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PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 64, NO.
3, NSRcH 1976
329
A Perceptual Channel for Information Transfer
over Kilometer Distances: Historical Perspective
and Recent Research
HAROLD E. PUTHOFF, member, ieee, and RUSSELL TARG, senior member, ieee
Abstract -Vox more
than
100
years,
scientists have attempted to
determine the truth or falsity of claims for the existence of a perceptual
channel whereby certain individuals are able to perceive and describe
remote data not presented to any known sense. This paper presents an
outline of the history of scientific inquiry into such so-called paranor-
mal perception and surveys the current state of the art in parapsycho-
logical research in the United States and abroad.
The nature of this
perceptual channel
is examined in a series of experiments carried out
in the Electronics and Bioengineering Laboratory of Stanford Research
Institute.
The perceptual modality most extensively investigated is the
ability of both experienced subjects and inexperienced volunteers to
view, by
innate mental
processes, remote
geographical
or
technical
targets including buildings, roads, and laboratory apparatus.
The ac-
cumulated data indicate that the phenomenon
is not a sensitive func-
tion of distance, and Faraday cage shielding does not in any apparent
way degrade the quality and accuracy of perception. On the basis of
this research, some areas of physics are suggested from which a descrip-
tion or explanation of the phenomenon could be forthcoming.
I. Introduction
I
T
IS THE PROVINCE of natural science to investigate
nature, impartially and without prejudice” [1
]
. Nowhere
in
scientific inquiry has
this dictum met as great a chal-
lenge as in the area of so-called extrasensory perception (ESP),
the
detection
of remote
stimuli not mediated by the usual
sensory processes.
Such phenomena, although under scientific
consideration for over a century, have historically been fraught
with unreliability and controversy, and validation of the phe-
nomena by accepted scientific methodology has been slow in
coming.
Even
so,
a recent survey conducted by the
British
publication New
Scientist revealed
that 67 percent of nearly
1500 responding readers (the majority of whom are working
scientists and
technologists) considered ESP to be an estab-
lished
fact
or
a
likely
possibility, and
percent held the
investigation of ESP to be a legitimate scientific undertaking
[ 2 ].
A review of the literature reveals that although experiments
by reputable researchers yielding
positive results were begun
over a century ago (e.g., Sir William Crookes’ study of D. D.
Home,
1860’s)
[3], many consider
the study of these phe-
nomena
as only recently emerging from the realm of quasi-
science.
One
reason
for
this
is
that,
despite experimental
results, no satisfactory theoretical construct had been advanced
to
correlate
data or to predict new experimental outcomes.
Consequently, the area in question remained for a long time
in the recipe stage reminiscent of electrodynamics before the
Manuscript received July 25, 1975; revised November 7, 1975.
The
submission
of
this paper was encouraged
after review of an advance
proposal.
This work was supported by the Foundation for Parasensory
Investigation and the Parapsychology Foundation, New York, NY; the
Institute
of Noetic
Sciences, Palo Alto, CA; and the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration, under Contract NAS 7-100.
The authors are with the Electronics and Bioengineering Laboratory,
Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park. CA 94025.
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unification brought about by the work of Ampere, Faraday,
and Maxwell.
Since the early work, however, we have seen the
development
of
information
theory,
quantum
theory, and
neurophysiological
research,
and
these
disciplines
provide
powerful conceptual tools that appear to bear directly on the
issue.
In
fact, several physicists (Section V) are now of the
opinion that these phenomena are not at
all inconsistent with
the framework of modern physics:
the often-held view that
observations of this type are a priori incompatible with known
laws is erroneous in that such a concept
is based on the naive
realism prevalent before the development of quantum theory.
In the emerging view,
it
is accepted that research in this area
can be conducted so as to uncover not just a catalog of inter-
esting events, but rather patterns of cause-effect relationships
of the type that lend themselves to analysis and hypothesis
in
the
forms
with
which we
are
familiar
in
the
physical
sciences.
One hypothesis
is that information transfer under
conditions
of
sensory
shielding
is
mediated
by
extremely
low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves,
a proposal that
does
not seem
to be
ruled out by any obvious physical or
biological
facts.
Further,
the development
of information
theory
makes
it
possible
to
characterize and
quantify
the
performance
of
a
communications
channel
regardless
of
the underlying mechanism.
For
the
past
three
years, we
have had
a program in the
Electronics
and
Bioengineering
Laboratory
of
the
Stan-
ford
Research
Institute
(SRI)
to
investigate those
facets of
human perception that appear to fall outside the range of well-
understood
perceptual/processing
capabilities.
Of particular
interest
is a human information-accessing capability that we
call
“remote
viewing.”
This phenomenon
pertains to the
ability of certain individuals to access and describe, by means
of mental processes, information sources blocked from ordi-
nary perception, and generally accepted as secure against such
access.
In
particular,
the phenomenon we have investigated most
extensively
is the ability of a subject to view remote geograph-
ical locations up to
several thousand kilometers distant from
his physical location (given only a known person on whom to
target).
We have
carried out more than
fifty experiments
under controlled laboratory conditions with several individuals
whose remote
perceptual
abilities have been developed
suf-
ficiently to allow them at times to describe correctly—often in
great detail—geographical or technical material such as build-
ings, roads, laboratory apparatus, and the like.
As observed in the laboratory, the basic phenomenon appears
to cover a range of subjective experiences variously referred to
'Our
initial work
in
this area was reported
in Nature
[4], and re-
330
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Fig.
1.
Airport in San Andres, Colombia, used as remote-viewing target, along with sketch produced by subject
in California.
in the literature as autoscopy (in the medical literature); exteri-
orization
or
disassociation
(psychological
literature); simple
clairvoyance, traveling clairvoyance, or out-of-body experience
(parapsychological literature); or astral projection (occult liter-
ature).
We
choose
the term “remote viewing” as a neutral
descriptive term
free from
prior associations and
bias as to
mechanisms.
The development
at SRI of a successful experimental pro-
cedure to elicit this capability has evolved to the point where
persons
such
as
visiting government
scientists and
contract
monitors, with no previous exposure to such concepts, have
learned to perform well; and subjects who have trained over a
one-year period have performed excellently under a variety of
experimental conditions.
Our accumulated data thus indicate
that
both
specially
selected and
unselected
persons can
be
assisted
in
developing
remote
perceptual
abilities
up
to
a
level of useful information transfer.
In experiments of this type, we have three principal findings.
First, we have established that
it
is possible to obtain signifi-
cant amounts of accurate descriptive information about remote
locations.
Second, an
increase
in the
distance from
a few
meters up to 4000 km separating the subject from the scene
to be
perceived
does not
in any apparent way degrade the
quality or accuracy of perception.
Finally; the use of Faraday
cage electrical shielding does not prevent high-quality descrip-
tions from being obtained.
To
build
a
coherent theory
for
the
explanation
of these
phenomena,
it
is necessary to have
a
clear understanding of
what constitutes the phenomena.
In this paper, we first briefly
summarize previous efforts in this field in Section
II. We then
present
in
Sections
III and IV the results of a series of more
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than
fifty experiments with nine subjects
carried out
in our
own laboratory, which represent a sufficiently stable data base
to permit testing of various hypotheses concerning the func-
tioning
of
this
channel.
Finally,
in
Section V, we indicate
those areas of physics and information theory that appear to
be
relevant
to
an
understanding
of
certain
aspects of
the
phenomena.
First, however, we present an illustrative example generated
in an
early
pilot experiment.
As will be clear from our later
discussion,
this
is
not
a
“best-ever” example, but
rather
a
typical sample of the level of proficiency that can be reached
and that we have come to expect in our research.
Three
subjects
participated
in
a
long-distance experiment
focusing on
a
series of targets in Costa Rica.
These subjects
said they had never been to Costa Rica.
In this experiment,
one of the experimenters (Dr. Puthoff ) spent ten days traveling
through Costa Rica on
a combination business/pleasure trip.
This information was
all that was known to the subjects about
the traveler’s itinerary.
The experiment called for Dr. Puthoff
to keep a detailed record of his location and activities, includ-
ing photographs
of each of seven target days
at 1330 PDT.
A total of twelve daily descriptions were collected before the
traveler’s
return:
six responses from one
subject,
five from
another, and one from a third.
The third subject Who submitted the single response supplied
a drawing for a day in the middle of the series. (The subject’s
response, together with the photographs taken at the
site, are
shown
in
Fig.
1).
Although
Costa
Rica
is
a mountainous
country, the subject unexpectedly perceived the traveler at a
beach and ocean setting. With some misgiving, he described an
airport on a sandy beach and an airstrip with the ocean at the
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331
end (correct).
An airport building also was drawn, and shown
to have
a large rectangular overhang (correct).
The
traveler
had taken an unplanned one-day side trip to an offshore island
and at the time of the experiment had just disembarked from a
plane
at
a
small
island
airport
as
described by
the subject
4000 km away.
The
sole discrepancy was that the subject’s
drawing showed a Quonset-hut type of building in place of the
rectangular structure.
The above description was chosen as an example to illustrate
a major
point
observed
a number
of times throughout the
program to be described.
Contrary to what may be expected,
a subject’s description does not necessarily portray what may
reasonably be expected
to be correct (an educated or “safe”
guess),
but
often
runs
counter
even
to
the
subject’s own
expectations.
We wish to stress again that a result such as the above is not
unusual.
The remaining submissions
in this experiment pro-
vided further examples of excellent correspondences between
target and response.
(A target
period of poolside relaxation
was identified; a drive through a tropical forest at the base of
a truncated volcano was described as a drive through a jungle
below a large bare table mountain; a hotel-room target descrip-
tion, including such details as rug
color, was correct; and so
on.)
So as to determine whether such matches were simply
fortuitous—that
is, could reasonably be expected on the basis
of chance alone-Dr. Puthoff was asked after he had returned
to
blind match
the
twelve
descriptions
to
his
seven
target
locations.
On the basis of this conservative evaluation proce-
dure, which
vastly underestimates the
statistical significance
of the individual descriptions,
five correct matches were ob-
tained.
."his number of matches
is significant at p = 0.02 by
exact binomial calculation.
The observation of such unexpectedly high-quality descrip-
tions
early
in our program led to a
large-scale study of the
phenomenon at SRI under secure double-blind conditions (i.e.,
target unknown
to experimenters
as
well as
subjects), with
independent random target selection and blind judging.
The
results, presented
in Sections
III and
IV, provide strong evi-
dence
for
the
robustness
of
this phenomenon
whereby
a
human perceptual modality of extreme sensitivity can detect
complex remote stimuli.
II. Background
Although we are approaching the study of these phenomena
as physicists, it is not yet possible to separate ourselves entirely
from the language of the nineteenth century when the labora-
tory study of the paranormal was begun.
Consequently, we
continue to use terms such as “paranormal,” “telepathy,” and
the
like.
However, we intend only to indicate a process of
information
transfer under
conditions
generally accepted
as
secure against such transfer and with no prejudice or occult
assumptions
as to the mechanisms involved.
As in any other
scientific pursuit, the purpose is to collect the observables that
result from experiments and to try to determine the functional
relationships between these observables and the laws of physics
as they are currently understood.
2 The
probability of a
correct daily match by chance for any given
transcript
is p = \ .
Therefore, the probability of at least five correct
matches by chance out of twelve tries can be calculated from
121
p =
f-'i! (12-/)!
Approv'd
,(12-0
= 0 .02 .
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Organized research into so-called psychic functioning began
roughly in the time of
J.
J. Thomson, Sir Oliver Lodge, and
Sir William Crookes, all of whom took part in the founding of
the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1882 in England.
Crookes,
for example,
carried out his principal investigations
with D. D. Home, a Scotsman who grew up in America and
returned to England in 1855
[3]
.
According to the notebooks
and
published
reports
of Crookes, Home had demonstrated
the ability to
cause objects to move without touching them.
We should note in passing that, Home, unlike most subjects,
worked only in the
light and spoke out in the strongest pos-
sible terms against the darkened seance rooms popular at the
time [5]
.
Sir William Crookes was a pioneer in the study of electrical
discharge
in gases and
in the development of vacuum tubes,
some types of which still bear his name. Although everything
Crookes said about electron beams and plasmas was accepted,
nothing he said about the achievements of D. D. Home ever
achieved
that
status.
Many of his colleagues, who had not
observed the experiments with Home, stated publicly that they
thought Crookes had been deceived, to which Crookes angrily
responded:
Will not my critics give me credit for some amount of common
sense? Do they not imagine that the obvious precautions, which
occur
to them
as soon as they
sit down to pick holes in my
experiments, have occurred to me also in the course of my pro-
longed and patient investigation?
The answer to this, as to all
other objections
is, prove
it to be an
error, by showing where
the
error
lies,
or
if a trick, by showing how the trick
is per-
formed.
Try the experiment fully and fairly.
If then fraud be
found, expose
it;
if
it be a truth, proclaim
it.
This is the only
scientific procedure, and
it
is that
I propose steadily to pursue
[3].
In the
United
States,
scientific interest
in the paranormal
was centered
in the
universities.
In
1912, John Coover [6]
was established in the endowed Chair of Psychical Research at
Stanford University.
