I
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July
1979
EXPERIMENTAL PS I RESEARCH:
IMPLICATIONS FOR
PHYSICS
By:
HAROLD
E. PUTHOFF
RUSSELL TARG
EDWIN
C. MAY
Radio
Physics
Laboratory
SRI
International
333
Ravenswood
Avenue
Menlo
Park,
California
94025
»
Presented at:
Session on
“The
Role
of
Consciousness
in
the
Physical World”
145th
National
Meeting
American
Association
for
the Advancement
of
Science
Houston, Texas
January
3-8,
1979
333 Ravenswood Ave. • Menlo Park, California 94025
(415) 326-6200 • Cable: SRI INTL MPK
•
TWX: 910-373-1246
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Approved For Release 2003/09/10
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EXPERIMENTAL PSI RESEARCH:
IMPLICATIONS FOR PHYSICS
by
H.
E.
Puthoff,
R.
Targ,
E .
C. May
Radio Physics Laboratory
SRI
International
Menlo Park,
California
I
ABSTRACT
Experimental laboratory work continues
to provide evidence for the
existence of so-called psi
processes,
a
class
of interactions between
consciousness and the physical world as
yet unexplained.
These include
(1)
the acquisition of information not presented to any obvious sense,
and
(2)
the production of physical effects
not mediated by any obvious
mechanism.
At
SRI we have
concentrated primarily on the former,
inves-
tigating
a phenomenon we
call
"remote viewing,"
the ability of certain
individuals
to access
and describe,
by means
of mental processes,
infor-
mation blocked from ordinary perception by distance or shielding.
Our data base consists of more than 100 experiments in the remote viewing
of targets ranging from objects
in nearby light-tight
cannisters
to
geographic sites
at transcontinental distances, viewed from locations
which include shielded Faraday cages and a submerged submarine.
Data
from these observations indicate that
models put forward to explain psi
processes
must account for bit rates on the order
of
0.1 bits/s,
resolu-
tion of approximately
1 mm, apparent ineffectiveness
of ordinary electrical
shielding,
and relative insensitivity to distance up to at
least
10,000 km.
Although such phenomena might appear to be in conflict with the
laws
of physics, we anticipate that with further work much of the data will
be accounted for either within the framework of physics
as presently
understood,
or on the basis
of extrapolations that have been proposed
to account
for other
(non-psi)
data, and that,
conversely,
the psi data
base may shed light on some of the current problems in physics,
e.g.,
with regards to the foundations
of quantum theory.
II
INTRODUCTION
For
the past
seven years we have been investigating aspects
of human
perception that appear to fall outside the range of well-understood
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perceptual/processing capabilities.
Of particular interest
is
a human
information-accessing
capability that we
call
Mremote viewing/
This
phenomenon pertains
to the ability of
certain individuals
to access and
describe,
by means
of mental processes, remote geographical
locations
up
to several thousand km distant from their physical location given only
a
known person on whom to target.
These abilities are developed in several
individuals sufficiently to allow them to describe— often in considerable
detail—geographical
or technical material
such as
buildings,
roads,
natural formations,
interior laboratory apparatus, and sealed targets,
along with the real-time activities
of persons
at
the target
site.
The experimental
evidence indicates
that
(1) although the information
channel
is
imperfect
,
the data generated by the remote viewing process
exceeds any reasonable bounds
of
chance correlation,
and
(2)
the extent
of physical distance separating the subject from the target site up to
transcontinental distances
does
not appear to significantly affect the
accuracy of perception.
As observed in the laboratory,
the basic phenomenon appears to cover
a range of subjective experiences variously referred to in the literature
as autoscopy
(in the medical literature);
exteriorization or disassociation
(psychological literature);
simple
clairvoyance,
traveling clairvoyance,
or out-of-body experience
(parapsychological
literature);
or astral pro-
jection
(occult
literature).
We choose the term "remote viewing"
as
a
neutral descriptive term free from prior associations and bias
as
to
mechanisms
.
Since the initial publication of
our investigations
of this remarkable
phenomenon,
a number of replication studies have been carried out in other
7“ 1
laboratories,
the bulk of which have been successful.
Thus,
it appears
that
the remote viewing function can be elicited under a wide variety of
laboratory conditions.
Ill
REMOTE VIEWING OF LOCAL
(SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA) TARGET SITES
We begin with a synopsis
of our basic data base
of more than fifty
local remote viewing trials with nine subjects. 2
The general protocol
is
to closet a subject with an experimenter
at SRI,
and at
a prearranged
time
to obtain from the
subject
a description of an undisclosed, remote
site being visited by a target team,
one of whose members
is known to the
subject and who thereby constitutes
a target person.
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A.
Experimental Procedure
At
the beginning
of
a trial,
a subject
is
closeted with an
experimenter at
SRI
to await an agreed-upon start
time.
At
the same
time
a target team is
sent, without
communication with the subject
or experi-
menter remaining at
SRI,
to a target location somewhere
in the San Francisco
Bay Area
(-500 square km).
The target
is determined by random-number
access
to
a target
pool
of sealed travelling orders previously prepared
by an independent experimenter and kept
locked in a secure safe.
The
target pool
consists
of more than 100 target
locations chosen from a
target-rich environment.
During
a predetermined viewing period,
typically of
15 minutes
duration,
the subject
is asked to render drawings and describe into a tape
recorder his impressions
of
the target
site being visited by the outbound
target
team.
The experimenter with the subject
is kept ignorant
of the
target,
and
is therefore free
to question the subject
to clarify his
descriptions without
fear
of
cueing,
overt
or subliminal.
The experiment
is
thus
of the double-blind type.
When the target team returns
to SRI following the remote viewing
period,
the subject
is then taken to the target
site
so that
he may obtain
direct feedback.
Following a series
of such trials over a several-day
period,
a formal blind judging procedure
(described below)
is used to
evaluate the data and quantify the results.
B.
Initial Experimental Series
To give
a concrete example, we summarize the results obtained
with the first subject
in the local remote viewing series.
This
subject
(designated here as
SI) participated in nine trials.
Subject
SI came to
our experiments with a reported history of
spontaneous remote viewing
experiences.
In general,
the subject's ability in these trials to describe
correctly buildings,
docks,
roads,
gardens,
and the
like,
including
structural materials,
color,
ambience,
and activity—sometimes
in great
detail— indicated the functioning of
a remote perceptual ability.
A
landmark Hoover Tower target,
for example, was recognized and correctly
named;
a boat marina was described in a consistent narrative that began
with
’’what
I
f m looking at
is
a
little
boat
jetty or boat
dock along the
bay
and so forth.
Nonetheless,
the descriptions generally contained inaccuracies
as well as
correct statements*
A typical example
is indicated by the
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