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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
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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
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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.
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"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
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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.
M 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
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