In the 1920’s, Harvard University set up
research programs with George Estabrooks and L. T. Troland
[7],
[8],
It was in
this framework
that, in
1930, William
McDougall invited Dr.
J. B. Rhine and Dr. Louisa Rhine to
join the Psychology Department at Duke University [9]
.
For
more than 30 years, significant work was carried out at Rhine’s
Duke
University
Laboratory.
To examine the existence of
paranormal
perception,
he
used
the now-famous ESP cards
containing
a boldly
printed
picture of a
star,
cross, square,
circle, or wavy lines.
Subjects were asked to name the order
of these cards in a freshly shuffled deck of twenty-five such
cards.
To
test for telepathy, an experimenter would look at
the cards one at a time, and a subject suitably separated from
the sender would attempt to determine which card was being
viewed.
Dr.
J.
B. Rhine
together with Dr.
J. G. Pratt
carried out
thousands of experiments of this type under widely varying
conditions [10]
.
The statistical results from these experiments
indicated that some individuals did indeed possess a paranor-
mal perceptual
ability
in
that
it was
possible
to obtain an
arbitrarily high degree of improbability by continued testing
of a gifted subject.
The work of Rhine has been challenged on many grounds,
however, including accusations of improper handling of statis-
tics, error, and fraud.
With regard to the statistics, the general
consensus of statisticians today
is that
if fault
is to be found
in Rhine’s work,
it would have to be on other than statistical
m?te#ife-o8ri®7m#4i6(i6i«6»i
oni of t,,ud ' lhe
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PROCEeWnGS OF THE IEEE, MARCH 1976
most
celebrated
case
of
criticism
of
Rhine’s work,
that of
G.
R.
Price
[12], ended
years
after
it began when the
accusation of fraud was retracted by
its author
in an article
entitled “Apology to Rhine and Soal,” published in the same
journal in which it was first put forward [13].
It should also
be
noted
that
parapsychological
researchers
themselves
re-
cently
exposed
fraud
in
their own
laboratory when
they
encountered it [14],
At the end of the 1940’s, Prof. S. G. Soal, an English mathe-
matician working with the SPR, had carried out hundreds of
card guessing experiments involving tens of thousands of calls
[15]
.
Many of these experiments were
carried out over ex-
tended distances.
One of the most notable experiments was
conducted
with
Mrs.
Gloria
Stewart between London and
Antwerp.
This experiment gave results whose probability of
occurring by chance were less than
-8
. With the publication
of Modern Experiments
in
Telepathy by Soal and Bateman
(both of whom were statisticians), it appeared that card guess-
ing experiments produced significant results, on the average. 3
The most severe
criticism of all this work, a criticism diffi-
cult to defend against in principle, is that leveled by the well-
known
British parapsychological
critic C. E. M. Hansel [17],
who began
his examination of the ESP hypothesis with the
stated assumption, “In view of the a priori arguments against
it we know
in advance that telepathy,
etc., cannot occur.”
Therefore,
based
on
the
“a
priori
unlikelihood”
of
ESP,
Hansel’s examination of the
literature centered primarily on
the
possibility
of
fraud, by
subjects
or
investigators.
He
reviewed
in
depth
four
experiments which he
regarded
as
providing the best evidence of ESP: the Pearce-Pratt distance
series
[18]; the Pratt-Woodruff [19]
series, both conducted
at Duke; and Soal’s work with Mrs. Stewart and Basil Shackle-
ton [15], as well as a more recent series by Soal and Bowden
[20]
.
Hansel showed, in each case, how fraud could have been
committed (by the experimenters in the Pratt-Woodruff and
Soal-Bateman
series,
or by
the subjects in the Pearce-Pratt
.
and Soal-Bowden experiments).
He gave no direct evidence
that fraud was committed in these experiments, but said, “If
the result could have arisen through a
trick, the experiment
must be considered unsatisfactory proof of ESP, whether or
not it is finally decided that such a trick was in fact used ” [17,
p.
18].
As
discussed by Honorton
in
a review of the
field
[21]
, Hansel’s conclusion
after 241 pages of careful scrutiny
therefore was that these experiments were not “fraud-proof”
and therefore in principle could not serve as conclusive proof
of ESP.
Even among the supporters of ESP research and
its results,
there remained the
consistent problem that many successful
subjects eventually lost their ability and their scores gradually
drifted toward chance
results.
This decline effect in no way
erased their previous astronomical success; but
it was a disap-
pointment since
if paranormal perception
is a natural ability,
one would like to see subjects improving with practice rather
than getting worse.
One of the first successful attempts to overcome the decline
effect was in Czechoslovakia in the work of Dr. Milan Ryzl, a
chemist with the Institute of Biology of the Czechoslovakian
Academy
of
Science and
also
an amateur hypnotist
[22].
Through
the
use
of
hypnosis, together with feedback and
’Recently, some of the early Soal experiments have been criticized
(16]
.
However,
his long-distance experiments cited here were judged
in a double-blind fashion of the type that escaped the criticism of the
early experiments.
reinforcement, he developed several outstanding subjects, one
of whom,
Pavel
Stepanek,
has worked with
experimenters
around the world for more than 10 years.
Ryzl’s pioneering work came as an answer to the questions
raised by
the
1956 CIBA Foundation conference on extra-
sensory perception.
The CIBA Chemical Company has annual
meetings on
topics
of
biological and chemical
interest, and
that
same
year
they
assembled
several prominent
parapsy-
chologists to have a state-of-the-art conference on ESP [23],
The conference concluded that little progress would be made
in
parapsychology
research
until
a
repeatable
experiment
could be found; namely, an experiment that different experi-
menters could repeat
at
will and that would
reliably yield a
statistically significant result.
Ryzl had by 1962 accomplished that goal.
His primary con-
tribution was a decision to interact with the subject as a per-
son, to try to build up his confidence and ability.
His protocol
depended on “working with” rather than “running” his sub-
jects.
Ryzl’s star subject, Pavel Stepanek, has produced highly
significant results with many contemporary researchers [24]-
[29].
In these experiments, he was able to tell with 60-percent
reliability
whether
a
hidden
card was
green
side
or
white
side
up,
yielding
statistics
of
a
million
to one with only a
thousand trials.
As significant as such results are statistically, the information
channel
is imperfect, containing noise along with the
signal.
When considering how best to use such a channel, one
is led
to the communication theory concept of the introduction of
redundancy
as
a means of coding
a message to combat the
effects of a noisy channel [30], A prototype experiment by
Ryzl using such techniques has proved to be successful. Ryzl
had
an
assistant
select randomly
five groups of three
digits
each.
These 15 digits were then encoded into binary form and
translated into a sequence of green and white cards in sealed
envelopes.
By means
of repeated
calling and
an elaborate
majority vote protocol, Ryzl was able after
19 350
calls by
Stepanek (averaging 9 s per
call) to correctly identify
all
numbers,
a
result
significant
at p = 10 -15
The
hit
rate
for
individual calls was 61.9 percent,
1 1 978 hits, and 7372 misses
[31].
Note Added in Proof:
It has been brought to our attention
that a similar procedure was recently used to transmit without
error
the word “peace”
in
International Morse Code
(J. C.
Carpenter,
“Toward
the
effective
utilization
of
enhanced
weak-signal ESP effects,” presented at the Annual Meeting of
the American
Association
for
the Advancement of Science,
New York, NY, Jan. 27,
1 975).
The
characteristics of such
a
channel
can be specified
in
accordance with the precepts of communication theory.
The
bit rate associated with the information channel
is calculated
from [30]
R = H(x)-
y (x)
(1)
where H(x) is the uncertainty of the source message containing
symbols with a priori probability p,-
H(x) = - £
Pi log2 pj
(2)
i=i
and Hy (x)
is the conditional entropy based on the a posteriori
probabilities that a received signal was actually transmitted:
p(i,j) log2 Pi(f).
(3)
Hy (x) = - £
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333
For Stepanek’s run, with Pi = \, Pj(j) = 0.619, and an average
time of 9 s per choice, we have a source uncertainty H(x) =
bit and a calculated bit rate
R
0.041 bit/symbol
or
R/T& 0.0046 bit/s.
(Since the 15-digit number (49.8 bits) actually was transmitted
at the rate of 2.9 X
10 -4
bit/s, an increase
in bit
rate by a
factor of about 20 could be expected on the basis of a coding
scheme more optimum than that used in the experiments.
See,
for example, Appendix A.)
Dr. Charles Tart
at the University of California has written
extensively on the so-called decline effect.
He considers that
having subjects attempt to guess cards, or perform any other
repetitious task for which they receive no feedback, follows
the
classical technique for deconditioning any response.
He
thus
considers
card guessing
“a technique for extinguishing
psychic functioning in the laboratory” [32]
.
Tart’s
injunctions
of the
mid-sixties were being heeded at
Maimonides Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, by a team of researchers
that
included
Dr.
Montague
Ullman, who was
director of
research
for
the
hospital;
Dr.
Stanley Krippner; and,
later,
Charles Honorton.
These three worked together for several
years on experiments on the occurrence of telepathy in dreams.
In the course of a half-dozen experimental series, they found
in
their week-long
sessions
a number
of subjects who had
dreams
that
consistently were highly descriptive of pictorial
material that a remote sender was looking at throughout the
night.
This work
is described in detail in the experimenters’
book Dream
Telepathy
[33],
Honorton
is continuing work
of this free-response type in which the subject has no precon-
ceived idea as to what the target may be.
In his more recent work with subjects in the waking state,
Honorton
is providing homogeneous stimulation to the subject
who
is to describe color slides viewed by another person in a
remote room.
In
this new work, the subject listens to white
noise
via
earphones and
views an homogeneous visual
field
imposed through the use of Ping-Pong ball halves to cover the
subject’s
eyes
in
conjunction with diffuse ambient illumina-
tion.
In this so-called Ganzfeld setting, subjects are again able,
now
in
the waking
state, to
give
correct and
often
highly
accurate
descriptions
of
the
material being viewed by
the
sender [34],
In Honorton’s work and elsewhere,
it apparently has been
the
step away from the repetitive forced-choice experiment
that has opened the way for a wide variety of ordinary people
to demonstrate significant functioning in the laboratory, with-
out being bored into a decline effect.
This
survey would be incomplete
if we
did not
indicate
certain aspects of the current
state of research in the USSR.
It
is
clear from translated documents and other sources
[35]
that many laboratories in the USSR are engaged in paranormal
research.
Since the 1930’s, in the laboratory of L. Vasiliev (Leningrad
Institute for Brain Research), there has been an interest in the
use of telepathy as a method of influencing the behavior of a
person at a distance.
In Vasiliev’s book Experiments in Mental
Suggestion, he makes
it very clear that the bulk of his labora-
tory’s experiments were aimed
at long-distance communica-
tion
combined
with
a
form
of behavior
modification;
for
example, putting people
at
a distance to sleep through hyp-
nosis [36]
.
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Similar behavior modification types of experiments have been
carried out
in recent times by
I. M. Kogan, Chairman of the
Bioinformation
Section
of the Moscow Board of the Popov
Society.
He
is a Soviet engineer who, until 1969, published
extensively on the theory of telepathic communication [37]-
[40]
.
He was concerned with three principal kinds of experi-
ments:
mental
suggestion without
hypnosis over
short
dis-
tances, in which the percipient attempts to identify an object;
mental awakening over short distances, in which a subject
is
awakened from
a hypnotic sleep at the “beamed” suggestion
from the hypnotist; and long-range (intercity) telepathic com-
munication.
Kogan’s main interest has been to quantify the
channel capacity of the paranormal channel. He finds that the
bit
rate decreases from 0.1
bit/s
for laboratory experiments
to 0.005 bit/s for his 1000-km intercity experiments.
In the USSR, serious consideration is given to the hypothesis
that telepathy
is mediated by extremely low-frequency (ELF)
electromagnetic
propagation.
(The
pros
and
cons of
this
hypothesis
are
discussed
in
Section V of
this
paper.)
In
general, the
entire
field of paranormal research in the USSR
is part of a larger one concerned with the interaction between
electromagnetic
fields and
living organisms [41],
[42].
At
the
First
International
Congress
on
Parapsychology
and
Psychotronics in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1973, for example,
Kholodov spoke
at
length about the
susceptibility of living
systems to extremely low-level ac and dc fields. He described
conditioning effects on the behavior of fish resulting from the
application of 10 to 100 juW of RF to their tank [43TT*Th?
USSR take these data seriously
in that the Soviet safety re-
quirements
for
steady-state
microwave
exposure
set
limit's
at 10 /xW/cm2
, whereas the United States has set a steady-state
limit of 10 mW/cm2
[44],
Kholodov spoke
also about the
nonthermal enects of microwaves on animals’ central nervous
systems.
His experiments were very carefully carried out and
are characteristic of a new dimension in paranormal research.
The' increasing importance of this area in Soviet research was
indicated recently when the Soviet Psychological Association
issued an unprecedented position paper calling on the Soviet
Academy of
Sciences
to
step up
efforts
in
this area
[45].
They
recommended
that
the
newly
formed
Psychological
Institute
within
the
Soviet
Academy
of
Sciences
and
the
Psychological Institute of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences
review the area and consider the creation of a new laboratory
within one
of the
institutes
to study persons with unusual
abilities. They also recommended a comprehensive evaluation
of experiments and theory by the Academy of Sciences’ Insti-
tute of Biophysics and Institute for the Problems of Informa-
tion Transmission.
