(ESTIMATED PUB DATE) PLANTS DISCOVERED TUNING TO US FROM CATALYST FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00163359
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: January 21, 2025
• Document Release Date: January 15, 1983
• Publication Date: January 1, 1971

vol II. No. I
c.s 1 ALYST is dedicated to the new
s�.iiserva von. It is concerned with the total
ens ironment.
We aim to help educate people to the
threats to their environmental well-being
and the need for a change of attitude to
quality rather than quantity values. This to
insure that future generations do not inherit
an environmental wasteland.
Since it is one of the ironies of our
fabulous age of technological advances and
scientific discoveries that there are now
available to man more answers to his
problems than there are users of those
answers, another of our aims is the transfer
of know-how.
To this end CATALYST also relays
pertinent news and views of leaders in the.
field, so that, by serving as a kind of
transmittal belt, we may be a catalytic
influence in getting relevant knowledge,
research and skills put to use.
While our focus is primarily national, out
concerns are worldivide. For. demdedr,
environment is no respecter of boundasira$.:i,.,
We ate all fellow passengers on the
"spaceship earth" and have equal responsi-
bility for maintaining its environmental
quality.
EDITOR: Vivian Fletcher
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Dr. Landrum Bolling
'Booth Hemingway
Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy
Dr. Richard H. Pough
Richard Vincent
Richard Whittemore
Design: N.B. Ward Associates
Copyright 0 1971 by CATALYST For
Environmental Quality. No portion of this
magazine may be reproduced in any
form without the written permission of
CATALYST For Environmental Quality.
The opinions expressed by the authors are
heir own and do not necessarily reflect the
.pelicy of CATALYST For Environmental
Quality.
Correspondence, manuscripts, photos, and
requests for permission to quote from
CATALYST should be addressed to Vivian
Fletcher._ Editor. CATALYST, 333 East
46th St., New York, N.Y. 10017. (Telephone
212-986-1459.)
You can help in the fight for environmental
quality if, after reading CATALYST, you
pass it on to someone who also should be
concerned.
ft.;�
:OP
t-1414.'
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
274 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016
CONTENTS
IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SETTING A GOOD
EXAMPLE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY?
YES
by Russell E. Train, Ozairman,
Council on Environmental Quality
VASTLY MORE NEEDED
by Senator Gaylord A. Nelson
MAN: PLANETARY DISEASE?
by Ian L. McHarg, Landscape Architect,
- and Professor, University of Pennsylvania
PLANTS DISCOVERED TUNING IN ON US
Interview with Cleve Backster,
plant researcher and polygraph expert 16
INDUSTRY SAYS �
MINING NEEDN'T BE A DIRTY WORD
by Ian MacGregor, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, American Metal Climax
6 '
13
24
Departments
AUTHORS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ...... . .... 4
PICTURE CREDITS
NEWS 28
RECENT BOOKS 37
38
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AIDS 40
INDEX TO VOLUME I 43
PUBLISHER: Nelson Buhler
Associate Publisher: John D. Rich
Consultant= John Walker Hundley Enterprises
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0 . ...,...-....',.---,--....4.1.-7;.:-.;,......r.....,- -2:,;...1.-.?..:.:
'Tr Russell 1E Timis has been Chair-
man of the Council on Environ-
-.. mental Quality since its creation
on January 30, 1970. He came
to this prestigious environmental
post following more than a
decade of activity in conserva-
tion work.
After a 1956 safari to Africa,
Mr. Train founded the African
Wildlife Leadership Foundation
to train Africans in wildlife resource management. From
1965-9. he was president of the Conservation Foundation.
Then he served for a year as Under Secretary of the Interior
with environmental responsibilities.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1920, Russell Train graduated
from Princeton (B.A.) and later got a law degree from C0111111-
bia. In his first career he was a tax specialist, serving in the
executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Federal
government. In 1957, Mr. Train was appointed a judge of the
Federal Tax Court, a post he held until 1965 when he moved
over into conservation work.
Ian L. McHarg is a. practicing
landscape architect, regional
planner, professor, writer, and
lecturer, who holds the Chair of
Landscape Architecture and
Regional Planning at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania.
He is pne of America's fore-
most advocates of the ecological
approach in designing tomor-
row's cities and countryside, and
his most recent book, "Design with Nature," spells this out.
Born in Clydebank, Scotland, Mr. McHarg has received
from Harvard a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture and
the degree of Master of City Planning. He holds honorary doc-
torates from Amherst College and Lewis and Clark College.
Among the awards he has won are the Horace Albright
Memorial Lectureship at the University of California, the Dis-
tinguished Science Lectureship at Brookhaven National Labo-
ratory, and the Bradford Williams Medal awarded by the
American Society of Landscape Architects.
Gds lord A. Nelson, Democratic
Senator from Wisconsin, has
been an environmentalist
throughout his political career.
He was national co-sponsor of
Earth Day, and has introduced a
wealth of environmental propos-
als for legislation.
Those signed into law in-
clude: establishment of criteria
AWL for maximum limits on pesticides
as part of the inter-state water quality standard program,
establishment of environmental education programs, creation
2
of economic incentives for recycling of packaging and other
solid wastes, an amendment to the anti-poverty program which
puts the unemployed and elderly to work on conservation
projects.
