REMOTE VIEWING: PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL POTENTIAL FOR INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00789R002600250001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 97
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 9, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 1, 1992
• Content Type: RS

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REMOTE VIEWING: PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL POTENTIAL
FOR INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION?
by
Michael E. Zarbo
Captain, United States Army
Graduate Class 9201
Thesis submitted to the Faculty
of the Defense Intelligence College
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence
November 1992
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and
do not reflect the official policy or position of the
Department of Defense or the US Government
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................vii
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................2
Riddled With Controversy .......................5
Early US interest ..............................6
2. THE SOVIET ADVANTAGE ............................15
Marked Differences ............................. 15
Historical Perspective .........................19
Mind Over Matter ...............................27
3. HUBRIS IN THE US GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE? ........ 32
A Need to Believe? .............................33
Stanford Research Institute (SRI) Tests ........ 36
4. AN INTELLIGENCE TOOL? ...........................50
Political and Military Applications ............ 50
5. CONCLUSION ...................................... 76
What We Don't Know Could Hurt Us! ..............76
Insurmountable Obstacles? ......................78
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................88
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1 Photographs and remote viewer's drawings of
targets contained in 35mm film canisters,
Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, CA.
21 June 1979 ...................................... 41
2 Photograph and remote viewer's drawing of a
Research and Development site in the Soviet
Union, Spring 1977 ................................ 56
3 Remote viewer's drawing of water fountain
at Washington Square in New York City, 6 July
1976 .............................................. 62
4 Remote viewer's drawing of an airport in San
Andres, Colombia, March 1976 ...................... 63
5 Remote viewer's drawing of a merry-go-round
March 1976 ........................................ 64
6 Remote viewer's drawing of tennis courts
March 1976 ........................................ 65
7 Remote viewer's drawing of typewriter target
March 1976 ......................................... 66
8 Remote viewer's drawing of video monitor
March 1976 ........................................ 69
9 Remote viewer's drawing of xerox machine
March 1976 ........................................ 70
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(U) Remote viewing could be a potentially profitable
intelligence collection tool if accepted as valid by those who
have the power to promote its research. Blindly overlooking
the persuasive experimental data that this phenomenon has
yielded on numerous occasions could equate, from a
counterintelligence perspective, to disregarding a potentially
'5~;ngerous threat. This study is not designed to persuade the
reader that this phenomenon is absolute, but rather to bring
to light, that in time, through continued study and
application of this phenomenon, it could prove a worthwhile
collection tool.
(U) Research in this area is at a standstill in the
United States. The general premise, threaded throughout this
paper, is that a great majority of professionals from
government, military,-_ and academic circles are reluctant to
accept this phenomenon, regardless of significant findings.
The fear of humiliation for accepting something which so
strongly cuts across the lines of conventional wisdom appears
to be the overriding reason. This paper illustrates, through
informed opinions of prominent government, military, and
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academic officials, the roller coaster of differing attitudes
this phenomenon has weathered over time.
(U) While this study addresses the inherent short
comings of this phenomenon, it also uncovers a great deal of
credible information in the form of experimental test
procedures and results, interviews with reputable authorities,
and suggestions for employing this phenomenon, which if ever
accepted, could contribute to acceptance of remote viewing as
an intelligence force multiplier.
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You're travelling through another
dimension. A dimension, not only of
sight, and sound, but of mind. A journey
into a wonderous land whose boundaries
are that of the imagination.
Rod Serling
"The Twilight Zone"
(U) During the course of researching this topic, chosen
prior to the break up of the Soviet Union, much of the
information obtained applies to what today exists as the
Commonwealth of Independent States. For clarity's sake,
readers should know that in those cases where the events
addressed occurred prior to August 1991, the terms Soviet
Union and Soviet are used to indicate the nation which existed
at that time.
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INTRODUCTION
(U) The field of parapsychology is large, encompassing
numerous independent topics, therefore, this thesis will focus
on the study of telepathic clairvoyance, recently termed
"remote viewing" by Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
scientists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ. Benjamin B.
Wolman author of Handbook of Parapsychology defines remote
viewing as an experience, either spontaneous or induced, in
which one's center of consciousness seems to be in a spatial
location separate from that of one's physical body.' Other
commonly used synonyms include astral projection, and out-of-
body-experience. In research conducted under the sponsorship
of the former Soviet Union, the Russians, who study this
concept seriously, believe that when it is finally developed,
remote viewing will allow an operator in one location to
gather intelligence information from another area, up to
several thousand kilometers away, without ever leaving the
security of his initial location. This collection is not
conducted with the aid of electronic equipment, but strictly
by mental processes.
(U) Research shows that the US does not consider remote
viewing a viable threat. More importantly, the US has
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consistently overlooked remarkable experimental data which
illustrates that remote viewing could also prove an invaluable
complimentary intelligence collection asset.
(U) Parapsychology is a controversial phenomenon both
among the general public and in respected academic circles.
