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2 February 1973
MEMO FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT
Paranormal Phenomena:
Further Developments /Reflections / Suggestions
1„
This memo
: recapitulates briefly the substance of the
1 Feb meeting with
TSD (para 2); supplements in a limited way earlier reflections on the phenomena
(para 3); and suggests possible next steps for joint TSD/ORD action (para 4). The
Attachment is a suggested draft memo for convening a low-key conference with
other Agency elements having a legitimate interest in the topic.
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2. The
1 Feb meeting was attended by
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,
Jof ORD; theSGlI
meeting was held in the ORD conference room and lasted from 1400 to 1700 hrs. The
salient subjects covered were as follows.
a “ TSD's Past
ik Present Project, Future Intentions .
TSD first got into the
paranormal field with SRI in summer
72,
giving them a few thousand dollars to complete
experiments they were then running (evidently largely on their own funds) with SWANN
and,
a bit later, with GELLER.
It wasn't a controlled 'project' per se but,
rather,
a
stop-gap measure- -the results of which were the recent pres entatioiTand film.
TSD
was sufficiently impressed by those results to invest 50K in a six month SRI project
(JAN-JUNE
73),
the purpose of which is to examine SWANN in considerably more detail
and to see
if findings
of a nature similar to those in the GELLER experiments result.
If they do, TSD will in all likelihood urge some follow-on by themselves, ORD and/or
others
(e, g.
,
the Natl Sci F oundation) but that is a matter which can be seriously dis-
cussed only as the SWANN data begins to come in.
TSD won't know the precise nature
of the SRI design/intent with SWANN until
next visit there; while the SRI
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people have been qiiite cooperative and willing to accept Agency suggestions as to design
and procedures (we are the only sponsor they have as yet,
although there have been some
indications that minor funds have been provided by the Mind Science Foundation of L. A.
),
the fact that neither SWANN nor GELLER know of Agency or USG involvement (and would,
presumably ,
resent it) has precluded any direct involvement or close control by TSD.
] will send ORD a copy of the current project.
TSD has not as yet addressed
itself seriously to the question of practical or immediate CS operational applications of
the purported phenomena.
b. TSD Impressions
of SRI and GELLER -SWANN . TSD has no reason to doubt the
motivation or credentials
of SRI management and researchers and,
on balance, believe
that they have conducted themselves and the experiments with decent objectivity,
SRI
management was highly skeptical and reluctant to get involved at the outset but now most
of them are 'believers '--even though they still fear the possibility of a hoax and are rel-
uctant to become publicly identified with the experiments; for this reason they have thus
far refused to let PUTHOFF and TARG publish any of their data.
Nonetheless,
the latter
two and possibly other SRI officials as well now believe
tha„t they are on fo^scientific break
through of the century- -and are understandably eager to keep control over the Subjects
and the experiments so that they won't be aced-out of the eventual credit.
SRI's initial
proposal to TSD (Dec 72) was for a one year project totalling
„—
oi
for exhaustive
testing of both GELLER & SWANN and research into tr ansfe r ab ility / tr ainab ility of the
SG1B
SG1B phenomena); TSD could underwrite only thef
[for the phenomenological testing of
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SWANN (with some hopes of me die al /behavior al te s ting as well) and told SRI that they
could,
naturally,
try to interest other parties in the balance of their proposal.
SRI has
sent the proposal to NIH, ARPA, NSA, DOD (and possibly others) but, while considerable
interest hns been expressed,
there are no other takers as yet.
SRI is also interested
in developing screening techniques to identify people with paranormal capacities but it
is not clear to what extent (if at all) this will be addressed in the current project.
All
they really hope /expect to accomplish by June 73 is validation/verification of the fact
that there
are,
indeed, phenomena worthy of our study; beyond that,
as to whether SRI
has theoretical physicists or others,
for instance, who could actually get at the roots
of
the phenomena,
TSD does not know but seems inclined to doubt it.
met him once and only briefly and by accident; G struck
him as a quite 'normal' person in superficial terms - -though obviously intense and alert.
