The Stargate Project was a top secret project for gathering intelligence. The modern history of remote viewing tells us that it was conducted by the U.S. Government and intelligence agencies during the period 1972-1995 at the Stanford Research Institute. U.S. Army Intelligence Officer Joe McMoneagle was one of the first involved in these classified operations and early psychical research experiments. SRI formally separated from Stanford University in 1970 and became known as SRI International in 1977. The protocols for the CIA's Remote Viewing Program at SRI were established for research to lend a scientific slant to psychic abilities, such as remote viewing, clairvoyance, out-of-body experiences and so on. Initially, their set of protocols were used for espionage against the Soviet Union. Researchers conceded the CIA's types of remote viewing abilities worked.