s Approved For Rgfease 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-84787R000200150003-3 ’ PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE USE OF THE FOUR-STATE ELECTRONIC RANDOM STIMULUS GENERATOR * The following notes are based solely upon my experience and I there- fore make no claim that they are generalizable to other persons. Since . Iam still learning about ESP phenomena, I am confident that additional 4 work in this area will expand, modify, and refine the perceptual processes discussed below. While I have tried to describe these experiential processes with as much precision as possible, the use of seemingly precise language should not leave the impression that the perceptions themselves were equally precise. To the contrary, I found these perceptions to be delicate, transient and ephemeral--and yet, at the same time--and somewhat surprisingly--unmistakably real. *. 1. Perceptual Processes Working with the ESP machine proved to be a venture into unfamiliar perceptual territory which functioned according to new and different rules. Tt took some time (five hours or so with the ESP machine) to begin . to learn not only which perceptual processes would work but, equally important which would not work. There was clearly a learning process “in finding those delicate and subtle internal cues that would allow me to make perceptually based choices. After approximately 1000 trials -. with the ESP machine, five dominant perceptual modes emerged. Subsequent Prepared by _., @ policy research analyst at SRI, who was | a high- scoring subject (p <10 “8) with the four-state electronic random atimulus “generator. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
. Approved For Rafease 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-08#87R000200150003-3 work with the machine seemed to essentially expand and refine these . perceptual processes that emerged initially. ~. ertoc Direct Knowing (Used approximately 5 to 15 percent of the time)--This "pereeptual cue came as a "gift" that I did not have to. work for. This t 7 is not to say that this ‘cue" was always right, but when there was a | _ direct. perception of the appropriate response unmediated by any of the “other cues described below, my chances of being right seemed quite high (say 75 percent of the time). Internally, this was simply the feeling that I should push ¢ one specific button and the knowing was almost ‘ _ immediate. If it were not immediate then, typically, one. of the other cues would be used, "Closure Cues" (Used perhaps 75 percent of the time)--This cue “manifested itself in a variety of ways; a sense of “fullness” with respect ” to a particular button, an internal anticipation of the bell ringing, a : sense of "hardness" or "firmness" and a sense of being "locked into" the * correct response, The validity of this cue could be tested: by acting and thinking as if I were going to push a particular button and then noting the extent to which these "closure cues" became present. This sense of active intentionality--both physically and psychologically-- seems important in that it allowed me to sort out many real from imagined perceptions. Also, this cue often gave a kind of veto power; i.e., it did not necessarily assure me as to the right answer but it would tend to tell me if I had picked the wrong one, i.e., I would not experience the aforementioned cues. Pattern Recognition (Negligible use initially, but then used approximately 75-percent of the time during Phase IV)--Although I used this perceptual mode very infrequently during the initial stages of the SL oe - Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3 ex] to wa: re: rai wit th: acc unc hal to acc deg mac wit " upe my cor it as ten rat He? diy ter
Approved For R@ease 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-8@787R000200150003-3 conversely as a'sense of "fullness." To describe this process further, | it felt analogous to vector analysis in physics’ where, in sorting out competing tugs and pulls, one finds the “aominant” vector; i.e., the one with the strongest "pull" or the one that best “balances” the other vector 8 tensions. , Figure A-1 illustrates this phenomenon. Although the tension/vector cues were very useful and among the most reliable of all the cues, I found them to be at times quite mis- leading. The source of confusion stemmed from the role of time as a . variable rather than a constant in extrasensory reality (discussed in : more detail under- section "Comments on Perceptual Processes”). If my assumptions as to the temporal nature of my perceptions did not fit with the actual nature of those perceptions. then the perceptions were quite misleading. (Recall that precognition refers here to a button that will be selected in the future--typically the next: trial). The nine-cell matrix shown in Figure A-2 may clarify the complexity of the perceptual ‘process, the need for discriminating awareness and the possibility for _ error. Out of nine possible combinations of the assumed/actual