The
Soviet
research,
along
with
other
behavioristically
oriented work,
suggests
that
in
addition
to obtaining overt
responses such as verbalizations or key presses from a subject,
it should be possible to obtain objective evidence of informa-
tion transfer by direct measurement of physiological parame-
ters
of
a
subject.
Kamiya,
Lindsley,
Pribram,
Silverman,
Walter, and others brought together to discuss physiological
methods
to
detect ESP
functioning, have
suggested
that
a
whole range of electroencephalogram (EEG) responses such as
evoked potentials (EP’s), spontaneous EEG, and the contingent
negative variation (CNV) might be sensitive indicators of the
detection
of’ remote
stimuli not
mediated by usual sensory
processes [46 ]
.
Early
experimentation
of
this
type
was
carried
out
by
Douglas Dean
at the Newark College of Engineering.
In his
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search for physiological correlates of information transfer, he
used
the plethysmograph
to
measure
changes
in
the blood
volume in a finger, a sensitive indicator of autonomic nervous
system functioning
[47 ]
.
A plethysmographic measurement
was made on the
finger of a subject during telepathy experi-
ments.
A
sender looked
at randomly selected target cards
consisting of names known to the subject, together with names
unknown to him (selected at random from a telephone book).
The names of the known people were contributed by the sub-
ject and were to be of emotional significance to him.
Dean
found
significant
changes
in
the
chart
recording of
finger
blood volume when the remote sender was looking
at those
names known to the subject
as compared with those names
randomly chosen.
Three
other experiments
using the physiological approach
have now been published. The first work by Tart [48]
, a later
work by
Lloyd
[49], and
most
recently
the work by
the
authors [4]
all follow a similar procedure.
Basically, a subject
is closeted
in an
electrically shielded room while
his EEG
is
recorded.
Meanwhile, in another laboratory, a second person
is stimulated from time to time, and the time of that stimulus
is marked on the magnetic-tape recording of the subject’s EEG.
The subject does not know when the remote stimulus periods
are as compared with the nonstimulus periods.
With regard to choice of stimulus for our own experimenta-
tion, we noted that
in previous work others had attempted,
without success, to detect evoked potential changes in a sub-
ject’s EEG
in response to a single stroboscopic flash stimulus
observed by another
subject
[50].
In
a discussion of that
experiment, Kamiya suggested that because of the unknown
temporal characteristics of the information channel,
it might
be more appropriate to use repetitive bursts of light to increase
the probability of detecting information transfer [51].
There-
fore, in our study we chose to use a stroboscopic flash train of
10-s duration as the remote stimulus.
In the design of the study, we assumed that the application
of the remote
stimulus would
result
in responses similar to
those
obtained under conditions of direct stimulation.
For
example,
when
an
individual
is
stimulated
with
a
low-
frequency « 30 Hz) flashing
light, the 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 [52]
We
hypothesized
that
if we
stimulated
one
subject
in
this
manner (a putative sender), the EEG of another subject in a
remote room with no
flash present
(a receiver) might show
changes
in
alpha
(9-11 Hz)
activity
and
possibly an EEG
driving similar to that of the sender, or other coupling to the
sender’s EEG
[53].
The
receiver was
seated
in
a
visually
opaque,
acoustically and
electrically shielded, double-walled
steel room about 7 m from the sender.
The
details of the
experiment,
consisting
of seven runs of thirty-six
10-s
trials
each (twelve periods each for 0-Hz, 6-Hz, and 16-Hz stimuli,
randomly intermixed), are presented in
[4]
This experiment
proved to be successful. The receiver’s alpha activity (9-1 1 Hz)
showed a significant reduction in average power (-24 percent,
p < 0.04) and
peak power (-28
percent, p < 0.03)
during
16-Hz
flash
stimuli
as
compared
with
periods
of
no-flash
stimulus.
[A similar response was observed for 6-Hz stimuli
(-12 percent in average power, -21
percent in peak power),
but
the
latter
result
did
not reach
statistical
significance.]
Fig. 2 shows an overlay of three averaged EEG spectra from
one
of
the
subject’s 36
trial
runs, displaying differences in
alpha activity during the three stimulus conditions.
Extensive
control
procedures AppraveWrfflfernReie^SS'i20>®3WD4h (l®
Fig. 2.
Occipital EEG frequency spectra, 0-20 Hz, of one subject (H.H.)
acting as receiver showing amplitude changes in the 9-1 1-Hz band as a
function of strobe frequency.
Three cases:
0-, 6-, and 16-Hz flashes
(twelve trial averages).
results
were
produced
by system
artifacts,
electromagnetic
pickup (EMI), or subtle cueing; the results were negative [4]
As part of the experimental protocol, the subject was asked
to indicate a conscious assessment for each trial (via telegraph
key)
as to the nature of the stimulus; analysis showed these
guesses to be at chance.
Thus arousal as evidenced by signifi-
cant alpha blocking occurred only at the noncognitive level of
physiological response.
Hence the experiment provided direct
physiological (EEG) evidence of perception of remote stimuli
even in the absence of overt cognitive response.
Whereas in our experiments we used a remote light flash as a
stimulus,
Tart
[48]
in
his work used an electrical shock to
himself as sender, and Lloyd
[49 ] simply told the sender to
think
of
a
red
triangle each time
a
red warning
light was
illuminated
within
his
view.
Lloyd
observed
a
consistent
evoked
potential in
his subjects; whereas in our experiments
and
in Tart’s, a reduction in amplitude and a desynchroniza-
tion of alpha was observed—an arousal response.
(If a subject
is
resting
in
an
alpha-dominant
condition
and
he
is then
stimulated, for example in any direct manner, one will observe
a desynchronization and decrease in alpha power.)
We con-
sider that these combined results are evidence for the existence
of noncognitive awareness of remote happenings and that they
have a profound implication for paranormal research.
III. SRI Investigations of Remote Viewing
Experimentation
in
remote
viewing
began
during
studies
carried out to investigate the
abilities of
a New York artist,
Ingo Swann, when he expressed the opinion that the insights
gained during experiments at SRI had strengthened his ability
(verified
in other research before he joined the SRI program)
to view remote
locations
[54],
To
test Mr. Swann’s
asser-
tion, a pilot study was set up in which a series of targets from
around the globe were supplied by SRI personnel to the ex-
perimenters
on
a
double-blind. basis.
Mr. Swann’s apparent
ability
to
describe
correctly
details
of
buildings,
roads,
bridges, and
the
like
indicated
that
it may
be possible for
a subject by means of mental imagery to access and describe
randomly
chosen
geographical
sites
located
several
miles
from
the
subject’s position and demarcated by some appro-
priate
means.
Therefore, we
set up a research program
to
test
the remote-viewing hypothesis under
rigidly
controlled
scientific conditions.
In carrying out
this program, we concentrated on what we
considered to be our principal responsibility-to resolve under
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335
class
of paranormal perception phenomenon
exists.
At
all
times, we and others responsible for the overall program took
measures to prevent sensory leakage and subliminal cueing and
to
prevent
deception, whether
intentional
or unintentional.
To ensure
evaluations independent of belief structures of both
experimenters and judges,
all experiments were
carried out
under a protocol, described below, in which target selection at
the beginning of experiments and blind judging of results at
the end
of experiments were handled independently of the
researchers engaged in carrying out the experiments.
Six subjects, designated SI through S6, were chosen for the
study. Three were considered as gifted or experienced subjects
(SI
through S3), and three were considered
as learners (S4
through
S6).
The
a
priori dichotomy between
gifted and
learners
was
based
on
the
experienced group
having been
successful
in
other
studies
conducted
before
this program
and
the
learners
group
being inexperienced
with
regard
to
paranormal experimentation.
The
study
consisted of a
series of double-blind
tests with
local targets in the San Francisco Bay Area so that several in-
dependent judges could visit the sites to establish documenta-
tion.
The protocol was to closet the subject with an experi-
menter
at SRI and
at an agreed-on time to obtain from the
subject
a
description
of
an
undisclosed
remote
site
being
visited by
a
target team.
In each of the experiments, one of
the
six
program
subjects
served
as remote-viewing
subject,
and SRI experimenters served as a target demarcation team at
the
remote
location
chosen
in
a
double-blind
protocol
as
follows.
In
each
experiment,
SRI management randomly
chose
a
target location from a
list of targets within a 30-min driving
time from SRI; the target location selected was kept blind to
subject and experimenters.
The target pool consisted of more
than
100
target locations chosen from a target-rich environ-
ment.
(Before the experimental series began, the Director of
the Information Science and Engineering Division, not other-
wise associated with the experiment, established the set of lo-
cations as the target pool which remained known only to him.
The target locations were printed on cards sealed in envelopes
and kept in the SRI Division office safe.
They were available
only with the personal assistance of the Division Director who
issued a single random-number selected
target card that con-
stituted the traveling orders for that experiment.)
In detail: To begin the experiment, the subject was closeted
with an experimenter at SRI to wait 30 min before beginning
a narrative description of the remote location. A second ex-
perimenter then obtained from the Division Director a target
location from a set of traveling orders previously prepared and
randomized by the Director and kept under his control.
The
target demarcation team, consisting of two to four SRI experi-
menters, then proceeded by automobile directly to the target
without any communication with the subject or experimenter
remaining behind.
The experimenter remaining with the sub-
ject at SRI was kept ignorant of both the particular target and
the
target pool
so
as
to
eliminate the possibility of cueing
(overt or subliminal) and to allow him freedom in questioning
the subject to clarify his descriptions.
The demarcation team
remained
at
the
target
site
for an agreed-on
15-min period
following the 30 min allotted for travel.4
During the observa-
tion period, the remote-viewing subject was asked to describe
his impressions of the target
site into a tape recorder and to
make any drawings he thought appropriate. An informal com-
parison was then made when the demarcation team returned,
and the subject was taken to the site to provide feedback.
A.
Subject SI : Experienced
To begin the series, Pat Price, a former California police com-
missioner and
city
councilman,
participated
as
a subject
in
nine
experiments.
In
general,
Price’s
ability
to
describe
correctly buildings, docks, roads, gardens, and the like, includ-
ing
structural
materials,
color, ambience, and activity— often
in
great
detail-indicated
the
functioning
of
a remote
per-
ceptual
ability.
A Hoover Tower
target,
for example, was
recognized and named by name.
Nonetheless, in general, the
descriptions contained
inaccuracies
as
well
as
correct
state-
ments. A typical example is indicated by the subject’s drawing
shown
in
Fig.
in which he correctly described a park-like
area
containing two pools of water:
one rectangular, 60 by
ft
(actual
dimensions 75
by 100
ft); the other
circular,
diameter 120
ft (actual diameter 110 ft). He incorrectly indi-
cated
the
function, however,
as water filtration rather than
recreational swimming.
(We often observe essentially correct
descriptions of basic elements and patterns coupled with in-
complete or erroneous analysis of function.)
As can be seen
from
his drawing, he
also included some elements, such as
the tanks shown in the upper right, that are not present at the
target site. We also note an apparent left-right reversal, often
observed in paranormal perception experiments.
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 an SRI
research
analyst not
otherwise associated with the research.
The
subject’s
response
packets,
which
contained
the
nine
typed
unedited
transcripts
of
the
tape-recorded
narratives
along with any associated drawings, were unlabeled and pre-
sented
in random
order.
While standing
at each target loca-
tion, visited in turn, the judge was required to blind rank order
the nine packets on a scale
1 to 9 (best to worst match). The
statistic of interest
is the sum of ranks assigned to the target-
associated
transcripts, lower values indicating better matches.
For nine
targets, the sum of ranks could range from nine to
eighty-one.
The probability that a given sum of ranks
s or
less will occur by chance is given by [55 ]
J
/c
Pr (r or less) = N
i=n
1=0
where
s
is obtained sum of ranks, N is number of assignable
ranks, n
is number of occasions on which rankings were made,
and
l takes on values from zero to the least positive integer k
in
O' - n)/n.
(Table
I
is a table to enable easy application of
the above formula to those cases in which N = n.) The sum in
this case, which included seven direct hits out of the nine, was
(see Table
II),
a
result
significant
at p = .2.9 X 10
-5
by
exact calculation.
In Experiments 3, 4, and 6 through
9, the subject was se-
cured
in
a double-walled
copper-screen Faraday
cage.
The
Faraday
cage
provides
120-dB
attenuation
for
plane-wave
4 The
first subject (SI) was allowed 30 min for his descriptions, but
it was found that he fatigued and had
little comment after the first
min.
The viewing time was therefore reduced to 15 min for subjects
S2 through S6.
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radio-frequency radiation over a range of
15 kHz to
1 GHz.
For magnetic
fields, the attenuation
is 68 dB at 15 kHz and
decreases to 3 dB at 60 Hz.
The results of rank order judging
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Fig. 3. Swimming pool complex as remote-viewing target,
(a) City map of target location,
(b) Drawing by Price (SI).
