OTS/BAB MEMO #287-77
17 November 1977
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
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SUBJECT:
Briefing for House Permanent Select
re OTS Involvement in ESP Research
unittee
1 .
In response to a request
from the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,
OTS briefed
Committee staff personnel on its involvement
in\ ESP
research.
The meeting was held in the Committee’s
offices from approximately 1000 to 1100 hours on
16 November 1977 and was attended by:
David Brandwein
D/OTS
0LC
OTS/BAB
Michael O’Neil
Committee Staff
Dick Geza
"
”
Pat Long
"
”
The Committee's interest was occasioned by
the article
' "Psychic Spying" which appeared in the
Parade Section of the Washington Post on
7 August
1977
,
The staffers wanted an informal background briefing on
Agency research efforts
on ESP.
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3.
A short oral history of OTS efforts
in the
field,
dating back to
1961, was presented.
All three
staffers asked very pertinent questions and were given
frank and in-depth replies
.
4.
Since
t
speak only
for OTS
he Agency representatives present could
jwas asked to find out
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OTS/BAB MEMO #287-77
Page
if any other Agency component was sponsoring ESP type
research.
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5.
A written outline
of OTS work on ESP
class ifxecTSECRET — ,
the IEEE article covering the un-
classified portions
of the work done by SRI and, a brief
article
on Mr.
Pat Price were
left with the Committee.
Additional information was offered but they declined.
\J OTS/BAB
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ater learn viphis instruaiOLthatha had
‘picked ur/.the diabetes symprornsoT
sis partner in the test. Yet another time,
ie picked a woman's wrisMatch out of
s bacyof articles without knr^wlhg^who the
>wrj|r wa(p3nd describe a pairfaqjhe
;!pow
of the w^ttch’s/owner, Sh&rad
uirt her elbow playing tennisyearlier
datdav.
/\
/
?ts Strongly^oi^me impor-
apsychologyS^No one can
ou, you’re fujKobttop^. How
et involved*!in
artyifnng Jo
j5evrienc^d
it,
felt itvsepn
it
t waSj^iere is a greVaea!
o
this
field.
I personally want io learn
nore, and
I vydnt to meet otlw people
vho are involved in it."
/
*
,
Patrick Price
:
,
i
ise^)fi!^lK:19eed0787ROOO5C
Patrick Price
he newly appointed president of Prin-
:ess Coal Company in Huntington, West
rirginia, refers to himself as, “One who
iperates with or without a body." Patrick
’rice
is not playing word games with
|at statement.
It has been scientifically
down that he can "exteriorize" his con-
cious self to obtain data and informa-
on through ESP.
Price's remarkable, ability is being put
i? us© by Princess, to. develop
its coal
usources.in an expanding energy mar-
el. His talent will also be used in direct-
»g operations of Princess's sister'cbm-
lanies which
include Sycamore Coal
nd Kathys Farms, the group's agri-
ultural arm encompassing some 4,500
cres of farmlands and game preserves,
s well as a showcase ranch for raising
loroughbred horses. With a vast acre-
ge
that extends over several
states,
'Kncess Coal is purchasing a helicopter
3 whisk Price around the group’s wide-
spread holdings.
Excited about putting
his
abilities
to
ss
in the coal
industry,
Price says,
“I
now
that coal has
certain
properties
iat
if released and
properly
utilized
ould handle any energy needs we have
if the next three to four hundred years."
A man of unwavering confidence with
cordial disposition and
penetrating
fus eyes. Price says he will also use his
mque ability to ascertain the company’s
xploration and
production
reports.
"I
on't need to physically leave the office
i do that," he asserts matter of .factly,
because the coal fields are only a cou-
'e hundred miles away and distance is
:> problem mentally."
Nevertheless, he will go into the field
eriodeally to consult w'j^rft^^3Qdpt§ r
ive
his impressions
of
ciTeas ueing
rtis presidency.
Price
recently accom-
panied chairman of the board David L.
