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second option is so far preferable as to almost invalidate the
'option' concept.
As
for the choice of subjects,
the project should be sufficiently flexible as to exploit any
truly useful ones who become available ---but the major programmed emphasis should
be on SWANN.
He is not only more readily accessible and available but he is also,
evidently, much easier and more predictable to work with and appears to be genuinely
interested, himself,
in getting at the root of the phenomena; also,
of especial signifi-
cance for our purposes,
his powers seem to have been deliberately cultivated in the
recent past and are perhaps more amenable to analysis for that reason.
(NOTE: Should
SWANN become the focal point this would also provide a more acceptable rationale for
SRI's,
ostensibly,
renting new facilities on the East coast since he resides in New
York--and,
although I'm not clear on this,
the maintaining of such 'cover
* vis a vis
SWANN may still be necessary.
) GELLER is neither available (at
least not predict-
ably so) nor very cooperative --and his motivation seems clearly to be image-building
and financial rather than scientific.
Nonetheless,
to the extent that he might be
available,
carefully thought-out procedures /controls /investigations should be structured
in advance for him.
Only a word or so about our representative(s): the need for well-
qualified, wholly unbiassed and benignly (though hard-headedly) skeptical people is
paramount- -and it is likely that several representatives
(all equally acceptable to their
peers) should be used throughout the year on a random -repetitive basis.
b. Purposes . Simply stated,
they are to measure 'whether' and to theorize as
to 'what' --and,
obviously,
the series
of investigations should be designed so that the
two are mutually supportive in a coherent continuum having the characteristics
of
progressive and rational elimination.
Since the details
of design would be the subject
iO
//
of exhaustive deliberation by the body which paragraphs^ (below) recommends be
formed,
there is no point in trying to anticipate the substance at this time.
But it
should be made clear that,
in addition to controls /investigation/analyses
of the
phenomena,
a major purpose should alao^o be an exhaustive examination (medical/
psychiatric/behavioral/cognitive/philosophic/biographic) of the subject himself.
This
is another reason why SWANN is more appropriate faor fixcus.
7 . Wha t are the mechanics _or the dynamics
of the force or natural law lying b ehin
d
the phenomena (when and
if accepted as valid )?
Without belaboring the point,
this
is
obviously the crux of the matter --for only with such understanding will we be able
to
assess transferability and control and begin to grapple with optimum utility.
It might
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be wiser to stop here,
short of science -fiction speculation,
but readership that has
come thus far is presumably broad-minded enough to take the following in the spirit
intended.
Let me state simply that
I,
at the present time,
neither believe nor dis-
believe in the phenomena- -although
I must frankly admit that,
like many others,
J
find myself essentially disposed (philosophically/emotionally) in favor
of the proposition
that what we have so far learned about the nature of man and his environment compares
poorly (qualitatively,
at least) with what we have yet to
learn.
Probabilistically,
then,
I find it easier to believe that there might be phenomena in this general $4$ area
which we do not understand than that there are not.
Whether GELLER and SWANN et al
are in control of such phenomena or whether they are even poihting at the right
phen-
omena,
is another question.
But if one views the long history of reported parapsychol-
ogical pheno$mena (so greatly obscured by the cultists and charlatans who have tried
to exploit it for both good and bad reasons)
it becomes virtually impossible to deny
that at least some people to some degree have or can develop and employ sensory
and/or motor energies which are ,
effectively, paranormal insofaras the ’normal'
individual cannot or does not employ them.
That this natural human propensity,
the
willingness to believe,
is the bedrock of the magician's trade I don't deny for one
moment- -and I am quite prepared to accept the hypothesis that,
in part at least, we
are being victimized in this respect by GELLER.
From the reported data
I am inclined
to think that this
is less likely to be the
case with SWANN.
In any case
I do believe
that,
if these or other phenomena
withstand the rigors of competent scientific
investigation, man is bound eventually to perceive that the reality lying behind them is
wholly rational.
This is not to say that they might not have great mystical or religious
significance for mankind but,
if so,
it will come as a consequence of better under s tandin
of the reality we now pwrceive--as well, perhaps,
as the perception of new dimensions
of reality.
Should this come about, there will be an unprecedented upheaval in the
values/affairs/attitudes/relationships of mankind--and,
in a crassly parochial sense,
those who are on the leading-edge of such new perceptions will be much better prepo-red
to survive the turbulent transition to the new matrices of societal values and organiz-
ation.
