Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200580001-4
I INTRODUCTION
A.
Overview
Traditionally, psychoenergetic experimenters
at SRI have relied on the remote viewing
ability of a
relatively small number of talented persons.
But,
as the number and nature of
experiments
and/or
applications
increases,
the
necessity
for
discovering
additional
talented
individuals becomes acute. In FY 1984, in anticipation of more process-oriented experiments, the
Cognitive Sciences Project at SRI International began to increase the number of remote viewers
available for experimental work. Three directions were pursued: (1) train selected individuals, (2)
screen using psychological correlates to remote viewing ability, and
(3) screen groups of people
using a carefully developed remote viewing task.*t
This report details the continuing screening
work conducted during FY 1989, as well as the work to evaluate the claims of individuals who
purport to have remote viewing abilities.
B.
Objective
Although it has not been documented to what extent remote viewing abilities exist in the
general population, certain individuals appear to have a capacity for accessing information not
available by known sensory
processes.
Some
of these persons may have had spontaneous
experiences that lead them to be more or less aware of an extrasensory potential while others with
such potential may not have had these experiences and thus remain unaware of their remote
viewing abilities.
The goal of the FY 1989 group screening effort was to identify individuals who
possess a natural talent for remote viewing.
To accomplish this goal, we used a two-stage process, which we developed in FY 1988, for
screening large numbers of people. The objective was to screen several hundred people at the first
stage and then to invite the most promising persons to participate in eight individualized laboratory
trials in anticipation of finding a few persons who would show robust and consistent remote viewing
performance.
*
Lantz, Nevin D., Edwin C. May, Mass Screening For Psychoenergetic Talent Using A
Remote Viewing Task, Final Report, Objective B, Task
1, Project 1291, SRI Interna-
tional, Menlo Park, CA (September,
1988).
t
This report constitutes the deliverable for Statement of Work, item 6.0.5.
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200580001-4
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200580001-4
II METHOD OF APPROACH
A.
General Description
A two-stage screening process was used to find high-quality remote viewers. The first stage
included
a
lecture
presentation
summarizing
remote
viewing
research
conducted
at
SRI
International during the past
years.
This presentation was designed to
attract interested
audiences of 25 or more persons.
Following the lecture, the audience was asked to voluntarily
participate
in
four remote
viewing
trials
using
targets randomly
selected
from
a
previously
constructed target pool.
Based on a qualitative assessment of the data collected during the
first
stage,
the
best
individuals
were
chosen
to
participate
in
further
screening
activity.
The
second-stage screening consisted of a formal test with the selected individuals using independent
trials.
B.
Group Screening Protocol
1.
Targets
A special set of 16 targets was constructed for the screening procedure. The target pool
contained both dynamic
(targets with motion) and
static
(still photographs)
targets.
Dynamic
targets consisted of action film clips edited from popular movies. The static targets were a series of
thematically related
still photographs shown in succession for
five seconds each.
The targets
ranged in length from approximately 60 to 100 seconds and were stored on two video disks.
The
16 targets were divided into
four categories of four targets each.
Categories
included: Military, Scientific/industrial, Natural/non-technical, and Projects.
Targets in the first
three categories were film clips of the dynamic variety. Each target in the fourth category showed a
project title (e.g., Project Blue Book) interspersed with images related to the purpose of the project
(e.g., UFOs)
. Four categories were chosen to allow for the possibility that different types of targets
might be easier to view than others. No attempt was made to maintain target orthogonality (i.e.,
significant
differences)
across
categories,
but
considerable
effort was expended
to maintain
within-category orthogonality.
Approved For Release 2000/08/08
: CIA-RDP96-00789R002200580001-4