INFORMATION THEORY ANALYSIS OF TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION EXPERIMENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): NSA-RDP96X00790R000100040004-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: May 31, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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1 '-,id' N. 'u. r_ii: ',~! ~,yL. h1 OI _.? '~Q~53:L .~,. `~. ?" YAM
`ilaclic. :ngi ;.?crin,;. Vol. 23. No. 3. 1966
Information Theory Analysis of Telepathic Communication
Experiments
I. N.I. KOGANI
Telepathic communication experiments carried out in 19G6-67 by the blo-
Information section of the Moscow Board of the Popov Society are described and
analyzed. Some general conclusions are put forward. .
In the two years of the existence of the btoinformation section, the large number of observations
attributable to telepathic effects reported in the world literature has been augmented by a series of
origiraL experiments organized by E.K. Naumov, Yu. I. Kamcaakiy and the :ttdhor. Interest In the
analysis of our results derives troth from the specific tnethodolo& of the experiments and the fairly
wide choiee.? of experimental conditions.
On the assumption that the effects observed were clue to the transmission of Information via
sofarunchartod telepathic channels, it is appropriate that the results obtained should be analyzed in
the framework of information theory. Such an analysix of various experiments carried out under markedly
different conditions would he useful with a view to establishiner regular features, common to them all,
lenclitk; fur "er confirmation of the physical reality of the effects observed, and provtcil.ig a basis for
further investigations.
?:tccording.to their characteristics, procedure, and conditions, the cxliuriments may be subdivided
into the following groups (excluding experiments und:?r hyl.ansis, some of which were described in {1q:
1. short-distance telepathic suggestion of an action with objects: 2) short-dista(1ce telepathic
suggestion of the mental picture of an object with selection of the object six;etfied:3) long-distance.
telepathic suggestion of mental pictures of objects; ?1) lone distance telepathic transmission of mental
pictures of objects.
Typical experiments in each group and the results obtained arc described below: results and their
characteristics are assessed from the point of view of information theory on the assumption of equi-
probability of the specified selections and actions).
1. Short-distance !c Iel>nthic st:njestion of anac!ion with r,biects !11. The experiment (official
record of Fchruary 7, 1:N;e; signed by r;ngan and :::tu uov) consisted in transm:sting a mental order to.
take one among ton (X = 10) numbered cards, lying along the perimeter of a room.. The distance
between the "inductor" (suggestsr) E.K. Naumov and the.;"pcrcipiant" (receptor) K.V. Nikolayev, who
were in different rooms, was 3-5 m. Half of the 26 orders were correctly executcd (they probability of
obtaining such a result at random is of the order of 10-'-10-r). The time taken to execute an order
was T .ft 1 min (measured from the tape recording; of the experiment). The quantity of information
required to accomplish the task was I'- log= N =:1.3 bit. The mean information-transmission and
reception rate was. R - I/T -- 0.05 bit/sec. According to subjective impressions of :.bservers Lite
roceptor?perceivod mental orders of the direction !n which the object slievifled was to be found.
2.. Short-distance telepathic suggestion of the mental ricturu of Obit-16".4 With selection of the
object specified. The exl:urimcnt consisted in role ctini; one of five arbitrary obje:;ts initially un:cn'IWn to
the receptor. Only one of the. objects was shown to the Inductor, whose imago he mentally suggested
to the receptor. In most experiments of.this ty;se the inductor was Yu. I. liamenskiy and the receptor
K. N. Nikolayev. The inductor sat behind the receptor at a. distance of 4-5 m. The percent of positive
outcomes was apprnkimatcly S0.., Tl o duration of the suggestion. was ..-a'3 milt (according to the official,
records of a public' experiment carried out. on March. 21, 1067).
It will be assumed that the entropy associated. with defining the object.spocificd is determined by
the a priori assortment of objects; and that it is selected according to'a sot. of typical attributes. .
Experience of numerous experiments (using the official records of Iwo experiments at short distances
of I)ccerrbe:r? 20,.,19(;G and March 21, 1967 and of e:Teri moats -at largc'distanccs)'showed that'in practice
the assortment of possible objects will contain approximately ten designations (N a i0) and that their
4 ascription reduces to approximately twenty.main attributes (color;. shape, surface nature, hardness,
etc.) (:n -- 20); the object selected was after determining a set' of approximately four at:rtbutes .