Francis and a group of company engi-
neers on an inspection tour of the prop-
erties and "saw" beneath the surface
seven seams of coal in a mountain. His
analysis was corroborated by the engi-
neers.
Over the past year.
Price has been
tested by physicists at Stanford Re-
search
Institute (SR!)
in Menlo
Park,
California, with positive
results.
In one
experiment he was able
to mentally
change the electronically measured out-
put of a revolving clock pendulum
at
which a laser was beamed. On com-
mand and for forty-five minutes, he
al-
tered the output of the system below its
normal
"at
rest"
level, seemingly an
impossible feat.
In another experiment,
he exteriorized and correctly described
.... in detail a location several miles from.the
laboratory that not even the experiment-
ers knew would be the target. This ex-
periment was reported
in Nature,
the
' prestigious English scientific journal.
Yet another experiment with an SRI
physicist has convinced
Price
that he
can change
the genetic
structure of
plant
life. Thus, one
of
his. goals
is to
develop hybrid seeds. He now is setting
up a program at Kathys Farms to modify
the genetic structure of food
plants
in
order to build up their resistance to
in-
sects, droughts, severe soil and weather
conditions, and to reduce their growth
cycjes. Asked about the success of
such a program,
Price answers, "The
numerous experiments
I have willingly
undergone under very stringent labora-
tory conditions over the past year at SRI
show that
I can produce an effect at will
that is measureable and that gives posi-
tive
results."
Price was
fifty when, as
he states, "I had an analytical awareness
as to the availability of abilities
I already
had." He credits Scientology for "open-
ing new vistas and abilities of seif to me
and which
I now use as a matter of fact."
The unique businessman has oper-
ated across' the business spectrum from
his
family's construction and
building
business
to a packaging company he
once owned. He has also held various
posts in government ranging from com-
missioner of police and
fire for the City
of Burbank,
California,
to
city council-
man and board chairman.
From his own personal experiences,
and those with others
in business and
government.
Price now
believes
that
everyone can do what he does and that
such
abilities are
not extra-normal
or
<bft$fRBP96-&07
uniquely displaying them," he agrees,
“but the only difference
is that
t have
knowingly assumed
responsibility for
what
I do and make the constant deci-
sion that
it is perfectly okay to do it."
;
Price
feels
that most people refuse
to confront
this aspect of themselves
which
is why they are unaware of
it or
don’t make proper use of
it. Yet
it does
function
for successful businessmen,
whether they admit
it or not. he adds.
"Those who really make a thing a suc-
cess trust their basic instinctive data and
themselves. They're 'not just following
books, procedures, computers,
or ad-
visors because they innately understand
that most of the combined data was
gathered erroneously and, therefore,
would lead them to false conclusions."
.
He predicts that others tike himself
will follow him in business and that com-
panies will start utilizing such skills and:
abilities in their operations.
“By virtue of the fact that
I have coma
forward," states Price,
"it can help un-
lock doors for those in business
.
.
. they
can either challenge what
I say and do
or they can
accept-
it and apply
it to
self."
Asked about how he sees his own
performance with Princess Coal and
its
allied companies
in the months ahead.
Price
replied,
"I have no reservations
about the
positive
results.
Besides,
f
am putting myself on the line and am wilt-
ing to be measured by the company's
performance under my guidance. As
any businessman knows, the final proof
of how valuable
I may be wifi
tell on the
bottom line.
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OTS Involvement in ESP Research
Monitoring only
OKD/OTS are contacted by Targ and Puthoff of SRI.
Demonstrations by Ingo Swann appear to show ESP has
useful/practical intel application (Swann apparently
caused a magnetometer to
fluctuate)
Contract with SRI
(OTS/ORD)
|
,
,
i
i
- a demon-
stration of using ESP to describe hidden objects.
The
results are
so good
a more complete research plan
is provided to work up
OTS
funds
I
[ contract with SRI
to explore
the' talents of two subjects.
Both results and abili-
ties are inconsistent.
One Subject can cause a change
of temperature while another can reproduce information
in a sealed envelope.