TABLE
I
Critical Values of Sums of Ranks for Preferential Matching
Number of
Probability
(one-tailed)
that
the Indicated
Sum of Ranks or Less Would Occur by Chance
Assignable
Ranks
(N)
0.20
0. 10
0.05
0.04
0.025
0.01
0.005
0.002
0.001
0.0005
icr 4
icr6
nr6
10" 7
Note: This table applies only to those special cases in which the number of occasions on which objects
are being ranked
(n)
is equal to the number of assignable ranks (N).
Each entry represents the largest
number that is significant at the indicated p-level. Source: R. L. Morris [55]
.
shielding does not prevent high-quality descriptions from being
obtained.
As
a backup judging procedure,
a panel of five additional
SRI scientists not otherwise associated with the research were
asked
simply
to blind match the unedited typed
transcripts
(with
associated
drawings)
generated by
the remote viewer
against
the nine
target locations which they independently
visited in turn.
The transcripts were unlabeled and presented
in random order.
A
correct match consisted of a transcript
of a given date being matched to the target of that date.
In-
stead of the expected number of
1 match each per judge, the
number of correct matches obtained by the five judges was 7,
6,
5,
3, and
3, respectively.
Thus, rather than the expected
total number o£s
matches were obtained.
B.
Subject S4: Learner
This experiment was designed to be a replication of our pre-
vious experiment with Price, the
first replication attempted.
The
subject
for
this experiment was Mrs. Hella Hammid, a
gifted
professional photographer.
She was selected
for this
series on
the
basis
of her
successful performance
as a per-
cipient in the EEG experiment described earlier.
Outside of
that interaction, she had no previous experience with apparent
paranormal functioning.
At the time we began working with Mrs. Hammid, she had
no strong feelings about the likelihood of her ability to suc-
ceed
in
this
task.
This was in contrast to both Ingo Swann
who had come
to our laboratory
fresh from a lengthy and
aDnarauflv. SUTltitS&fliL aeries of experiments with Dr. Gertrude
York [56] and Pat Price
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INFORMATION TRANSFER
PEDESTRIAN OVERPASS TARGET
Fig. 4.
Subject Hammid (S4) drawing, described as “some kind of diagonal trough up in the air.”
TABLE
II
Distribution of Rankings Assigned to Transcripts
Associated with Each Target Location for Experienced
Subject Price (SI)
Target Location
Distance
(kin)
Rank of
Associated
Transcript
Hoover Tower,
Stanford
3.4
Baylands Nature Preserve,
Palo Alto
6.4
Radio telescope,
Portola Valley
6.4
Marina,
Redwood City
6.8
Bridge
toll plaza, Fremont
14.5
Drive-in theater,
Palo Alto
5.1
Arts and Crafts Plaza, Menlo Park
1.9
Catholic Church,
Portola Valley
8.5
Swimming pool complex,
Palo Alto
3.4
Total
sum of
ranks
(p=2,
x 10“ b
)
who
felt that he used his remote-viewing ability in his every-
day life.
In comparison with the latter two, many people
are more
influenced
by
their
environment
and
are
reluctant under
public scrutiny to attempt activities that are generally thought
to be impossible.
Society often provides inhibition and nega-
tive
feedback
to
the
individual who might
otherwise have
explored his own nonregular perceptual ability. We
all share
an
historical
tradition of “the
stoning of prophets and the
burning of witches” and, in more modern times, the hospitaliza-
tion of those who claim to perceivi
not
admit
to
seeing7'Pftff?y&fe,
scientific
rigor, one of our primary
tasks as researchers is to
provide
an environment
in which
the
subject
feels
safe
to
explore the possibility of paranormal perception.
With a new
subject, we also try to stress the nonuniqueness of the ability
because from our experience paranormal functioning appears
to be a latent
ability that
all subjects can articulate to some
degree.
Because of Mrs. Hammid’s
artistic background, she was ca-
pable of drawing and describing visual images that she could
not identify in any cognitive or analytic sense. When the target
demarcation
team
went
to
a
target
location which was
a
pedestrian overpass, the subject
said
that she saw “a kind of
trough up
in the
air,” which she indicated in the upper part
of her drawing in Fig.
4.
She went on to explain,
“If you
stand where
they
are
standing you
will
see something like
this,” indicating the nested squares at the bottom of Fig. 4.
As
it turned out, a judge standing where she indicated would
have a view closely resembling what she had drawn, as can be
seen from the accompanying photographs of the target loca-
tion.
It needs to be emphasized, however, that judges did not
have
access
to our photographs of the
site, used
here
for
illustrative purposes only, but rather they proceeded to each
of the target locations by list.
In
another
experiment,
the
subject
described
seeing “an
open barnlike structure with a pitched roof.”
She
also saw
a “kind of slatted side to the structure making light and dark
bars on
the
wall.”
Her drawing and
a photograph of the
associated bicycle shed target are shown in Fig.
5.
(Subjects
are encouraged to make drawings of anything they visualize
and associate with the remote location because drawings they
make are in general more accurate than their verbal description.)
:
Ir^7a?
Q26PMQ946r4e suits of the nine-
TOnnMniarniii^
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BICYCLE SHED TARGET
DETAIL OF BICYCLE SHED
Fig. 5.
Subject Hammid (S4) response to bicycle shed target described as an open “barn-like building” with "slats
on the sides” and a “pitched roof.”
TABLE III
Distribution of Rankings Assigned to Transcripts Associated
with Each Target Location for Learner Subject Hammid (S4)
Target Location
Distance
(km)
Rank of
Associated
Transcript
Methodist Church,
Palo Alto
1.9
Ness Auditorium, Menlo Park
0.2
Merry-go-round,
Palo Alto
3.4
Parking garage, Mountain View
8.1
SRI
International Courtyard, Menlo Park
0.2
Bicycle
shed, Menlo Park
0.1
Railroad
trestle bridge,
Palo Alto
1.3
Pumpkin
patch, Menlo Park
1.3
pedestrian overpass,
Palo Alto
5.0
Total
sum of ranks
(pal. 8XlO-0
)
experiment
series were submitted for independent judging on
a blind basis by an SRI research analyst not otherwise associ-
ated with the research.
While at each target location, visited
in turn, the judge was required
to
blind rank order the nine
unedited
typed manuscripts
of the tape-recorded
narratives,
along with any associated drawings generated by the remote
viewer, on a scale
1 to 9 (best to worst match).
The sum of
ranks assigned
to the target-associated transcripts in this case
was
13, a result significant atp = 1.8X 10
6 by exact calcula-
tion (see Table
I and
and four second ranl<
.included
flxi
lease
its
Again,
as a backup judging procedure, a panel of five addi-
tional
judges
not
otherwise
associated
with
the
research
were
asked
simply to blind match the unedited typed
tran-
scripts and associated drawings generated by the remote viewer,
against
the
nine
target
locations which
they independently
visited
in
turn.
A correct match consisted of a transcript of
a
given
date
being matched
to the
target of that
date.
In-
stead
of
the expected number
of
match each per judge,
the number of
correct matches obtained by the
five judges
was
5, 3, 3, 2, and
2, respectively.
Thus, rather than the ex-
pected
total number
of 5
correct matches from the judges,
15 such matches were obtained.
C.
Subjects S2 and S3: Experienced
Having completed a series of
1 8 remote-viewing experiments,
each with
experienced
subject SI
(Price) and learner S4
(Hammid), additional replication experiments, four with each
subject, were carried out with experienced subjects S2 (Elgin)
and S3 (Swann) and learners S5 and S6. To place the judging
on
a basis comparable to that used with SI and S4, the four
transcripts each of experienced subjects S 2 and S 3 were com-
bined into a group of eight for rank order judging to be com-
pared
with
the
similarly
combined
results
of
the
learners
S5 and S6.
The series with S2 (Elgin, an SRI research analyst) provided
a further example of the dichotomy between verbal and draw-
ing responses.
(As with medical literature, case histories often
are more illuminatingthan the summary of results.)
The ex-
: ^^u^PM^?fe§7feftPQ^9Qfi§QQ46-4onducted with
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PERCEPTUAL CHANNEL'Wr INFORMATION TRANSFER
339
Fig. 6.
Subject Elgin (S2) drawings in response to tennis court target.
subject.
It was a demonstration experiment for a government
visitor who had heard of our work and wanted to evaluate our
experimental protocol.
In the laboratory, the subject, holding a bearing compass at
arm’s length, began the experiment by indicating the direction
of the target demarcation team correctly to within 5°.
(In all
four experiments with this subject, he has always been within
10° of the correct direction in this angular assessment.)
The
subject then generated a 15-min tape-recorded description and
the drawings shown in Fig. 6.
In
discussing
the
drawings,
Elgin
indicated
that
he
was
uncertain
as
to the action, but had the impression that the
demarcation team was located
at a museum (known to him)
in a particular park.
In fact, the target was a tennis court lo-
cated in that park about 90 m from the indicated museum.
Once
again, we note the characteristic (discussed earlier) of a
resemblance between
the
target
site
and
certain gestalt
ele-
ments
of
the
subject’s
response,
especially in regard to the
drawings,
coupled
with incomplete or erroneous analysis of
the significances.
Nonetheless, when rank ordering transcripts
through 8 at the
site, the judge ranked this transcript as 2.
This example illustrates a continuing observation that most of
the correct information related to us by subjects is of a non-
analytic nature pertaining to shape, form, color, and material
rather than to function or name.
A second example from this group, generated by S3 (Swann),
indicates
the
level
of proficiency that can be attained with
practice.
In the two years since we first started working with
Swann, he has been^tudying i!|i ^rob^m of sep
a
r^tin^ tt^ ex^
experiments, he dictates two
lists for us to record.
One
list
contains objects that he “sees,” but does not think are located
at the remote scene.
A second
list contains objects that he
thinks are at the scene.
In our evaluation, he has made much
progress
in
this
most
essential
ability
to
separate memory
and imagination from paranormal inputs.
This
is the key to
bringing the remote-viewing channel to fruition with regard to
its potential usefulness.
The quality of transcript that can be generated by this pro-
cess
is evident from the results of our most recent experiment
with Swann.
The target location chosen by the usual double-
blind protocol was the Palo Alto City Hall. Swann described a
tall building with vertical columns and “set in” windows.
His
sketch, together with the photograph of the
site, is shown in
Fig.
7.
He
said
there was
a fountain, “but
I don’t hear it.”
At the time the target team was at the City Hall during the
experiment, the fountain was not running.
He also made an
effort to draw a replica of the designs in the pavement in front
of the building, and correctly indicated the number of trees
(four) in the sketch.
For the entire series of eight, four each from S2 and S3, the
numerical
evaluation ‘based on
blind rank
ordering of tran-
scripts
at each
site was significant
at p = 3.8 X 10"4
and
in-
cluded three direct hits and three second ranks for the target-
associated transcripts (see Table IV).
D.
Subjects S5 and S6: Learners
To complete the series, four experiments each were carried
out with learner subjects S5 and S6, a man and woman on the
case, taken
as a
340
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Fig. 7.
Subject Swann (S3) response to City Hall target.
TABLE IV
Distribution of Rankings Assigned to Transcripts Associated
with Each Target Location for Experienced Subjects Elgin (S2)
and Swann (S3)
Target
Location
Distance
(km)
Rank of
Associated
Transcript
S2
BART Station
(Transit
System),
Fremont
16.
S2
Shielded
room,
SRI, Menlo Park
0.1
S2
Tennis court,
Palo Alto
3.4
S2
Golf course bridge,
Stanford
3.4
S3
City Hall,
Palo Alto
2.0
S3
Miniature golf course,
Menlo
Park
3.0
S3
Kiosk
in
park,
Menlo
Park
0.3
S3
Baylands Nature
Preserve,
Palo Alto
6.4
Tdtal
sum of ranks
(p=3. 8xl0“ 4
)
TABLE V
Distribution of Rankings Assigned to Transcripts Associated
with Each Target Location for Learner Subjects S5 and S6
Target
Location
Distance
(km)
Rank
of
Associated
Transcript
S5
Pedestrian overpass,
Palo Alto
5.0
S5
Railroad
trestle bridge,
Palo Alto
1.3
S5
Windmill, Portola Valley
8.5
S5,
S6
White
Plaza,
Stanford
(2)
3.8
S6
Airport,
Palo Alto
5.5
S6
Kiosk
in Park, Menlo Park
0.3
S6
Boathouse,
Stanford
Total
sum of
ranks
4.0
(p=0. 08,
NS)
vious experience in remote viewing, began to describe a large
square with
a fountain.
Four minutes into the experiment,
she recognized the location and correctly identified it by name
(see Fig.
8).
(It should be noted that in the area from which
the
target
locations
were
drawn
there
are
other
fountains
as
well, some of which were
in the target pool.)
As an ex-
ample of the style of the narratives generated during remote
viewing with inexperienced subjects and of the part played by
the experimenter remaining with the subject
in such a
case,
we have included the entire unedited text of this experiment
as Appendix B.
E. Normal and Paranormal: Use of Unselected Subjects in
Remote Viewing
group, did not differ significantly from chance. For the series
of eight (judged as a group of seven since one target came up
twice, once for each subject), the numerical evaluation based
on
blind rank
ordering of
transcripts
at each
site was non-
significant at p = 0.08, even though there were two direct hits
and two second ranks out of the seven (see Table V).