Born in Clear Lake, Wisconsin in 1916, Gaylord Nelson
graduated from San Jose State College, California, and re-
ceived a law degree from the University of Wisconsin. He has
received honorary degrees from Wisconsin's Beloit t. �liege.
Northland College, and Lawrence University.
Following four years of Army service in World War II, he
entered politics and served in the Wisconsin State Senate for
10 years. From 1958-62, he was Governor of Wisconsin. and
since 1962 he has been a U.S. Senator.
Cleve Backster, founder and
director of the Backster Re-
search Foundation, has been a
polygraph (lie detector) expert
since 1948.
He has served as an interroga-
tion specialist with the Centra;
Intelligence Agency and the US
Army Counterintelligence Corps,
and as a polygraph consultant to
many government agencies.
He is the founder and operator of The Backster School, the
first non-military polygraph school to conduct advanced
courses in polygraph usage. And he has pioneered in utilizing
psychogalvanic reflex instrumentation for stress monitoring
purposes other than the detection of deception.
Born in Lafayette, NJ. in 1924, Cleve Backster studied civil
engineering, agriculture, and psychology at Texas University,
Texas A & M, and Middlebury College..
As chairman of the Research and Instrument Committee of
the Academy for Scientific interrogation for eight years, he
contributed i new technique component which materially
reduces the number of inconclusive polygraph examinations.
Ian MacGregor. Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of
American Metal Climax, Inc.,
joined the company in 1957 as
vice president. He became presi-
dent in 1966 and was elected
Chairman of the Board in 1969.
Born and educated in
Scotland, Mr. MacGregor receiv-
ed degrees in metallurgy from
the University of Glasgow and
the University of Strathclyde. He also holds honorary degrees
from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology
(Doctor of Laws), and from Tri-State College (Doctor of
Science).
Mr. MacGregor is a director of many companies, and serves
as a board member of The Conference Board, Inc. He is a
member of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America
and the Society of Automotive Engineers, and is an associate
of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, London. � 0
7:7
CATALYST
ii
PLANTS DISCOVERED TUNING IN ON US
CATALYST Editor, Vivian Fletcher, interviews Cleve Backster,
the polygraph expert who has discovered that plants read
peoples minds, react to death of other living things, feel
pleasure and pain, "faint", and remember.
Vivian Fletcher Mr. Backster, I understand that plants here
in your Backster Research Foundation laboratory have been
exhibiting very strange behavior. That they "cry out" when
live shrimps are dumped in boiling water. That they sense
people's intents. That they "faint- when someone they fear is
near. That they "yelled- ouch when you accidentally cut your
finger and put iodine on it. And that they seem to have "mem-
ory," and respond to Pavlovian conditioning. Are these things
really true?
Cleve Backster: As a scientist, I would more cautiously de-
scribe some of the capabilities you are suggesting although the
plants we are working with are showing us some amazing per-
ceptions not previously known to exist. This is not peculiar to
those here in my lab. however.
Fletcher You mean the plants I have in my apartment also
have "feelings?�
Backster: I strongly suspect they do. The only thing differ-
ent about our plants is that we are able to hook them up to
polygraph instrumentation and get meaningful readings re-
corded on the moving chart papet This allows us to conduct
scientific experiments with our plants and offer evidence of
their reactions.
Fletcher: You're a polygraph expert, aren't you?
Backster Yes, I've spent some 23 years in behavioral stud-
ies on human beings, using the polygraph or so-called lie
detector.
Fletcher: But more recently you've also been doing poly-
graph studies on plants�l understand.
Backster: For the past five, almost six years. And the plants
have not only provided us with unique information about
themselves: they have led to other discoveries.
Fletcher. Such as what?
Backster Well right now we're doing some fascinating re-
search on chicken eggs, thanks to a plant reaction.
Fletcher: You mean one of your plants told you something
you didn't know about an egg?
Backster. Something that could have profound implications
for-origin-of-life research.
Fletcher. Can you tell me about it?
Backster I don't like to talk about things while they're still
in the experimental stage, but I can tell you abodt some of our
preliminary observations.
I used to have a dobennan pincher, and I'd bring him here
to the lab with me. Each night when 1 fed him I used to add
the yoke of an egg to his food. It's supposed to be good for a
16
dog's coat. Well, one night I was monitoring a plant's reactiot
about 20 or 30 feet from where I was feeding the dog. To my
amazement the plant showed a strong reaction just as I crack-
ed open the egg.
Fletcher: Something had upset the plant?
Backster: Right. The next night I watched closely while
going through this egg-breaking routine, and again the same
thing happened. Now the idea of a plant reacting to the crack
ing open of an egg was awfully interesting to me. It serrnec
that the plant was providing a valuable clue. I then decided ti
attach the polygraph electrodes directly to an unbroken egg
and I succeeded in obtaining a nine hour recording from one
Fletcherr. Recording?
Backster. A written chart readout from the polygraph
Well, a portion of that reading showed me something prem
startling. Though this was a non-incubated, fresh egg, the chat
showed what seemed to be a heartbeat There was a frequen,
� about 160 to 170 beats per minute � appropriate for a LI
embryo between three and four days along in incubation. A,,.
there was no other way to account for this frequency. Ili,
when we. afterward opened up the egg and carefully checks-.
the contents, we found absolutely no physiological evidence
a chicken embryo.