nature of percéptions, only three are matched or congruent and yield accurate understandings. Each of these primary cases is discussed below: e Clairvoyant--Here the feeling which allows sorting and selection is like that described in Figure A-l. e Precognitive--The feeling, sorting, and selection is like that described in Figure A-1 with clairvoyance; the primary difference being a shift in the time dimension to refer, not 7 to the present target of the machine, but to the one to be . g ° . _ selected next. To act on this perception I would press the | pass button to bring the future into the present and then press the button that corresponded to my precognitive per- an ceptions. e Clairvoyant and Precognitive--The perception is of a pattern of buttons, distributed through time, that are and will be selected by the machine--the "yattern"™ usually consisted of _two to three buttons. Again, the time variable was most Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
ie... x _ Approved For R@jease 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-0@#87R000200150003-3 Be Oe * EMPTY —we. LIGHT PULL/ UNBALANCED 4 SA-2613-21 7 re ence an ee res FIGURE A-1 ‘ILLUSTRATION OF TENSION/VECTOR ANALYSIS IN OPERATION With Button C being the one selected using these cues. v ACTUAL ; . NATURE OF PERCEPTIONS ; Clairvoyant Clairvoyant Precognitive and Precognitive _ al : Clairvoyant alien Misperception Misperception _ ASSUMED P NATURE OF = PERCEPTIONS x Precognitive Misperception ‘|. Correct ° spores? . Perception Misperception Clairvoyant and Misperception " Misperception eons Precognitive “ rception SA-2613-22 FIGURE A-2) MATRIX SHOWING CORRECT, PERCEPTION AND MISPERCEPTION IN THE USE OF TENSION/VECTOR CUES VIA THE INTERFACE BETWEEN ASSUMED AND ACTUAL NATURE OF PERCEPTIONS ‘ “my : -~ «4 * Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
Be . , Approved For Resease 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3 Coes troublesone--typically with greater difficulty in determining 4 fa -the order in which the buttons would appear as targets and _lesser difficulty in determining which buttons were targets. are Ben ® ae ne Se ee » em i. ~ oan Ee ¢.iicConfusion and error would. arise when I assumed the tension/vector perceptions were clairvoyant when in fact they were (say) clairvoyant and precognitive. .To.explain how. this felt, refer back to Figure A-1l. If: the actual sequence of correct answers were Buttons B and D, and if I:were assuming the perceptions were clairvoyant: only, then it was not uncommon to have the perception that the intervening button (C) was the correct choice. | The rationale for this perception was that it felt like a balance point between Buttons B (present target) and D Gaext target). In retrospect, when I am more rationally aware of the room for error in the use of this cue mechanism, I am somewhat surprised as to how useful it was in operation. It should be clear from the preceding descriptions that selections were made by a variety of processes which were used sometimes in isolation and oftentimes in combination. A typical sequence in the selection process was: (1) Check for "direct knowing" cues, if not there, then (2) Use "tension/vector" cues, then (3) Make final selection with "closure cues." Ze Comments on Perceptual Processes Rather than work rapidly, I chose to work deliberately, consciously, and therefore slowly. “y would typically take five to thirty seconds to select a putton--enough time to have a firm. and conscious sense of ‘ny internal cues and what I thought they meant. The typical sequence would be as follows: e Clear mind and become quiet e Concentrate internal awareness Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
i A. * Pte tee bee.  # Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-06787R000200150003-3 e’ Observe various cues ¢ Rationally interact with cues to sort them out e Select a button and press it <** a ° Integrate feedback from response cee *. Clear mind and become quiet. cit Cb dete ba a. Except during "pattern récognition," when all buttons seemed equally accessible, I .found that the top two buttons on the machine were much more accessible ‘than ‘the bottom two. Three plausible explanations emerge to account for this. First (and least-likely-I-think) is a psychological , : predisposition against the bottom two buttons--perhaps because of the color of the buttons or because of the pictures associated with the tar-. gets. Second is the possibility that the circuitry of the ESP machine in some way favors the top two buttons or obscures the bottom two. Third (and most plausible to me) is the possibility that to the extent I used the "tension/vector" cue, then the. bottom two buttons would be without @ vector below them--making it more difficult to "bracket" the bottom two buttons with this perceptual process. In later phases of the experiment, I was more able to access the bottom two buttons and this seemed to cor- respond with increasing use of the "pattern recognition" cues and the decreasing