Let me begin by saying that as I have studied in
the various civilian and military universities I have attended, I have
been witness to, and personally held many academic and intellectual
views on what the "truth" is about many
things. The author, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto wrote, "truth, time and
history are found in paintings and not in books [or essays] born of
the recollections of others." As I grow older, I have come to
maintain that truth has been and always will be, a matter of one's
perception, captured and held briefly in the moment, and then faded
into memory. I teach a segment in Phase I of the Coordinate Remote
Viewing class, on truth or reality, as it exists only in the moment,
whereas all else in the future or the past is illusion−becoming
increasing possibilities in time, increasing interpretations,
increasing angles of reconstruction, increasing notions, and amalgams
of ideas and emotions. Even when there is an alleged consensus of
opinion or recollection of the past−it is really only interpretive
data that is "agreed upon." Recollection is not fact, in fact, it is
only fiction... a creation born in the minds of those who agreed on a
version to suit their own agenda... whatever that agenda may be.
For those interested in the
"truth" of
the latter, you can search the mathematical explanation for these
notions, which are supported in the work of physicist and Nobel
laureate, P. Dirac, Ph.D. Time drags truth into history, but history
itself does not care, only those who attempt to record and recount it
care; and they fall victim to their own perceptions and willing
acceptance of what is−according to them. The truth about Remote
Viewing is trapped between fundamentalists, who believe they have the
only truth, and relativists, who refuse to pin it down.
So, what does all of this mean, and why this
approach as a preface to a brief history of Remote Viewing? Simple.
I want you to know that this is a version of the history. I want you
to know that the history of Remote Viewing should be used to establish
a degree of credibility for the art and science of it−and then let it
go. The great reverence of the truth of Remote Viewing waits in the
future of the human application of this great gift. Too much is
wasted in the re-raking of the past, the reconstruction of how it was
or how it could have been. Remote Viewing is the promise of what can
be−of what is possible for humanity.
When we read history, we must understand that we
are reading the account of one individual's recollection of events
narrated in such a way as to capture the consensual beliefs of others
that "this version" of the events is simply, as it really was.
Therefore, I submit to the reader that truth cannot be viewed as an
objective, rather it must be seen as a path. A path of understanding
that the only way to know truth is to explore it in a world devoid of
the interpretation and filters of others−learning Remote Viewing is
one path that will bring about this awareness and ability.
Remote Viewing is not a new phenomenon; the
ability has been ours since the beginning of time. The formulation
and systemization of theological doctrine as set forth in ancient
records present us with countless examples of humanity's learned and
inherent abilities to transcend the physical; to see in the mind's
eye, people, places and events separate from their physical reality.
From the ancient hieroglyphics carved into the walls of forgotten
Egyptian tombs, to the "Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean, the
Urantia Book, A Course in Miracles, the Old Testament, the Koran, the
Kabbalah, the Talmud, and the New Testament−to name but a few−all give
accounts of journeys out of the physical body, to night flights of
soul, to projections of consciousness, et cetera. However, the most
recent history began circa 1972 when the Central Intelligence Agency
learned through various human intelligence sources that the Czechs,
Chinese, Soviets, Germans, the Israelis and even the British, were all
heavily involved in the study of various aspects of what would be
called the "paranormal."
These investigations were in many ways the spawn
of very bizarre programs initiated by the Nazi's during World War II.
While exact details are a matter of historical debate, it is widely
held that the Russians captured numerous documents and records held by
Adolph Hitler's infamous Nazi Occult Bureau, after the fall of the
Third Reich. Other documents partial and complete, became the
property of various allied intelligence services who elected to study
them further in the ensuing years or in some cases, totally ignore
their potential.
When the CIA
learned of these studies the obvious question was, ‘Do we have such a
potential?' At this juncture, the United States did not have such a
capability, nor had they ever really considered it−until now. If all
these other "agencies" are involved, then why we not involved? It was
clear that the principal intelligence agency for the United States
needed to "catch up" to the intelligence collection efforts of the
others−at least in this "alternative" method of gathering
intelligence.