The most striking hypothesis threaded throughout my research,
is that parapsychological data, no mater how convincing, is
frequently dismissed as superstitious hocus pocus and
nonsense. This paper will illustrate that the intelligence
community, schooled to "think red," should focus on the
potential value this phenomenon has demonstrated on numerous
occasions.
(U) The biggest obstacle in the path to further
research, which has plagued this branch of inquiry since the
1920s, is the intelligence community's reluctance to accept
remote viewing. It appears to threaten their conventional
beliefs, and many people associated with this controversial
issue are labelled charlatans or freaks. I personally
encountered this skepticism during my research for this paper.
Many of the people I approached with the hope of obtaining
leads or information met me with raised eyebrows and
disdainful smirks.
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(U) The current umbrella of intelligence disciplines;
Signals Intelligence; Imagery Intelligence; newly introduced
Measurement and Signature Intelligence; and Human Intelligence
are considered sufficient by the intelligence community to
adequately meet our intelligence collection needs. However,
what if a force multiplier could be added that could
substantially enhance this overall collection umbrella?
Available evidence is increasingly persuasive that such a
multiplier may indeed exist in the form of remote viewing. In
addition, if such a multiplier does exist, it stands to reason
that steps toward preparing defensive countermeasures would
merit the concern of the counterintelligence community.
However, interest in demonstrating its potential has seriously
subsided in the US since the mid 1970s.
(U) The importance and ramifications of remote viewing
to the field of intelligence if used by an opposing force
could be monumental. Consider the following scenario: On the
modern battlefield the opposition might have the ability to
retrieve intricate battle plans from a US tactical operations
center far enough in advance to plan a counterattack to squash
an upcoming operation. The US force would be placed at a
serious disadvantage at best, and utterly defeated in the
worst case. To take it a step further, let us suggest that
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the opposition could obtain this information in advance
undetected, regardless of stringent security. The final blow:
There is apparently no serious effort underway by the US
Government to counter this possibility.
(U) The two major subcategories of parapsychology are
?X1rasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK).2 The
phenomenon of remote viewing falls within ESP and pertains to
the acquisition and description, by mental means, of
information blocked from ordinary perception by distance or
shielding, and generally considered to be secure.3
(U) According to Robert A. Monroe, author of the landmark
book Journeys Out of the Body, which he based on several years
of personal out-of-body experiences, remote viewing includes
events in which the exp.eriencer (1) seems to perceive some
portion of some environment which could not possibly be
perceived from where his physical body is known to be at the
time; and (2) knows at the time that he is not dreaming or
fantasizing because the person experiencing this event
maintains normal consciousness.4
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(U) Ray Hyman, professor of psychology at the University
of Oregon and author of Psychological Inquiry, defines remote
viewing as an incident when a subject is able to describe a
target site even though he has no sensory basis for doing so.
This can be achieved by giving the subject the longitude and
latitude of any place on the globe, or by sending a team of
observers, who act as a conduit for the remote viewer, to a
randomly selected site that is unknown to the subject.5
(S/NF) US national security agencies have been
interested in remote viewing since at least world War II when
Hitler reportedly relied on astrologers and seers for
intelligence information. Approximately 50 years later the
government still cannot disprove that psychic phenomena is
something to be taken seriously. The FY 1992 Defense
Authorization Act tasked the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
to initiate an aggressive study on anomalous phenomena. The
FY 1992 Act directs "a continued robust effort to evaluate the
activities of foreign governments, particularly the activities
of the Soviet Union."6
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SG1A
(U) According to William J. Broad, a New York Times
reporter, US concern over Russian interest in paranormal
phenomena was nothing new. His article, "The Pentagon is Said
to Focus on ESP for Wartime," claimed that in 1977 President
Carter ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to "conduct a
high-level review of psychic research behind the Iron Curtain
in an attempt to assess a possible Soviet threat."7
(U) However, Admiral Stansfield Turner, CIA director
appointed by President Carter, was a self-confessed skeptic of
parapsychology and Carter's tasking was never taken seriously.
Turner once remarked, "twenty years from now, I may wonder how
I could be so dumb as to question the evidence for psychic
phenomena, but then again, I may feel the same way I do now."'
(S/NF) Ronald McRea, in his article "Psychic Warfare,"
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which appeared in the October 1981 issue of The Investigator,
claimed that the US Navy, as early as 1952, was the first
armed service to look into employing psychics, in an attempt
to enhance its efforts to locate Soviet submarines.9 Also in
1952 the Department of Defense received information on the
possible usefulness of ESP in psychological warfare.10 In
1961, because of mounting interest in paranormal phenomena,
the CIA's Office of Technical Service commissioned the
Director of the Parapsychological Laboratory at oxford
University in London to review the validity of ESP. The
project, codenamed ULTRA, claimed that ESP was demonstrated
but not understood or controllable. The report was read with
interest at the CIA but produced no further action." This
inaction by the US military reflected their reluctance to
accept something of this magnitude which so strongly ran
counter to their innate conservatism.
