AN ANALYSIS OF A REMOTE-VIEWING EXPERIMENT OF URDF-3

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP96-00791R000200240001-0
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
C
Document Page Count: 
34
Document Creation Date: 
November 4, 2016
Document Release Date: 
October 27, 1998
Sequence Number: 
1
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
December 4, 1975
Content Type: 
RP
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PDF icon CIA-RDP96-00791R000200240001-0.pdf1.73 MB
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Approved -For Fease 2001 f1~~i~i ~RDP96-4918000200240001-0 SG11 Approved~For Release 2001/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-00791~8000200240001-0 ~68~~ .. Approved For Rase 2001/~~~~DP96-01,~J18000200240001-0 SUNiMAR'f The remote-viewing experiment of URDF-3 by Pat Price proved to tie unsuc- cessful. This conclusion was reached only after a. careful review of the tape recordings, tape transcripts, and sketches that were generated during the four- day experiment. During the-first day's session, Price: l) accurately described the location and type of target (that information had been given to him by the experimenters) but failed on the layout and types of bu i 1 di rigs , 2) saw a gantry crane far heavy lifting, 3) tended to spend too much time on specifics only to say, "I'll-come back to that,?' but seldom did, and 4) successfully evaded drawing a perimete~~ of the area even though he was asked to do this twice. Therefore, nottring positive to validate remote viewing resulted from the first day's session,. Price was contacted by phone that evening by one t~f the experimenters and was told to concentrate on the crane and its relationship to the dominant three-story building .(Building 1) that he had seen durin`a that day's session. 3ie was also told that they wanted a drawing of the perimeter fence. pn the second day, Price supplied the most positi?~~e evidence yet for the remote-viewing experiment with his sketch of the rail-mounted gantry crane. It seems inconceivable to imagine how he could have drawer such a likeness to the actual crane at URDF-3 unless: 1) he actually saw it through remote viewing, or 2) he was informed of ~vhat to draw by somr:one knowledgeable of URDF-3. ?~ Approved For Release 2001/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-00791~R000~00240001-0 r- r. ~'~ ,..~: ~~`~ Approved For R~gase 200116 DP96-OQ,~918000200240001-0 2 The second passibility is mentioned only because the experiment was not controlled to discount the possibility that Price could talk to other people. ' Price commented that he was seeing a lot of things this secand day that. he hadn't seen the previous day. In fact, he mentioned seeing several landmark- type ob~iects that simply did not exist at URgF-3. ane explanation of this dis- crepancy could be that if he mentioned enough specific objects, he would surely hit on one object that is actually present. This could explain the inconsistency between 1) his most positive evidence of the experiment - a sketch of a rail-mounted gantry crane, and 2) the large number of objects he sees that, in reality, are simply not present at URDF-3. This discrepancy between what Price sees and what is really there certainly would make it difFicult for the eventual user of h?is remote-viewing dai:a since he would not know how to differentiate the fact from the fiction. At this stage of the experintent, the data is inconclusive to validate Price's capability of remote viewing. Price was shown a sketch of a perspective of the dperations Area at URC1F-3 on the third day and was told that this was a sketch of the actual target. Price said he recognized the area but claimed that only ane of the four headframes was present now. That was wrong, but his most damaging state- ments had to do with his interpretation of Building 1 (the underground build- ing) at URgF-3. lrJith the sketch as a reference, he "saw" the four ma in surface protrusions of Building 1 as four separate above-ground buildings sitting atop a concrete ap.ran. He was. asked specifically whether these four buildings he saw might really be the surface elements of an underground building. He failed either to pick up the lead or to remotely view correctly because he said, "(io, that's a concrete apron., and there's nothing subterranean right in that particular area." This statement was his most negative evidence yet and tends to discredit his ability to remotely view URDF-3. Approved For Release 20.01/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-0079;'FfZ000200240001-0 ~= .,~, ? .. y Approved For Rase 200~f9'~=RDP96-OQ~918000200240001-0 Price`s com;r~ents on the fourth day-were very specific regarding his concept of the overall operation at URDF-3, however no new evidence (that could be checked) was disclosed toward establishing