AN EVALUATIVE REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00789R003800360001-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 255
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 27, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 1, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

~? Approved For Release. 2000/08/10 :CIA-RDP96-007898003800360001-1 ~,
AN EVALUATIVE REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY
BY
JOHN PALMER, PH.D,
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PARAPSYCHOLOGY LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT
UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS
ARI SCIENCE COORDINATION OFFICE, EUROPE
EUROPEAN RESEARCH OFFICE, U.S. ARMY, LONDON, ENGLAND
SCIENTIFIC COORDINATION OFFICER: DR. MICHAEL I~HPLAN)
DECEMBER 19$5
PREPARED UNDER CONTRACT NUMBER DADA 45-$4-M-0405
U.S. ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
5001 EISENHOWER AVENUE
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA 22333
USA
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 t?r 003800360001-1
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONS
SEFQRE COriPLETING FORM
2. GOVT ACCESSION NO. 3, RECIPIENT'S CATALOG NUMBER
?. TITLE (tnd SubHtl?)
AN EVALUATIVE REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS
OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME ANO ADDRESS
Parapsychology Laboratory
University of Utrecht
DADA 45-84-M-0405
Sorbonnelaan 16, 3584CA Utrecht
ii. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME ANO AOORESS
U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral
and Social Sciences; 5001 Eisenhower Ave..,
.~lexandria, VA 22333-5600
S. TYPE OF REPORT A PERI00 COVERED
10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT, TASK
AREA 8 WORK UNIT NUMBERS
I2. REPORT DATE
December 1985
Final Report
NUMBER OF PAGE:
246
MONITORING AGENCY NAME Q ADDRESS(!! dllf?r?n! (noun CantroUlnt Olflera) t5. SECURITY CLASS. (u! th/? t?port)
I UNCLASSIFIED
15?, DECLASSIFICATIONI DOWNGRADING
SGNEDULE
Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.,
t7. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (o! the ttb?trtaet ?tut?r?d In Block Z0, !!
1B. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
19. KEY WORDS (Cnttf/nuo ttn rtrwr?? ?Id~ ~/! n?c???nry t:ld Id?ntfly by block num6?r)
Parapsychology, anomalies, extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, psi.
20. A85T'RACT (CecrtMw a rrmw ?!6 t! tt?e?o?~ reed /d?ntl(y by block nuatb?t)
(SEE REVERSE SIDE)
~~ FOg3A EDtTlON Oi t NOV 65 IS OBSOLETE
t JAN 7? ~~
8EGURITY CLASSIFICATION OF TNIS PA.SE (Ah?n D?t? Ent?rod)
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SlCUii1TY CLASSIFICATION OI' TN13 PAOE(Mh~n Dtt~ Eet~~
This report constitutes a critical review of eight major research
areas in the field of parapsychology over the past twenty years. -The
report begins with a philosophical analysis of the way research questions
in parapsychology are formulated. It is concluded that the claim to
have established psi in the sense of paranormality can be..rejected
a priori because of the generally conceded absence. of a confirmed para-
normal theory. Given this fact, the important question becomes whether
the observations reported by parapsychologists have adequate conventional
explanations or whether they are true anomalies.
The methods and results of each research project are summarized,
along with whatever criticisms of these projects have bees published.
This material is then critically evaluated from the point of view of
assessing what conventional mechanisms could conceivably account for
these findings and the adequacy of these mechanisms as explanations.
In general, it is concluded that despite same methodological
shortcomings and inadequate reporting, parapsychologists have succeeded
in documenting genuine anomalies worthy of scientific interest. Reliable
application of whatever paranormal process these anomalies might repre-
sent is unlikely until this process,(if it exists) is'better understood.
Approved For Release 2000/08/10: C ? e~r...e,
 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 :CIA-RDP96-007898003800360001-1
.The research reported in this document has been made possible by
Contract number DADA 45-84 M-0405 from the U. S. Army Research Institute for
the Behavioral and Social Sciences through its European Science Coordination
Office at the European Research Office of the U. S. Army, London, England.
As stated above, the opinions expressed are those of the author; they do not
necessarily represent the opinions of the U. S. Army.
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 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 :CIA-RDP96-007898003800360001-1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Noted The pages in parentheses refer to the pages in Chapter 10 where the
summ~ry of the chapter is question begins.
Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................1 (202)
.~
Chapt',er 2: The Maamonides Dream Experiments.....< .............22 (203)
Chapt'ler 3: Remote Viewing .....................................41 (205)
Chapter 4: .The Ganzfeld Debate ................................66 (207)
Chapter 5: Random-Event-Generator Research< ...................97 (209)
Chapter 6: The Delmore Experiments ...........................125 (212)
Cha t
p ~r 7: Correlational Studies .............