(U) Nevertheless, in time, Congress and the military,
namely Military Intelligence, demonstrated increased concern
over the concept of remote viewing and psychic warfare during
the early 1970s. This concern focused on the fear that the US
was losing the "race of psychic supremacy" to the Soviets.
Moreover, it was also during this time that the US news media
and noteworthy scientific journals such as Nature, Science,
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and Proceedings of the IEE (Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) started to seriously address psychic
issues.12 In addition, conferences organized by reputable
scientific bodies, and attended by high-ranking military and
government officials, started to reexamine the laissez-faire
attitude of the US toward psychic phenomena.
(U) It was also during the 1970s that Stanford Research
Institute scientists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ convinced
some within the intelligence community, through numerous
controlled experiments, that remote viewing should not be
overlooked as a collection tool:
(U) In these experiments, a psychologist would sit
with a "psychic" subject in a laboratory, while
another scientist would stand at an unknown site,
sometimes several kilometers away. The subject
would attempt to describe the site, of which he had
no prior knowledge. In many cases the scientists
said, these descriptions -- of objects as large as
clock towers and as small as pins -- were
remarkably accurate, the evident result of some
telepathic mental process not yet understood.13
(U) However, since the 1970s, when support for remote
viewing reached its apex, its more recent examination has been
marked by a roller coaster of attitudes, from overwhelming
ridicule to reluctant attempts at understanding it. Some have
even tried to exercise the sketchy knowledge uncovered.
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(U) Dr. Edgar M. Johnson, Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist for the US Army, claims that the overriding
reason why research for parapsychology is at a standstill is
that there is no theoretical basis put forward on why we would
expect to find the existence of paranormal phenomena. This,
he claims, is a more damning fault than not having the data.
According to Dr. Johnson:
(U) After 30 or 40 years of, sustained support in
this area there still is not very convincing data.
You can only pursue a dream so long. In many cases
phenomena have explanations based on known physical
principles, so one tendency is, if we see something
unusual, we conclude that it must have an unusual
explanation. The problem with parapsychology is
that it has no explanation, unusual or otherwise.14
SG1J
(U) Chief of Special Projects for the
Defense Intelligence Agency, holds a bachelor's degree in
aeronautical engineering, and a master's degree in physics.
He has spent fifteen years following the progression of world-
wide parapsychological research. He has also been actively
involved, in what he refers to as "hands-on experimentation"
in the US. In fact, he is the person most referred to, by
many of the people consulted for information on this topic, as
the intelligence community's premier source on paranormal
phenomena. He counters Dr. Johnson's opinion on this issue:
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(U) Because of my background, I look at things
from a scientific perspective, fully realizing that
not all science can be explained in advance by
theory. Some science has got to be evolved and
determined through the empirical, or the 'getting-
the-hands-dirty approach.' Over my fifteen years
of study in this area I have noted strong
correlations, too striking, and well beyond chance,
even when you rule in coincidences and other types
of factors. This phenomenon is not totally
predictable, but then again, what is totally
predictable in the human side of things,
particularly when you are looking at psychological
factors? Therefore, why should we expect an area
like this to yield direct, easy answers when you
first encounter it? It does not work that wax, but
it does not invalidate the basic phenomenon.5
(U) Nevertheless, an overwhelming number of government
and military officials still appear to fear humiliation for
accepting the existence of psychic phenomena. However, an
intelligent general public, with nothing to lose, appears to
overwhelmingly believe. According to a poll conducted by the
CBS News program 48 Hours, which aired on 8 February 1990, Dan
Rather conceded, "Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe in
ESP or mental telepathy and 25 percent said they had
personally experienced so called 'paranormal' phenomena."16
(U) This paper addresses this phenomena which still
defies explanation. However, due to the secretive nature of
this topic and the promise to protect the sensitivity of
current programs and the anonymity of some sources consulted,
reporting the totality of current research is not possible.
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Therefore, the information in this paper includes only that
which several US government sources involved in this sensitive
research deemed releasable during the summer and fall of 1992.
Nevertheless, the data provided will contribute to better
informed judgements about whether this branch of inquiry
deserves a further look for possible application in an
intelligence gathering capacity.
(U) Chapter 2 addresses the alleged Soviet advances in
this field, Chapter 3 details the research conducted in the
US, Chapter 4 focuses on the potential that remote viewing has
as an intelligence collection tool, and counterintelligence
threat, and Chapter 5 posits conclusions based on the previous
4 chapters.
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NOTES
1. Benjamin B. Wolman, ed., Handbook of Parapsychology (New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1977), 929.
2. Richard S. Broughton, Ph.D., Parapsychology: The
Controversial Science (New York: Ballantine Books, 1991), 6.
3. Russell Targ and Harold E. Puthoff. Remote Viewing
Replication, Evaluated by Concept Analysis. (Menlo Park, CA:
Radio Physics Laboratory, Stanford Research Institute, 1982), 3.
4. Monroe, Robert'A. Journeys Out of the Body. (Garden City,
New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971), 7.