Fletcher That's fantastic! What conclusions do you
from it?
Backsterr. No conclusions. This was an observation
did appear that we might be tapping into some kind of t.
field that could be providing the rhythm and guiding �
development at a pre-embryo stage � a force field that
conventionally understood within our present body ol
tific knowledge.
Fletcher. And you say you're now doing further resea-
on this?
Backster Yes, and we are finding that the heartbeat t
quency shown in the original recording is a repeatable obser�
tion.
Fletcher How does your egg research relate to the et, -
research? .
Backster. It seems to add weight to the idea that
m unication capability exists among all living thii4-
member it was the plant which first indicated awarene�
the egg was broken. And, of course, in the various I..-
our plant research we get consistent indication of stri),.* , it,
reaction to the death of living organisms, even isolate.; aye
cells. One day when I happened to cut my finger, for exat:1131%
CATA S
�
�����
44
-47
:mil ....it iodine on R. the plant that was being monitored by the poly-
graot -ininediately reacted to the death of some form of human cell
ith
..nother occasion I was about to eat a cup of yogurt here in the
�,u know how the jam is down at the bottom of the container.
V .1, lust as I stirred the jam into the yogurt a strong plant" reaction
stwo,ed on the polygraph chart. This puzzled us until we realized that
WWI %; Was a chemical preservative in the jam and this was terminating the yogurt cells. What
lAe weve getting from the plant appeared to be another reaction-to-death chart reading.
Also, in our original experiment, live brine shrimps were dropped into boiling water and
at the moment this occurred the monitored plant at the other end of the laboratory reg-
iNtered a reaction on the polygraph chart.
Fletcher: So the shrimps or the yogurt cells or the tissue cells in your finger � whatever is
dying -- must send out a message of some sort which the plant picks up and records.
Backster: Slight correction. I would say whatever is abruptly killed must send out a message.
A more orderly dying involves some preparation for death, and we've found that where this
occurs there is little if any plant reaction.
Fletcher: That seems a strange distinction.
Backstet: Maybe not. It may he that what the plant is reacting to is sudden disorientation
� disorganization from a natural state of being.
Fletcher: That could have ecological implications, of course. And I want to get
into this. But first, what got you started on this strange adventure with plants?
What made you think they might know things nobody guessed?
Backster: Well, it goes back to 1966. February 2nd, to be exact. I
remember the date well because from then on a great deal about my
life changed. Before that my full-time activity had been use of the
polygraph in testing people. 1 had been an interrogation
specialist with the U.S. Army Counter intelligence Corp., a
polygraph specialist with the Central Intelligence Agency, and
I had founded the Backster School which conducts polygraph
examinei training courses.
Fletcher: That's lie detection, you said. Would you explain how the polygraph
works with people and with plants?
Backster: Briefly, when testing people most polygraphs record three types of
changes � the breathing pattern the heart activity, and changes in the electrical pro-
perties of the skin, which is called galvanic skin response or psychogalvanic reflex. It is
this last portion of the polygraph that we have been using on plants.
When testing humans, electrodes are attached to each of two fingers. With plants,
the electrodes are attached to each side of a leaf. Basically, when testing people we
rely on reactions accompanying threat-to-well-being. This occurs when a person faces
discovery when attempting deception to a question about a crime.
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17
Fletcher: So on this day in February, 1466 ..
Backster: I had stopped work to water a plant � that dracena over there .an
the thought popped into my mind to hook it up to a polygraph neatby
Flek her: Why
Backster: I wanted to see if I could find out how long it took moisture to get !run
the roots of the plant to the leaf area. So I placed electrodes on both sides of g lea
and then watched the polygraph chart -- not really expecting there would be an:
tracing changes at all
Fletcher: But there were
Backster: There not only were but the pattern was not unlike human tracings
That was surprise number one. After watching the chart tracings for a few minutes.
said to myself, I'll try to cause it to react by somehow threatening its well-being.
decided to burn the leaf that had the electrodes on it. Well, that was the moment! Befori
I cotild reach for a match � at the split second that I had the image of fire in my mind
the recording pen bounded right off the top of the chart
Fletcher: You mean the plant read your mind?
Backster: That's exactly what seemed to happen. I'm not one to jump to conclusions
but what I observed really shook me up. Being a scientist, the first thing I had to dt
was to make sure I had not overlooked a logical explanation of the occurrence. So
started checking things out. Maybe this particular plant was somehow extraordinary
Maybe there was something peculiar about me. Or was there something unusua
about the polygraph instrument, the room, the location? No. Other people
using other plants in other plates, were able to make similar observations. Plant
not only seemed aware of people and reacted to them; plants could apparent!:
sense intent! Moreover � and this not only confounded me, but also scientist
from many disciplines whom I invited to come and observe the phenomenon -
physicists found they could not block out the apparent transmission
Fletcher: What do you mean by "block out"
Backster: This was an attempt to isolate that portion o
the electro-magnetic spectrum involved in some corn
of transmission between a human and 'Iry plant
All types of shielding were used. hut nom
successfully interrupted the trammirssion
Fletcher: You said you condirc ter
experiments on other plants and in tithe
places. Would you be more specific
Backster: I tested plants in differen
parts of the United St.oes am
overseas in Lebanon when I !? Ade(
to conduct tests or to attend mg
of polygraph experts. The chat, � ing
obtained were alwaN
Fletcher: You use the same I). I ! apt
equipment that's used for hum3r. ant
you clamp the electrodes on ea,i, heo
a plant leaf. Doesn't that limit or, I(
plants whose leaves are fairly thick
CATAI VC1
sster: No. So Ion:. as the plant leaf is large enough to
he surface of the electrodes and tough enough so the
let don't precs through the leaf and short out, most any
plant ca- tested. During initial observations, we
to 30 different varieties. We've also found that other
1 vegetation will show meaningful tracings.
