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Project Stargate. Presented by Kristen Smith. Overview. Remote Viewing defined What prompted government research Timeline of Project Stargate Looking back. Remote Viewing. “The alleged psychic ability to perceive places, persons and actions that are not within the range of the senses.”
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Project Stargate Presented by Kristen Smith
Overview • Remote Viewing defined • What prompted government research • Timeline of Project Stargate • Looking back
Remote Viewing • “The alleged psychic ability to perceive places, persons and actions that are not within the range of the senses.” • Harold Puthoff – first person to use term and one of the first researchers for the government in 1970
Terms • Remote Viewing – seeing distant objects or locations that you do not have any prior knowledge about • Telepathy – includes a receiver who reads the mind of a sender • Precognition – foreseeing future events • Psychokinesis – ability to create physical effects with your mind alone
History of Remote Viewing • 1882 Society for Psychical Research created by Henry Sidgwick • Focus on the study of parapsychology • Search for paranormal phenomena like ESP
What prompted Government Research? • Paranoia during the Cold War • Rumors that the Soviet Union had increased funding for psychic research • Fear of what successes in remote viewing research could do
Components of Project Stargate • Examine the world competition and assess other psychic warfare projects • Provide remote viewers to any government agency that requests them • Continue research to advance, improve, and perfect remote viewing
Timeline • 1972 CIA funds $50,000 to Stanford Research Institute (SRI) • 1976 CIA terminates funding • 1977 Project “Grill Flame” • Army intelligence begins funding • 1983 Project “Inscom Center Lane” • SRI combines efforts with Army
Timeline (cont.) • 1984 National Research Council gives program poor evaluation • 1985 Project “Sunstreak” • Funding from Defense Intelligence Agency’s Scientific and Technical Intelligence Directorate • 1991 Project Stargate • 1995 All funding and research ends
Problems • Lack of replication and repetition • Insufficient testing • Lenient test conditions • Sporadic results • 65% accuracy meant remote viewing potential
1972 SRI Research • Led by Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff • Use of remote viewers for “psychic warfare” • Latitude/Longitude tests • Ingo Swann and Pat Price
1984 NRC Evaluation • National Research Council gave poor evaluation • Evidence was inadequate to prove anything about remote viewing • Government did not give up research because hope for success still strong
1991 Project Stargate • Provide new experiments and find new techniques to prove existence of remote viewing • CIA again questions benefits of program
American Institutes for Research (AIR) • Evaluated Project Stargate on: • Research Program • Operational application in intelligence gathering • Headed by Dr. Jessica Utts and Dr. Raymond Hyman
Evaluation • Existed a statistically significant anomaly, but evidence does not prove that paranormal ability was involved • No proof that remote viewing would be useful in intelligence gathering
Looking Back • 25 years of research and $20 million • ESP and remote viewing should be seen as bogus and false • Funded for the wrong reasons for too long, too much money, and poor protocols by people who didn’t know what they were doing
Sources • The American Institues for Research. “An Evaluation of Remote Viewing Research and Applications.” Ed. Michael D. Mumford, Andrew M. Rose, and David S. Goslin. 29 Sept. 1995. Parascope 7 Mar 2006. <http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/starGateReport.htm>. • Hyman, Ray. “The Evidence for Psychic Functioning: Claims vs. Reality.” CSICOP Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. March/April 1996. <http://www.csicop.org/si/9603/claims.html>. • Randi, James. “Witchcraft in Washington, Dammit Zammit, Dennis Lee Again, Australian Common Sense, and Twisting Forks for Fun &Profit…” James Randi Educational Foundation 23 Nov 01. 26 Feb 2006 <http://www.randi.org/jr/112301.html>.
More Sources • “Remote viewing.” Skeptic’s Dictionary. Ed. Robert Todd Carroll. 13 Feb 2006. 4 Mar 2006 <http://www.skepdic.com/remotevw.html>. • “Remote Viewing.” SRI International. 2006. 4 Mar 2006 <http://www.sri.com/about/remoteview.html> • Targ, Russell and Harold E. Puthoff. Mind-Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Ability. New York: Delacorte Press, 1977.
Summary • Defined Remote Viewing • Explained why the government funded research • Timeline of Project Stargate and its goals • What we’ve learned