One of the direct hits, which occurred with subject S6 in her
first experiment, provides an example of the “first-time effect”
that has been rigorously explored and is well-known to experi-
menters
in
the
field
[57],
The
outbound
experimenter
obtained, by random protocol from the pool,
a target blind
to the experimenter with the subject, as is our standard pro-
cedure, and proceeded to the location.
The subject, a mathe-
matician in the
After more than
a year of following the experimental pro-
tocol described above and observing that even inexperienced
subjects generated results better than expected, we initiated a
series
of experiments to explore further whether individuals
other than putative “psychics” can demonstrate the remote-
viewing ability.
To
test
this idea, we have a continuing pro-
gram to carry out additional experiments of the outdoor type
with new subjects whom we have no a priori reason to believe
have paranormal perceptual ability. To date we have collected
data from
five experiments with two individuals in this cate-
gory:
a man
and
a woman who were
visiting government
scientists interested in observing our experimental protocols.
The motivation for these particular experiments was twofold.
First, the experiments provide data that indicate the level of
ciKS»8-^fe6&aaiWoS3ST
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341
Fig. 8.
Subject (S6) drawing of White Plaza, Stanford University. Sub-
ject drew what she called “curvy benches” and then announced cor-
rectly that the place was “White Plaza at Stanford.”
l/i'U)
Second, when an individual observes a successful demonstra-
tion experiment involving another person as subject,
it inevi-
tably occurs to him that perhaps chicanery
is involved.
We
have found the most effective way to settle this issue for the
observer is to have the individual himself act as a subject so as
to
obtain
personal
experience
against
which
our
reported
results can be evaluated.
The
first visitor (VI) was invited to participate as a subject
in a three-experiment series.
All three experiments contained
elements
descriptive
of the
associated
target
locations; the
quality
of response
increased with
practice.
The
third
re-
sponse
is shown in Fig. 9, where again the pattern elements in
the drawing appeared to be a closer match than the subject’s
analytic interpretation of the target object as a cupola.
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SCIENTIST SUBJECT
Fig. 9.
Subject (VI) drawing of merry-go-round target.
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PROCEEDSBis OF THE IEEE, MARCH 1976
TECHNOLOGY SERIES
TYPEWRITER TARGET
•Smaiv **uA>*.
da*n.
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a poicb •
lu-Ljtl o+xtu ^i«t*
:
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huB tl'tktlA
4 <jW ewtcwt
SUBJECT SWANN
(S3) RESPONSE
SUBJECT HAMMID
(S4) RESPONSE
Fig. 10.
Drawings of a typewriter target by two subjects.
The second visitor [V2]
participated as a subject in two ex-
periments.
In his
first experiment, he generated one of the
higher
signal-to-noise
results we have
observed.
He began
his narrative, ‘There
is a red A-frame building and next to
it
is
a
large yellow
thing
[a tree—Editor]
.
Now
further left
there
is another A-shape.
It looks like a swing-set, but
it is
pushed down in
a gully so
I can’t see the swings.”
[All cor-
rect.]
He then went on to describe a lock on the front door
that he
said
“looks
like
it’s made
of laminated
steel, so
it
must be a Master lock.”
[Also correct.]
For the
series of five—three from the first subject and two
from
the
second— the
numerical evaluation based on blind
rank ordering of the transcripts at each site was significant at
p = 0.017 and included three direct hits and one second-rank
for the target-associated transcripts. (See Table VI.)
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TABLE VI
Distribution of Rankings Assigned to Transcripts Associated with
Each Target Location for Visitor Subjects VI and V2
Sub lect
Target
Location
Distance
(km)
Rank of
Associated
Transcript
Vi
Bridge over
stream,
Menlo Park
0.3
VI
Bay lands Nature Preserve,
Palo Alto
6.4
VI
Merry-go-round,
Palo Alto
3.4
V2
Windmill,
Portola
Valley
8.5
V2
Apartment
swimming
pool,
Mountain View
9.1
Total
sum of ranks
(p=0,017)
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343
TARGET LOCATION:
XEROX MACHINE
(TECHNOLOGY SERIES)
TO ADD INTEREST TO TARGET
LOCATION EXPERIMENTER WITH
HIS HEAD BEING XEROXED
Ol
Fig
1 1
Drawings by three subjects (S2, S3, and V3) for Xerox machine target.
When asked to describe the square at upper left of response on
the right
subject (V3) said, “There was this predominant light source which might have been a window, and a working surface which might have
been the
sill, or a working surface or desk.”
Earlier the subject had said, “I have the feeling that there
is something silhouetted against the
window.”
Observations
with
unselected
subjects
such
as
those
de-
scribed above indicate that remote viewing may be a latent and
widely distributed perceptual ability.
F.
Technology Series: Short-Range Remote Viewing
Because remote viewing
is
a perceptual
ability, we consid-
ered
it important to obtain data on its resolution capabilities.
To accomplish
this, we turned to the use of indoor techno-
logical targets.
Twelve experiments were carried out with five different sub-
jects, two of whom were visiting government scientists. They
were
told
that one
of the experimenters would be
sent by
random protocol to a laboratory within the SRI complex and
that he would
interact
with the equipment or apparatus
at
that location.
It was further explained that the experimenter
remaining with the subject was, as usual, kept ignorant of the
contents of the target pool to prevent cueing during question-
ing.
(Unknown to subjects, targets in the pool were used with
replacement; one of the goals of this particular experiment was
to
obtain multiple responses to
a given
target to investigate
whether correlation of a number of subject responses would
provide enhancement of the
signal-to-noise
ratio.)
The sub-
ject
was
asked
to
describe
the
target
both
verbally
(tape
recorded) and by means of drawings during a time-synchronized
15 -min
interval
in which
the outbound experimenter
inter-
acted
in
an
appropriate manner with the equipment in the
target area.
In the twelve experiments, seven
targets were used: a drill
press, Xerox
machine, video
terminal,
chart
recorder,
four-
state
random number
generator,
machine
shop,
and
type-
writer.
Three
of these were used
twice
(drill
press, video
terminal, and typewriter) and one (Xerox machine) came up
three times in our random selection procedure.
Comparisons of the targets and subject drawings for three of
the
multiple-response
cases (the typewriter, Xerox machine,
and video terminal) are shown in Figs.
10, 11, and
12.
As is
apparent
from
these
illustrations
alone,
the
experiments
provide
circumstantial
evidence
for
an
information
channel
of useful
bit
rate.
This includes experiments
in which visit-
ing
government
scientists
participated
as
subjects
(Xerox
machine
and
video
terminal)
to
observe
the
protocol.
In
general,
it appears that use of multiple-subject responses to a
single
target
provides
better signal-to-noise
ratio than target
identification by a single individual.
This conclusion is borne
out by the judging described below.
Given
that
in
general
the
drawings
constitute
the
most
accurate portion of a subject’s description, in the first judging
procedure a judge was asked simply to blind match only the
drawings (i.e., without tape transcripts) to the targets. Multiple-
subject responses to a given target were stapled together, and
thus
seven
subject-drawing
response
packets
were
to
be
matched to the seven different targets for which drawings were
made.
The judge did not have access to our photographs of
the
target locations, used for illustration purposes only, but
rather proceeded to each of the target locations by list. While
standing at each target location, the judge was required to rank
order the seven subject-drawing response packets (presented in
random order) on a
scale
1 to 7 (best to worst match).
For
seven targets, the sum of ranks could range from 7 to 49. The
sum
in
this
case, which included
direct
hit and 4 second
ranks out of the 7 (see Table VII) was 18, a result significant
at p = 0.036.
In the second more detailed
effort
at evaluation, a visiting
scientist selected
at random one of the
12 data packages (a
drill press experiment),
sight unseen and submitted
it for in-
dependent analysis to an engineer with a request for an esti-
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TARGET:
VIDEO MONITOR FOR TEXT EDITING (TECHNOLOGY SERIES)
(a)
(b)
Fig. 12. Drawing by two subjects of a video monitor target,
(a) Subject (S4) drawing of “box with light coming out of it
.
.
. painted flat black
and in the middle of the room.”
(b) Second subject (V2) saw a computer terminal with relay racks in the background.
TABLE VII
Distribution of Rankings Assigned to Subject
Drawings Associated with Each Target Location
Subject
Target
Rank
of
Associated
Drawings
S3,
S4
Drill press
S2,
S3,
V3
Xerox machine
S4,
V2
Video terminal
S3
Chart recorder
S4
Random number generator
S4
Machine shop
S3,
S4
Typewriter
Total
sum of ranks
(p=0.036)
mate as to what was being described. The analyst, blind as to
the
target and
given
only
the
subject’s taped
narrative and
drawing
(Fig.
13), was
able, from
the
subject’s description
alone, to correctly classify the target as a “man-sized vertical
boring machine.”
G. Summary ofRemote Viewing Results
1)
Discussion:
The
descriptions
supplied
by
the
subjects
in the experiments involving remote viewing of natural targets
or
laboratory
apparatus,
although
containing
inaccuracies,
were sufficiently accurate to permit the judges to differentiate
among various
targets to the degree indicated.
A summary
TABLE VIII
Summary: Remote Viewing
Subject
Number of
Experiments
p-Value,
Rank
Order Judging
With natural targets
SI
(experienced)
2.9
X
U>'
S2 and
S3
(experienced)
3.8
x
10" 4
S4
(learner)
1.8
X
10" 6
S5 and
S6
(learners)
0.08
(NS)
VI and V2 (learners/viaitors)
0.017
With technology targets
S2,
S3,
S4,
V2,
V3
0.036
tabulation of the
statistical evaluations of these fifty-one ex-
periments with nine subjects is presented in Table VIII.
The
overall
result,
evaluated
conservatively
on
the
basis
of
a
judging procedure that ignores transcript quality beyond that
necessary to rank order the data packets (vastly underestimat-
ing
the
statistical
significance
of
individual
descriptions),
clearly
indicates the
presence
of an information channel of
useful
bit
rate.
Furthermore,
it
appears
that the principal
difference
between
experienced
subjects and
inexperienced
volunteers
is not that the latter never exhibit the faculty, but
rather that their results are simply less reliable, more sporadic.
Nevertheless,
as described
earlier, individual transcripts from
the inexperienced group
of subjects number among some of
the
best
obtained.
Such observations indicate a hypothesis
that remote viewing may be
a latent and widely
distributed
perceptual ability.
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345
Fig. 13.
Subject (S4) drawing of
drill
press showing belt drive, stool,
and a “vertical graph that goes up and down.”
Thus the primary achievement of the SRI program was the
elicitation
of
high-quality
remote
viewing from
individuals
who agreed to
act
as subjects.
Criticism of this claim could
in
principle be put forward on the
basis of three potential
flaws.
1) The study could involve naivete
in protocol that
permits various forms of cueing, intentional or unintentional.
2) The experiments discussed could be selected out of a larger
pool
of experiments
of which many
are of poorer quality.
3) Data for the reported experiments could be edited to show
only the matching elements, the nonmatching elements being
discarded.
All three criticisms, however, are invalid.
First, with regard
to cueing, the use of double-blind protocols ensures that none
of the persons in contact with the subject can be aware of the
target.
Second, selection of experiments for reporting did not
take place; every experiment was entered
as performed on a
master log and
is included in the statistical evaluations.
Third,
data associated with
a given experiment remain unedited; all
experiments are tape recorded and
all data are included un-
edited in the data package to be judged and evaluated.
In the process of judging—attempting to match transcripts
against
targets
on
the
basis
of
the
information
in
the
transcripts-some
patterns
and
regularities
in
the
transcript
descriptions became evident,
particularly regarding individual
styles
in remote viewing and
in the perceptual form of the
descriptions
given by
the
subjects.
These patterns and the
judging procedure are discussed below.
a)
Styles
of
response:
The
fifty-one
transcripts
were
taken
from
nine
different
subjects.
Comparing
the
tran-
scripts of one subject with those of another revealed that each
pattern
tended
to
focus
on
certain
aspects of the remote
target complex and
to
exclude
others, so that each had an
individual pattern of response, like a signature.
Subject
S3,
for example,
frequently responded with topo-
graphical descriptions, maps, and architectural features of the
target locations.
Subject S2 often focused on the behavior of
the remote experimenter or the sequence of actions he carried
out
at the
target.
The
transcripts of subject S4, more than
those of other subjects, had descriptions of the feel of the lo-
cation,
and
experiential
or
sensory
gestalts-for
example,
light/dark
elements
in
the
scene
and
indoor/outdoor
and
enclosed/open distinctions.
Prominent features of Si’s tran-
scripts were detailed
descriptions of what the
target persons
were concretely experiencing,
seeing, or doing-for example,
standing on asphalty blacktop overlooking water; looking
at
a purple iris.
The range
of any individual
subject’s responses was wide.
Anyone might draw a map or describe the mood of the remote
experimenter,
but
the
consistency
of each
subject’s
overall
approach
suggests
that
just
as
individual
descriptions
of
a
directly viewed scene would
differ,
so
these differences
also
occur in remofe-viewing processes.
b) Nature of the description:
The concrete descriptions
that appear most commonly in transcripts are at the level of
subunits of the
overall scene.