Itvr: Such as?
-srr: Lettuce, onions ... in fact, just about any kind
thle. Also, most types of fruit.
hvr: Have you had polygraph evidence of plants read-
er people's minds? I mean, other than your own
ice?
ster: We have made some interesting observations that
point in that direction. On one occasion, for example,
scientist who is a plant physiologist visited our lab.
he was present the plants did something similar to
her: Fainting?
;ter: What we'd call fainting in a human. The plants
'n reacting quite typically before she arrived � re-
fluctuating patterns � but while she was in the room
ere able to obtain was a straight line. It was downright
;sing. She'd made the visit to our lab to see for herself
t reactions she'd read about. One at a time, I hooked
different plants and couldn't get anything but a
line out of any of them. Finally the sixth plant did
ponses so I was somewhat vindicated. But before she
;ed her, "Just what is it you do with plants in your
�nts? Do you hurt them in any way?" And she said,"!
in an oven and roast them in order to get thqir dry
>r my data."
!et': She was a plant killer and the plants knew it, so
passed out?
ter: Well, that's one interpretation anyway. It doesn't
/thing. But it may point a direction for further study.
irty minutes after she left,! attached each of the five
at had shown only a straight line and each then
,ccellent reaction capability.
t.'r: Have the plants appeared to "faint in any other
�
er: Yes. One situation involves preliminary work on
esearch project we have under way to see if we can
its � if they can be conditioned by association to
ence of memory.
T: You mean Pavlovian experiments such as that
tog which salivated when a bell rang even though he
'ger fed at the time of the signal?
r� Yes, but I don't want to get into the details of
itent until after its completion.
r: But is there any evidence that plants have
r: Not what can he called evidence in a strict scien-
But we've seen some indications that they might
example, in our brine shrimp tests a plant would
no reaction to the death of the shrimp after the
,urth time it occurred. They appeared to adapt �
les memory.
t certainjy does!
�
Backster: On our project to see if we can teach plants, at
the beginning I was using an electrical impulse on them as a
conditioning thrdat-to-well-being. Because of the crudeness of
the particular equipment, it turned out that I was giving them
a stronger shock than I intended, and this too produced a
straight-line "faint" recording. It got so that when I merely
thought of using that electrical impulse on them, the plants
would "faint." This caused me to change to a "reward" basis
instead.
Fletcher: If plants are capable of all the things we've been
discussing, we must obviously view them differently. I'm
reminded of a friend of mine. She has so much love for animal
life that she won't eat meat or fish. When she learns this about
plants and other vegetative forms she'll probably feel she
shouldn't eat greens and vegetables either.
Backster: I don't see that our uncoveries are any threat to
vegetarians. It may be that a vegetable appreciates becoming
part of a higher form of life rather than rotting on the ground.
Fletcher: Do you think a plant feels Man is a higher form?
Backster: I don't know about that, but it's very interesting
that plants will adapt to death of all kinds of living cells we've
tested except one. They do not adapt, in our experience, to
recurring death of human cells.
Fletcher: Could you do some experiments to find out the
reaction of, say, a lettuce leaf to being eaten? The attached
electrodes wouldn't seem to be a problem because if the leaf
can read the tester's mind, he wouldn't have to really eat it; he
could just think of eating it.
Backster: Ah, but there we get into something else that's
very interesting. We've seen this repeatedly in our experiments.
The plant senses intent. Intent is real. If we merely pretend
19
that we're going to do something. we get no retkrion
the plant whatsoever. Whatever it is they're tuned in to. this
true. You can't fool it.
Fletcher: I gather you also feel that plants have a spejal
affinity for their owners?
Backster: It's certainly true in my experience. Take this
dracena plant. for example. I do a lot of lecturing and I
often project a color slide of this plant because it's the
original one we tested. When I show the slide and speak
fondly about the plant there's a time correlation with a
reaction by the plant back here in the lab, if we have the
polygraph equipment activated.
Fletcher: No matter how far away you are?
Backster: Distance doesn't seem to have any bearing.
Fletcher: Maybe when a person goes off on vacation and
leaves her plants in the care of a neighbor, she should take
along a picture of the plants and
look fondly at it occasionally, so
they don't wither and die, as so
often happens when under
someone else's care.
Backster: I frequently suggest
just that.
Fletcher: Arc you serious?
was being fecitious.
Back st er: I'm serious. It
wouldn't be the picture that does
good, of course. It's your thinking
about the plant. which then
appears to know it hasn't been
abandoned by you. Remember, it's
attuned to your thoughts.
Fletcher: Is this a kind of
extrasensory perception on the
part of the plant?
