Approved For Release 2900/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001-3 I FIELD MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM, TASKS 1, 2, AND 3 As Introduction Following is a summary of work carried out under Field Measurements Contract No, 1471(S8)73, Tasks 1, 2, and 3. Tasks 1 and 2 cover a two-week field measurement program (14-28 August 1972) with consultant Ingo Swann; Task 3 covers a nine-day field measurement program within the time period 1 December 1972 to 15 January 1973 with consultant Uri Geller. B. Background A program in biofield measurements was initiated in July 1972 with a preliminary experiment with Mr. Swann. In this work using a shielded magnetometer, Mr. Swann apparently demonstrated an ability to increase and decrease at will the magnetic field within a super- conducting magnetic shield. This experiment made use of an existing facility and we have confidence that Mr. Swann had no prior knowledge of either the apparatus or of our intended experiment, The experimental results were carefully scrutinized and were unlike any data previously produced with this apparatus. That observation is summarized in Proposal for Research SRI No. ISU 72-134 (Biofield Measurements Program) in your possession. Based on that observation, Tasks 1 and 2 were initiated to carry out further experimentation with Mr. Swann in the field measurements area, and, later, Task 3 was added to carry out similar experimentation with Mr. Geller. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001 -3 1 ;
Approved For Releasg 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00010Q180001-3 Cc. Protocol A rigid protocol for experimentation in the area of psycho-~ energetic research has been instituted in order to carry out the assigned tasks. lL. Because of the history of charlatanism in this area, one of our basic operating assumptions has to be that we cannot exclude the possibility that a subject will hoax if given: an opportunity. To handle this, we consider it important to design experiments a) which are totally under the design and control of the experimenter rather than the subject, and b) which are considered in their basic design to be cheatproof., Specifically, if in the performance of an experiment or in the evaluation afterwards it is found that the results could in principle be duplicated by cheating or stage magic, then that experiment is to be considered void, even when there is no evidence of cheating. ae Given the nature of the phenomena, any prejudgment or bias on the part of the experimenter, whether "pro" or "con", is more likely to affect the experimentation, results, and their evaluation in this area than in any other area of behavioral research. Therefore, we consider it important to design experiments which a) can be carried out using double blind procedures and b) can be evaluated by objective measures independent of experimenter belief structures. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001-3
Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R0001Q0180001-3 II TASKS 1 AND 2; EXPERIMENTATION WITH INGO SWANN The magnetometer observation of July 1972 indicated at least two forms of biofield functioning: 1) the passive perception of information through some as yet unidentified communication channel, and 2) the active perturbation of the functioning of a laboratory device. The initial experiments were designed to test each of these functions separately. A. Probability 1/3 Target Location The first experiment to be carried out under Tasks 1 and 2 had as its goal the testing of the hypothesis that information can be obtained from locations inaccessible to ordinary viewing. In order to place the experiment on a quantitative basis, a procedure was followed in which a target object was placed in one of ' three identical containers, the task of Swann being to enter the experimental area after placement and indicate the target container. Targets consisted of a range of organic and inorganic materials (e.g., quartz prism, tomato, flower, etc.). In this short term study insufficient data exists for discrimination among materials as to en their efficiency as target material. The target containers were _ 9-1/8" x 4-5/8" x 4~9/16" x 1/4" thick wooden boxes, and the choice of target container for each trial was determined by a random number generator. The experiment was not carried out in a double blind fashion in this particular case (i.e., the experimenter in the room knew of the target location). However, in order to minimize subliminal cueing, the experimenter was seated behind the subject in such a Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RPP96-00787R000100180001-3
Approved F : CIA- . pproved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000109480001-3 position that he could not observe the choosing process on the part of the subject until after the choice was made. In a follow-on program subsequent successful double blind experiments with this subject further indicate that the experimenter is not part of the choice process. The results are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The experiment was repeated ten times per day over a five-day period yielding a total run of fifty trials. With an a priori probability of p = 1/3 per trial, the expected number of hits in a 50-trial run is given by y = 16.6. The observed number of hits was 26, exceeding chance expectation by w 30°; the a priori probability of such a result due to chance alone is p = 0,005. As indicated in Figure 2, an additional item of significance is the general increase in the number of hits/10-trial run over the 50-trial period. A least-squares fit linear regression curve (learning curve) indicates a learning rate of 0,.5/10-trial run, The a priori probability of obtaining the above learning curve by chance for the given data is p 0.1 (obtained from an analysis of the slope using small sample Student's t distribution statistics). Therefore, the indication for learning is weaker than the indication of ability, but nevertheless positive. an * Standard deviation o =Vnpq , where n is the number of trials, p is the a priori probability of a correct choice, and q is the a priori probability per trial of an incorrect choice. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDR96-00787R000100180001-3