(n ?1) (for example, in the experiment of March 2i, 1967 the selection of the object specified -
bliF.hka can lies - was preceded by the following suriui nces of Impressions recorded by Nikolayev:
"Itather long;, smooth surface, brown color, cusped on two sides"). On this basis, the selection of the
object slxcified requires obtaining a quantity of inf:irinatinn I - n log: m ' 17 hit. The a priori entropy
In defining the Object is 11 = ln;;= X Ma 3 bit. Thug, there in redundancy of the information processed, by
approximately Al xs 14 bit, due to the receptor not perceiving a logical concept - the name of the object-
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using the expression given In (2] for the noise Immunity in terms of redundancy. based on Shannon's
well-known formula for the channel capacity C, assuming the channel transmission bandwidth to be Was
e+ 1/T and assuming (for a rough estimate) It Rs C, we can estimate from the above data the value of the
signal-to-noise ratio PS/P' N for which it Is still possible to transmit the minimum required quantity of
information Irvin ? H under the conditions of the given experiment:
B ar ? -
:.`; ?3,:Qwl~iat __i,^2t+s -1 z2ts-1
P;
whence PS/P*N e< 5-10, which Is also in agreement with estimates of (3).
:1. Long-distance telepathic suggestion of mental images of objects. The experiment was similar
to that of para. 2 but with inductor and receptor in different. towns. Successful expos iments of this
type were carried out between Moscow and Novosibirsk (the proceedings and official records were
? signed In Novosibirsk and 'Moscow by K. B. Kann, G. Beznosov, A.G. Ignatenko, Yu. I. Kamcnskiy,
E.K. Naumov and A.R. Arlaship) and between Leningrad and Moscow (the proceedim;s and official
'?~ records were signed in Leningrad and Moscow by K. N. Nikolayev, X. B.- Krayovskiy, O. V. Dergacheva.
11. L. Gittel', I. V. Vorontsov and E.K. Naumov). Since It is not possible-under such conditions to
perform experiments in which the poreeptor takes a specified object, and in most cases he is unable to
name the object, the quantitative analysis of the results is rather approximate. Nevertheless,
proceed- ing from the above assumptions concerning the a priori assortment of objects and their attributes, it
Is possible to arrive at some quantitative conclusions.
In the experiments of April 21. 1967 thn inductor Yu. I. Kamcnskiy transmitted to the receptor
K.N. Nikolayev mental images.of objects randomly selected by a commission. Of the six objects trans-
mitted a correct description of the main typical attributes was given
in three cases (e. g. , when Kamcnskiy transmitted a metal screw-driver
i.; with a black plastic handle, Nikolaycv's reception log read "A handle
? or chess man. Long, black, probably plastic). (Of nine people inter-
rogated that had no connection with the experiments, 70% of the
answers correctly interpreted the reception records for 50%'of the
'
objects. ] The duration
of transmission was 10 minutes for each object.
By similar, assessments as for short-distance experiments we obtain
a mean information-transmission rate of 0.005 bit/sec.
In the experiments of April 27, 1966 the inductor (A. R.
Arlashin) transmitted to the reco for (K N Nikola ev) mental ima it
Y b
of objects arbitrarily selected by the inductor.-.. Of the six objects'. .
transmitted the receptor correctly described the main typical attri- 1
~? bates of four. (The interrogation of nine people In the same way as 1 f0 ?
above gave 80% correct answers for 70% of the objects. ] However,
some of the descriptions did not cortespond to the object transmitted at '
the given Instant but to previous ones. If it is assumed that this'was the result of the inductor's sub-~:.' ?.? ~'
cansetous attention to objects previously seen by him, ono'of which was sclected?for transmission at
the?glven instant, the assessment yields a similar value for the Information-transmission rate as that
above.