Backster: It may be even more
basic. When we use die term ESP
we are referring to perception
above and beyond the established
sensory perception of touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste.
With plants, the perception registered is apparently not
extra-sensory hut part of their basic sensory equipment.
Which is all the more extraordinary. For this reason, I use
the term "primary perception."
Fletcher: Do you agree with the people who say it helps
plants flourish if you talk encouragingly to them?
Backster: I occasionally lecture to garden clubs and these
people tell me it definitely helps. I suspect they are right.
Fletcher: Maybe that's the real secret of people who have
"green thumbs.... They simply have better communication
with their plants.
Backster: Quite likely. Plants ako seem quick to pick up
negativism. We've never done formal experiments on this.
but many people have told me that plants don't grow well in
homes where there's a lot of dissention.
Fletcher: That relates to what you said earlier about plant
agitation over death possibly being due to disorganization or
disunity. And this makes me think of such environmental
20
disorgariiiers as air and water pollution. ir....olog:st
constantly tr.), mg to alert us to the fact that all tortn�
are irrevocably interrelated. That we can't do darnagc .
one element of our biosphere air, water. earth.
fauna � without it having destructive repercu
everything else. What strikes inc most about your ti.
that plants have sensory perception, and that there � � as t
be some form of communication among all living tt,,,..z.
that it offers startling documentation of the e.
viewpoint.
Backster: There's no doubt in my mind that we ate a.
one.
Fletcher: Is that perhaps what your research waft
directed at � trying to establish the oneness of all lit, torm,
Backster: There are many scientists working on varittu
aspects of this. Our work may make a contrihu:, 'rt. \V,
certainly hope so. WIE,
involved in doing is expiimitti
scope of the present-day 0
scientific knowledge. The 1:.111g,
we're uncovering Nlos;
scientists wouldn't ever
hypothesize. But in our appwa,;!,
we're adhering strictly to the
scientific method.
Fletcher: Do man) ..-iettlist
inquire about your work.'
Backster: Oh ye, As a matter
of fact, over 7,000 scientists have
requested reprints of our ii:s:
published experiment � some fari
abroad. We try to provide as much
information as possible. We +%
to do everything we can Cot
scientists to point them in Z.
direction and then have them g,
off on their own arid do as muc:,
as they want.
I personally have serf' too
many examples where there is a tenden,c to put a
"top-secret" stamp on research. and others are depri,c,:
the benefits. Here we try to make public disclosur,. . r�
methodology and results of our research as fast as
so we don't-have people running to get patents on
of thing. It's too profound for that. I think this is sonic-
for all humanity.
Fletcher: Do you get many expressions of interest tiotli
the general public?
Backster: So many we can't keep up with the mail or iTh
all the requests for lectures. This thing interests a very brt.ati
cross-section of people - young people, mititai
establishments, garden clubs, theologists, scientists and. ol
course, ecologists. Being that kind of a focal point, our
can help develop the oneness idea.
If mankind can more completely appreciate tt'e
interrelated complexity, beauty, and sentience of hi
environment, perhaps he will be more considerate in his o�%,1
personal relationship with it.
e" �
,40, 414 Wee la le va, 41 v.140
�
0/ �110 rie 10 ve 1.1 VI 1�101 NNW
The plant in the cover photo cer-
tainly can't scream in the true sense
of the word. But according to engi-
neer Cleve Backster, plants and even
single cells may be able to give off
distress signals that can be picked
up by an instrument called a poly-
graph (lie detector). Now.before you
fall out of your chair, there's more.
Would you believe that onions and
carrots give off distress signals while
being chopped up for a salad; and
. your mother's favorite African violet
reacts when someone in the house
strikes a match?
Ridiculous? Unscientific? Maybe,
but according to Mr. Backster the
plant pictured on the cover may
actually be emitting distress signals
because it is afraid of fire.
It happened like this.
One day while watering an office
plant, Mr. Backster wondered if his
polygraph could measure how , fast
water moves up the plant stems to
the leaves. The engineer attached the
polygraph electrodes to the plant
leaves Enid waited.
After a time he noticed something
unusual. The polygraph tracing was
similar to the ones humans make
when emotionally upset.
He decided to test this observation
further. Mr. Backster dipped a plant
leaf into a cup of hot coffee. Nothing
happened. He decided to strike a
match in front of the plant.
The moment this thought crossed
his mind, the polygraph needle
jumped to a high peak similar to
those formed when a person tells a
lie. The actual striking of the match
produced the same response.
Could it be that the plant was
able to read the experimenter's mind
and respond emotionally? Mr. Back-
ster thinks it could be. He is spend-.
ing a great deal of time and money
trying to find out.
After reading this account, you are
probably shaking your head in dis-
belief. Come on now, plants. just
don't behave this way! How would
other scientists view these findings?
A Closer Look
Mr. Backster is guessing that the
plant response revealed by his poly-
graph is a distress signal. He is,
basing his experiments on-this guess,
or hypothesis. To him this hypoth-
esis seems to be the .most reasonable
�
�
�
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�
�
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This is. po ygraph tracing showing a plant's_
reaction to � fire stimulus. High peaks drawn
by the needle indicate the strongest re-
actions. A human shows the sarne kind
of tracing when emotionally upset. _
C/44:
one because what he sees indical
a clear case of cause and effect.