For example, when the target
was
a Xerox copy machine,
the
responses included
(S2)
a
rolling object (the moving
light) or
dials and
a cover that
is
lifted (S3), but the machine as a whole was not identified by
name or function.
In
a few
transcripts,
the
subjects correctly
identified and
named
the
target.
In the case of a computer terminal, the
subject (V2) apparently perceived the terminal and the relay
racks
behind
it.
In
the case of targets which were Hoover
Tower and White Plaza, the subjects (SI and S6, respectively)
seemed
to
identify
the
locations through
analysis
of
their
initial images of the elements of the target.
There were also occasional incorrect identifications.
Gestalts
were
incorrectly named;
for example, swimming pools in
a
park were identified as water storage tanks at a water filtration
plant (SI).
The most common perceptual level was thus an intermediate
one— the individual elements and items that make up the tar-
get.
This
is suggestive of a scanning process that takes sample
perceptions from within the overall environment.
When the subjects tried to make sense out of these fragmen-
tary
impressions, they
often
resorted
to metaphors or con-
structed an image with a kind of perceptual inference.
From
a feeling of the target as an “august” and “solemn” building,
a subject (S4)
said
it might be a library; it was a church. A
pedestrian overpass above a freeway was described as a conduit
(S4). A rapid transit station, elevated above the countryside,
was
associated
with
an
observatory
(S2).
These
responses
seem to be the result of attempts to process partial informa-
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tion:
similarly, this occurs in other parapsychological experi-
ments. These observations are compatible with the hypotheses
that information received in
a putative remote-viewing mode
is processed piecemeal in pattern form (consistent with a low
bit
rate
process,
but
not
necessarily
requiring
it); and
the
errors
arise
in the processes of attempted integration of the
data into larger patterns directed toward verbal labeling.
When
the
subjects augmented
the verbal
transcripts
with
drawings or sketches, these often expressed the target elements
more accurately than the verbal descriptions.
Thus the draw-
ings tended
to
correspond
to
the
targets more
clearly
and
precisely than the words of the transcript.
The descriptions given by the
subjects sometimes went be-
yond what the remote experimenter experienced, at least con-
sciously.
For example, one subject (S4) described and drew
a belt drive at the top of a drill press that was invisible even to
the
remote
experimenter who
was
operating
the machine;
another
subject
(SI)
described
a number
of items behind
shrubbery and thus not visible to members of the demarcation
team at the site.
Curiously, objects in motion at the remote
site were rarely
mentioned in the transcript.
For example, trains crossing the
railroad
trestle
target were not described, though the remote
experimenter stood very close to them.
Also in a few cases, the subject descriptions were inaccurate
regarding size of structures. A 20-ft courtyard separating two
buildings was described
as 200
ft wide, and a small shed was
expanded to a barn-like structure.
c)
Blind judging of transcripts:
The judging procedure
entailed examining the
transcripts
for
a given experimental
series and attempting to match the
transcripts with the cor-
rect
targets on the
basis of their correspondences.
The tran-
scripts varied from coherent and accurate descriptions to mix-
tures of correspondences and noncorrespondences.
Since the
judge did not know a priori which elements of the descriptions
were correct or incorrect, the task was complicated, and tran-
scripts often seemed plausibly to match more than one target.
A confounding factor
in
these studies
is that some target lo-
cations have
similarities that seem alike at some level of per-
ception.
For example,
a radio telescope at the top of a hill,
the observation deck of a tower, and a jetty on the edge of a
bay
all match
a transcript description of “looking out over a
long distance.” A lake, a fountain, and a creek may all result
in an image of water for the
subject.
Therefore,
in
several
cases,
even correct images may not help
in the conservative
differential matching procedure used.
According to the judge, the most successful procedure was a
careful element-by-element comparison that tested each tran-
script against every target and used the transcript descriptions
and drawings
as arguments for or against assigning the
tran-
script
to a particular target.
In most
cases, this resulted in
either
a
clear conclusion
or
at
least
a ranking
of probable
matches;
these
matches
were
subjected
to
the
statistical
analyses presented in this paper.
2) Summary:
In summary, we do not yet have an under-
standing of the nature of the information-bearing signal that a
subject perceives during remote viewing.
The subjects com-
monly report that they perceive the signal visually as though
they were looking at the object or place from a position in its
immediate
neighborhood.
Furthermore,
the
subjects’
per-
ceptual viewpoint
has mobility
in
that
they can
shift
their
point of view so as to describe elements of a scene that would
not be visible to an observer merely standing at ground level
and describing what he
sees.
(In particular,
a subject often
correctly describes elements not visible to the target demarca-
tion
team.)
Finally,
motion
is
seldom
reported;
in
fact,
moving
objects
often
are
unseen
even when
nearby
static
objects are correctly identified.
A comparison of the results of remote viewing (a so-called
free-response task) with results of forced-choice tasks, such as
the
selection of one of four choices generated by a random
number generator [58]
,
reveals the following findings. From a
statistical viewpoint, a subject
is more likely to describe, with
sufficient
accuracy
to
permit
blind matching, a remote
site
chosen
at random than he
is
to
select correctly one of four
random numbers. Our experience with these phenomena leads
us
to consider that
this
difference
in
task performance may
stem from
fundamental
signal-to-noise considerations.
Two
principal sources of noise in the system apparently are mem-
ory and imagination, both of which can give
rise to mental
pictures of greater clarity than the target to be perceived.
In
the random number task, a subject can create a perfect mental
picture of each of the four possible outputs in his own imagi-
nation and then attempt to obtain the correct answer by
a
mental matching operation. The same is true for card guessing
experiments. On the other hand, the subject in remote view-
ing
is apparently more
likely
to approach
the
task
with
a
blank mind as he attempts to perceive pictorial information
from remote
locations about which he may have no stored
mental data.
Finally, we
observe
that most
of the correct information
that subjects relate to us is of a nonanalytic nature pertaining
to shape, form, color, and material rather than to function or
name.
In consultation with Dr. Robert Ornstein of the Langley-
Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco, CA, and with
Dr. Ralph Kieman of the Department of Neurology, Stanford
University
Medical
Center,
Stanford,
CA, we
have formed
the
tentative
hypothesis
that
paranormal
functioning may
involve specialization
characteristic of the brain’s right hemi-
sphere.
This possibility
is derived from a variety of evidence
from clinical and neurosurgical sources which indicate that the
two hemispheres of the human brain
are
specialized for dif-
ferent
cognitive functions.
The
left hemisphere
is predomi-
nantly active in verbal and other analytical functioning and the
right hemisphere predominates
in
spatial and
other holistic
processing
[59],
[60].
Further
research
is
necessary
to
elucidate the relationship between right hemisphere function
and
paranormal
abilities.
Nonetheless, we can
say
at
this
point that the remote-viewing results of the group of subjects
at
SRI have
characteristics
in common
with more
familiar
performances
that
require
right hemispheric
function.
The
similarities include the highly schematicized drawings of ob-
jects in a room or of remote scenes.
Verbal identification of
these
drawings
is
often
highly
inaccurate
and
the drawings
themselves
are
frequently
left-right
reversed
relative
to the
target
configuration.
Further, written material generally
is
not
cognized.
These
characteristics have been
seen
in
left
brain-injured patients and in callosal-sectioned patients.
As
a result of the above considerations, we have learned to
urge our subjects simply to describe what they see as opposed
to what they think they are looking at. We have learned that
their unanalyzed perceptions are almost always a better guide
to the true target than their interpretations of the perceived
data.
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IV. Considerations Concerning Time
If the authors may be forgiven a personal note, we wish to
express that this section deals with observations that we have
been reluctant to publish because of their striking apparent in-
compatibility with existing concepts.
The motivating factor
for presenting the data at this time is the ethical consideration
that theorists endeavoring to develop models for paranormal
functioning should be apprised of
all the observable data
if
their efforts to arrive at a comprehensive and correct descrip-
tion are to be successful.
During the course of the experimentation in remote viewing
(Section
III),
subjects occasionally volunteered the informa-
tion that they had been thinking about their forthcoming par-
ticipation in a remote-viewing experiment and had an image
come to them
as to what the target location was to be.
On
these occasions, the information was given only to the experi-
menter remaining at SRI with the subject and was unknown to
the outbound experimenter
until completion of the experi-
ment.
Two
of
these
contributions were among the most
accurate
descriptions
turned
in
during
those
experiments.
Since the target location had not yet been selected when the
subject communicated
his
perceptions about
the
target, we
found the data difficult to contend with.
We offer these spontaneous occurrences not as proof of pre-
cognitive perception, but rather as the motivation that led us
to do further work in this field. On the basis of this firsthand
evidence, together with the copious literature describing years
of precognition experiments carried out in various other labo-
ratories, we decided to determine whether a subject could per-
form a perceptual task that required both spatial and temporal
remote viewing.
It
is well known and recently has been widely discussed that
nothing in the fundamental laws of physics forbids the appar-
ent transmission of information from the future to the present
(discussed further in Section V).
Furthermore, there is a gen-
eral dictum that “in physical law, everything that is not forbid-
den,
is required” [61 ]
.
With this in mind, we set out to con-
duct
very well-controlled experiments to determine whether
we could deliberately design and execute experiments for the
sole
purpose
of
observing
precognition
under
laboratory
conditions.
The experimental protocol was identical to that followed in
previous remote-viewing experiments with but one exception.
The exception was that the subject was required to describe
the remote location during a 15-min period beginning 20 min
before the target was selected and 35 min before the outbound
experimenter was to arrive at the target location.
In detail, as shown in Table IX, each day at ten o’clock one
of the
experimenters would
leave SRI with a stack of ten
sealed envelopes from a larger pool and randomized daily, con-
taining traveling instructions that had been prepared, but that
were unknown to the two experimenters remaining with the
subject.
The subject for this experiment was Hella Hammid
(S4) who participated in the nine-experiment series replicating
the original Price work described earlier. The traveling experi-
menter was to drive continuously from 10:00 until 10:30 be-
fore selecting his destination with a random number generator.
(The motivation for continuous motion was our observation
that objects and persons in rapid motion are not generally seen
in the remote-viewing mode of perception, and we wished the
traveler to be a poor target until he reached his target site.) At
the end of 30 min of driving, the traveling experimenter gener-
TABLE IX
Experimental Protocol: Precognitive Remote Viewing
Time
Schedule
Experimenter/Subject Activity
10:00
Outbound
experimenter
leaves with
envelopes
(containing
target
locations)
and
random number generator;
begins half-hour drive
10:10
Experimenters
remaining with
subject In the
laboratory
elicit
from subject
a description of where
outbound
experimenter will
be
from 10:45-11:00
10:25
Subject
response completed,
at which
time
laboratory part
of experiment
is
over
10:30
Outbound
experimenter obtains
random number
from
a random
number generator,
counts
down
to associated envelope,
and
proceeds
to target
location indicated
10:45
Outbound experimenter remains
at
target
location
for
15 minutes
(10:45-11:00)
Fig. 14.
Subject Hammid (S4) described “some kind of congealing tar,
or maybe an area of condensed lava
.
.
. that has oozed out to fill up
some kind of boundaries.”
ated
a random
digit from 0 to 9 with a Texas Instruments
SR-51
random number
generator; while
still
in motion, he
counted down
that number of envelopes and proceeded
di-
rectly to the target location so as to arrive there by 10:45. He
remained
at the target
site until
1 1 :00, at which time he re-
turned to the laboratory, showed his chosen target name to a
security guard, and entered the experimental room.
During the same period, the protocol in the laboratory was
as follows.
At 10:10, the subject was asked to begin a descrip-
tion of the place to which the experimenter would go 35 min
hence.
The subject then generated a tape-recorded description
and associated drawings from 10:10 to 10:25, at which time
her part in the experiment was ended.
Her description was
thus entirely concluded 5 min before the beginning of the tar-
get selection procedure.
Four such experiments were carried out.
Each of them ap-
peared to be successful, an evaluation later verified
in blind
judging without error by three judges.
We
will briefly sum-
marize the four experiments below.
The
first
target, the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor, consisted en-
tirely of mud flats because of an extremely low tide (see Fig.
14).
Appropriately, the entire transcript of the subject per-
tained to “some kind of congealing tar, or maybe an area of
condensed
lava.
It looks like the whole area
is covered with
some kind of wrinkled elephant skin that has oozed out to fill
up some
kind
of boundaries where
(the outbound
experi-
menter) is standing.”
Because of the lack of water, the dock
where the remote experimenter was standing was in fact rest-
ing directly on the mud.
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Fig. 16.
Subject (S4) saw a “black iron triangle that Hal had somehow
walked into” and heard a “squeak, squeak, about once a second.”
Fig.
1 7.
Subject (S4) described a very tall structure located among city
streets and covered with “Tiffany -like glass.”
Fig. 15.
Subject (S4) described a formal garden “very well manicured”
behind a double colonnade.
Note that the subject has learned not to rush into interpreta-
tion as to the nature or purpose of the place.
This is a result
of our cautioning based on the observation that such efforts
tend to be purely analytical and in our experience are almost
invariably incorrect.
If a subject can limit himself to what he
sees, he
is often then able to describe a scene with sufficient
accuracy that an observer can perform the analysis for him and
identify the place.