Late in 1972, CIA
scientist Sidney Gottlieb, Chief of the Technical Services Division
procured a rather large monetary endowment to initiate the research
project that began it all. If the Soviets, and the others were as
heavily involved in this research as was being reported−the National
Security of the United States could be in jeopardy. Probably, the
simple notion that this "eerie capability" might really be out
there; and the possibility that we could do it as well, almost
certainly drove the CIA's decision process. You have to admit−it does
peek one's curiosity.
Stanford Research
Institute International (SRI) in Palo Alto, California ultimately
became the proving ground for what was to eventually be one of the
intelligence services' most controversial, misunderstood and often
feared Special Access Programs. The two men initially charged with
responsibility to oversee this testing and evaluation program were
Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff, Ph.D.; both laser physicists working
at SRI.
In my opinion, it is Targ and Puthoff who are
clearly the early heroes in all of this. These two men (with others)
risked their professional reputations to test and evaluate the
possibility that human beings can transcend space and time for the
purpose of "viewing" persons, places and things, remote in space and
time, and collect useable intelligence information on the same.
Certainly the vast majority of their colleagues would have loved it if
this federally sponsored project had consumed its funding and six
years of study only to conclude that there was nothing to it−that it
was all worthless and the project should be abandoned. However, this
was not the case; instead, the answer was just quite the opposite,
there was something to this. This phenomenon was credible, it was
measurable and definable and trainable. It was certainly not one
hundred percent accurate, but then again, neither was anything else in
the intelligence collection assets, they all had their limitations.
As long as one understood the limits of the technology, then the
technology could be employed as another collector of
information−another provider of ‘pieces' of the jigsaw puzzle that was
truth in the espionage game. In short, the CIA was handed a new
intelligence collection methodology−psychic spies.
To digress
briefly, a New York City artist, author and gifted natural psychic,
Ingo Swann became one of Dr. Puthoff's first test subjects. According
to Mr. Swann, he initially participated in a number of pioneering
experiments performed under the auspices of the American Society for
Psychical Research. Upon being recruited into the project, Mr. Swann
worked with Dr. Hal Puthoff at SRI-International's Radio Physics
Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. It was here that Puthoff and
Swann−and a number of others−conducted a series of ever-more
sophisticated experiments, developing the protocol or structure they
ultimately christened "Remote Viewing," opting for this term over the
much debated label of "Remote Sensing."
According to Mr. Swann he was tasked by the CIA
to train ‘others' in the art and science of Remote Viewing, men who he
claimed were bizarre in their manner, mechanistic and cold in their
approach to learning Remote Viewing. In a sense, they were there for
the training, and then they were gone, never to be seen or heard of
again. I use this as one evidence that other Remote Viewing elements
existed in the government intelligence agencies. I cannot accept in
any way the notion that only one Remote Viewing program existed; this
would go against all philosophies and practices within the military
and government intelligence agencies to ‘never put all of your eggs in
one basket.' Who would spend tens of millions of dollars on a program
that existed in one place and had only one life to live−I assure you,
nobody in the intelligence community.
Recognizing the potential for controversy and
public ridicule (if ever discovered), the CIA did what it has always
done−distance itself in word and deed from the project. There is an
old adage in ‘the community' that I continually struggled with, ‘Always keep someone between you and the potential problem.'
Therefore, the project(s) was handed off to the Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA), under the program code name ‘Grill Flame.' It is
assumed that the other programs continued to thrive under the
oversight and administration of other military services and
intelligence agencies. However, the Army's program, which was
originally begun as a counter-intelligence effort was allegedly doing
so well that its mission was destined to morph into something else.
The original
mission was to evaluate through ‘reverse engineering' how vulnerable
to ‘psychic spying' U.S. intelligence agencies and their secrets
were. This was done to such a degree of accuracy that Department of
Defense and Army officials decided to change the emphasis from
assessing friendly vulnerabilities to actively collecting intelligence
information against America's Cold War adversaries. Unfortunately,
but expectedly, the Remote Viewers had their detractors among many
generals, such as Major General Bill Odom, and later Lieutenant
General Harry Soyster; upper-level bureaucrats in the Department of
Defense and the CIA, and politicians within the White House, Congress
and the Senate.
