STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Menlo Park, California 94025
U.S.A.
Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ
Electronics
and Bioengineering Laboratory
Stanford Research Institute
Menlo Park,
California
94025
Presented at
the
annual meeting of the Parapsychological Association of
the
American Association for
the Advancement of Science,
St.
John's University,
Jamaica, New York, August 22-24,
1974.
Supported by
a grant from the
Foundation for Parasensory Investigation, New York City,
and the Institute
of Noetic Sciences,
Palo Alto,
California.
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*
Research results elsewhere^ suggested
a study
to determine whether
a subject could describe randomly chosen geographical sites located
several miles from the subject's position and demarcated by some appro-
priate means.
We present here the results of such an experiment,
termed
remote viewing,
carried out with Mr. Pat Price,
a former California police
commissioner and city councilman.
This experiment consisted of
a series
of double -blind,
demonstration-of-ability tests 'involving local targets
in the San Francisco Bay area which could be documented by several inde-
pendent judges.
We planned the experiment considering that natural
geographical
places or man-made sites that have existed for a long time
are more potent targets for paranormal perception experiments
than are
artificial
targets prepared
in the laboratory.
This
is based on subject
opinions
that
the
use of artificial targets
involves
a "trivialization
of
the ability"
as compared with natural pre-existing targets.
“
f
t
*
In each of nine experiments involving Mr. Price
as remote -viewing
subject
and SRI experimenters
as
a target demarcation team,
a remote
location was chosen in a double -blind protocol.
Mr. Price,
who remained
at SRI,
was asked to describe this remote
location,
as well
as whatever
activities might be going on there.
1 K. Osis, ASPR Newsletter, No.
14,
Summer,
1972.
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Data from the nine experiments are presented in the following para-
graphs.
Final judging indicated that several descriptions yielded sig-
nificantly correct data pertaining to and descriptive of
the target
location.
REMOTE VIEWING PROTOCOL
In the nine double -blind remote -viewing experiments,
the following
procedures were used.
A set of twelve
target locations clearly differen-
tiated from each other and within thirty minutes driving time from SRI,
had been chosen from a target-rich environment
(more than 100 targets of
I
the
type used in the experimental
series)
prior
to the experimental series
by an individual
in SRI management,
the director of the Information Science
and Engineering Division,
not otherwise associated with the experiment.
Both the experimenters and the subject were kept blind as
to
the contents
of
the
target
pool,
which were used without replacement.
*
To begin the experiment,
an experimenter was closeted with Mr.
Price
at SRI
to wait 30 minutes
to begin the narrative description of the remote
location.
The SRI
locations from which the subject viewed the remote
locations consisted of an outdoor park (Experiments
1,2),
a double-walled
copper-screen Faraday cage
(Experiments 3,4,
6-9),
and an office
(Experi-
ment
5)
.
A second experimenter would then obtain a target location from
* The Faraday cage provides
120 dB attenuation for plane wave radio
frequency radiation over a range o£ 15 KHz to
1 GHz.
For magnetic fields
the attenuation is 68 dB at 15 KHz and decreases to 3 dB at
60 Hz.
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the Division Director 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 experimenters,
then pro-
ceeded directly
to the target by automobile without communicating with the
subject or experimenter remaining behind.
Since
the experimenter remaining
with the subject at SRI was
in ignorance both as
to the particular target
and also as
to
the
target pool,
he was free
to question Price
to clarify
his descriptions.
The demarcation team then remained at
the target site
for an agreed-upon thirty minute period following the thirty minutes
al-
lotted for travel.
During
the observation period,
the remote-viewing subject
would describe his
impressions of
the target site into a
tape recorder.
A
comparison was
then made when the demarcation team returned.
To represent
best
the detail and style of these narratives,
we have included
the entire
unedited
text of one of
the better narratives,
Experiment
7,
in an Appendix.
In general,
Mr.
Price’s ability
to describe correctly buildings,
docks,
roads,
gardens,
etc.,
including structural materials,
color,
ambience,
and
activity,
sometimes
in great detail,
indicated
the functioning of
a remote
perceptual ability.
However,
the descriptions contained inaccuracies
as well
as correct statements.
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 five SRI scientists who were not
otherwise associated with the research.