The second target
visited was the fountain at one end of a
large formal garden at Stanford University Hospital (Fig.
15).
The subject gave a lengthy description of a formal garden be-
hind a wall with a “double colonnade” and “very well mani-
cured.”
When we later took the subject to the location, she
was herself taken aback to find the double colonnaded wall
leading into the garden just as described.
The third target was a children’s swing at a small park 4.6 km
from the laboratory (Fig.
16). The subject repeated again and
again that the main focus of attention at the site was a “black
iron
triangle
that the outbound experimenter had somehow
walked
into or was standing on.”
The triangle was “bigger
than a man,” and she heard a “squeak, squeak, about once a
second,” which we observe is a match to the black metal swing
that did squeak.
The final target was the Palo Alto City Hall (Fig.
17).
The
subject
described
a
very,
very
tall
structure
covered with
“Tiffany-like glass.”
She had it located among city streets and
with little cubes at the base. The building is glass-covered, and
the
little cubes are a good match to the small elevator exit
buildings located in the plaza in front of the building.
To obtain a numerical evaluation of the accuracy of the pre-
cognitive viewing, the experimental results were subjected to
independent judging on
a blind basis by three SRI scientists
who were not otherwise associated with the experiment. The
judges were
asked to match the four locations, which they
visited,
against
the unedited typed manuscripts of the tape-
recorded narratives, along with the drawings generated by the
remote viewer.
The transcripts were presented unlabeled and
in random order and were to be used without replacement. A
correct match required that the transcript of a given experi-
ment be matched with the target of that experiment.
All three
judges independently matched the target data to the response
data without error. Under the null hypothesis (no information
channel and a random
selection of descriptions without
re-
placement), each judge independently obtained a result signifi-
cant at p = (4!)
-1 = 0.042.
For reasons we do not as yet understand, the four transcripts
generated in the precognition experiment show exceptional co-
herence and accuracy as evidenced by the fact that all of the
judges were able to match successfully all of the transcripts to
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PUTHOFF AND TARG: PERCEPTUAL CHANNECTTOR INFORMATION TRANSFER
the corresponding target locations. A long-range experimental
program devoted to the clarification of these issues and involv-
ing a number of subjects is under way. The above four experi-
ments are the first four carried out under this program.
Currently, we have no precise model of this spatial and tem-
poral remote-viewing phenomenon.
However, models of the
universe
involving higher order synchronicity
or correlation
have been proposed by the physicist Pauli and the psychologist
Carl Jung [62].
AcAUSALITY.
If natural law5 were an absolute truth, then of
course there could not possibly be any processes that deviate
from
it.
But since causality5
is a statistical truth, it holds good
only on average and thus leaves room for exceptions which must
somehow be experienceable, that
is to say, real.
I try to regard
synchronistic events as acausal exceptions of this kind.
They
prove to be relatively independent of space and time; they reia-
tivize space and time insofar as space presents in principle no ob-
stacle to their passage and the sequence of events in time
is in-
verted so that
it looks as if an event which has not yet occurred
were causing a perception in the present.
We
shall
see
in
the next
section
that such a description,
though poetic, has some basis in modern physical theory.
V.
Discussion
It
is important to note at the outset that many contempo-
rary physicists are of the view that the phenomena that we
have
been
discussing
are
not
at
all
inconsistent
with
the
framework of physics as currently understood.
In this emerg-
ing view, the often-held belief that observations of this type
are incompatible with known laws
in principle
is erroneous,
such
a concept
being based on
the
naive
realism prevalent
before
the
development
of
modern
quantum
theory
and
information theory.
One hypothesis, put forward by
I. M. Kogan of the USSR,
is
that
information
transfer
under
conditions
of
sensory
shielding
is
mediated
by
extremely
low-frequency
(ELF)
electromagnetic
waves
in
the
300-1 000-km
region
[37]-
[40],
Experimental
support
for
the
hypothesis
is claimed
on the basis of slower than inverse square attenuation, com-
patible
with
source-percipient
distances
lying
in
the
induc-
tion
field range as opposed to the radiation
field range; ob-
served
low
bit
rates
(0.005-0.1
bit/s)
compatible with the
information carrying capacity of ELF waves; apparent ineffec-
tiveness of ordinary electromagnetic shielding as an attenuator;
and standard antenna calculations entailing biologically gener-
ated currents yielding results compatible with observed signal-
to-noise ratios.
M. Persinger, Psychophysiology Laboratory, Laurentian Uni-
versity, Toronto, Canada, has narrowed the ELF hypothesis to
the
suggestion
that
the
7.8-Hz “Shumann waves” and then-
harmonics propagating along the earth-ionosphere waveguide
duct may be responsible.
Such an hypothesis
is compatible
with driving by brain-wave currents and leads to certain other
hypotheses such as asymmetry between east-west and west-
east
propagation,
preferred
experimental
times (midnight-4
A.M.),
and
expected
negative
correlation
between
success
and
the U
index
(a
measure
of
geomagnetic
disturbance
throughout
the
world).
Persinger claims initial support for
these factors on the basis of a literature search [63]
, [64]
.
.
On the negative side with regard to a straightforward ELF
interpretation as a blanket hypothesis are the following: a) ap-
9 As usually understood.
parent real-time descriptions of remote activities in sufficient
detail to require a channel capacity in all probability greater
than that allowed by a conventional modulation of an ELF
signal; b) lack of a proposed mechanism for coding and decod-
ing the information onto the proposed ELF carrier; and c) ap-
parent precognition data. The hypothesis must nonetheless re-
main open at this stage of research, since it is conceivable that
counterindication
a) may eventually be circumvented on the
basis that the apparent high bit rate results from a mixture of
low bit rate input and high bit rate “filling in the blanks” from
imagination; counterindication b) is common to a number of
normal perceptual
tasks and may therefore simply reflect a
lack of sophistication on our part with regard to perceptual
functioning
[65]; and
counterindication
c) may be accom-
modated by an ELF hypothesis
if advanced waves as well as
retarded waves are admitted [66], [67].
Experimentation to
determine whether the ELF hypothesis is viable can be carried
out by the use of ELF sources as targets, by the study of para-
metric
dependence on
propagational
directions and
diurnal
timing, and by the exploration of interference effects caused
by
creation of a high-intensity ELF environment during ex-
perimentation,
all of which are under consideration in our lab-
oratory and elsewhere.
Some physicists believe that the reconciliation of observed
paranormal functioning with modern theory may take place at
a more fundamental level—namely, at the level of the founda-
tions of quantum theory.
There
is a continuing dialog, for
example, on the proper interpretation of the effect of an ob-
server
(consciousness)
on
experimental
measurement
[68],
and there
is considerable current interest in the implications
for our notions of ordering in time and space brought on by
the observation [69], [70]
of nonlocal correlation or “quan-
tum interconnectedness” (to use Bohm’s term [71]) of distant
parts of quantum systems of macroscopic dimensions.
The
latter,
Bell’s theorem
[72], emphasizes
that “no theory of
reality compatible with quantum theory can require spatially
separated events to be independent”
[73], but must permit
interconnectedness of distant events in a manner that is con-
trary to ordinary experience [74] -[75].
This prediction has
been
experimentally
tested
and
confirmed
in
the
recent
experiments
of,
for example, Freedman and
Clauser
[69],
[70],
E.
H. Walker and
O. Costa de Beauregard, independently
proposing theories of paranormal functioning based on quan-
tum concepts, argue that observer effects open the door to the
possibility
of nontrivial coupling between consciousness and
the environment and that the
nonlocality principle permits
such coupling to transcend spatial and temporal barriers [76],
[77].
Apparent “time reversibility”-that
is, effects (e.g., observa-
tions) apparently preceding causes (e.g., events)-though con-
ceptually difficult at
first glance, may be the easiest of appar-
ent paranormal phenomena
to assimilate within the current
theoretical structure of our world view.
In addition to the
familiar retarded potential solutions f(t - r/c), it is well known
that the equations
of, for example, the electromagnetic field
admit of advanced potential solutions f(t + r/c)-solutions that
would appear to imply a reversal of cause and effect.
Such
solutions are conventionally discarded as not corresponding to
any observable physical event.
One is cautioned, however, by
statements such as that of Stratton in his basic text on electro-
magnetic theory [78]
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The reader has doubtless noted that the choice of the function
fit - r/c)
is highly arbitrary, since the field equation admits also
a solution f(t + r/c). This function leads obviously to an advanced
time, implying that the field can be observed before it has been
generated by the source.
The familiar chain of cause and effect
is thus reversed and this alternative solution might be discarded
as logically inconceivable.
However, the application of “logical”
causality principles
offers very insecure footing in matters such
as these and we shall do better to restrict the theory to retarded
action solely on the grounds that this solution alone conforms to
the present physical data.
Such caution is justified by the example in the early 1920’s of
Dirac’s development
of the mathematical description of the
relativistic electron that also yielded a pair of solutions, one of
which was discarded as inapplicable until the discovery of the
positron in 1932.
In an analysis by O. Costa de Beauregard, an argument is put
forward
that
advanced
potentials
constitute
a convergence
toward
“finality”
in
a manner symmetrical to the divergence
of retarded
potentials
as
a
result
of
causality
[77].
Such
phenomena are generally unobservable, however, on the gross
macroscopic
scale
for
statistical reasons.
This
is codified in
the thermodynamic concept that for an isolated system entropy
(disorder) on the average increases.
It
is just this requirement
of isolation, however, that has been weakened by the observer
problem in quantum theory, and O. Costa de Beauregard argues
that the finality principle
is maximally operative in just those
situations where the intrusion of consciousness as an ordering
phenomenon results in
a significant local reversal of entropy
increase.
At this point, further discussion of the subtleties of
such considerations, though apropos, would take us far afield,
so we simply note that such advanced waves, if detected, could
in certain cases constitute a carrier of information precognitive
to the event.
The above arguments are not intended to indicate that the
precise
nature
of
the
information channel
coupling remote
events and human perception
is understood.
Rather, we in-
tend to show only that modern theory is not without resources
that can be brought to bear on the problems at hand, and we
expect that these problems will, with further work, continue
to yield to analysis and specification.
Furthermore, independent of the mechanisms that may be
invplved
in remote sensing, observation of the phenomenon
implies
the
existence
of
an
information
channel
in
the
information-theoretic sense.
Since such channels are amenable
to analysis on the basis of communication theory techniques,
as indicated earlier, channel characteristics such as bit rate can
be determined independent of a well-defined physical channel
model in
the sense
that thermodynamic concepts can be ap-
plied
to
the
analysis
of systems independent of underlying
mechanisms.
Furthermore, as we have seen from the work of
Ryzl discussed in Section II, it is possible to use such a channel
for error-free transmission of information if redundancy coding
is used.
(See also Appendix A.)
Therefore, experimentation
involving the collection of data under specified conditions per-
mits headway to be made despite
the formidable work
that
needs
to
be
done
to
clarify
the
underlying
bases
of
the
phenomena.
VI. Conclusion
For the past three years we have had a program in the Elec-
tronics and Bioengineering Laboratory of SRI to
investigate
those
facets of human perception that appear to
fall outside
the
range
of well-understood ^>excep|ual or prqces^m^M^
bilities.
The primary achievement of this program has been
the
elicitation of high-quality “remote viewing”—the
ability
of
both
experienced
subjects and
inexperienced
volunteers
to
view, by means
of innate mental processes, remote geo-
graphical
or
technical
targets
such
as
roads,
buildings, and
laboratory apparatus.
Our accumulated data from over fifty
experiments
with more
than
a half-dozen
subjects
indicate
the following,
a) The phenomenon
is not a sensitive function
of distance over a range of several kilometers,
b) Faraday cage
shielding does not appear to degrade the quality or accuracy of
perception,
c) Most of the correct information that subjects
relate
is
of a nonanalytic nature pertaining to shape, form,
color, and material rather than to function or name.
(This
aspect
suggests
a
hypothesis
that
information
transmission
under
conditions
of sensory shielding may be mediated
pri-
marily
by
the
brain’s
right
hemisphere.)
d) The
principal
difference
between
experienced
subjects and
inexperienced
volunteers
is not that the latter never exhibit the faculty, but
rather that their results are simply less reliable.
(This observa-
tion
suggests the hypothesis
that remote viewing may be a
latent
and
widely
distributed, though
repressed,
perceptual
ability.)
Although the precise nature of the information channel cou-
pling remote events and human perception
is not yet under-
stood,
certain
concepts
in
information
theory,
quantum
theory, and neurophysiological research appear to bear directly
on the
issue.
As a result, the working assumption among re-
searchers
in
the
field
is that the phenomenon of interest
is
consistent with modern
scientific thought, and can therefore
be expected to yield to the scientific method.
Further,
it
is
recognized
that
communication
theory
provides
powerful
techniques, such as the use of redundancy coding to improve
signal-to-noise ratio, which can be employed to pursue special-
purpose application of the remote-sensing channel independent
of an understanding of the underlying mechanisms. We there-
fore consider
it important to continue data collection and to
encourage others to do likewise; investigations such as those
reported here need replication and extension under as wide a
variety of rigorously controlled conditions as possible.
