OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND OFFICE OF TECHNICAL SERVICE PARANORMAL PERCEPTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP79-00999A000300100028-1
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
4
Document Creation Date: 
November 4, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 11, 2003
Sequence Number: 
28
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
December 5, 1973
Content Type: 
MF
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP79-00999A000300100028-1.pdf149.21 KB
Body: 
Approved ForyRelease 2003/06/ DP79-00999 P0300100028-1 ' E'XBCUtIVG R gistup DD/S&T 3697-73 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence SUBJECT: Office of Research and Development and Office of Technical Service Paranormal Perception Research Project 1. It is recommended that a research and development investigation of paranormal perception phenomena be initiated with Stanford Research Institute (SRI). A proposal for such an investigation is attached. Since this is a tightly directed advanced research project, it is further recommended that the effort be jointly funded and monitored by the Office of Research and Development and the Office of Technical Service. The Project Officer will be The estimated cost for the proposed effort is $149,,')!)b. 2. The objectives of the proposed effort are four-fold. Approximately 50% of the effort will be directed towards the investigation of the oppor- tunities for the operational use of "gifted" individuals; twenty percent will be directed towards establishing those characteristics which will enable us to identify "gifted" subjects; twenty percent will be directed towards investigation of the neurophysiological correlates of paranormal activities; ten percent will be directed towards validation of paranormal experiments. 3. A previous OTS project, summarized in the attached proposal, indicated the existence of paranormal perception phenomena. The phenomena include remote perception of documents, objects, activities, and locations. The demonstrated reproducibility of such remote perception under controlled conditions strongly suggests these phenomena are and will continue to be interesting to the intelligence community for either offensive operational exploitation or defensive threat assessment. 4. The proposed effort will be concentrated in the areas described in the Statement of Work section of the attached proposal. In summary these are: (a) Characterization of the remote perception abilities of Approved For Release 2003 SG1A Approved For Release 2003/0 ''-RDP79-00999,x,400300100028-1 fto gifted subjects, with emphasis on those characteristics of most importance to intelligence matters such as resolution, information transfer rate and accuracy; (b) Correlation of physiological responses to reliability and accuracy of paranormal perception; (c) Enhancement of those abilities which seem to be most useful to the intelligence community; and (d) Exploration of new avenues of research discovered during the course of the program. 5. The proposed project is well suited to a joint effort by the Office of Research and Development and the Office of Technical Service. The proposed investigation is a tightly directed advanced research project. It involves the exploration of demonstrated phenomena to determine the significance and limitations of remote perception abilities of "gifted" individuals for intelligence collections. Necessarily a parallel effort elucidating the fundamental nature of the paranormal perception phenomena is proposed. This fundamental information is required in order to develop an orderly comprehensive program which would lead to the basic understand- ing essential for the full exploitation of the phenomena for intelligence activities. It is expected that the combination of attitudes and experi- ences represented by OTS and ORD will produce timely relevant results and insure an objective assessment of the significance of those results. 6. The recommended project should be completed by Stanford Research Institute. SRI has produced some of the most significant investigations in paranormal phenomena. This has occurred because of the philosophies and abilities of the principal investigators., These investigators have established competence in the physical sciences and in paranormal phenomena research. They have been responsive to past OTS directives and are willing to investigate intelligence related applications. SRI has given these investigators the institutional integrity and facilities necessary to achieve creditable research in both the public and a more restrictive private domain. 7.1 Although the controversy associated with paranormal research may create some unique security problems, they are not insurmountable. These problems include embarrassment of being involved in an assumed fraud; the potential adverse propaganda associated with the use of psychic mind altering or control techniques, and the fact that some subjects may be of questionable stability. These potential problems can be controlled Approved For Release 200$(O I24a: ,CIA-RDP79-00999A000300100028-1 DD/S&T 3697-73 Approved For Release 2003/06/ c f DP79-0099900300100028-1 DD/S&T 3697-73 because of the motivation and integrity of the principal investigators. Both the investigators and the Institute have solid reputations and derive much of their support from government projects. Involvement with fraudulent experiments, publication of poor experimentation and open association with CIA would be deleterious to the careers of the investigators and the credibility of the Institute. For this effort, we recommend a SECRET level contract but remain flexible to other security arrangements which could be implemented as deemed necessary. SG1A Carl uc Deputy Director for Science and Technology Date 3 Approved For Release 2003/06/24: CIA-RDP79-00999A000300100028-1 Approved For Release 2003/06/24: CIA-RDP79-00999A000300100028-1 SG1A Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt Approved For Release 2003/06/24: CIA-RDP79-00999A000300100028-1