SG1A
5. Ray Hyman, "Psychics and Scientists: Mind-Reach and Remote
viewing." The Humanist, 36, no.3, May/June'1977, 16.
7. William J. Broad. "Pentagon is Said to Focus on ESP for
Wartime Use." New York Times, 10 January 1984, sec.C,1.
8. Ronald M. McRea. Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons. (New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1984), 35.
9. Ronald McRea and Susan Merrow, "Psychic Warfare," The
Investigator, October 1981, 60.
10. (SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Parapsychology
in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions." Studies in
Intelligence. TR-SINT 77-001, 21, no.1, Spring 1977, 7.
11. (SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Parapsychology
in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions." Studies in
Intelligence. TR-SINT 77-001, 21, no. 1, Spring 1977, 8.
12. Charles Wallach, "The Science of Psychic Warfare," Journal of
Defense Diplomacy, 3, no.9 (September 1985), 39.
13. Christopher Hansen "Superpowers Said to be Studying Psychic
Phenomena for Military Use." Reuters North European Service, 12
November 1985.
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SG1J
14. Edgar M. Johnson, PH.D. Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist, US Army. Interview conducted by author at the US
Army Research Institute (ARI) for the Behavioral and Social
Sciences, 21 October 1992.
15. Chief of Special Projects Office (DTI-S), Defense
Intelligence Agency. Interview conducted by the author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, 26 October, 1992.
16. "Psychics and Skeptics," 48 Hours, narr. Dan Rather, CBS
News, 8 February 1990.
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(U) The Soviets are working on dramatically exotic
new weapons, twenty-five years ahead of anything
ever conceived in the US--so awesome as to lead the
Soviets to believe that in the coming decade they
would be capable of total neutralization of our
ballistic and submarine missiles.17
Major General George J. Keegan
Former Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence
United States Airforce 1977
(U) Historically, scientists from the former Soviet
Union researched paranormal phenomena from a more empirical
standpoint than the US. They generally accepted that this
phenomena was explainable through controlled experiments along
the same lines as biology and physiology. In contrast, the US
tried to prove that paranormal phenomena does not deserve the
same serious inquiry as do the hard sciences.
(U) The results of these two conflicting philosophies
has lead to a well-organized, well-disciplined parapsychology
program in the former Soviet Union as opposed to a splintered,
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unorganized program in the US. Additionally, the Soviets'
regard for parapsychology as a science added legitimacy for
their policymakers to sanction and fund paranormal research.
(S/NF) In addition to these differences in philosophical
approaches there exist stark differences in the experimental
techniques used by former Soviet and US researchers. In the
US the subject, or remote viewer, is in a completely normal,
conscious state. The Russians reportedly rely heavily on
hypnotism, biofeedback, yoga, and drugs to induce trances and
trance-like states. 18
(U) Seriousness in the former Soviet Union about
paranormal phenomena is evidenced by a 25 to 50-year advantage
in research. Addressing this contrast in approaches regarding
paranormal research, US Army Medical Service Corps Captain
Richard Groller stated in 1984:
(U) The general premise in this country regarding
parapsychological phenomena has been, "First prove
to me that it exists, then I'll believe it."
Counter to this has been the basic Soviet premise
regarding parapsychology phenomena which is, "We
believe that something exists that has no normal,
rational, explanation--let us investigate it.1119
(U) Captain Groller's outlook still applies today in the
US. Dr. Edgar M. Johnson, Technical Director and Chief
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Psychologist at the US Army Institute for Behavioral and
Social Sciences (ARI), questioned about this perspective in
October of 1992, answered:
(U) Why would we expect it to exist? Where are
the principles on which it should operate? whether
or not you can find it, what is the theoretical
basis that leads us to believe it is there? An
example of what I mean, in military context, is the
creation of the first atom bomb. We spent several
billion dollars building it, but at the end of its
construction, it worked. There was a theoretical
basis for believing that, if we did things a
certain way, the results were predictable. There
is no theoretical basis for believing that remote
viewing, ESP, and other parapsychological skills
should exist. We do not know the theory that says
it should be there. Moreover, we do not know of
any body of data that supports its existence.20
(U) When questioned on the issue of parapsychology
SG1J lacking a theoretical basis for existence, provided
a counterpoint:
(U) This has not been too much of a concern from
my point of view, although it's bothering. I have
been caught up in a lot of the quantum physics
issues and concepts in the parapsychological area,
but there are topics from conventional physics that
have no real good clear explanation even today, yet
we accept them readily. One example is gravity.
While it is certainly proven and highly repeatable
time after time, everybody accepts the fact that
there is something called gravity, but what is
unknown about gravity is exactly how does it work?
