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The Associated Press
The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.
November 7,
1983
Monday, PM cycle
FULL
SECTION: Washington Dateline
LENGTH: 911 words
HEADLINE: U.S. Military Research: From War Games to Mind Games?
BYLINE: By BARTON REPPERT, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY :
The United States should undertake more research into potential mind-control
weapons to counter Soviet advances in "psychotronic warfare," according to a
U. S. Army study disclosed in a new book.
The Pentagon study, author Martin Ebon writes, reported that the Soviet
Union appears to have made "significant progress" toward developing psychic
weaponry that could play a role on future battlefields.
Ebon contended that mind-altering effects or "remote monitoring of brain wave
activity" were among possible reasons behind the Soviet microwave bombardment of
the U. S. Embassy in Moscow.
"Soviet scientists view the brain as an apparatus available for probing and
manipulation, " he said. "They are well aware that perfected techniques in ...
Publication of Ebon's book, "Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?" comes amid
increased interest in parapsychology research on Capitol Hill as well as within
the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies.
A report prepared recently by the
..
. persuasion, mischief and disinformation, " it said.
Psi phenomena include various forms of extrasensory perception, for example
telepathy and "remote viewing" of distant locations. Another form is
"psychokinesis, " the ability to move or bend solid objects with the mind.
Critics of parapsychology, however, charge that much of the research on those
effects is either scientifically unsound or fraudulent. Other skeptics argue
that even if the phenomena exist, they are too ..
... research include Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, ranking Democrat on
the Foreign Relations Committee. He said he had discussed the parapsychology
field with Soviet researchers during a visit to the Soviet Union in August.
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The Associated Press,
November 70
1983
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"I personally have never experienced or seen a psychic event," Pell said in a
recent
...
. ..
completed by Warsaw Pact countries during the past decade in the area of
psychic phenomena, of which psychotronics is one element. "
"The Soviet Union, in particular, appears to have made significant progress
toward developing psychotronic weapons, " said the Army study, entitled "Fire ...
1970s, when the agency was under intense criticism and scrutiny on
Capitol Hill.
But a U.S. government official familiar with the parapsychology field, who
spoke on the condition that he not be identified, said that currently "there
seems to be somewhat renewed interest at the CIA ..
Yuri V. Andropov and other Kremlin officials during their Aug. 17-21
visit to Moscow.
In his private discussions with Soviet parapsychologists, Pell said he had
been unable to get a "firm handle" on the overall scope of scientific resources
Moscow is devoting to this
for too short a time to go into anything in any depth, " he said.
The Congressional Research Service report said Soviet annual spending on psi
research has been "speculated to amount to tens of millions of dollars."
By contrast, total funding for parapsychology studies in the United States
"probably does not greatly exceed $500, 000" a year currently, with most of the
money coming from foundations and other private sources, it said.
Speculation over possible purposes behind the Soviet microwave bombardment of
the Moscow embassy
believed to have begun as early as 1953 has centered
largely on use of the beams for eavesdropping or to try to jam U.S. electronic
intelligence-gathering equipment.
However, Ebon wrote that "another hypothesis is Soviet use of radiation to
effect mind-changes in embassy personnel."
An additional possibility is that the beams may have been "used to 'read ...
.
tuning microwaves to the level of brain waves," said Ebon, a New
York-based professional writer specializing in Soviet affairs.
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