In the experiments. of January 27, 1967 between 'Moscow and Leningrad (6001 ,m) two inductors
(Yu. I. Kainenskly` and A. I. MonLn) in turn transmitted to the receptor (K. N. Nikolayev) mental Images
of five object's randomly'sciebted by a commission. A correct description o2 the main typical attributes
was given for three objects. '[A similar interpretation of the records by independent' people gave 30%
correct answers for 40-60% of the objects.) For example, when Monin transmitted a pair of dividers,
'- frith which he pricked his finger tips. Nikolayev's reception record road: " AMctallfc lustre, thin.
Chrnmtum-plated rod.. Smooth surface.. Ilod bifurcated. Like thin scissors or compasses." A dis-
tint feature of the experiments was the fact that,, in contrast to all previous ones, the times of the
transmissions were not prearranged, and were scldcted at will within a proscribed 30-minute interval.
During this Interval' five 4-5 min transmissions wore made; the beginnings and ends of those transmis-
sions were recorded by the rpcoptor. to within less than 1'minute:! Note also. that. nn "interceptor" (a =? ; ;
second receptor, V.A. Milodan), who was In Leningrad during the expcrimonts'In a room on a different ' :g?
floor, also correctly recorded the. initial and final Instants of all transmissions and correctly described ? l.'-~;
the attributes of two of the five objects transmitted. In the above example Milodan recorded In particular;-.:::Y
"Cone-t}tic object, "almost equilateral triangle. It pricks the forefinger.:. ? Two aides 15-18 cm In
length'." The moan tnfdrmation-processing rate in those expcriincntswass of the order of 0.00 bit/sec..... ;;.
?}. L.en -dtrstancc telepathic tian missicin ofmentnl inoaja of oh ects.:,.The experiment was ?.,1
.'-?F carridd out In February 19117 between Moscow and Tomsk (40U0ian):. The official records are signed by +. .
.'' the inductor Yu. I. Kamonskiy and by V. Kuvehinnikov. one of 'the three receiptors: At a prearranged . ;.,,.
129 : +1~ ?~' i' .
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but merely its attributes, and selecting the object specified from the information contained in Its
ittribu;es. The information-processing rate R = 0. 1 bit/sec, and the relative redundancy 6
sf-11 ~5, '
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time, mental images were transmitted of one among two stipulated objects - a comb or a glass. The
transmissions lasted one hour each week. In each case, seven images randomly i?elected by coin taming
' ?.1 selected and transmitted images is characterized by a character of the Morso code, namely a clash for
the predominance of combs and a dot for the predominance of glasses, the four series transmitted during
.-the whole month corresponded to the message The sane message Is obtained from Kuvshinnikov's
records. Tests by several statistical criteria (the over-all frequency of coincidences, correl:upon
coefficient, frequency of coincident Morse characters, deviation of the time plot of variations of the
number of transmitted and received pictures of ore and the same typo, etc.) showed that by all criteria
used the results exceeded the mean-statistical result of four selections, one In accord with the receptor
records and three others from random numbers (Table 1).
Table 1'
1bn3u ?s~:plem
O
r
Criteria
8 mast sti-
ma
? i
1
3
3~aa
ve
-
.311
Mean
Total coincidences, ?l.
37
61
43
48
51
'bt
Coinzidences of Norse
characters, 11.
100
75
0 .
100
59
89
Correlation coeffic-
ient
40.15
40.22
-0.15
-0.07
+0.05
40.04
3rror in total number
?
of ta:%.e ^
0
21 .
0
0
7.2
S
1bIS deviation of the
time plot (arbt-
?
Crary Waits)
rs
29
72
1
34
30
In suck an interpretation of the results the total transmission time of one of the two possible
Morse characters was 21 min, which corresponds to an information transmission rate of 0.001 bit/sec.
Let us compare this value of the Information-transmission rate with the encrr relationships that
would ensure information transmission under the conditions of the above experiments. Wo shall assume
the electromagnetic hypothesis to be correct' (3). - ? . . ! ?
The short-distance experiments, like the earlier experiments (:1), do not contradict the hypothesis
of the electromagnetic nature of telepathy. , To analyze long-distance experiments; earlier assessments.
will require some refining to allow for the wavoguide nature of the propagation of extra-long waves. = :... _'
In this case the powers required to transmit information to a distance r will be 2h/r times the value
assumed in (3), where h is the height of the "waveguide" determined by the height of the lower boundary
of the ionosphere. If we take h+s 100 km, the power improvement will be of one order at a distance of :.