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What is the mechanism? Is there an action at a
distance, and if so, how? No one, so far, has
actually measured and detected a graviton, although
this is the speculative particle for how such
action at a distance should work. So, once you
think about gravity in this light, given the fact
that there are some elegant theories that have been
developed to explain how it behaves, it still does
not explain how gravity reaches out into the
universe and causes these interactions. The
graviton is as elusive today as it was when it was
speculated decades ago, so, given the fact that we
do not fully understand such readily accepted
things as gravity, I do not have any particular
difficulty, psychologically, 'in not being able to
explain ESP. The fact that there is no theoretical
model for this phenomenon should not be a deterrent
to striving to find what that theoretical base is,
or even more practically, trying to apply the
phenomenon 21
(U) Thus, while the former Soviet Union has apparently
been able to steadily continue its parapsychological research
unburdened by philosophy, research in the US has been hindered
by a lack of philosophical consensus. Almost a decade has
gone by since Captain Groller estimated the strategic threat
posed by Soviet remote viewing research:
(U) In time,
the
Soviets
may be able to learn
the
contents of
top
secret
documents, trace
the
movements of
our
troops
and ships, and know
the
location and nature of our military installations.
Additionally, the Soviets may be able to mold the
thoughts of key US military and civilian leaders
from a distance, cause the instant death of any US
Army official at a distance, and disable US
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military equipment of all types including
spacecraft.22
(U) The former Soviets' seriousness was also indicated
in a report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, an
arm of the Library of Congress. This report states that
Soviet spending on parapsychological related phenomena
throughout the 1980s resulted in tens of millions of dollars
spent annually. By contrast, total funding for
parapsychological research in the US did not exceed $500,000
annually, with most of the money coming from foundations and
other private sources.23
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
(S) Russian and, later, Soviet parapsychological
research is traceable back to world war I, when the Institute
of Brain Research in Petrograd was formed. The founder, V.M.
Bechterev, promoted investigation into this phenomenon by
forming a Commission for the Study of Mental Suggestion. In
1924, as a result of positive findings at the Brain Research
Institute, the Second All-Russian Congress of Psychoneurology
recommended additional research into the study of the
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paranormal and formed the Society for Neurology, Reflexology,
Hypnotism and Biophysics.24
(S) In the 1930s, L.L. Vasilyev, a protegee of
Bechterev, was commissioned with the task of uncovering the
mysticism associated with telepathy. The results of his
findings, not published until early 1960, apparently revealed
some eye-opening findings, because during the same year,
Vasilyev formed a new group to study telepathy within the
Physiology and Biology Department of Leningrad University.25
(U) Nevertheless, while the subject was afforded more
respect in the USSR than the US, it was not always the case
throughout the 20th century. Up until the late 1950s,
parapsychology was looked upon in the former USSR with
skepticism and indifference because of no "hard" scientific
data. Actually, what only amounted to little more than the
stern ostracism by the orthodox US scientific community toward
Americans pursuing parapsychology, was severe by comparison in
the Soviet Union. Because Marxist philosophy claimed that
history was determined by material reality, Stalin, a staunch
opponent of anomalous study, considered scientists who dabbled
in it as heretics. Their penalty was either death by firing
squad, or a one-way ticket to Siberia. Therefore, research
prior to the death of Stalin in 1953 was conducted underground
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by curious scientists, without government sanctions, who
provided their own funding and facilities.26
(U) However, in 1960, spurred by popular press reports
of Party Chairman Brezhnev's affiliation with a psychic
healer, as well by a French press report that the US was
conducting telepathic sub-to-shore experiments from the US
Navy submarine Nautilus, located at the North Pole, the
Soviets reevaluated their own interests in mental telepathy.
Although later revealed as untrue, this press report caused
quite a stir in the Soviet Union and acted as a catalyst for
its own paranormal research. Reportedly, this bogus Nautilus
episode prompted the Soviets to conduct their own sub-to-shore
experiment. Ronald M. McRea recounts in his book Mind Wars:
The True Story of Government Research into the Military
Potential of Psychic Weapons that the Soviets implanted
electrodes deep inside the brain of a mother rabbit who had
just given birth.27 While observing the behavior of the
mother rabbit in a laboratory on the shore, the newly born
babies were taken out to sea in a submarine. The Soviets
noted that at each synchronized time that a baby rabbit was
intentionally butchered, a sharp reaction in the mother
rabbit's brain was recorded by the electrodes. The Soviets
concluded the experiment a success because the signals from
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the electrodes revealed that communication had taken place
between the mother rabbit and her displaced babies. This
experiment was viewed as a response to Party philosophy of not
falling behind in any area of research no matter how little
understood.
(S/NF) Soviet difficulties in remote viewing research
surfaced in 1973 at a parapsychology conference in Prague,
Czechoslovakia. Questions asked by Soviet scientists
indicated that they were trying to learn as much as possible
about western work without revealing the extent of their own
research. Their inquiry also reflected that they were
encountering some problems with emotional reactions on the
part of their psychic subjects, and that they considered
remote viewing to be the most promising area of
parapsychology.28 Subsequently, two visiting Soviets in the
US, a space systems engineer and a cosmonaut, sought out US
scientists with strong backgrounds in remote viewing research.
