parallel Nazi
efforts, was based on an unproven hypothesis in a
highly
theoretical
branch
of
science.
Nevertheless,
two
days before Pearl
Harbor,
President Roosevelt committed vast and scarce
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resources to support the work of scientists who had
no firm data in hand, to seek the exotic goal of
loosing the electrical bonds of matter.
As a
result, what was literally science fiction until
1944 became a brutal truth in 1945.84
(U)
With the demise of the U.S.S.R., the threat of
massive nuclear conflict with the Commonwealth of Independent
States is greatly diminished. Therefore, the possibility of
the Russians applying the phenomenon of parapsychology or
remote viewing in a military capacity may be seen by some as
unlikely.
Nevertheless, I contend that the Intelligence
Community
should continue systematic investigation of a
potentially enormously productive type of research with
profoundly important military applications.
(U) The break-up of the Soviet Union posits new concerns
in the possibility of proliferation or sale of parts of its
nuclear arsenal to third world nations. In this regard, the
US devoted a great deal of energy studying fixes to the
proliferation issue of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons
after the cold war.
The unconventional weapon of remote
viewing, if shared with unpredictable third world nations,
could likewise be a profoundly important equalizer, much as
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missiles and nuclear weapons used to be. Therefore, it stands
to reason that some serious research would be prudent.
(U)
Martin Ebon writes that the potential of psychic
warfare warrants respect:
(U) In the arsenal of any cold or hot war on this
globe, psychic capabilities do not have top
priority on either ideological side of the fence,
but we have no reason to doubt that some of their
potentials are
awesome.
Psychic warfare
is
something to"fear. 85
(U)
Intelligence analysis, quite often based on
qualitative assumptions, would assume a totally new dimension
should the theory of mind warfare develop to the point of
acceptance.
(S/NF) Kress feels that biggest obstacles to overcome
concerning paranormal research are those of understanding this
phenomena, and the conveying of this knowledge to policymakers
so that they can support research efforts:
(S/NF) The people managing such agencies demand
quick and relevant results. The intelligence and
military agencies, therefore, press for results
before
there is
sufficient
experimental
reproducibility or understanding of the physical
mechanisms.
Unless there is a major breakthrough
in understanding, the situation is not likely to
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change as long as applications-oriented agencies
are funding parapsychology. Agencies must commit
long-term basic research funds and learn to confine
attention to testing only abilities which at least
appear reproducible enough to be used to augment
other hard collection techniques. Remote viewing
can then rise and fall on its merits and not
stumble over bureaucratic charters and conjectures
proposed by people who are irrevocably on one side
or the other in this controversial area. 86
(U) If there is any validity to the eye-opening results
of the studies and experiments narrated in this examination of
remote viewing, and, if these results can be accepted at face
value, the possible application of this phenomenon to
intelligence gathering becomes increasingly obvious.
(U)
A recurring theme used by opponents of remote
viewing encountered throughout this research is that remote
viewing experiments are plagued by inaccuracies and
inconsistencies. Intelligence analysis itself is an inexact
science, however, one which continues to gamble with
reliability factors. Additionally, if 100 percent accuracy is
a prerequisite for employing an intelligence discipline, then
all of the disciplines employed today are only marginally
acceptable as well.
25X1A (U)
a certified forensic hypnotist
and member of the Foreign Counterintelligence Department at
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the Defense Intelligence Agency does not rule out that remote
viewing might some day be accepted as a tool to aid in
intelligence collection:
(U) The skepticism associated with remote viewing
is not much unlike the skepticism shown toward the
use of forensic hypnosis. Up until approximately a
decade ago law enforcement personnel, as well as
investigators, were hesitant to even consider the
use of forensic hypnosis in attempting to help
victims or witnesses regress in time to recall
certain events.
Over time, it was proven that
persons
placed
under . hypnosis
by competent
personnel, were
able to regress in time and
accurately relive a situation or event as it
occurred, and then be brought back to the present
and provide accurate, detailed descriptions of all
that had transpired. Supporting investigations, in
almost all cases, proved the accuracy of the
interviewee's statements. 87
(U) Perhaps remote viewing's greatest potential today is
as an adjunct to current sources of intelligence.
Minimally,
remote viewing could be employed as a complimentary piece to
many intelligence puzzles; combined as a force multiplier with
Imagery, or used in conjunction with the first hand reports of
agents.
(U) When questioned about the concept of remote viewing
playing a complimentary role under the current intelligence
:
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SG1J
collection umbrella,
Chief of the Special Projects
Office at the Defense Intelligence Agency replied:
(U)
Remote viewing does have promise as a
collection tool. Under the right conditions, it
could
help substantially.
It
offers
unique
potential, especially where most conventional
sensors
can not collect; in the inside of
buildings, or assisting in locating missing
individuals where there is no advance information,
for example. Remote viewing can provide clues to
narrow down the search.
It still needs work, but
what sensor system does not?
It is not at the
point of application where it should be employed in
a stand-alone' capacity, it cannot be used in every
type of application, and it is not high-precision
with high repeatability results, but it can
certainly enhance the data of other collectors. 88
(U)
Maybe we should be more flexible and take into
account the many successes uncovered through remote viewing
experimentation, even while remaining aware of the built-in
peculiarities and handicaps associated with it.
Maybe the
concept of pulling futuristic answers from glistening crystal
balls or talking mirrors is no longer limited to fairy tales
like the Wizard of Oz, and Snow White.
Maybe the time has
come to place at least partial reliance on a person of
empirically documented psychic ability.
(U)
This
paper
has
presented
documented
experimental findings which illustrate that the potential of
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remote viewing, if used in conjunction
with the other
intelligence disciplines, could prove an invaluable asset to
the intelligence community. Even anecdotal material is so
voluminous that its impact cannot be denied. Data gathered
suggest that this phenomenon deserves to be examined more
carefully for its potential applications to strategic and
tactical intelligence.
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NOTES
81. (SECRET/NOFORN)
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal Review and
Conclusions," Studies in Intelligence, TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no.4,
Winter 1977, 17.
25X1A 82. Cited
by
member
of
the
Foreign
Counterintelligence faculty, Department of National Intelligence
Studies at the Defense Intelligence College. Interview conducted
by the author at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.,
27 October 1992.
83. Ray Hyman, "Psychics and Scientists: Mind Reach and Remote
Viewing," The Humanist, 37, no. 3, May/June 1977, 17.
84. Richard Groller, Captain, USA, "Soviet Psychotronics - A State
of mind," Military Intelligence Magazine, October-December 1986,
21.
85.
£
Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 219.
86. (SECRET/NOFORN)
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency.
"Parapsychology
in
Intelligence:
A
Personal Review
and
Conclusions," Studies in Intelligence, TR-SINT 77-004, 21, no. 4,
Winter 1977, 17.
25X1A 87.
Foreign Counterintelligence faculty
member, Department of National Intelligence Studies at the Defense
Intelligence College. Interview conducted by the author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 27 October 1992.
SG1J
88.
Chief of Special Projects Office (ODT-S), Defense
Intelligence Agency. Interview conducted by the author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 26 October 1992.
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