Though he doesn't talk much about himself or try to articulate his feelings/perceptions
about his 'powers', some limited background data of unknown reliability has emerged- G
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states that he first became aware of his powers at about the age of five--when he began
moticing that perceptions/feelings /abilities common for him were weird/frightening/off-
ensive to his playmates;
responding like a true social animal, he began to repress the
powers as a trade-off for peer-group acceptance --though he
still used them sporadically
and states that they contributed to his rather high academic performance; while in the
Israeli army he began doing barracks tricks for his friends and finally developed a full
magician's routine and he now states that he went into the stage -magic business since
it
offered him a socially acceptable way of using his gifts (he doesn't care whether his
audience views his work as
trickery or supernatural and admits that he uses some of both
in his professional routine).
| Though
not communicative, G is generally pleasant and cooperative (at least,
as long as he is
being paid adequately); he had one bad brush with Mr LAWRENCE of ARPA whom he per-
ceived (perhaps not without reason) as being hostile --but otherwise he hasn't been unduly
temperamental.
He is now in New York (for how long and for what reason was not clear)
and has no fufrther contractual relationship with SRI at this time,
although there is no
reason to doubt that he'd accept one
if the moeay was forthcoming.
While SRI clearly
views him as their property and want to be associated with any further use of him, we
have no way of knowing what G feels in this respect.
TSD believes, however,
as did
apparently the others present,
that it would be unwise and unfair of us to try to finesse
SRI out of the picture at this time; at the very least that would jeopardize their current
contract with SRI--and it may well be that G wouldn't cooperate without SRI's blessing.
(2) SWANN : Though quite a bit less
'talented' than G (both in the range and inten-
sity and predictability of phenomena) S is easier to work with,
is more articulate and
perceptive about his powers and,
apparently,
truly wants to understand them.
During
the 6 months SRI intends to test him on some of G's
'tricks' as well as further investigate
his own; they will also hopefully examine the possibilities
of training /enhancing his powers
and at least make a stab at trying to determine what is going on during the phenomena (e.
g.
, EEG,
electromagnetic, etc); finally,
they hope to do some basic medical examinations
of him.
S is living in California for the
6 months and is fully at SRI's disposal.
Again,
SRI hopes to sew S up as their property but we have no inkling as to S's views on the
matter --or whether he would be willing to cooperate with USG.
c *
Possible ORD Involvement/ Contribution.
TSD stated that they would welcome
ORD involvement; should the current tests bear-out the earlier findings,
thus establishing
beyond reasonable doubt that there IS something worth study,
there would obviously be
more than enough for all of us (and others) to do--much of it well-beyond TSD's legitimate
charter and interests.
It was generally agreed that
it was too late to make any basic
adjustments to TSD's current SRI contract- -although it was also agreed that to the extent
these and subsequent discussions uncovered possibly fruitful avenues of approach TSD
would pass them on to SRI for whatever modifications might be feasible.
Basically,
it
was felt, we should now address ourselves to the fundamental questions/issues which
would be essential to any sound follow-on project should the current project live up to
expectations.
If
it does not
(i. e.
,
if the SWANN evidence
is inconclusive or negative)
it
is quite unlikely that TSD will continue in any guise.
But
if there is to be a continuation
TSD and ORD should fashion it jointly and,
in order for momentum (and the Subjects) not
to^lost,
the preparatory work should be completed by April or so.
While there seemed
to be. general acceptance of the rough delineation between the TSD and ORD roles
(i. e.
,
'applied' vs
'basic' research),
it was agreed that another meeting between the two units
should be held before we consider getting the necessary in-put from other Agency
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e ^emen^ s “ -though,
in principle,
it was agreed that that would, be an essential step as long
as
it was handled in a sufficiently low-key and unbureaucratic manner.
NOTE:
will be out of town during the week of
5 F eb and,
after the meeting,
it was tentatively
agreed that the next TSD /ORD meeting would be at 1400 hrsjen F riday,
16 February, J.n
the ORD conference room.
The TSD representatives strongly urged that one or two ORD
representatives accompany Mr KRESS the next time he visits SRI in order to get a feel
for the institute,
the people and the way things
are being handled.
d. Other Matters. There was much anecdotal exchange about SWANN & GELLER
and considerable interesting though inconclusive speculation
on the phenonn na but the
SGI B only other substantive matters /suggestions which seem worthy of note were as follows.
It was generally agreed that there was no profit in becoming involved with the
circle or the nebulous groups /foundations in that milieux; TSD mentioned
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