Although these two Soviets tried to present themselves in a
nonchalant, uninterested demeanor when asking specific
questions about the status and progress of US remote viewing
research, their well-rehearsed agenda of questions indicated
that they had been well briefed on items of interest to their
homeland. Specifically, they were interested in the
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following: methods of inducing trance-like states, and
whether machines or the techniques of suggestion, hypnosis,
special training, or repeated practice, were used in training
personnel to use "abnormal" abilities.29
(S/NF) The Central Intelligence Agency concluded from
these attempts by the Soviets to collect information on remote
viewing that:
(S/NF) The Soviets either had encountered research
difficulties or were trying to gain expertise from
US researchers, or trying to acquire details about
what they believed to be a large, covert research
program. Nevertheless, the Soviets believed that
US researchers had experimental expertise that
would significantly benefit the Soviet program.30
SG1 B
(U) Possibly illustrative of former Soviet resolve to
cash in on using the power of the mind, is the mysterious
bombardment of microwaves on the US Embassy in Moscow 1975 and
1976. One probable reason for this bombardment appears to be
that the microwaves were used to make detection of Soviet
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listening devices extremely difficult, or that they were being
used as an electronic countermeasure to jam US electronic
eavesdropping equipment in the embassy. Another, much less
conventional, hypothesis offered by Martin Ebon in his book,
Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?, is that the Soviets
were using this radiation to effect mind-changes in embassy
personnel by tuning microwaves to the level of brain waves and
recording feedback activity in the form,of emotions, images
and thoughts. Ebon claims that the potential of microwave
brain manipulation stretches the farthest reaches of our
imagination, and that the possibility of President Carter
being subjected to some form of esoteric mind manipulation
during the Vienna SALT II talks cannot be ruled out.32 It
was noted by the majority of the White House staff that when
President Carter returned to Washington after Vienna, he was
appeared mired by indecision, and demonstrated erratic
personality and behavior swings. This change in the
President's character prompted the resignation of thirty-four
of his cabinet and staff members. According to Ted Stevens,
an Alaskan Republican, "some of us are seriously worried that
he might be approaching some sort of mental problem."33
(U)
Ebon's claim is
not without
merit
because
ironically,
Vasilyev's work,
published in
1960,
entitled
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SG1 B
"Experiments in Distant Influence," asserted that very low-
level radiation could affect living organisms by causing
dizziness, emotional instability, and hallucinations. He also
hypothesized that thoughts could be grafted into microwaves in
the same way television signals carry pictures and sound,
opening the possibility of long-distance hypnosis or mind-
control . as
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SG1 B
(U) In addition to the former Soviets' interest and
study in remote viewing, they have also shown considerable
enthusiasm in the examination of telekinesis; the ability to
move small objects by using the power of the mind. One
frequently reported mind-over-matter event involved a Mrs.
Nina Kulagina from Leningrad. On 10 March 1970, she
demonstrated her mental ability to stop a frog's heartbeat in
40 seconds. A cardiogram linked to the frog's heart, which
was separated from its body and placed on a container of
saline solution, revealed a sudden burst of electric energy
resembling the impact of an electric shock. Although the
separated heart would have ultimately stopped beating after
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SG1 B
approximately two hours, there was a pronounced correlation
between Kulagina's concentration to cease the heart's activity
and the electronic cardiogram's record of the abruptness and
abnormal circumstances under which it stopped.
(U) Mrs. Kulagina, never accused of any kind of
trickery, conducted most of her demonstrations in the company
of respected medical professionals, including numerous western
observers. She also demonstrated the mental ability to move
small objects while keeping her hands a substantial distance
away, the ability to move a magnetic compass needle in a 360-
degree motion, and the power to induce painful skin burns on
the arms of people she simply touched.
(U) Although the political and economic unrest which
continues into the Autumn of 1992 in Russia and throughout the
Commonwealth of Independent States will most likely cause
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significant setbacks to their investigative research, it seems
apparent their continued study and possible breakthroughs in
this field could add significant dimensions to the modern-day
battlefield.
(U) Such paranormal abilities would pose significant
problems if used in a military capacity. In the US, the
phrase "if looks could kill" is commonly used but dismissed as
an impossibility. Suppose, as demonstrated in Russia by the
stopping of the frog's heartbeat, thoughts could kill?
Potential military applications would revolutionize warfare to
an extent scarcely imaginable.
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SG1A
17. Martin Ebon. Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion? (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 215.
19. Ronald M. McRae, "Psychic Warriors," Omni, April 1984, 62.
20. Edgar M. Johnson, Ph.D. Technical Director and Chief
Psychologist, US Army. Interview conducted by author at the US
Army Research Institute (ARI) for Behavioral and Social Sciences,
21 October 1992.
SG1J 21. Chief of Special Projects Office (DTI-SO, Defense
Intelligence Agency. Interview conducted by the Author at the
Defense Intelligence Agency, 26 October, 1992.
22. Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion ? (New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983),17.
23. B. Reppert, "Study Cites Soviet Progress on Mind Weapons,"
Associated Press, 6 November 1983, 6.
