by: Michael D. Mumford
Washington Research Center
Parts of the defense and intelligence communities have been intrigued for years with the prospect that people with paranormal powers could provide them with vital information or give them an advantage over adversaries. Recently, the employment of three psychics by the Defense Intelligence Agency, under a program called Stargate, became a prominently featured story in The Washington Post, on Nightline, in Time and Newsweek, and elsewhere. An AIR study sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency- which called for an objective look at these psychics'- purported powers was at the center of the debate.
"Remote viewing" involves visualizing locations that a person has not visited or seen before. Certain officials believe that the psychics employed by the government have demonstrated their usefulness by providing information about matters of interest to the military, such as the whereabouts of North Korean tunnels under the demilitarized zone. However, the CIA wanted to know whether remote viewing had any scientifically verifiable basis and whether it should be pursued further by the government. That, in short, became AIR's charter in taking on this controversial subject.
AIR took a three-pronged approach to the study: review previous studies of laboratory tests of remote viewing; interview members of the intelligence community as well as remote viewers themselves; and analyze data that user agencies provided of the supposed accuracy and usefulness of the information provided to them by remote viewers.
We found that some recent tests of remote viewing had pointed to a statistically significant effect. But we concluded that the results of those tests may have stemmed from shortcomings in the methods used to conduct the tests rather than from the actual presence of a remote-viewing capability. Further, we found that remote viewing hasn't demonstrated its value to intelligence operations. In sum, we concluded that "continued support for...the current program is not justified."
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Last updated June 13, 1996.
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