But neither can duplicate the
work of the
other.
ORB renews
its interest in the project and it
Becomes a joint OTS/ORD effort.
A third ''sensitive"
(Pat Price)
is discovered with
an apparent ability for "remote viewing."
The poten-
tial use
of this technique
for intelligence gathering
spurs all concerned to move ahead quickly.
A new contract
to continue and expand the work at
SET is forwarded from OTS/ORD
to the DDO
(Mr. Colby)
for review and
is referred to the Executive Management
Committee because
of
its sensitivity.
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The contract is
finally sent
to
the DCI
(Schlesinger)
who decides to allow the existing contract to be
completed without a follow-on.
OTS
is told this work
is
too sensitive and potentially embarrassing.
At
this
time OTS
is
in the midst of an investigation
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regarding its role in the Watergate affair.
An "informal" experiment at SRI with an OSI scientist
on remote viewing uncovers classified information
and renews Agency interest in ESP.
Two "remote
viewers" provide a good description of a military
site by accident.
They are then asked to describe
the
interior of the building and produce physical
layout,
code words and a list of personnel.
The
names of the people prove to be incorrect but the
description of the interior and the code names are
accurate enough to convince
the new DCI
(Colby)
to
renew work on ESP.
A new joint OTS/ORD project
is funded to develop and
utilize ESP.
ORD
is
to concentrate
on identifying
and measuring the phenomena while OTS
is to evaluate
the operational usefulness
of the people and techniques
without trying to "understand"
them.
Friction soon develops between ORD,
OTS and the con-
tractor because
of conflicting interests
.
ORD wants
very strict experimental procedures.
OTS wants more
practical applications and the contractor wants
less
security constraints.
The Agency wants more research
while the contractor wants more time and money.
ORD
and OTS come up with different interpretations of the
same data
.
New directors are named to OTS and ORD.
Neither
director feels "comfortable" with the project.
The
first real use
of ESP for intelligence collec-
tion is a remote viewing attempt
of a Soviet research
facility
(URDF-3
or PNUTS).
Results are frustrating
and inconclusive.
Much
of the information
is
simply
wrong.
But some
of it
is
so unusual and detailed
that
it cannot be ignored.
The results
are des-
cribed as valid messages being transmitted over
noisy channels.
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OTS
quickly looses
its enthusiasm for ESP re-
search and directs
the project officer to come up
with practical applications
or abandon the project.
These results
-are reviewed by other DDO components
and new requirements
are
generated.
However,
OTS
and ORD managements both decide
• not
to continue the
project.
OTS believes
the
long range nature of the
research take
it out
of
the purview of its charter
and ORD believes
the work performed by SRI
is unworthy
of further support
.
In response to specific requests
from DDO components
OTS does agree
to maintain a very limited interest in
ESP.
Responsibility for the work
is
turned over to
an OTS psychologist.
He
is
told to conduct "opera-
tional" experiments but to devote no more than two
percent
of his
time to the work.
The best
of the SRI
Subjects agree
to work
-- on a part-time basis
-- with
the psychologist,
as do
. two OTS
staff officers who
have also demonstrated "remote viewing"
ability.
One
of the requests
for
operational support
is a
set
of geographic co-ordinates which one
of the Area Desks
has
submitted as a target
for "remote viewing."
The
two OTS engineers volunteer
to "view"
the site and
believe
to
be|
customer
is
hj
The
Lshly impressed with this information
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This
same DDO office
then provide^ new co-ordinates
which are
in turn passed
on to the "outside" Subject,
(Price)
.
The results
of this experiment are presented
to the customer in report form -- with a detailed
sketch--
for evaluation.
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Before a meeting can be set up,
however, Mr.
Price
dies
of a heart attack.
Subsequent attempts
to have
the area desk evaluate the
experiment — in writing
-- finally result
in a
somewhat confusing,
but nevertheless
official, report.
Mr.
Price's death effectively ends all official OTS
involvement in ESP research.
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