But as Mr. Backster and all otl
scientists know, his hypothesis cot
be wrong. The hypothesis will hg
to be tested by other scientists
other laboratories.
It may also be possible that
.Backster is observing a correlati
- of events and not a case of, cai
and effect at all. -
:.:Yoe example, a train moving do
�., a track generally makes a la
..% ."noise. And when no noise is hea
the train is usually motionless.
Is the noise causing the train
- move? A person seeing a train
the fug time might think this .to
a reasonable deduction But some(
-2...familiar with trains would recogn
this, as a faulty conclusion made
limited observation
- Problem Solving
tile most scientists, Mr. Backs
has 'taken on a knotty problem
solve. But scientists aren't the a
people who have difficulty with pa
lems. We all have this difficul
Often we are less exacting
scientists. Sometimes our ens*
are based more on fancy than
fact. Let's consider an example.
, Man is subject to a variety
'diseases. Among these is the c
pling disease called arthritis. '
entists all over the world axe tr:
to find a cure. In the meantime,
individuals have sought their
cures. One such supposed cur
to wear a Icopper bracelet on
wrist. The green stain left on
wrist is thought to have cur:
powers. This "remedy" has be<
so, popular that people wishin
try it can now go into a jewelry
. and choose s cure-all bracelet
a wide selection of styles.
How would you go about pn
or disproving this - belief? Wha
pothesis would you start out
, Could any experiments be U.SI
test the hypothesis?
Manatang Harm: Morton Mitikolskv Editor: Vincent Marta*. Staff Writers: Jacqueline Harris. loom A. Stsinkamp
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Clove Backster's
polygraph says
plants feel
apprehension,
fear, pleasure
and relief. Has
he found an
unknown kind of
communication
that links all
living things?
Normal
calm
tracing
Point of
stimulus
Gradual
return to normal
Above, a typical PGR (psycho-
galvanic reflex) reading from
a polygraph of a human test
subject experiencing a deliber-
ate emotional stimulation. The
chart passes under the stylus
at the rate of six inches per
minute; each horizontal divi-
sion represents five seconds.
Below, Backstor'i first reading
from a plant, a dracena mas-
saagaana being watered on
February 2, 19G6. The upward
tracing in the center of the
chart was his first suggestion
of some type of arousal reac-
tion from the plant.
Plant
"reacting" to
watering
Unknown
stimulus
reaction
Return
to "normal"
� � �� -
I.
C.
0
_s-
ii 0
Further tracing from Back-
sters experiment of February
2, 1966, showing his first de-
iiberate stimulation from a
test plant. eackster regards it
as significant that his intent
to harm the plant produced a
stronger reaction (anxiety?)
than the actual burning.
First
thought about
burning leaf
Returned
with book
of matches
Burned
leaf
briefly
Normal
calm
tracing
� Tapped
PGR- plate
with pen
Considered
ways to
produce
reaction
BY THORN BACON
SUPPOSE you were to be told that the
philodendron plant resting on the win-
dow sill above your kitchen sink screams
silently when you break a breakfast egg
in the frying pan, or that the potted
drecena on the sun porch grows appre-
hensive whenever your dog goes by?
Finally, would you dare believe that
when you accidently cut your finger the
dying cells in the drying blood transmit
signals to the philodendron, the dreccna
and the parsley in your refrigerator?
Provocative questions? Indeed, yes,
but ones which are being seriously,
soberly and quietly investigated by
scientists at several major American
universities as a result of some bizarre
findings by the Backster Research
Foundation of New York City.
The object: To discover if there is
an iml:nown communication link be-
tween the cells of plants and animals
through which distress signals are trans-
mitted that broadcast threats against
any member of the living community!
These staggering implications were
reported in an abstract published on
September 7, 1967, by Cleve Backster,
a former interrogation specialist with
the Central Intelligence Agency, who
operates a New York school for training
law enforcement officers in the tech-
niques of using the polygraph � com-
monly known as the lie detector.
Backster was one of a four-man panel
'of experts called to testify before the
1964 Congressional Hearings on the
Use of Polygraphs by the Federal Gov-
ernment. Following duty with the CIA
as an interrogation specialist, he became �
director of the Leonardo Keeler Poly-
graph Institute of Chicago. Since 1949,
he has acted as. a consultant to almost
every government agency which makes
use of the polygraph. He introduced
the Backster Zone Comparison poly-
graph procedure, which is the tech-
nique standard at the U. S. Army Poly-
graph School.
Changed his life. Teaching poly-
graph, however, became a seconthuy in-
terest to Backster on a February morn-
ing in 1966 when he made the discovery
which changed his life.�
These are the words he used to de-
scribe what happened in his laboratory
that morning:
"Immediately following the watering
of an office plant, I wondered if it would
be possible to measure the rate at which
water rose in a plant from the root area
into the leaf. I chose the psychogal-
vanic reflex (rcn) index as a possible
means of measuring the rate of moisture
ascent. The pair of PGR electrodes
could be attached to a leaf of the plant.
Hopefully, by using the Wheatstone
bridge circuitry involved, I could mea-
sure the increase in the plant leaf's
moisture content onto the polygraph
tape.