Allegedly, by 1980 all of the Remote Viewing
programs were suffering from a lack of popular support. The Army
program lost all its funding, lacked any permanent home and was
destined for extinction. Several sources within the intelligence
community; third parties who either knew of the Remote Viewing
programs, or had some level of oversight relative to them, indicated
to me that Remote Viewing was not the target−rather is was the entire
direction some elements of the intelligence services were taking.
During this era, 1978-1980, the military was in pursuit of such things
as ‘The Golden Sphere Concept,' (the quest for advanced human
performance potentials), or the Task Force Delta−Concept Paper, the
First Earth Battalion and the Warrior Monk's Vision, sponsored by
Lieutenant Colonel James B. Channon, Colonel Mike Malone and a host of
others. Again, not to impugn the work of these men and others, it was
simply becoming too far out on the fringe for the comfort of a large
number of people. It could be said that the envelope was being
pressed too far, too fast, especially for people who felt that careers
could be lost over this kind of project. It didn't really matter how
you expressed it or explained it−this was the application of what the
larger percentage of the military and civilian population would call,
‘the paranormal.' As a sort of ‘knee jerk' response to it all, many
sought to squash anything that resembled unconventional approaches to
leadership, tactics, strategy, intelligence collection and the
like−Remote Viewing would become collateral damage in the quest to
trim the fringe efforts.
Despite everyone's
sudden interest to burn witches, Major General Bert Stubblebine,
Commander of the U. S. Army's Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM),
took a personal and active interest in the program. INSCOM was a
Washington D.C. based unit. At the time, it existed in an old
building complex near the Headquarters for 3rd Army (The
Ceremonial Old Guard), and eventually ended up in a new location at
Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In 1983, General Stubblebine directed that
the Remote Viewing program be redesignated under a new code name,
‘Center Lane' and be called the ‘INSCOM Center Lane Program.' Under
this umbrella, General Stubblebine could fund the program directly
from INSCOM's budget without the requirement to justify a budget from
any outside agencies or through the Deputy Chief of Staff for
Intelligence, the Army's ranking intelligence officer. Funding the
Remote Viewing project in this way also meant that other units and
projects within INSCOM would have to pay the bill−not a good thing
when funding is tight across the board in the military. Most
commanders would willingly cut something as controversial as Remote
Viewing in favor of having more to spend on other more overt and
successful projects. This approach sewed seeds of despair throughout INSCOM, and of course met with opposition within his command at the
subordinate level as well as with many of his colleagues and
superiors.
I have to say that this man, General Stubblebine
was another of the unsung heroes of this phenomenon. You see little
of him now, and hear him even less. He is a man who trusted much,
believed in human possibility and potential and was willing to
sacrifice himself to promote the notion that we are indeed more than
the physical. Many who knew him before and after the service betrayed
him in word and deed−an unforgivable tragedy. Had it not been for
General Stubblebine, Remote Viewing may not have lived long enough for
the rest of us to be writing, talking about, or teaching it at all.
Fortunately, the SRI team had developed a
prototype, ‘improved' version of Remote Viewing known as "Coordinate
Remote Viewing." The term ‘Coordinate Remote Viewing' derived from
the early assignment of targeting ‘coordinates' using latitude and
longitude. As the Remote Viewer's continued to develop ever
increasingly accurate information about the targets−the scientists
reevaluated the use of latitude and longitude−assuming the Viewer's
had memorized the globe and were to a degree using the latitude and
longitude ‘coordinates' to locate portions of the globe through
memory. It was suspected that if they were indeed remembering a place
on the face of the earth based solely on its physical location, then
their descriptions of ‘perceived' basic textures, colors,
temperatures, dimensional aspects, et cetera of the target were not
really due to Remote Viewing skills−they were simply working on
memory. In reality, this was not the case, but the scientists did
what they were supposed to do−suspect and inspect everything in
accordance with scientific protocols.