The judges were asked to match
the
nine
locations, which they independently visited,
against
the
typed manuscripts
of
the tape-recorded narratives
of the remote viewer.
The transcripts were
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unlabeled and presented
in random order.
The judges were asked
to find
a
narrative which they would consider the best match for each of
the places
they visited.
A given narrative could be assigned
to more than one target
location.
A correct match requires
that
the transcript of
a given date be
associated with
the
target of
that date.
Table
1 shows
the distribution
of
the judges'
choices.
For purposes
of display we present
the Table such
that
the main diagonal corresponds
to the correct choices.
The number of
correct matches by Judges A through E
is
7,
6,
5,
3,
and
3,
respectively.
The expected number of correct matches from the five judges was
five;
in
the experiment,
twenty-four such matches were obtained.*
Among all possible analyses,
none
is more conservative than a permu-
tation analysis
of
the plurality vote
of
the judges'
selections
assuming
assignment without replacement,
an approach independent
of
the number of
judges.
By plurality vote,
six of
the nine descriptions
and locations
were correctly matched
.
Under the null hypothesis
(no remote viewing and
a random selection of descriptions without replacement),
this outcome has
an
a priori probability
of
p = 5.6 x
10-4
, since,
among all possible per-
mutations
of
the integers
one through nine,
the probability of six or
more being
in their natural position
in the
list has
that value.
Therefore,
although Price's descriptions contain inaccuracies,
the descriptions are
sufficiently accurate to permit
the judges
to differentiate among the
various
targets
to the degree
indicated.
The
a priori probability of such an occurrence by chance,
conservatively
assuming assignment without replacement on the part of the judges,
is
p
= 8 . 10~ 10
.
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DISTRIBUTION
OF
CORRECT
SELECTIONS
BY
JUDGES
A,
B,
C,
D,
AND
E
IN
REMOTE
VIEWING
EXPERIMENTS
Rinconada
Park
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APPENDIX
l'ol lowing
is
the unedited transcript of remote viewing Experiment
7,
where
the
target
was
an Arts
and Crafts Garden Plaza.
This
is
a
large
plaza
resembling
a California mission.
There are craft
shops around
the
perimeter
of
the
plaza.
In
the plaza area
are many gardens,
flowers,
ceramic
pots,
fountains,
and
paths.
Overhead are
vines
on arbors
of
redwood.
Price's
description
is accurate
in almost every
detail and he
omitted
little
of
importance.
1:40
THIS
IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE,
DEAN BROWN,
AND RUSSELL TARG
IN THE SHIELDED ROOM
IN BUILDING 30.
THE TRAVELLERS TO
REMOTE LOCATION ARE BART COX,
HAL PUTHOFF,
JUDY SCHMICKLEY AND PHYLLIS
COLE.
WE EXPECT THE TRAVELLERS TO BE AT THEIR PLACE
IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES.
IT'S
1:58.
OUR TRAVELLERS SHOULD BE NEAR TO ARRIVING AT THE PLACE,
OK.
Why don't
I
start scanning by quadrant using
this
as
a
center point.
12-3,
6-9
I'll
go
from
12-3
first.
Seems
to me
right now that
I'm picking
them up
in
the
12-3 quadrant,
but
I'll
go
on
in
the rest and
look.
I
haven't
actually
identified
them,
I
just
feel
that
they're
there.
Nope,
I
don't
get
them there.
Now
I'll
go
from
6-9.
While
I
was
looking at
6-9,
it
looks
to me
like
I
m
looking at an
iris,
a
flower
of
some
kind.
I'll
come back and
identify
that
later.
Just wanted
to get
it down as having
a
flash of
an
iris
flower-purplish.
I’ll continue
to scan
that quadrant.
Nope,
don't
get
them
there.
I'll
go from 9-12.
Don't
get
them there.
I'll
go back
12-3.
Yeah,
I
get them
in
that quadrant.
Now
I'll
see
if
I
can
locate
them physically and identify
the
area.
I'm
looking at something
that
looks
like an arbor,
trellis-work arbor.
Seems
to be
cool,
shaded.
Doesn't seem to me
that
they're out
in the
direct
sunlight.
Be more
like there's
lots
of
trees,
in an arbor area.
A-l
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Tho arbor appears
to be made of
wood,
possibly redwood.
