by R.J. Durant
In the late 1960s, the CIA learned that large sums of money were being spent in the Soviet Union for studies of “psychic phenomena,” and that several first-rate scientists were involved in the research. It is the business of the CIA to worry about such things, and the worry took the form of asking two questions.
First, had the Soviets made an important discovery in a field that science has traditionally rejected as nonsense? Second, was the Soviet research only disinformation, a way to confuse the CIA and make it waste resources chasing an imaginary threat? There was only one way to resolve this problem, and thus the CIA asked two physicists -- not two parapsychologists -- to investigate ESP. They were to do this very, very quietly, and of course, the CIA funding was never to be mentioned.
Physicists Dr. Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ set up shop at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California. They gathered individuals with a reputation as “psychics,” and began to test them. The results were positive, but extremely erratic. That is, there were spectacular “hits,” but also equally spectacular failures. And nobody could predict which session would be successful.
Hal Puthoff, Ingo Swan and Russell Targ
Ingo Swann was the first among the cast of psychics, preceding even Targ. He was unique in that he had made a study of psychic phenomena and insisted on being a research associate, not simply a laboratory curiosity.
Psychic Spying Continued on page 2
