STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE NEWS RELEASE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2000
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: PREL

RELEASE DATE: For immediate release
CONTACTS:
Ronald I. Deutsch, Ext. 3754
Home: [phone]
Elizabeth deAtley, Ext. 3450
Home: [phone]
Stan DeVaughn, Ext. 3034
Home: [phone]
Menlo Park, Calif. --Two California scientists reported today
on experiments with subjects who demonstrate an ability to perceive
information not presented to any known sense and blocked from ordinary
perception.
In a research paper on paranormal phenomena, Dr. Harold Puthoff
and Russell Targ, physicists at Stanford Research Institute (SRI), presented
evidence for the existence of a channel through which information about a
remote location can be obtained.
"Our observation of the phenomena leads us to conclude that experiments
in the so-called paranormal phenomena can be scientifically conducted, and
it is our hope that other laboratories will initiate additional research to
attempt to replicate these findings, " they said.
The scientists said one of their objectives was to resolve under
conditions "as unambiguous as possible the basic issue of whether a certain
class of paranormal perception phenomena exists.
"At all times we took measures to prevent sensory leakage and to
prevent deception, whether intentional or unintentional, " they said.
(more)
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
2/2/2
The results, which covered research from October, 1972 to March,
1974, were published in the current issue of NATURE, the British journal.
The scientists described experiments in which:
--Uri Geller, an Israeli subject, reproduced target pictures drawn
by experimenters at remote locations while Geller was in an electrically-
shielded room.
--Pat Price, a former California police commissioner, perceived
remote outdoor scenes many miles from their physical location in experiments
in which neither the subject nor the experimenters knew the location in advance.
-?-Brain wave recordings (EEGs) were made of subjects isolated in a
room in an effort to determine whether physiological measurements could be
made of a remote stimuli. The stimuli was a flashing light in another room.
"It may be that remote perceptual ability is widely distributed in the
general population, " Targ and Puthoff speculated, "but because the perception
is generally below an individual's level of awareness, it is repressed or not
noticed. "
In the experiments with Geller, he was asked to reproduce 13 drawings
over a week-long period while physically separated from his experimenters in
a shielded room. Geller was not told who made the drawing, who selected
it for him to reproduce or about its method of selection.
The researchers said that only after Geller's isolation--in a double-
walled steel room that was acoustically, visually and electrically shielded
(more)
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
3/3/3
from them--was a target picture randomly chosen and drawn. It was
never discussed by the experimenters after being drawn or brought near Geller.
All but two of the experiments were conducted with Geller in the
shielded room, with the drawings in adjacent rooms ranging from four meters
to 475 meters from him. In other experiments, the drawings were made
inside the shielded room with Geller in adjacent locations.
Examples of drawings Geller was asked to reproduce included a
firecracker, a cluster of grapes, a devil, a horse, the solar system, a tree
and an envelope.
Two SRI researchers- -not otherwise associated with the research--
were submitted Geller's reproductions for judging on a "blind" basis. They
matched the target data to the response data with no errors, a chance probability
of better than one in a million per judge.
In a second series of experiments with Geller involving 100 target
pictures of everyday objects, he was not successful. The object was to
determine whether direct perception of envelope contents was possible without
some person knowing which target picture Geller was attempting to reproduce.
The pictures were drawn by an SRI artist, sealed by other SRI
personnel in double envelopes containing black cardboard. They were randomly
divided into groups of 20 for use in experiments that lasted three days.
Each day Geller passed or declined to associate any envelope with a
drawing he had made. Both Geller and the researchers agreed that in those
(more)
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
4/4/4
cases in which he made drawings, the results did not depart significantly
from what would be expected by chance.
In another experiment with Geller, he was asked to "guess" the face of
a die shaken in a closed steel box. The box was vigorously shaken by one of
the experimenters and placed on a table. The position of the die was not
known to the researchers.
Geller provided the correct answer eight times, the researchers said.
The probability that this could have occurred by chance was about one in a
million. The experiment was performed ten times but Geller declined to respond
two times, saying his perception was not clear.
Targ and Puthoff have noted the widespread publicity Geller has
received based on reports that he can bend metal by paranormal means. They
said their research with him did not confirm this ability.
