SPECIAL REPORT - SUN STREAK EVALUATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00789R000700260002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 16, 2000
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 1, 1989
• Content Type: NOTES

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I BACKGROUND (U)
(S/SF/SS-2) SUN STREAK is an in-house DIA project for developing
an operational psychoenergetics (i.e., remote viewing) capability
for the Intelligence Community. Twelve GDIP billets were
authorized for DIA in 1986 for this activity. Personnel from the
a--iiry INSCOM CENTER LANE Project had been examining similar
phenomenon were transferred to DIA to form the SUN STREAK core
group. DIA had earlier (1985) received operational control from
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t-ftb DA for this 6-person army unit.
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(S/NF/SS-2) In 1985, the DIA SUN STREAK rogram anager?prepared
an Action Jlan that: (1) detailed the steps necessary to
transition the CENTER LANE unit to DIA; (2) identified SUN STREAK
staffing and support needs; and (3) set forth key programmatic
requirements for the SUN STREAK activity. The Jctionlplan
anticipated that time required for achieving a prototype
operational capability would be approximately 3 years.
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Key aspects of this ction Flan along with additional
procedural information, were sent to congressional committees in
1986. The IC staff was also briefed at this time on the Action
?plan and anticipated SUN STREAK operational development and
data evaluation procedures.
(S/NF/SS-2) Programmatic and operational requirements identified
in the / ction 'lan were to: (1)/_-1-in special access program (SAP)
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status (accomplished in March 1985); (2) gain human use approval
(granted in March 1985); (3) set up a senior oversight and a task
coordinating committee (accomplished -- though not currently
activated); (4) establish tight project controls along with an
automated data base management and records system (accomplished);
and (5) to establish an R/D link for supporting operational
capability development (accomplished via HQ SGRD funding and a
DARPA MIPR).
(S/NF/SS-2) The R/D link, via SRI International, has yielded
improved data evaluation procedures, has identified potential
personnel selection techniques, and has contributed to
training/developmentmethods that are cures ntly in project use.
The activity at SRI-has; extensive review by a 9-member
peer review panel to insure that scientific rigor is maintained.
(S/NF/SS-2)' 9asic approach employed by SUN STREAK toward
developing a prototype operational remote viewing (RV) capability
is to locate personnel with potential RV capability and to
develop these abilities via appropriate training/development
procedures. Once satisfactory progress is noted on sirle-to-
verify training tasks, these individuals are presented advanced
training and operational simulation targets. Operational
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simulation targets are usually US military orfscientific targets
where ground truth is totally known or can be readily determined.
Satisfactory performance on these tasks wmnrtd qualify an
individual for operational projects of interest to the
intelligence community. In e ^of the operational projects,
however, ground truth is usually not known (or is only partially
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known). Consequently, complete evaluation of the viewer's data
cannot be made until a later time when ground truth does become
available. In the interim, reasonable estimates of the overall
validity of the viewer's data can be made for many of the
operational projects worked, based on what is generally known or
suspected about the target. These interim evaluation results
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tae updated whenever new ground truth is received.
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(S/NF/SS-2) The operational projects pursued by SUN STREAK are
approved by the program manager and are, in part, based on the
program manager's familarity with IC needs and on solicitation
from others within the IC who have been briefed into the SUN
STREAK program.
(S/NF/SS-2) T#e ~evaluatio,performed for this report cover all
the operational and operational simulation projects
(approximately 2,00) that have been worked by SUN STREAK personnel
CL 4a u" 4-i~ 440
since 1986. Hsr, special operations
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Lcnt+9~. ~-tA `~ e
-le, from the SRI talent pool. These
{ v,6 taof L k 1,---t
overall evaluationypr
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II EVALUATION (U)
1. DATA BASE (U)
(S/NF/SS-2) The SUN STREAK project maintains an extensive
record of all project activity. Details include project
timing, people involved (i.e., viewers, interviewers, and
possibly observers , and a variety of other data considered
essential for good record keeping and for evaluating project
results. This data, along with project summaries, are
maintained in an automated data base for convenient
retrieval. Copi
of project summaries are also sent to the
program ianagerwor his review. In addition, all raw data
(i.e., sketches, viewer's notes) are maintained in a
separate file that is available for review and analysis
(Additional project record details are in appendix I).
(S/NF/SS-2) Evaluationsconducted for this report involved a
complete reexamination of the entire SUN STREAK operational
data base. Many of the earlier projects had only been
partially evaluated, or not evaluated at all, due to lack of
suitable ground truth,, ro e`c s were reevaluated at
this time to adjust OW new i me l l i gence data that has 11-" U
ray become available .fr~~ ~~mP Win.rc~ts?