"Deciding to pursue the idea, I placed
a psychogalvanic reflex electrode on
each side of the same leaf of the nearby
Dram: Massangeana plant with a rub-
ber band. The plant leaf was success-
fully balanced into the PCR circuitry,
its electrical resistance falling within the
resistance limit of the instrumentation.
"Contrary to my expectation, from
the outset the plant leaf tracing ex-
hibited a downward trend. Then, after
"Staggering as
it may be
to contemplate,
a life signal
may connect
all creation...
r
about one minute of chart time, the
tracing"exhibited a contour similar to a
PGR reaction pattern typically demon-
strated by a human subject experienc-
ing an emotional stimulation of short
duration. Even though its tracing had
failed to reflect the effect of the water-
ing, the plant leaf did offer itself as a
possibly unique source of data.
"As I watched the PGR tracing con-
tinue, I wondered if there could be a
similarity between the tracing from the
plant and a PGR tracing from a human.
I decided to try to apply some equiva-
lent to the threat-to-well-being principle,
a well-established method of triggering
emotionality in humans. I rust tried to
arouse the plant by immersing a plant
leaf in a cup of hot coffee. But there
was no measurable reaction.
"After a nine minute interim, I de-
cided to obtain a match and burn the
plant leaf being tested. At the instant
of this decision, at thirteen minutes
fifty-five seconds of chart time, there
was a dramatic change in the PGR
tracing pattern in the form of an abrupt
and prolonged upward sweep of the re-
cording pen. I had not moved, or
touched the plant, so the timing of the
PCB pen activity suggested to me that
the tracing might have been triggered
by the mere thought of the harm I in-
'rte.'s"? TOkt.e..5'!���
!A,
mae'd to inflict upon the plant. This
ccurrence, if repeatable, would tend
a indicate the possible existence of
ame undefined perception in the plant."
Backster began to explore how the
uffering of other species affected his
>kilts. He bought some brine shrimp,
�rdinarilv used as live food for tropical
:sh, and killed them by dumping them
ate boiling water. As he saw the poly-
;mph recording needle leap frantically,
le was awed by a startling and ap-
)arently new concept: "Could it be that
vhen cell life dies, it broadcasts a sig-
ml to other living cells?" If this was so,
le would have to completely automate
is experiments, removing all human
:laments which might consciously or
inconsciously contaminate the results.
Space age lab. In the three years
.ince, Backster has spent many thou-
ands of dollars in transforming his
Iffices into a space-age assembly of
nechanized shrimp-dump dishes, a so-
Aisticated electronic randomizer and
3rogrammer circuitry and multiple PGR
.nonitoring devices. But the results con-
Anne to point to a capability for per-
ception in all living cells � a perception
that Bacicster calls "primary". I asked
him for more details:
Q. What do you mean by primary?
A. I mean primary in the sense that
this perception applies to all cells that
we have monitored, without regard to
their assigned biological function.
Q. What types of cells have you
tested?
A. We have found this same phe-
nomenon in the amoeba, the parame-
cium, and other single-cell organisms,
in fact, in every kind of cell we have
tested: fresh fruits and vegetables, mold
cultures, yeasts, scrapings from the roof
of the mouth of a human, blood sam-
pies, even spermatozoa.
Q. Do you mean that all of these
cells have a sensing capacity?
A. It seems so. Incidentally, we have
tried unsuccessfully to block whatever
signal is being received by using a Fara-
day screen, screen cage, and even lead.
lined containers. Still the communica-
tion continues. It seems that the signal
may not even fall within our electro-
dynamic spectrum. If not, this would
certainly have profound implications.
Q. What kind of a signal is it?
A. I can answer your question better
by telling you what we think the signal
is not. We know it is not within the
different known frequencies, AM, FM,
or any form of signal which we can
shield by ordinary means. Distance
seems to impose no limitation. For ex-
ample, we are conducting research that
would tend to indicate that this signal
can traverse hundreds of miles.
Q. Are plants attuned to stress?
A. Perhaps. I used to have a Dober-
man Pincher in my office. He slept in
the back room where I had an electric
timer hooked to a loud pulsating alarm,
which was located directly above his
bed. Actuation of the timing mechan-
ism was accompanied by, a barely audi-
ble click which preceded the alarm by
approximately five seconds. The dog
would invariably hear the click, and
would leave the room before the bell,
which he disliked intensely, started to
ring. Although in a different room, with
the plants, I knew exactly when the dog
was leaving his room, even though I
could not hear the click, because the
plants acknowledged his movements by
showing reaction coincidental to the
click, reflecting the Doberman's anxiety.
Q. In the final analysis, aren't you
saying that we must re-assess our defi-
nitions of sensory perception and intelli-
gence?
A: Who can say at this point? There
are certainly implications here that could
have profound effects on those concepts.
Our observations show that the signal
leaps across distances, as I said before.
I have been as far away as New jersey
� about fifteen miles from Manhattan �
and have merely thought about return-
ing to my office, only to learn when I
returned that at the precise moment I
had had the thought � checked against
a stop watch � there was a coincidental
reaction by the plants to the thought of
coming back. Relief? Welcome? We
aren't sure, but evidence indicates some-
thing like relief. It isn't fear.
Do plants have emotions? The
trend of Baekster's research' results does
indeed embrace profound implications.