"Although metal bending by Geller has been observed in our laboratory,
we have not been able to combine such observations with adequately controlled
experiments to obtain data sufficient to support the paranormal hypothesis. "
Encouraged by remote viewing experiments with earlier subjects, Targ
and Puthoff reported on nine remote-viewing experiments that were conducted
with Price as a subject. The SRI team chose natural sites in the San Francisco
Bay Area on a double-blind basis, while Price, who remained at SRI in Menlo
Park, California, was asked to describe the location and whatever activities
were going on there.
(more)
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
5/5/5
"Several descriptions yielded significantly correct data pertaining
to and descriptive of the target location, " Targ and Puthoff said.
While one SRI experimenter was closeted with Price, a second
experimenter would obtain a target location from an individual in SRI management
not otherwise associated with the research. The targets--chosen from among
100 in the area--were clearly differentiated from each other and within 30
minutes driving time from SRI.
The team that had chosen the target proceeded to the location without
communicating with the subject. The experimenter remaining behind with
Price was not told of the location and questioned the subject, who described
his impressions of the location on a tape recorder.
"To obtain a numerical evaluation of the accuracy of the remote-
viewing experiment, the experimental results were subjected to independent
judging on a blind basis by five SRI scientists who were not otherwise associated
with the research, " the scientists said. "The judges were asked to match the
nine locations, which they independently visited, against the typed manuscripts
of the tape-recorded narratives of the remote viewer. "
The panel of judges, by a plurality vote, correctly matched six of the
nine descriptions and locations, Targ and Puthoff reported. The probability
that this could have occurred by chance is one in a billion.
"Although Price's descriptions contain inaccuracies, " Targ and Puthoff
said, "'the descriptions are sufficiently accurate to permit the judges to
(more)
Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
6/6/6
differentiate among the various targets to the degree indicated. "
In a pilot study with six subjects, the scientists sought to determine
whether brain wave recordings (EEGs) could be used as an indicator of
information transfer between a subject and a remote flashing light. The study
was based on the hypothesis that perception may take place below the level
of personal awareness.
"It was assumed that the application of a remote stimuli would result
in responses similar to those obtained under conditions of direct stimulation, "
said Targ and Puthoff. "For example, when normal subjects are stimulated
with a flashing light their EEG typically shows a decrease in the amplitude
of the resting rhythm and a driving of the brain waves at the frequency of the
flashes.
"We hypothesized that if we stimulated one subject in this manner
(a sender), the EEG of another subject in a remote room with no flash present
(a receiver), might show changes in alpha activity, and possibly EEG driving
similar to that of the sender.
The researchers reported they worked initially with six volunteer
subjects but eventually concentrated on one subject who responded most
dramatically. They then measured the subject's EEG for three days, gathering
data from seven sets of 36 trials each with the subject, who was in an opaque,
acoustically and electrically-shielded room seven meters away from the sender.
Targ and Puthoff reported that while five of the subjects performed
at chance levels, the sixth showed consistent and signficiant EEG changes
Approved For Release 2001/03/0i124)-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
 7Miroved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6
associated with the presence of the remote stimuli under conditions of sensory
shielding.
"We hypothesize that the protocol described here may prove to be
useful as a screening procedure for latent remote perceptual ability in the
general population, " they said.
The researchers said that the channel through which information can
be received about a remote location appears to be "imperfect, " containing
noise along with the signal. They said that while a signal-to-noise ratio
cannot yet be determined, the channel nonetheless permits functioning at a
useful level of information transfer.
Targ and Puthoff said the research constitutes "a first step" toward
the goal of uncovering patterns of cause-effect relationships that lend them-
selves to analysis and hypothesis in the forms with which are familiar in
scientific study.
"We have established under known conditions, " they said, "a data
base from which departures as a function of physical and psychological
variables can be studied in future work. "
The research was sponsored by The Foundation for Parasensory
Investigation of New York City and the Institute of Noetic Sciences of Palo
Alto, California.
Stanford Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization
that performs contract research for worldwide clients in government,
business and industry.
###
Oct r6kl For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220003-6