va'~idity for his remote-viewing capability. After careful analysis of all the data presented,. I have concluded that Price's remote-viewing experiment of URDF-3 was unsuccessful. ~. Approved For Release 2001/03/Q7 :CIA-RDP96-00791FR000200240001-0 -- Approved For F~yease 2001,~RDP96-091 8000200240001-0 ~ INTRODUCTION I was asked to analyze and then judge the validity of the remote-viewing experiment per~Formed on URDF-3 by Pat Price. The data to be analyzed included two cassette tapes covering the first two days, 79 pages of transcribed tapes regarding the third and fourth days, and 30 sketches; 2 also reviewed the July 5, 197.4 of URDF-3. I am quite familiar with the chronology and layout of URDF-3, as well as the surrounding terrain and technical areas :within 40 miles. I tried to keep an open mind while performing this analysis, but if I had any bias at all, it was that I wanted to believe remote viewing could help us establish the true purpose of URDF-3. ~' Throughout this analysis, I paid particular attention to all information about URDF-3 that was supplied to Pat Price. This was necessary in order to evaluate his originality in remote viewing. This study was done in four seg- ments corresponding to Lire four days of i:he exper~irn~:~~t. Jucig~~~ent of the Prog- ress and validity of the experiment was evaluated at the end of each day. FIRST DRY The experiment started at 11 a.m. on July 9, 1974 at Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The-experimenters (Russ Targ and Nal Puthoff) told Pat Price that the target was a geographical target selected from the Times of Landon World Atlas. The coordinates of the target were given as 50?9'59"N and 7$?22'22"E; Price wrote these coordinates down. It was emphasized-that this was a "real taryet" as opposed to a sample target. Using sever?al maps, the ?xperimenters showed Price the target location at 60 miles WSW of Semipalatinsk. The taryet was described as a scientific military research and test area. To help orient Price, he was told that the target was 25 ~to 30 nriles SW of "this river," pre- sumabiy labeled correctly on the maps as the Irtysh River. Price was told to ,, start with a vietirr of the general area as~seen from 50,000 f't. and get the layout of any complexes or buildings, or whatever. Approved For Release 2001 /03/07 :. CIA-RDP96-0079'FR000200240001=0. ~~ . Approved For Rele~e 2001/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-0079+4~R0002002400b1-0 .. Approved For Release 2001/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-007918000200240001-0 Approved For Rq~ase 200103/07 : CIA=RDP96-007.,918000200240001-0 When the coordinates were given, Price said he was getting a picture that they (the Soviets) have done a lot of rocket launching and recovery out of that area. As he starts viewing, he says it's dark over there at the present tune, quite a cloud cover, and a full moon. He immediately sees the river and heads SW from the river to the institute (as he calls it). He says the area he's look- iny at has low one-story buildings that are partially dug into the ground giving the effect (as seen at ground level) of very short, squatty buildings, whereas they are actually fairly roomy on the inside. This description could very well .describe a first look at the Operations Area at URDF-3. He then finds that he is looking at "a guy in a very peculiar type of helmet." He tends to get bogged down in the specifics of the purpose of this helmet and shifts his attention to laak at the cosmonauts (that were currently in orbit) to compare helmets. He says they (the Soviets) are running some tests on some equipment that currently has to do with the it -space program. Then he backs off from this specific subject and says, "I'll look around and come back to that" - but he never does. Price was then asked to describe the general terrain and perhaps the building layout. He drew a sketch (Fig. 1) in which he correctly identifies the complex as being about 30 miles south of the .Irtysh River (this information had been given to him earlier). However, he incorrectly says the road from the river passes through a gorge. The layout of the buildings and area they cover as shown in his sketch are incorrect for URDF-~3. Although there are some an- tennas at URDF-3, none are as tall as the 500--f t. antenna he described. He pondered over the dimensions of the outdoor pool he saw because "that's in meters - they have it." He then translates it to feet (60' x 150'). He said they use the pool for underwater testing and orientation studies but in reality there is no outdoor pool at URDF-3. In Fig, 2, he drew a military complex three-eighths of a mile NE of the scientific complex shown in Fig. 1. Actually there is a military complex at URDF-3, located about 2 1/2 miles NW of the Operations Area, but this data was Approved For Release 2001/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-0079~R000200240001-0 . .. ... ~4~proved For Rase 2001/~~~~DP96-OQ~1 8000200240001-0 ~ ~~~ ~ Approved For Release 20.01/03/07 :.CIA-RDP96-0079'~R000200201-0 ~" , Approved Ruse 2001/O~~~P96-04Z~J1 R000 40001 --~ `~~ `? ~....p .. *r- :~.. ~ cr> ~ ~~ .