Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA- RDPS6- 00788R001100040009- 8 -- ~ ve ee " POLICY FOR SRI'S ESP RESEARCH PROGRAM SRI Fnternational pursues research deemed of Significance, relevance and leadership. Such research problems are often controversial by their very nature. SRI International has stated in its policy concerning contro- .versial issues that it is appropriate to be involved in significant and relevant research even though it may be controversial, provided the research — is conducted professionally in all respects. A presently ongoing controversial SRI research activity is the ESP (ext rasensory perception) work currently headed by Dr. Harold Puthoff and Mr. Russell Targ. SRI recognizes that some people feel the apparent ESP - phenomena under study are the result of improperly designed experimental protocol or outright trickery or fraud. Others feel there are documented experimental manifestations of possible ESP phenomena which they believe are not experimental artifacts, fraud, or trickery and thus warrant careful research provided the studies are conducted in a scientifically sound manner. ESP research is controversial in that it deals with a concept which many find difficult to believe or impossible to quantify in terms of known physical laws and hence hard to understand as crédible. As a matter of policy, SRI will design and conduct only those ESP experiments which will aid in developing an understanding of the causal relationships of the phenomena and their re- lationship with known or. postulated physical laws. One purpose of this policy is to define the framework for conducting ESP research at SRI, SRI will rely upon its line organization to manage the ESP research activities, as it does for any other research project. Project leaders and project supervisors will be assigned the responsibility for individual — projects and these, in turn, will report to their appropriate line management. Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001100040009-8
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001100040009-8 7 Recognizing. the Sensationalism that ESP activities sometimes generate, it. _ ; is “particularly important ‘that all levels-of the management team, from project leader up through all levels of research management, be particularly careful in following established SRI research management procedures. In this regard, in order to safeguard that all important nuances of proper research protocol will always stand up to peer scrutiny from both ‘within and outside SRI, a special ESP Program Oversight Committee will be established, This committee will be appointed by the Senior Vice President, Saat oH: abe anal mealies Research Operations, and will have four members from SRI's sentor scientific . or Management staff, and two or more appropriate, knowledgeable individuals from outside SRI. To ensure that the possibility of trickery is obviated, SRI will try to retain a responsible professional magician as a consultant .to the program and to serve on or to advise the ESP Committee. Appropriate members of line management will serve as ex officio members of the committee. The ESP Committee will review the ESP research program in depth quarterly, paying particular attention to the quality of the research protocols being used by the ESP research staff and the way SRI’s research management is conductin 1 the program for SRI and its clients: The committee will report its findings to SRI management, ‘ It is believed essential that the SRI ESP research activity have critical peer review in order to ensure its credibility and integrity. For this recson “the ESP research staff will, after prior approval by SRI management, be per— mitted to seek to publish results that may be significant in appropriate, refereed, professional journals or to offer to present. their research results at appropriate professional society symposia and meetings. From time ta time it is expected that they will present their results at internal SRI functions. . In addition, their research results will be published in the form of reports which are carefully reviewed by the appropriate SRI research management and issued as required by contract research agreements and current policy covering * all such SRI research, 2 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001100040009-8
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001100040009-8 - Research ‘concerning ESP is being undertaken to attempt to find- facts” to present to the peer community for scientific review and confirmation, and not for speculation or publicity. SRI, therefore, will provide minimal media publicity of this ESP research activity. The ESP research staff ar any other SRI staff member will not grant, interviews or release statements fer general publication about the research without prior management approval. This bignt control is believed vital to ensure that a proper, objective and disciplined (not sensational) environment is maintained for the conduct of ESP research at SRI. There is nothing in this policy to restrict its distribution; in fact, . its distribution in response to official public enquiries is encouraged, O.K, ; O.K. + iso Charles A, Anderson ! Charles J Ray L. Leadabrand Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001100040009-8