Appendix A
Signal Enhancement in a Paranormal
Communication Channel by Application
of Redundancy Coding
Independent
of the mechanisms
that may
be
involved
in
remote
sensing,
observation of the phenomenon implies the
existence
of
an
information
channel
in
the
information-
theoretic
sense.
As we have seen from the work of Ryzl dis-
cussed in Section
II,6
it
is even possible to use such a (noisy)
channel
for
error-free
transmission
of
information
if
suf-
ficient redundancy coding is used [30]
, [31]
.
Following is a
general procedure
that we
have used successfully
for signal
enhancement.
We
shall assume that the “message” consists of a stream of
binary
digits
(0,1)
of equal probability
(e.g., binary
sort of
green/white cards as in Ryzl’s case, English text encoded as in
Table X and sent long distance by strobe light on/off, and so
on).
To combat channel noise, each binary
digit to be sent
through the channel requires the addition of redundancy bits
(coding).
Efficient coding requires a compromise between the
desire to maximize reliability and the
desire to minimize re-
6 See
also the note added
in proof on the successful work done by
Carpenter.
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351
TABLE X
5-Bit Code for Alphanumeric
Characters
E
00000
Y
01000
T
nni
G, J
10111
N
00001
w
01001
R
11110
V
10110
I
00010
B
01010
11101
10101
A
00011
01011
S,X,Z
11100
10100
D
00100
01100
H
11011
10011
L
00101
01101
C ,K,Q
11010
10010
F
00110
OHIO
P
11001
10001
U
00111
01111
M
11000
10000
Note: Alphabet characters listed
in order of decreasing frequency
in English text.
See, for example,
A.
Sinkov
[79]
.
(The
low-fre-
quency letters, X, Z, K, Q, and J,
have
been grouped
with
similar
characters
to
provide
space
for
numerics
in
a
5-bit
code.)
In
consideration of the uneven dis-
tribution of letter frequencies in
English
text,
this code
is chosen
such
that
and
have
equal
probability.
dundancy.
One efficient coding scheme for such a channel is
obtained by application of a sequential sampling procedure of
the type used in production-line quality control
[80],
The
adaptation of such a procedure to paranormal communication
channels,
which we now
discuss,
was
considered
first
by
Taetzsch [81]
.
The sequential method gives a rule of proce-
dure for making one of three possible decisions following the
receipt of each bit: accept
1 as the bit being transmitted; reject
as
the
bit being transmitted
(i.e.,
accept
0); or continue
transmission of the
bit under consideration.
The sequential
sampling procedure
differs from
fixed-length coding in that
the number of
bits
required
to
reach a
final decision on a
message
bit
is not fixed before transmission, but depends on
the results accumulated with each transmission. The principal
advantage of the sequential sampling procedure as compared
with the other methods is that, on the average, fewer bits per
final
decision
are
required
for
an
equivalent
degree
of
reliability.
Use of the sequential sampling procedure requires the speci-
fication of parameters that are determined on the basis of the
following considerations.
Assume that a message bit (0 or
1)
is being transmitted.
In the absence of a priori knowledge, we
may assume equal probability (p = 0.5) for the two possibili-
ties (0,1).
Therefore, from the standpoint of the receiver, the
probability of correctly identifying the bit being transmitted is
p = 0.5 because of chance alone. An operative remote-sensing
channel could
then be expected
to alter the probability of
correct identification to a value p = 0.5 +
where the param-
eter
\
p
satisfies 0 <
| \p
| < 0.5.
(The quantity may be positive
or
negative
depending on whether
the paranormal channel
results in so-called psi-hitting or psi-missing.)
Good psi func-
tioning on a repetitive task has been observed to result in
\p =
0.12,
as reported by Ryzl
[31],
Therefore, to indicate the
design
procedure,
let
us
assume
a
baseline
psi
parameter
- 0.
»d d«»ig„ ,
pnofS|1>el“s?2l)a»04/1 8
00z
Fig. 18. Enhancement
of
signal-to-noise
ratio by
sequential sampling
procedure (p 0 = 0.4, p x = 0.6, a = 0.01, 0 = 0.01).
The
question
to
be
addressed
is whether,
after repeated
transmission, a given message bit
is labeled a “1” at a low rate
p0 commensurate with the hypothesis H0 that the bit in ques-
tion
is a “0,” or at
a higher rate p, commensurate with the
hypothesis H ,
that the
bit in question is indeed a “1.”
The
decision-making
process
requires
the
specification
of
four
parameters.
p 0
The probability of labeling incorrectly a “0” message bit
as a “1.”
The probability of labeling correctly a “0” as
a “0”
is p = 0.5 +
ipb = 0.6.
Therefore, the probability
of labeling incorrectly a “0” as a “ 1” is
1 - p = 0.4 = Po
Pi
The probability of labeling correctly a “1” message bit
as a “1,” is given by Pi = 0.5 + \p b = 0.6.
a
The probability of rejecting a correct identification for
a “0” (Type I error). We shall take a = 0.01.
The probability of accepting an incorrect identification
for a “1” (Type II error). We shall take 0= 0.01.
With the parameters thus specified, the sequential sampling
procedure provides
for construction
of
a
decision graph
as
shown in Fig. 18.
The equations for the upper and lower limit
lines are
where
d i
Zj =d 1 +SN
£o = -d 0 +SN
log 1-0
log-
1 - a
Pi
1 - Po
d n —
log
Pi
1 “ Po
Po
1 " Pi
log
Po
1 - Pi
log
S =
-
log
1 - Po
1 - Pi
El
1 - Po
Po
1 - Pi
in which S is the slope, N is the number of trials, and d\ and
d o
are the y-axis intercepts. A cumulative record of receiver-
rated.««P.oRSC^4QAhe.terKftt^bikis^orupiled until either
352
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4/
(psi
parameter)
Fig. 19.
Reliability curve for sequential sampling procedure (p 0 = 0.4,
p l = 0.6, a = 0.0 1
,
(3 = 0.01).
the upper or the lower limit line
is reached, at which point a
decision is made to accept 0 or
1 as the bit being transmitted.
Channel
reliability
(probability
of
correctly
determining
message
being
transmitted)
as
a
function
of
operative
psi
parameter
\p
is plotted in Fig. 19.
As observed, the sequential
sampling procedure can result in 90 percent or greater reliability
with psi parameters on the order of a few percent.
Implementation
of
the
sequential sampling procedure
re-
quires
the transmission of a message coded
in binary
digits.
Therefore, the
target space must consist of dichotomous ele-
ments such
as the white and green cards used in the experi-
ments by Ryzl.
In operation,
a sequence corresponding to the target bit (0
or 1) is sent and the cumulative entries are made (Fig. 18) until
a decision
is reached to accept either a
1 or a 0 as the bit being
transmitted.
At
a prearranged
time,
the
next
sequence
is
begun and continues as above until the entire message has been
received.
A useful alternative, which relieves the percipient of
the burden of being aware of his self-contradiction from
trial
to
trial, consists of cycling through the entire message repeti-
tively and entering each response on
its associated graph until
a decision has been reached on
all message
bits.
The authors
have used
this technique successfully
in
a pilot study, but a
discussion of this would take us beyond the intended scope of
this paper.
From the results obtained in such experiments, the channel
bit rate can be ascertained for the system configuration under
consideration.
Furthermore,
bit
rates
for
other
degrees of
reliability
(i.e., for other p 0
, pi
, a, and (?) can be estimated by
construction of other decision curves over the same data base
and
thus
provide
a measure
of
the
bit
rate
per
degree
of
reliability.
In summary, the procedures described here can provide for a
specification of the characteristics of a remote-sensing channel
under well-defined conditions.
These procedures also provide
for
a
determination of the
feasibility of such
a channel
for
particular applications.
Appendix B
Remote -Viewing Transcript
Following
is the unedited transcript of the first experiment
with an SRI volunteer (S6), a mathematician in the computer
science
laboratory,
with no previous experience
in remote
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viewing.
The
target, determined by random procedure, was
White’s
Plaza,
a
plaza with
fountain
at Stanford University
(shown in
Fig.
8).
As
is our standard protocol, the experi-
menter with the subject
is kept ignorant of the specific target
visited as well as the contents of the target pool.
The experi-
menter’s statements and questions are italics.
Today
is Monday, October
7th.
It is 11:00 and this is a re-
mote viewing experiment with Russ Targ, Phyllis Cole, and Hal
Puthoff.
In
this experiment Hal
will drive
to a remote
site
chosen by a random process.
Phyllis Cole will be the remote
viewer, and Russ Targ is the monitor.
We expect this experi-
ment
to start at twenty minutes after eleven and run for fif-
teen minutes.
It
is just about twenty minutes after eleven and Hal should
be at his target location by now.
Why don’t you
tell me what kind of pictures you see and
what you think he might be doing or experiencing.
The
first thing that came to mind was some sort of a large,
square kind of a shape.
Like Hal was in front of
it.
It was a
.
.
. not a building or something, it was a square.
I don’t know
if it was a window, but something like that so that the bottom
line of it was not at the ground. About where his waist was, at
least.
That’s what
it seemed to me.
It seems outdoors some-
how.
Tree.
Does Hal seem to be looking at that square?
I don’t know.
The first impression was that he wasn’t, but
I
have
a sense
that whatever
it was was something one might
look
at.
I don’t know if it would be a sign, but something that
one might look at.
Can you tell if it is on the ground or vertical?
It seemed vertical.
I don’t have a sense that
it was part of anything particular.
It might be on
a building or part of a building, but
I don’t
know.
There was a tree outside, but
I also got the impression
of cement.
I don’t have the impression of very many people
or
traffic
either.
I have the
sense
that he
is sort of walking
back and
forth.
I don’t have any more explicit picture than
that.
Can you move into where he
is standing and try to see what
he is looking at?
I picked up he was touching something—something rough.
Maybe warm and rough.
Something possibly like cement.
It is twenty-four minutes after eleven.
Can you
change your point of view and move above
the
scene so you can get a bigger picture of what’s there?
I
still
see some
trees and some
sort of pavement or some-
thing like that.
Might be a courtyard. The thing that came to
mind was it might be one of the plazas at Stanford campus or
something like that, cement.
Some kinds of landscaping.
I said Stanford campus when
I started to see some things in
White Plaza, but
I think that is misleading.
I have
the
sense
that
he’s not moving around too much.
That it’s in a small area.
I guess I’ll go ahead and say it, but I’m afraid I’m just putting
on my impressions from Stanford campus.
I had the impres-
sion of a fountain.
There are two in the plaza, and it seemed
that Hal was possibly near the, what they call Mem Claw.
What is that?
It’s
a
fountain
that looks rather like
a claw.
It’s
a black
sculpture. And it has benches around it made of cement.
Are there any buildings at tike place you are looking at? Are
there any
buildings?
You described a kind of a courtyard.
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Usually
at some
places
there should be a
building,
large or
small that the courtyard is about. Look at the end or the sides
of the courtyard.
Is there anything to be seen?
I have a sense that there are buildings.
It’s not solid build-
ings.
I mean there are some around the periphery and
I have a
sense that none of them are very tall. Maybe mostly one story,
maybe an occasional two story one.
Do you have any better idea of what your square was that
you saw at the outset?
No.
I could hazard different kinds of guesses.
Does it seem part of this scene?
It ...
I think it could be.
It could almost be a bulletin board
or something with notices on it maybe.
Or something that people are expected to look at. Maybe a
window with things in it that people were expected to look at.
What kind of trees do you see in this place?
I don’t know what kind they are.
The impression was that
they were shade trees and not terribly big.
Maybe
1 2 feet of
trunk and then a certain amount of branches above that.
So
that the branches have maybe a
12 foot diameter, or some-
thing. Not real big trees.
New trees rather than old trees?
Yeah, maybe 5 or 10 years old, but not real old ones.
Is there anything interesting about the pavement?
No.
It seems to be not
terribly new or terribly old.
Not
very interesting.
There seems to be some bits of landscaping
around.
Little patches of grass around the edges and periph-
eries. Maybe some flowers.
But, not lush.
You saw some benches. Do you want to
tell me about them?
Well,
that’s my unsure
feeling about
this fountain.
There
was some kind of benches of cement.
Curved benches, it felt
like.
They were of rough cement.
What do you think Hal is doing while he is there?
I have a sense that he is looking at things trying to project
them.
Looking
at different things and
sort of walking back
and forth not covering a whole lot of territory.
Sometimes standing still while he looks around.
I just had the impression of him talking, and
I almost sense
that
it was being recorded or something.
I don’t know if he
has a tape recorder, but if it’s not that, then he is saying some-
thing because
it needed to be remembered,
It’s 11:33.
He's
just probably getting ready to come back.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank the principal subjects, Mrs. Hella
Hammid, Pat Price, and Ingo Swann, who showed patience and
forbearance in addition to
their enthusiasm and outstanding
perceptual abilities.
We note with sadness the death of one of
our subjects, Mr. Price. We express our sincere thanks also to
Earle Jones, Bonnar Cox, and Dr. Arthur Hastings, of SRI, and
Mrs.
Judith
Skutch
and
Richard
Bach, without whose
en-
couragement
and
support
this work could
not have
taken
place.
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