use of tension/vector cues. The longer I worked with the ESP machine, the more apparent it be- came that, in an extrasensory perception reality, time becomes fluid. In other words, although the experiment was designed to test clairvoyance (selecting the current target) only, I found that the perceptual cues — would oftentimes be equally applicable to precognition (selecting a future | _ target~-usually the next one). Therefore, making a correct selection . required doing two things; first, finding the correct "pattern" of buttons that would be randomly selected by the machine (typically the pattern consisted of two to three buttons) and .second, associating a time component Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3 with the buttons in that pattern. Stated differently, the same cues discussed above held equally well for precognition or for clairvoyance-- so the problem of making a selection was compounded by the additional difficulty of having to determine whether a perceptual cue was associated with the button that had already been selected by the | machine or the button that would be selected in the next or even subsequent trial. I definitely felt that if I could consistently separate clairvoyant from precognitive dimensions of identical cues, that I could substantially or ty increase the accuracy of overall scores. SS ee “The cues were not always consistent in their presence and meaning. Sh 35 ; > oe. of chy . For example, I might be obtaining good results with the use of tension/ vector cues and then find them becoming ambiguous, with a commensurate ‘decline in my score. Then I would rely more heavily upon other cues. _ Or, the cues might work well for clairvoyant perceptions for a while but - then shift to operate for precognition--then I would have to "recalibrate" = > a myself to the cue mechanisms. So, it was a fluid, dynamic perceptual AS a process which required flexibility and patience. Highly significant scores and perceptions seemed to go in spurts of ten trials or so, then a & I would fall back to a chance level until I could resynchronize myself ow c ri ene machine and the character oF ae as cues. nee an 5 ~ . a co 2 “ rae Ar Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
Approved For Rejease 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-@Q787R000200150003-3 cr. i@ It was helpful to have a relatively quiet working environ-.._. we, ment. Or, if there were noises, to have them of a sort\- 9 7h (ste 2y: su: . fairly constant ones that remained in the background~-that could be readily filtered out of my consciousness. My “impression was that external sensory information--particularly sounds-~could readily overload/override subtle and delicate -internal sensory information. . ee oy a“ « It also seemed to help to have low light levels--I would _ , “always turn out the overhead lights in.the testing room, I v7... ' 1experimented with closing my eyes to further reduce external sensory stimulation and I found that this would increase the sensitivity of sensory cues, but. this increase in sensitivity ‘was offset by a lack of visually based feedback to verify — the accuracy of the selections. As a consequence, I chose to keep my eyes open, - , a e I found it essential to work with the ESP machine by sitting somewhat above it so that I could look down on the face of -the machine. For some reason, perceptual discrimination seemed much more difficult when I would sit at a lower level which placed the buttons in a plane more nearly horizontal to my _face and upper body. ° ‘7 teanstorairity of Processes 7 . mo - - 7 ae The perceptual learning gained in this experiment seemed generally . transferable to other situations where I might use ESP abilities, in particular, telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance. The inference is that a process or faculty is being developed which has numerous appli- cations in other situations which would rely upon ESP, Analogously, just as jogging could exercise muscles to make a person more adept at . Playing football, dancing, swimming, and the like, the use and..development of these "psychic" muscles seems to have some degree of transference to other situations. Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3
we ek mm hea + opiate Teper dirt iig ate rare he the pre a So mye Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96:Q9787R000200150003-3 8. Conclusions I found the experiment to be a very substantial learning experience in which, I feel, I learned much more than was reflected in the scores. It allowed me to begin to identify an ability which I presume was largely latent within--never having had a prior opportunity for overt expression, Finally, it suggests to me that this must be a common ability among many ‘people ‘that they simply do not recognize--primarily because they have never had the opportunity to explore it as a legitimate and "real" phenomenon. oo, . og Approved For Release 2000/08/10 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200150003-3