Do plants have emotions? Do they make
strange signals of awareness beyond our
own abilities to comprehend? It seems
;so. Personally, I cannot imagine a world
so dull, so satiated, that it should reject
out of hand arresting new ideas which
may be as old as the first amino acid in
the chain of life on our earth. Inexpli-
cable has never meant miraculous. Nor
does it necessarily mean spiritual. In
�
. � �
Wheatstone bridge circuitry Is
held in place on philodendron
leaf by a special clamp device.
Typical plant reaction to a
carefully randomized brine
shrimp death, made on the
automatic polygraph with no
human in the laboratory.
Normal
calm
tracing
Mechanism
actuates
automatically
Shrimp
dropped and
killed
Gradual
return
to normal
calm
It
7
another extension of our natural laws,
t4:pe from editor Kirkpatrick's
..interview with Backster and a Let mc leave you to ponder a clues-
- philodendron. tion Backster asked me. Many hunters
have observed that game animals some-
how sense the exact moment of the
opening of the hunting season. We can
perhaps ascribe this to the noise of the
first gunshots. But, how can we explain
the similar observation of game's ap-
Bob Henson parent awareness of the exact moment
adjusts of the season's close? Cleve Backster
contacts may be approaching the answer to that
question, and a lot of others.
Henson
leaves
MOM
First mention
of stimulating
plant
Bacester
declines to
burn plant
Kirkpatrick
and Backster
debate methods
Backster
refuses to
harm plant
Kirkpatrick 47;
suggests he
burn the plant
A
Further
conversation
about stimuli
Reaction
to cloud
of smoke
Backster
called to
telephone
Backster
talking
Backster's
telephone
conversation
Backster
listening
The editors
wanted proof...
here's what the
philodendron
give them!
Editor's note: The editors of NATIONAL.
WILDLIFE were as doubtful as you may
be after reading Thorn Bacon's account
of "Backster's Phenomenon", so, we
visited and photographed him in his
offices, just off Times Square in New
York City.
We found a quiet, polite, serious and
successful student of the psychology of
' interrogation, working almost full time
on the exploration of his discovery in
an office cluttered with extremely so-
phisticated electronic gear and decor-
ated with thumbtacked records of plant
� and other cell life � reactions.
He showed us the original tape from
his first discovery of the phenomenon,
and yard after yard of tapes from suc-
ceeding experiments. One thing im-
pressed us immediately: First, Cleve
Backster is not some kind of a nut. He
really knows his business, and is pursu-
ing his investigations wtth great care to
avoid any chance of criticism from the
doubting scientific community, though
he admits that seems inevitable.
As we talked, Backster set up his
specially modified polygraph with a fair-
ly ordinary philodendron leaf clamped
in position for reading the psychogal-
conic reflex index. Ile mentioned that
he no longer handles his plants with
anything but great care, since they seem
to be attached to him as their owner
and caretaker. When a plant must be
handled or stimulated to produce a re-
action, that is done by his assistant, Bob
Henson, who "plays the heavy".
we �sat, chatting, the pen traced a
graph of normal n pose for the plant,
until I3ob realkz11 in the room. The graph
turned stahlenly to one of agitation, and
bobbed markedly until he left. Then it
calmed down aL:ain to a normal tracing.
Later, we talked about ways to stimu-
late the plant for a phutograph, and
Backs:et explained that he preferred
not to -hurt' the plant. I remarked that
perhaps I could do it, and reached for
a match, watching_ in astonishment as
11u. plant pre laced a violently agitated
reaction even as I began to speak.
Still later, the plant's readings be-
calmer and calmer, and Backster
explained that after an extended time,
they sremed to become accustomed to
stimuli and their reactions became less
marked. At that point I blew a cloud of
cigarette snzokc over the plant without
warning, and it produced a fagged little
graph that Backrter didn't try to inter-
pret but which I proclaimed to be a re-
action of annoyance.
While George Harrison was shooting
the photograph that appears on pages 4
and 5, Backster suddenly asked him if
anything was wrong; the plant was
showing something like a sympathetic
reaction to consternation, but was not
being stimulated in any way. George
admitted that he had just discovered
that one lens was not working properly,
and had been worrying about the photo-
graphs he had dread; made.
Altogether, we ran the machine on
that plant for two hours, and produced
a dozen very interesting reactions, some
of which Backster recognized (though
he is very reluctant to try to interpret
them in human terms) and some others
that made no particular sense at all,
like the up-and-down reading yielded
from a telephone conversation Backster
held in a neighboring office. The plant
reacted differently to the periods of
Backster's talking and listening for some
reason. But it did react.
So the reactions continue, and Cleve
Backster's work continues, as he at-
tempts to analyze the nature of the
plants' graphs. Some of the possible ap-
plications of the phenomenon, in medi-
cal diagnosis, criminal investigation and
other fields, are so fantastic that he
asked me not to repeat them here. His .
first serious paper on the phenomenon,
titled Evidence of a Primary Perception
in Plant Life, is scheduled for 'publica-
tion in the International Journal of Para-
psycholog in January 1969. Ile awaits
the reaction of the scientific community;
we await the reaction of NATIONAL
WILDLIFE readers. What do you sup-
pose he has discovered?
DICK KIRKPATRICK