24. (SECRET) Thomas A. Fields. Parapsychology and Intelligence:
Is Remote Viewing a Viable Intelligence Collection Technique? MSSI
(Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence School, June 1979), 24.
25. (SECRET) Thomas A. Fields. Parapsychology and Intelligence:
Is Remote Viewing a Viable Intelligence Collection Technique? MSSI
(Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence School, June 1979), 24.
26. Ronald M. McRea. Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons (New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1984), 31.
27. Ronald M. McRea. Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons (New York:
St. Martin's Press, 19840, 32.
28. (SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Soviet and
East European Parapsychology Research." Studies in Intelligence.
SI-77-10012, April 1977, 4.
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29. (SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Soviet and
East European Parapsychology Research." Studies in Intelligence.
SI-77-10012, April, 1977, 4.
30. (SECRET/NOFORN) Central Intelligence Agency. "Soviet and
SG1A East European Parapsychology Research." Studies in Intelligence.
SI 77-10012 April 1977, 4.
32. Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion? (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 129.
SG1A
33. Martin Ebon, Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion? (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983), 119.
34. Ronald M. McRea, Mind Wars: The True Story of Government
Research into the Military Potential of Psychic weapons. (New
York: St. Martins Press, 1984), 73.
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CHAPTER 3
HUBRIS IN THE US GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE ?
ROBOTMAN by am Meddick
Source: Jim Meddick, 'Robot Nan,' The Boston Globe, 21
March 1992.
(U) Skepticism and a lack of faith epitomizes the less
serious approach in the US toward remote viewing.
Unfortunately, it seems that irrefutable proof is the criteria
for acceptance.
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A NEED TO BELIEVE ?
(U) Many who are skeptical about parapsychology claim
its data so inconclusive that it stifles their belief, while
supporters of this phenomenon argue that their belief is
justified by positive experimental data. Most of those
reluctant to accept remote viewing as a valid study claim that
convincing "proof" does not exist. Faith in the fact of this
phenomenon is an important ingredient for acceptance. Thus,
the promotion of paranormal research, can, for the scientist,
be considered similar to that of a clergy member promoting
religion. V.M. Bleykher pointed out in 1972, in his book
Parapsychology: Science or Superstition?:
(U) In parapsychological convictions it is chiefly
faith which operates. People believe blindly in
the myths they have chosen. The similarity to
religious beliefs is striking. Those who have
spoken with believers on subjects of religion know
full well how difficult it is to approach them with
deductions of logic or arguments of a scientific
sort. Fanaticism and a unique intellectual
blindness are common traits of religious and
parapsychological beliefs.39
(U) Dr. J.B. Rhine of Duke University in North
Carolina, who started exploring paranormal phenomena in the
early 1920s agreed. He wrote in 1974:
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(U) A wide variety of practices in which
capacities of parapsychical nature were assumed
have prevailed throughout the history of mankind in
all its cultures. We may note first the more
formal religions; in these, the assumptions of
parapsychical powers and agencies are an essential
part of the doctrine.40
(U) Christians do not deem irrefutable proof as a
condition for accepting that Jesus Christ walked on water or
created wine from water. Yet, these believers are not
considered crazy for their convictions. ,,,In fact, the Catholic
Church recognizes controversial subject matters like exorcism,
and does not shun claims that near-death experiences occur.
With this in mind, one might reasonably ask if remote viewing
or out-of-body experience should be such a far-fetched
concept?
25X1A (U) a member of the Foreign
Counterintelligence faculty at the Defense Intelligence
College in Washington, DC, with over twenty three years of
counter intelligence investigative experience, believes that
remote viewing should not be considered foolish:
(U) Over the years, I have met people who have had
near-death experiences, or accomplished out-of-body
experiences while in meditation. Some of these
people, highly religious, believe that every human
being is capable of effecting out-of-body
experiences. While undergoing these experiences,
these people claim that they were able to mentally
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travel, from the location of their physical self,
to another location where they could observe
activity remote from their physical self. Also, I
read Robert Monroe's book Journeys Out of the Body,
and believe very much in what Monroe claims, that
most, if not all, humans have this capability.41
25X1A (U) willingness to accept the fact of
psychic phenomena, including remote viewing, provides evidence
that attention continues to be paid to research and
scholarship in this field. In the 1980s, for example, one may
read, two authorities who provided substantial basis for the
views of Schweitzer and others who continue to have scholarly
interest in this field.
(U) Thomas E. Beardon, a retired US Army Lieutenant
Colonel who has written extensively on the parapsychology
program in the former Soviet Union, observed in 1981:
(U) The west has been solidly imprisoned in its
own orthodox view of psychics, and hence has been
unable to surmount the stone walls of its self-
imposed mental barriers. in fact, it has not even
tried. The -'orthodox establishment continues to
vigorously attack the experiments as unscientific,
and the experimenters who struggle with paranormal
research as frauds and charlatans.42
(U) In 1985, Dr. Russell Targ, a laser physicist at
Stanford Research institute who has conducted numerous
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experiments on remote viewing, echoed the sentiments of
(U) The reasons more people have not actively
explored their psychic capabilities are clear.