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(S/NF/SS-2) For this evaluation, the data base was
subdivided into 6 main project types: (1) scientific and
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chnological (S/T); (2) (counterterrorist (CT); (3)
Counternarcotics (CN); (4) Counterintelligence (CI); (5)
cument (contents (Doc Cont); and (6) .redictive (pred).
Total projects worked for these categories are shown /rn k_'
Sr 4 CC 2
f,, urel
(S/NF/SS-2) Of the nearly 200 projects worked,
approximately one-half cannot be evaluate since ground
truth is not sufficiently known at this time. For
approximately one-fourth of the projects, ground truth is
totally known (or highly certain), and for the other one-
fourth, ground truth is only partially known but considered
sufficient for making a reasonable interim evaluation.
(S/NF/SS-2) Some of these1categories can overlap. For
example, prediction data is also an aspect of most of the
CN, many of the CT and a few of the S/T projects. The
prediction category in figure 1 refers Mely to predictions
of a political/military nature. A4ture analysis predictive
data will be evaluated as a separate aspect of s
categories.
2. EVALUATION TECHNIQUES (U)
(S/NF/SS-2) Techniques used for evaluating the SUN STREAK
operational and simulated operational data base depend on the
nature of the task and type of project. S/T projects are the
most difficult to evaluate. This difficulty arises from the
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general complexity existing at most S/T target sites,
possible ambiguous aspects of known ground truth about the target
site, from the nature of the information desired, and in a few
Ito 4
cases, possibly from the,,(RV)targeting method employed. It is
easier to evaluate data w S/T targets if only a single issue,
such as presence or absence (of a particular system, for example)
is desired, then it is to evaluate how well a viewers' detailed
but possibly fragmentary description correlates with aspects of a
complex site. In this case a considerable amount of subjectivity
can be involved in evaluating the degree of data /target
correlation.
(S/NF/SS-2) To assist in reducing overall subjectivity of
evaluating complex S/T targets, the viewers' data is examined and
compared to ground truth with several data categories in mind.
These categories are shown in f' ure 2_~, and include geographic
descriptions, large and small scale objects, large and small
;scale functions, personality data, and predictive data. Not all
these categories may be relevant to a specific project, and in
some cases may even be part of the RV targeting procedure A(e.g.,
when a photo of target building is used as an RV targeting
reference for accessing its unknown contents).
(S/NF/SS-2) After identifying the appropriate data category, the
next step is to examine the viewers' raw (or summarized) data for
comparison to known or estimated ground truth and to make a best
judgement on what approximate degree of data correlation actually
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t
exists: Fi defines the scale ratings used along with their
approximate degree of data correlation. (4 x II contains
detailed instructions for analyst consideration when reviewing
the data).
(S/NF/SS-2) Final evaluations and summaries are prepared by the
'grogram Aanager and(his project representative who is not part
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of SUN STREAK staff) in conjunction with the responsible A area
analyst or Intelligence 2ommunity point-of-contact. Latest
intelligence data and reports on that target site are also
reviewed during this process. In some cases, area analysts and
the IC points-of-contact provide written appraisals to assist in
the final evaluation process. These evaluations are recorded on
summary forms and are maintained in the ~rogram ~h~nager's files.
(S/NFISS-2) An example of an S/T target evaluation is in f u
In this case the target site was 1AVe
project was completed in June 1987 and involved four viewers (2
proven and 2 novice). In this example, the bracket ( )
SG1C
SG1 B
indicates a best estimate was made "ince ground truth is not yet
7
SG1A
totally known a dash means that data category was not t/
present in the viewers' data. One of the viewers~,::0101) attempted
to describe the site 6 months in the future. In this case, SG1C
SG1 B
geographic features, large scale objects) are not impo tant ain-e-e---
Some of the data categories (i.e., AThe Vocument Veading
projects were, however, carefully isolated and a known or
designated location. Predictive data of the complex event type
(e.g. political/military situations) shows a\low
data correlation (i.e., reliability) of about 10 percent or less.
(S/NF/SS-3) If all SUN STREAK projects are averaged together, as
shown in f, re 6, data correlation would range from about 20
percent for small scale aspects to about 40 percent for large
scale aspects. While "averaging" such data may indicate overall
results in the long run, such averaging tends to washout those
results that have singular high merit, such as the identification
several months in advance of a specific area in the U.S. where a
fugitive was later found. In this case, SUN STREAK data was not
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acted upon; fortunately, the fugitive wasnabducted
(S/NF/SS-3) Another way of considering overall SUN STREAK
project data correlation is to consider only the proven viewers.
This data is shown in figure 7 for times when these experienced
viewers received a 2 or 2+ in the numerical ratings assigned to
their data correlations. Only twP-o4 types of data are presented
here; SIT and Versonality data .i-S obtained from the various CT,
CN and CI projects. For S/T projects, proven viewers would be
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