~'- ~ ~.~ pproved For Release 2001/03/07 :CIA-RDP96-00791~R000200240001-0 V~ Approved For Rq,~ase 201~'~#~I?A=RDP96-09818000200240001-0 8 given to him earlier when the target was described as a scientific military research and test area. He said the military complex looked like it had been there far two 'to three years, when in fact it's been there for over a decade. Also in Fig. 2, he described a radar/communications building north of the scientific complex. The description of the building and its location relative to the military complex fits the description of the probable laboratory-admini- stration building located about 2 1/2 miles northwest of the Operations Area at URDF-3. When he is specific about what he sees inside the building, one of the experimenters asks whether one of the specifics he mentioned might well be some- thing else. He takes another look and changes his mind saying, "You may be right," giving the impression that he could be led to see ghat the experimenter suggests. The experimenter quickly informed Price that "we really don't know what this thing is," and Price replies with, "I'll come back to that," but again never does. Price saw an array of telephone poles about 400 yards SE of the scientific complex (see Fig, 2), but there is no such array of poles at or near URDF-3. He was then asked to go up to 50,000 ft, to look again and describe the layout. Centering himself over the scientific complex, he scanned in a clock- wise direction; the view he saw is s!. one researcher, says Bell, has done psychological diag- noses of alcoholics using an "emotion-pra- ducing word test." 6y charting stress reac- tions to lists of words, the researcher can determine the shape of the circumstances that have gotten the subject in his present fix. The success of tests such as this leads Bell to beast, "We can do b months worth of psychaanaiysis in 10 minutes." The psychological stress evaluator has an interestingly ambivalent status as both a forensic and a clinical instrument. As the' Mictsigan attorney general wrote in re- sponse to a request for clarification of the PSE status apnder A~Tichigan's polygraph examiners taw: '?... a very narcaw tine separates the use of mechanical devices for the purpose of measuring stress and the use of Mich device to detu.rraine truthful- ness.'" (Me decided that the act did apply to the 1'SE in ttre latter case.) Foreatsically spyaking, thr. PSIv is in a kind of limbo. Nineteen states have laws licensing or regulating polygraph use, .and presumably in tlaose states where other instruments aze not banned,- forensic use of the PSE would be decided on a cease-toy-case basis. One state, North Carolina, licer6ses PSE operators ($0 hours of training is re- yuiri;d); elsewhere, a persara armed with ' nothir+g but a L)ektar training certificate can call hinasclf a PSE operator. i he ottper states. includ'sr.g ltiew ~C'ark one{ California, ha?fe no laws because of strcnuaass opposi- tion by labor unions to legislation they think will legitimize the use of lie detectors in employment ;six states now ban com- pulsory precrfaploymentpolygraph testing). ?ne individual who is determined that the PSE shall gain full re;,ility in the says he has been doing .all the !ie-c'etectin~. eyes of the law is John '!~'. Heisse, a Bar- work far the city of [3urlington-that. as, iingtan, Vermont, atolaryn~~ologist, lieisse until Vermont passed a taw saying only po- is the head of the International Society lygraphers can do trutttfuln~ss verificatier: of Stress Analysts (ISSA), a tledgling work. I-leisse',elieves this la~.v was passed organization of '011 PSE, polygraph, and just to protect the jobs of Vermont's three voice anslyzer users from the fields of law polyeraphers. }-le has raised X100,000, enforcement, industrial security, business, gathered 300 pages of outdone:, and is law, and health. i-Icisse is perhaps the suing they state of Vermaatt. Ttre'. outcome PSE's most fe:-v9c; partisan. He has rerun c9f this case could set a significant prece- the Kubis study, using the contract's "ai- clerat if and when PSE's proliferate enough ternate specifications," and claims the PSE t+~ attract the attention of oche: la.L~- came out ca'ith 47 percent reliability?. 1-ie croakers. has used the tnstrument to prove tiadi ,.,~~,?.a,??,... ?.. ~. ---: ~ . people with laryngectomics still register t:a the drawing bi,rard. ?`The 1'SE is to muscle miurotrernor; he has tested the ef- stress ana.iysis of the voice what the Model foots of dozens of drugs an PSE subjects. T is to locomotion,"' !ae