Most of us never practice science−we merely
become compilers and communicators of it. Most in this genre of work
like to call themselves parapsychologists, and that is a grave
mistake. In the quest for truth in Remote Viewing, there were no real
parapsychologists as they are nothing more than individuals
masquerading as scientists, alleging they can prove Remote Viewing,
mind reading, telekinesis, psychokenisis and a host of other
paranormal mysteries. Many reputable authors, scientists and
certainly skeptics refer to parapsychologists as pseudo-scientists,
meaning they espouse a system of methods and assumptions they
erroneously regards as scientific−I am very pleased to say this was
not the case at SRI. Had SRI and those scientists affiliated with the
project not worked completely and thoroughly under the protocols of
their field, the door for skeptical analysis would have been left wide
open. It was, and remains the scientific procedure used to evaluate
and develop this protocol of Remote Viewing that has kept it from the
pseudo-skeptic wolves all these years.
A note on skeptics at this point, because I feel
it is critical that the reader have a clear understanding of who is
debunking this work and exactly what their ‘scientific' background is
or isn't and what motivates their skepticism. I have been interviewed
several hundred times on radio and probably fifty times on television
all over the world. In about twenty percent of those interviews and
appearances I've had the distinct pleasure of having a counter
position representative from the Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, (CSICOPs) or some other
‘skeptical' committee. I agree with Dr. Raymond Moody's description
of these men, as he likens them to the hecklers of nightclub
comedians−that is to say, what they really crave is not excellence in
science, but more attention for themselves.
Most self-proclaimed skeptics are not skeptics
at all. They are ideologists who think they have the answers. The
ideology they espouse is known as scientism, the belief that
the methods and assumptions of the natural sciences are the only ones
appropriate for the pursuit of knowledge. Scientism is an open
value judgment that other disciplines conform their techniques of
investigation to those of the physical and biological sciences. These
‘skeptics' are in fact not interested in science; rather, they are
fueling some sort of social movement against the possibility and
promise of humanity. Knowing what they espouse, consider this fact:
that if it Remote Viewing cannot be explained by science (their
science), then it cannot exist at all, it must be a hoax or at best
wishful thinking, certainly a waste of taxpayers money. These
skeptics openly use electricity when there is not a physicist on the
planet who can explain in anything but theoretical terms how
electricity travels along a copper wire. The scientists at SRI could
not tell you how Remote Viewing works, not really, they can theorize
and that has been the only ‘ah ha,' for skeptics−the same people who
accept the unexplained movement of electricity because it conveniences
them. I would be a lot more impressed if they lived like Ted Kazinski
and then argued what cannot be explained in the realm of scientism.
Thank God for the real scientists at SRI.
It would be simplistic to expect the history of
something once highly classified−hidden from the reality of the
masses−something that is eventually perceived through the senses to
keep an exact pace with the revealed history of science and recall.
In the Pirates of Penzance and Call Me Madam, there are
famous duets that combine completely different tunes, sung
simultaneously without confusing the singers. The histories of the
art and science of Remote Viewing are much like this: their rhythms
have matched each other closely, but they started on different notes
and beats and sustained complementary but contrasting melodies.
Again, thank God, for the real scientists of SRI who understood this
notion, and who pressed the boundaries of human possibility beyond all
expectation.
Now back to the history−after considering a
number of options, the ‘coordinate system' was revised to use the
random assignment of numbers to represent the ‘concept' (or thought
form) of the target; hence, the term Coordinate Remote Viewing. For
the reader to learn more about what all of this means, you will really
need to take a course in Remote Viewing, as this theory it is a large
segment of the lecture, and is well outside the scope of this essay.
Around the time of
Center Lane's debut, the Army and SRI signed a training contract,
which led to five military and Department of Defense (DOD) civilian
personnel being trained in the new Remote Viewing technique at SRI
facilities. In 1986, INSCOM transferred the unit to DIA, under the
Directorate of Science and technology and changed its code name to
"Sun Streak." Early in the 1990s, it went through yet another code
name change−this time to "Star Gate," the name by which it became
known to world when the program was declassified in 1995.