They
' re
Just .... looks
Like
it's
a
dirt path,
quite wide,
I
d say
maybe;
feet.
I
can see
some grass.
Looks
like possibly
a
fountain
of
some
kind.
Vn:i h
.
T
ran
see
Bart
in
his
red shirt and what
looks
like kind of
a
gray paisley
tie
-
I
didn't really
look at
that when he was down
there.
The
red
shirt,
I
did.
Looks
like he has on
a
gray paisley
tie
.
It appears
they're walking along quite
leisurely.
Looks
like
there's some red brick laid
into
a walkway.
They
don
t
seem
to
be
on
it,
they Just seem to pass over
that.
get
-
it
seems
like
a
little ways
away from them
there are quite
a
few people but
right where
they're walking
it doesn't appear
to
be many
right
in
there.
This
from
were
is
an arbor
area,
that
arbor
to here,
walking along here
Back of
that arbor,
back here
I'd say 50
feet
seems
to be
a
lot of people
in here.
They
on what
looks
like about
a
foot dirt
path.
WHAT KIND OF PLACE
IS THE ARBOR
IN?
IS
IT A FIELD OUT
IN THE OPEN?
No.
I
want
to
say
park,
but
it .doesn't exactly feel
like
a
park.
If
you
took
a
-
the
feeling
I'm getting
-
it’s
not
the specific place
but
Like
the Town and Country Market.
That
type
of an atmosphere,
with quite
a
section of
it
into
a
little outdoor park,
but basically
I'm getting
a
very strong feeling
of
flowers.
Like
the
first
one
I
saw was
an
iris.
TELL ME ABOUT THE TOWN AND COUNTRY ASPECT.
IN WHAT WAY DOES
IT REMIND
YOU OF TOWN AND COUNTRY.
The
buildings,
not
right where
they're
at,
but
very close
to
them have
that
same
kind of architecture and
look.
The parking
lot
looks similar
grand,
sweeping,
not
cluttered,
it's more expansive area.
You
take
a
place
like Sears Mall
-
it
seems
cluttered.
This seems more
leisurely
paced.
People are moving about
slower
-
there’s not
the hustle
and bustle
more
or
less meandering.
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TOWN AND COUNTRY MEANS TO ME A CWERED WALKWAY.
Yeah,
the back
of
them
it seems
to
be
- where
they are
seems
to be
a
very
large arbor
like vines growing over
it and
things,
and there possi-
bly
-
I
haven't
looked
in there
yet
to see
if
there’s
any displays
like
pottery and
things
-
I
get
the
feeling
that
there
is right close
to
it.
ALSO,
OUTDOORS?
Yeah,
it
seems
like
fairly high
shade trees
-
kinda bordering.
The center
part
doesn't seem
to have
it
-
this part
in
here.
The trees seem
to be
way up
in here along
like
this
over here.
This seems
to be shaded
in
here,
but
it's
sunny out
here.
I
Just saw something
that
looked
like
a windmill
-
not
a farm
type wind-
mill
-
a Dutch-type windmill.
It's smaller
-
it's
not
a huge
thing,
but
I'm getting
a definite
feeling that
it's
like
a windmill.
The area
in
there
feels
damp
-
not wet
-
they're not walking
in water,
but
it's very moist.
The
temperature
in
there... it's secluded.
Feels
very comfortable.
A
little
on
the shady side.
WHAT DO YOU FIND AS
THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PLACE THEY'RE AT?
Outside
of
this
little park-like affair
that
they seem to be
in,
there's
a
street.
One
side
of
it
seems
to be
a kind of
a
residential ... the other
seems
to
be
a
little
bit more heavily
travelled.
Le;t me pick up
a
little bit more.
I
can see one very
large oak tree
- exceptionally
. large.
Right
now Bart
is
trying
to point something out
that
is basically
the
significance of
the whole
place.
It's
like
that
key
thing,
well,
if
you'd have mentioned
a
salt pile
I'd have blown my
lid.
Well,
this has
a significance
that's just about comparable
to
that.
I'm screening
it
out
Thing
that just
flashed
in was kind of like
a
stadium structure
-
like
looking down
into
a
Stadium.
Just when
I
did
that
I
-
I’ll have
to reorient
to make sure I’m looking
in
the same
area
now.
A-3
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