Limited Impressions Concerning Current Community Involvment & Intentions
8. There probably are a number of other Agency or community elements engaged
(or,
at least, with legitimate interests) in this area but my current understanding of
the ii^oj
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a - DDP/TSP has made the only substantial investment- -something on the order
- 8
-
of
)Z;
-9
upftort SRI for
one year (recently begun) of investigations of SWANN;
while TSD is reputed to have beei
impressed by the recent presentations,
I have no idea what their short- or long-range
hopes /purposes /intentions are or the nature of the precise exploitation they have in
mind.
(NOTE;
I am having lunch with C/TSD on 26 JAN and may have more insights
in these areas afterwards.
)
SGI
I
b. DDS& T/OSI
: although
was apparently instrumental in arranging
the recent presentation and has apparently dealt with SRI extensively,
I believe that OSI
has not provided funds for the investigations and does not intend to do so; they see their
only legitimate interest as being an analysis of the threat potential in the hands
of other
powers and do not believe that basic research in this area is consistent with their
res pons ibilitie s
.
c. DDS&T /ORD ;
I believe that ORD has not provided any funds for the investig-
ations and that its role has been limited to that of interested observers.
d. QMS /Office of Security/Office of Commo
all have obvious, though currently
marginal,
functional interests but have played only monitoring roles thus far and,
apparently, have no intention of providing funds.
e. Non-Agency
s POD (ARPA) and NSA are alleged to have considerable interest
in the area and have had some limited dealings with SRI (including the recent present-
ations) but,
despite a number of false staats
, have apparently put no funds into the
project and do not intend to do so; at least one reason appears to be the difficulty and/or
potential embarrassment associated with justifying the expenditures to Congress; ARPA
representatives are said to have stated recently that they accept SRI's motivation but
believe they are being 'taken' by GELLER.
SGI
I
9.
It is my understanding (perl
I that SRI,
far from resisting our substan-
tive involvement in the investigations, has
'pled' for the USG to design and run the
entire investigative procedure--certainly as regards SWANN and possibly GELLER as
well.
But they would,
no doubt, want the investigations to be done under their %$$$$$$$
auspices --and,
at least until we kne w more about the attitudes of GELLER /SWANN and
about the cover being employed,
this would probably be preferable.
One of SRI's
problems appears to be the fact that their basic research program is in LASER; the
parapsychological involvement seems to have come about largely by chance and any
in-depth or prolonged program in this direction could be done only by sacrificing
their
momentum and commitments in the LASER field.
The recent predentations were
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calculated to determine whether USG interest in the field was great enough to warrant
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this adjustment- -and whether the necessary 50 to 75K would be fotthcoming.
The
SRI representatives are apparently going to remain in the Washington area until 29
January in the hopes that further exploratory discussions are desired.
Recommendations
10.
It is recommended that,
should further discussions with SRI bear out the above
assumptions concerning their willingness to accept oiir design and controls and the
permanent presence of our representative^ ), ORD undertake to supply the balance of
the funds for a one -year project and arrange with TSD for joint management of the
project.
(NOTE: There has apparently been some talk, by ARPA and NSA,
about a
community -wide consortium for such an undertaking but it is believed that this would
be unnecessarily cumbersome --although community-wide in-put at appropriate stages,
see below, would be essential.
)
In the event that there is general (ORD/TSD/SRI)
agreement in principle,
it is recommended that we negotiate for a one or two month
delay in the beginning of the project year.
This would be essential (even
if at some
extra cost) so that Agency and community representatives could structure a design for
the project year which would satisfy all requirements and,
in the event of positive
conclusions, be above reproach.
11.
It is further recommended that, upon reaching such an agreement,
a Parapsych
Steering Panel be formed immediately- -with one voting member each (plus optional
non-voting observers) from the following elements: DDP/TSD; DDS&T/ORD; DDS&T/OSI
OMS; Office of Security; Office of Communications; and each of the following 'hard-
SG1H
complements
In
for the establishment of the panel,
the chiefs of the various components should be
encouraged to designate individuals of appropriate background/interests/temperament.
The panel,
chaired jointly (or on a rotating basis) by TSD and ORD, would naturally
define its own working procedures but it would be useful to consider establishing
immediately a series of Working Groups to prepare basic position papers for the Panel's
consideration on a number of areas:
a.
laboratory controls to be implemented;
b.
the precise nature and sequence
of investigations to be run;
c.
testing-controls of environment and the individual to be run during the
phenomena;
d. medical/behavioral/psychiatric/psychological/biographical testing and
re
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