600? kiii, and of two orders at a distance of 3000-4000 kin. Allowing for this correction, the transntis-;, ..,
sion of telepathic information observed in the Lonin(;rad-Afoscow experiments could be possible by
electromagnetic means to a distance of the order 'of 2 kin by the induction field and to a distance of the ?
order of 500 km by the radiation field; in the latter case this is possible if it can be assumed that the
intrinsic loss resistance in the inductor's "antenna" is smaller than the radiation resistance. Similar'
estimates for the Moscow-Novosibirsk and Moscow-Tomsk experiments give possible ranges of 10
and 500 km, respectively.
Thus, these experiments are also not Incompatible with the electromagnetic hypothesis of telepathy.
An analysis of the experimental results summarized In. Table '.together with experiments con-
sidered earlier (31 enables us to put forward some quantitative and qualitativo (mainly from subjective
to
t 600 1
o cl
ate
o a
motors to
06 bit
s
b
t
at a
1. In the experiments carried out the actual transmission rate of telepathic. iitformatt was
....,
- 0- 0- - - J...1 +. -1~~' ?
.. V... -1,1.a
,' V. ?
distance
a-..
V.
eV
m
i
/ sec
/
bit/see at 3000 kin, and to 0.001 bit/soc at 4000.ktn (see the figure).' Thus, despite statements to the
contrary, the 'transmissiot;'of telepathic information in our experiments, was not independent. of distance. .'; .
3. In the transmission of telepathic information the receptor , dpcs'not appirehcatid, logical atinccNC+t,:.;'r is .
such as the names of objects (in most cases they art- not formulat.ed), as .i rule thecharactortsties
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.
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Typo of
experinent?
Short-distance
action with objects
Short-dist .nco..,
.;e!ttoa.of
aY ,
l,gao '
Long-U." suggest ion of fmigcs
Long-distzeses
tr.n,a.of images
d.6
0.5
0.57
1
.4
5,
600.103
3000.10
4000.103
4000.1Qi
17 .;.
f7? .
17
4
all
8o
0a
uo
0 'A
,
prehended are qualitative attributes associated with sensations ' (shape,' color, hardness;' etc.)
Mdications as tb types of actions (direction' of, scart:h, etc: ), and emotions. Theso ?aro? the :most
plausible code elements of transmitted telepathic information.
4. The clearest perception of telepathic information occurs during comparatively short (up to
1 min) time intervals (short message elements). Therefore, the time encoding of telepathic information
must apparently proceed not by modulation of the duration of the elements transmitted but by transmis
sion of elementary comparatively short code combinations of einmeiits (pictures, emotions, etc.).
5. The results of the experiments-carried out are' not incompatible with the electrotpa;;nct[c.
hypothesis of telepathy. This deserves further attention in connection with the recognized features of
extra-long waves favoring their distant propagation 141. . . .
ll
t
assessment. ] Although the results presented are insufficient for final concluston3.to be drawn, ey .
the experiments
--as of data processing have been confined to successful experiments. Of a
organized the. successful ones were approxi'matel}. ono. half.. Their. analysis has been entirely and
exclusively based ~on data of the offIctal' r' o . rds'signcd.by the partle lpAnts in the experiments. jIt irk ... ;_
unfortunate that accnuhts of such experiments in the popular press arc often based on first'subj0ctiva
impressions prior to the drafting of official records, not to speak of their 'anslysis and reliabiltty
h
1. I.MI. Kogan, Radiotekhnika, 1967, 22,1.
'
3.
2. I.M. Kogan, Radiotekhnika, 1967, :21
3. I. M. Kogan, Itad[otekhnika, 1966, 21 :'
4. J.A. Pierce, Trans. IEEE, 1965, AES-1
,'.1 .' ,.S ....~ ~'~?!Kj bra'
NO.ot oz rim.
Vitto of
Total Il~eecsses
o tot-sl
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