Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0 II METHOD OF APPROACH A. General Description A two-stage screening process was deployed to find good remote viewers. The first stage included a lecture presentation summarizing RV research conducted at SRI International over the past 15 years. This presentation was designed to attract interested audiences of 50 or more persons. Following the lecture, the audience was asked to volunteer its participation in four RV trials with targets randomly selected from a previously constructed target pool. Based on a qualitative assessment of the RV data collected at the first stage, the second stage consisted of a formal test with selected individuals using independent trials in our RV laboratory. B. Mass Screening Protocol 1. Targets A special set of sixteen targets was constructed for the screening procedure. The _target pool contained both dynamic (targets with motion) and static (still photographs) targets. Dynamic targets consisted of action film clips edited from popular movies while the static targets were a series of thematically related still photographs shown in succession for five seconds each. The targets ranged in length from approximately 60 to 100 seconds and were stored for ease of retrieval on two video disks. The sixteen targets were divided into four categories with four targets in each one. Categories included: Military, scientific/industrial, natural/non-technical, and projects. Targets in the first three categories were film clips of the dynamic variety, while each target in the fourth category showed a project title (e.g., Project Blue Book) interspersed with images related to the purpose of the project (e.g., UFOs). Four categories were chosen to allow for the possibility that some types of targets might be easier to view than others. No attempt was made to maintain target orthogonality across categories, but considerable effort was expended to maintain within-category orthogonality. Two factors were considered in choosing the targets. Within each category the targets were chosen because they were thematic, interesting, and possessed geometric elements that Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0 could be drawn easily. Second, they were selected to be as distinct as possible, so that the other targets within that category could be used as decoys for judging. Tables 1a-d show the target categories, the specific targets within a category, and a brief description of each target. Table ia MILITARY TARGET AND CATEGORY Source / Description Aircraft carrier Control room Russians in space Atomic bomb blasts Final Countdown--Multiple takeoffs of mostly F-16s. Characterized by triangular shapes and high drama. Wargames-——Control room sequence. Characterized by rec- tangular shapes and rotating lights. --EVAs and the collision of two satellites. Characterized by tubular shapes and Russian singing. Atomic Cafe--Continuous series of atmospheric atomic blasts. Characterized by fireballs, bright light, buildings be- ing destroyed, and trees in violent motion. Table ib SCIENTIFIC/INDUSTRIAL TARGET CATEGORY Bottling factory Building construction Tacoma Narrows bridge Launch of John Glen Source / Description Take This Job and Shove It--Bottles on a conveyer belt. SEA anaed by multiple FEA a ee areal shapes. Steel--Girder construction by helicopter. Characterized by rectangular shapes “floating” in air. Documentary on the Bridge Disaster--Wild oscillation of the bridge. Characterized by linear shapes in torsional mo- tion. The Right Stuff--Single rocket launch. Characterized by singular tubular shape and bright light. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0 Table ic NATURAL/NON-TECHNICAL TARGET CATEGORY Source / Description Skiing The Spy Who Loved Me--James Bond skiing fast. Charac- terized by snowy mountain scenes and dramatic skiing off a cliff. Ostriches Animals are Beautiful People--Ostriches in synchronized dance. Characterized by black and white fluffy birds. Waterfall Emerald Forest--Aerial view of a waterfall. Characterized by dramatic vertical falls. Greek temple Jacques Cousteau-~Helicopter view of the Posiedon temple ruins. Table 1d PROJECT TARGET CATEGORY Source / Description Manhattan Project ill Various Still _Photographs--Oppenheimer, Fat Boy, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and an air blast. Project Blue Book Various Stil] Photographs--Hynek, UFOs, and “landing” imprints. Project Deep Quest In Search Of~-Schwartz and others, underwater submers- ible, and large rectangular block. Project Ultra Various Still Photographs--Turing, code machine, and bombed-out cathedral at Coventry. A preliminary test of the target pool and experimental protocol was carried out using two experienced viewers. In this test, the viewers were not informed as to the nature of the target pool or the target categories. Using a standard double blind RV protocol, Viewer 009 produced verbal and pictorial responses for 20 randomly selected targets from the target pool. Viewer 372 produced eight such responses. Of the 28 combined trials, 14 were ranked as first place matches in a visual correspondence method of judging where a 0.25 probability of a first place match existed by chance. A total sum of ranks of 55 produced a p-value of 0.007 for the mean rank suggesting that the targets were viewable, at least by experienced viewers. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0 2. Viewers Viewers were recruited by advertising a seminar on remote viewing and the promise of audience participation in four RV trials. Screening was conducted with two government groups, two separate groups at SRI International, and a group from the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE). One government group of volunteers was small and we therefore had the ability to use independent trials in this setting. However, the other settings involved larger groups, typically 25 to over 100, with all members participating in the same trial simultaneously. 3. Session Protocol Viewers and experimenters were kept blind to both target category and the specific target used for each trial. To do this, several hundred target packets were assembled prior to the first screening. Each contained four target names and was locked in a department safe. To prepare a single packet, a research assistant randomly chose one target from each of the four categories and randomly permuted the order of the choices. A slip of paper printed with a target name was placed into a sealed, opaque envelope and numbered to indicate the order of presentation. A packet was formed by sealing the four smaller envelopes into a larger unmarked envelope. The packets were shuffled and, just prior to a screening session, an assistant selected one of the packets for use during that session. A mass screening session began with an introduction to RV presented by the project director. In addition to a historical review of RV research at SRI International, the presentation included examples of good and not so good RV attempts. Instructions on how to proceed with an RV trial were then given. One RV trial consisted of a period of several minutes for viewers to record their impressions of target material and a minute or so for the presentation of the target film as feedback. Four trials were conducted during each mass screening session. Prior to each trial, the participants were asked to relax, take a few deep breaths, and try to focus on the task at hand. While the viewers were relaxing, an assistant, stationed in another room some distance from the screening auditorium, opened the packet envelope and selected the small envelope labeled No. 1. The assistant had video copies of the sixteen targets and video equipment with which to view the targets. The assistant’s task was to attempt to “send” the target material (mentally) to the viewers. The first trial began when the experimenter sent a signal to the sender (via one telephone ring or similar means) indicating that the audience was ready to begin. The assistant then opened the small envelope selected for that session, found the first target, and began to view it on a television monitor. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R002200430001-0