Everywhere we look, we find images of psychic
functioning that are confusing, intimidating,
misleading, and terrifying... Meanwhile, critics of
parapsychology, who often know next to nothing
about this phenomenon, condemn the scientific work
in this field out of fear of its philosophical
implication.43
(U) It is ironic that the US is apparently at a
disadvantage regarding research on remote viewing because,
despite the lack of support for this research, the CIA
conducted controlled tests as early as 1973 on this phenomenon
with astonishing results. These tests were conducted at
Stanford Research Institute (SRI) at Menlo Park California, by
the two most noteworthy mavericks and pioneers of remote
viewing: Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ, both of whom have
impeccable credentials as scientists. Targ has important
copyright patterns to his credit in the laser field. Puthoff,
a Stanford Ph.D., in addition to also having laser copyright
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patents, has coauthored a textbook in quantum
physics... neither is a novice in physical research.44
(U) The general procedure for these tests was to closet
the remote viewer with an interviewer from the institute, in
a windowless room within a laboratory of the SRI complex. At
a prearranged time, an SRI researcher, who acted as a conduit
for the remote viewer, retrieved one of 60 targets cards from
a locked safe and departed for a location dictated on his
target card. The target cards, numbered from one to sixty,
were selected by the conduit by using a random-number function
on a Texas Instruments hand calculator, therefore, the target
selected from the safe was neither known by the remote viewer
nor the interviewer. Thus, the interviewer could not aid or
elicit a positive target response from the remote viewer. The
target sites were all within a 30-minute driving time from
SRI.- When a predetermined viewing time arrived, the remote
viewer was asked to draw and describe what he envisioned at
the target site. Verbal descriptions of the target site were
also recorded on a tape recorder. The person at the target
site simply paid attention to the environment of the site for
15 minutes then returned to the lab. After all of the raw
data was compiled, the target person, the remote viewer, and
the interviewer returned to the target site to discuss the
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test. This was done to afford the remote viewer an
opportunity to evaluate his own abilities.
(U) After six of these experiments were completed and
their data compiled, data packages, to include the remote
viewer's sketches, transcripts, and target card, were
forwarded to SRI researchers, or "judges," who were tasked to
revisit the target sites and assign a package to the site. To
assign a quantitative value to these tests, the SRI judge
assessed the viewer's transcript against the target. From the
transcript a list of six concepts were developed and
numerically rated on a scale of zero to ten. A concept was
usually descriptive in nature and represented by a one-word
adjective (i.e."red," "tall," "bright") or phrase. A zero
constituted no correlation between the transcript and the
target site, and a ten represented exact correlation. The
judge then computed the arithmetic average of the six concepts
and arrived at a success rating for each individual
experiment. As described by Puthoff:
(U) The quality of the results was such that the
judges, who had to determine in a blind fashion
which viewer-generated data packages were
associated with which target sites, were able to
match transcripts to targets in first place in
roughly half the cases, an exceptionally
significant result.45
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(U) In 1978, Puthoff and Targ conducted a similar series
of experiments designed to determine the resolution capability
of remote viewing. In these experiments, the remote viewer
was again closeted with an interviewer while a target person
proceeded to a randomly selected location approximately 1/8 of
a mile from the SRI complex. In these experiments, however,
the remote viewer was not to report on the location of the
target person, but on an item concealed in a 35mm film
c mister carried by the target person.
(U) To prepare for this series of experiments, an
experimenter previously unassociated with remote viewing
experiments, was tasked to select ten small items and deposit
each in separate 35mm light-tight canisters. This
experimenter then sealed the canisters. The canister and its
contents were neither known by the interviewer nor the target
person. The canisters were then numbered from one to ten and
secured them in a locked safe.
(U) In these tests, like in those discussed above, the
location to where the target person carried the canister was
determined by a random number function on a calculator. The
target person remained at this site for ten minutes then
returned to the laboratory where the remote viewer, the
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interviewer, and the target person learned the contents of the
canister for the first time.
(U) The transcripts of ten experiments were then turned
over to an independent judge who evaluated and compared
descriptions given by the remote viewers to the actual
contents in the canisters. Examples of the quality of the
descriptions, as well as sketches prepared by the remote
viewer are shown in Figure 1.
(U) In addition to local remote viewing experiments
conducted within the San Francisco area, Puthoff and Targ also
conducted long distance experiments with equally
significant results.
(U) In these tests, conducted in 1973, two renowned
American psychics projected their minds over long distances
and accurately described secret military installations as well
as classified materials within these installations. One of
the psychics described in minute detail a remotely located
Soviet installation in the Ural Mountains. Reportedly, this
description was verified by CIA agents in the Soviet Union.
The two psychics then focused on China, and once again CIA
contacts in China reportedly confirmed their accuracy. When
he saw the results of the tests, a security officer at the
test facility exclaimed, "Hell, there's no security left."41
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