Approved For Release 2900/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00010Q180001-3 The conclusion to be drawn from this experiment is that there is a strong indication that information was being transferred from one location to another through some as yet unidentified communication channel. B. Remote Temperature Control Experiment A second experiment was initiated to examine the active perturbation of the functioning of a laboratory device. The target chosen was a copper-constantin 30 wV/ °F thermocouple sealed in a 50 milliliter flask of helium gas at atmospheric pressure. (Helium was chosen at the request of Mr. Swann who described an affinity for helium following the original magnetometer experiment which involved cooling by liquid helium.) Mr. Swann's task was to learn to control the temperature registered at the thermocouple junction as it was being monitored by a Hewlett-Packard Model 425A DC microvoltmeter and displayed on a strip chart recorder. The use of feedback in an experiment of this nature is considered important both by Mr. Swann and by the experimenters. Following a learning period of several days" effort, an hour or so a day, Mr. Swann expressed confidence in his ability to perform the task. A rigid protocol was then followed in which the experimenter and Mr. Swann sat in fixed positions in the laboratory, Mr. Swann two feet from the target, experimenter four feet behind Mr. Swann. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP.96-00787R000100180001-3
Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R0001QQ480001-3 The data, shown in Figure 3, were obtained in the following procedure. After a 20-minute control period in which the temperature was stabilized, a predetermined random series of ten "heat" and "rest" commands were read out by the experimenter at 3-minute intervals. The recorded data indicates that nine of the ten commands resulted in changes in agreement with the commands. Control runs with other laboratory personnel under identical conditions yielded null results. Therefore it can be concluded that the control of temperature variations in a remote object is indicated. Further work in this area is necessary to determine from temperature distributions, shielding effects, etc., whether such control is due to an exquisite ability to control known physical effects or due to the activation of some paranormal mechanism. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001-3
Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00010Q480001-3 Cc. 4-State Random Generator Experiment A third experiment with Mr. Swann involved the use of an electronic random number generator which randomly chooses one of four possible targets (p.= 1/4) without indicating its choice until Mr. Swann had indicated to the machine his choice by pressing a button. The apparatus used in this work was designed with the goal of enhancing extraordinary human functioning which may be a more or less latent capacity to some extent in all people. Our hypothesis is that enhancement can be accomplished by allowing the user of the machine to become consciously aware of his own mental state at those times when he is most successfully employing his extra sensory faculties. With increased , conscious awareness of this mental state, we hypothesize that he is then able to bring his otherwise intermittent faculties under hig volitional control. An important feature of the machine is that the choice per se of a target is not forced. That is, the subject may press a PASS button on the machine when he wishes not to guess. Thus, with practice, the subject can learn to recognize those states of mind in which he can correctly choose the target. He does not have to guess at targets when he does not feel that he "knows" which to choose. When the PASS button is pushed, the machine indicates what its choice was, and neither a hit nor a trial is scored by the machine which then goes on to make its next selection, We consider this elimination of forced choice to be a significant condition for learning to enhance extraordinary perception abilities. When the user of the machine indicates his choice to the machine, he is immediately and automatically informed of the correct answer. Until that time both experimenter and the subject remain Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001-3 7
Approved For Release 2900/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00010Q480001 -3 ignorant of the machine's state until the subject has made his choice; thus, the experiment is of the double-blind type. Because the user obtains immediate information feedback as to the correct answer, he may be able to recognize his mental state at those times when he has made a correct response. If the information feedback to the user were not immediate, we hypothesize as much learning would not take place and less or no enhancement would be achieved. The machine operated in a mode in which a run of trials continued until 20 misses were accumulated. At that point the run was terminated and the number of hits/run (excess trials over 20) were recorded. Data with this machine were obtained on seven separate occasions, resulting in the plot of Figure 4. Total scoring was at the p = 0.35 level and therefore did not differ from chance significantly | (due perhaps to Mr. Swann's expressed distaste for working with machines). However, the general increase in the number of hits/run over the seven- run period indicated a learning trend as in the target location experiment of Section A. A least-squares fit linear regression curve (learning curve) indicates a learning rate of 0.7/run (p w 0.07 significance level). 8 Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001-3
Approved For Release 2900/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00010Q480001-3 Dd. Additional Areas Indicating Further Investigation Of further significance, but difficult to evaluate quantitatively at this point, was a number of subjective observations reported by Mr. Swann during the course of experimentation. Mr. Swann is extremely articulate about subjective impressions, visualizations, etc., which leads. to the possibility of building up a coherent picture over a long period of experimentation which can then be tested objectively. Examples include his inner perception of helium gas as yellow (perhaps related to the known resonance in the yellow portion of the spectrum), his use of visualizations of scanning beams in perception experiments, his reported subjective impression of scanning beam diffraction into a rainbow when a quartz prism was the target, observations that extra- normal vision is weakest in the visible portion of the spectrum where dependence on ordinary human vision predominates, etc. If such observa- tions can be brought into a pattern and correlated with objective measure~ ments, significant insight into extraordinary human functioning could be expected. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000100180001-3