During its lifetime, the Remote Viewing unit
collected intelligence against a broad range of targets: strategic
missile forces, political leaders−theirs and ours, counter narcotics
operations, research and development facilities, hostage situations,
military weapons systems, secret installations, technology
developments, terrorist groups; the list was staggering, and the
successes were many−as were the failures. Failures yes,
sometimes with limited useable results, yes. Nevertheless,
consider what we are talking about. We are talking about a
military Remote Viewer sitting alone or with a monitor and entering an
altered state of consciousness. In this condition, the Viewer
copies a set of randomly assigned numbers (the coordinates), that
represent the ‘concept of the target in the mind of the collective
unconscious. Then, using the protocols of the process, the
Viewer begins detecting and decoding relevant visual and verbal
sensory data pertaining to the target; and does this with an accuracy
level averaging thirty to thirty-five percent−from absolutely nothing.
Even on a bad day, this innate ability within each of us−is nothing
but spectacular!
In 1995, Congress
directed that CIA take back responsibility for the program from DIA,
DS-T. This was principally due to the fact that Psychic Warrior:
Inside the CIA's Star Gate Program, was being printed by St.
Martin's Press despite the efforts of the agency and former members of
the unit to stop the publication. The CIA was concerned, a book is
considered durable media and will be around for a long time, and even
though this was not the first book on Remote Viewing, it was the first
book written by a psychic spy who was linking Remote Viewing to the
military and to the CIA−now that was cause for concern. The CIA knew
it was going to be spread all over the media−even more than it was
already being spread.
Historically, when
there is controversy in the wind, the agency exercises its right to
opt out at the most opportune moment. When this option fails, usually
due to a timing error−then the only thing to do is tell your version
of the story first. What followed was an extremely well executed
media blitz, which included Ted Kopel, Larry King and a variety of
major new papers across the country and in Europe. What Americans
should be asking themselves at this point is, "Why would the CIA make
a decision to tell the people of the world about this program?" What
purpose did it serve? Were they suddenly afraid that the
autobiographical Psychic Warrior was going to steer you in the
wrong direction? Did they feel that they needed to make sure you knew
the truth, first, from them? Let the reader be the judge.
Later that year,
under the cover of being an "objective" study by the American
Institutes for Research (AIR), a reputable Washington DC think
tank−the CIA commissioned the services of one of the most well-known ‘scientific skeptics' in the country. The final report was designed
to skew the assessment of the accuracy and usability of intelligence
from the Remote Viewing program to such a degree that the "program" after twenty plus years of use, would be deemed as
"totally useless" as an intelligence collection resource.
In mid-1995, the program was cancelled and two
weeks before Psychic Warrior hit the bookshelves the program
was disbanded and the buildings were bulldozed and hauled away.
Coincidence−I don't think so−the impact of a writer's work often
exceeds his intention. However, the CIA did conveniently keep for
itself all the personnel spaces that were transferred from DIA, DS-T,
which is additional evidence to fuel the suspicion that the program
lives on in all of it original service variations. As I said early in
this history, the intelligence community does not place all of its
eggs in one basket. The CIA would never have left an entire
collection methodology open to the potential destruction of one rogue
who might write a book about it. Rather, they would keep the
technology safe via a standard process of compartmentalization. If
one cell is compromised, then all others would merely go deeper
black. The government will never abandon Remote Viewing−it proved far
too valuable for the money it cost. What it will do, is make sure
that it never makes the mistake again of letting such a controversial
and potentially far reaching technology raise to the surface, watch it
more closely and watch who you train to do it.
Therein ends the history−assuming that if you
read this far−you really needed one. What is truly significant here,
is that you move past all of this, and discover what Remote
Viewing is now, and what it can be in the future. As I
said to you in the beginning, there are many variations of this story
and there always will be. I'm reminded of Kant's intuition, and
scientific reliance on the senses he called ‘Gestalt theory' or
isomorphism. This theory prompted him to maintain that, ‘Truth is
whatever makes you live your life better. Only the truth which
edifies is truth.' Remote Viewing is truth! It is an empowering art
and science that will open the possibilities within you, creating
doorways to levels of understanding never thought attainable. Accept
the possibility that you are more than the physical, learn to
transcend space and time to view persons places and things remote in
space and time−and the know you are more than the physical.
When people stop believing in something, they do not believe in
nothing; they believe in everything−never stop believing in you. Seek
truth, find knowledge−and through the art and science of Remote
Viewing−become wisdom.
