BRIEFING FOR HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE RE OTS INVOLVEMENT IN ESP RESEARCH (Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00999A000400050014-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: November 17, 1977
• Content Type: MFR

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OTS/BAB MEMO ~~287-77
17 November 1977
SUBJECT: Briefing for House Permanent Select Committee
re OTS Involvement in ESP Research
1. In response to a request from the House
Permanent elect Committee on Intelligence, OTS briefed
Committee staff personnel on its involvement in ESP
research. The meeting was held in the Committee's
offices from approximately 1000 to 1100 hours on
16 November 1977 and was attended by;
David Brandwein
Michael O'Neil
Dick Geza
Pat Long
D /OTS
OLC
OTS /BAB
Committee Staff
~r ,~
2.~ The Committee's interest was occasioned by
the artic e "Psychic Spying" which appeared in the
Parade Section of the Washington Post on 7 August 1977.
The staffers wanted an informal background briefing on
Agency research efforts on ESP.
3. A short oral history of OTS efforts in the
field, ating back to 1961, was presented. All three
staffers asked very pertinent questions and were given
frank and in-depth replies.
4. Since the Agency representatives present could
speak on y or OTS, was asked to find out
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if any other Agency component was sponsoring ESP type
research.
SG1A 5. A written outline of OTS work on ESP --
classifie ECRET --, the IEEE article covering the un-
classified portions of the work done by SRI and a brief
article on Mr. Pat Price were left with the Committee..
Additional information was offered but they declined.
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OTS BAB
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 later learn vi his instructor that he had worked or explored. Setting the tone for
?picked a the diabe s symptoms of his presidency, Price recently accom-
his part r in the test.. Y an Cher time, ponied chairman of the board David L.
he piC d a woman's wris atch out of Francis and a group of company engi-
a ba f articles without k wr who the nears on an inspection tour of the prop-
ow r wa d descri d a pain ' the ernes and "saw" beneath the surface a
et w of e tch` owner. Sh h seven seams of coal in a mountain. His
her elbow ing tennis~arlier analysis was corroborated by the engi- -`-
tans f pars ycholagy. ' o one can tested by physicists at Stanford Re- n
say to u, you're f a op . H search Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, ?
could yo et involve in any ing o California; with positive results. In one ~,
silly?' l' ex rienc it, felt r se it experiment he was able to mentally. o
-w ever it w ere is a gre deal change the electronically measured out-
more-, and I vent to meet oth r peo~ie I ~ which a laser was beamed. On com-
who are inv ved in it." mand and for forty-five minutes, he al-
The newly appointed president of Prin-
cess.Coal Company in Huntington, West
Virginia, refers to himself as, "One who
operates with or without a body." Patrick
Price is not playing word games with
that statement. It has bean scientifically
shown that he can "exteriorize" his con-
sc;ous self to obtain data and informa-
lion through ESP.
Price's remarkable, ability is being put
to use by Princess. to develop its coal
resources in an expanding energy mar-
ket. His talent will also be used in direct-
. ing. operations of Princess's sister cam=
ponies which include Sycamore Coal
and Kathys Farms, the group's. agri-
cultural arm encompassing some 4,500
acres of farmlands and game preserves,
as yell as a showcase ranch for raising
thoroughbred horses. With a vast acre-
age that extends over several states,
Princess Coal is purchasing a helicopter
to whisk Price around the group's wide-
spread holdings.
Excited about putting his abilities to
use in the coal industry, Price says, "I
know that coal has certain properties
that if released and properly utilized
could handle any energy needs we have
for the next three to four hundred years."
A man of unwavering confidence with
a cordial disposition and penetrating
blue eyes. Price says he will also use his
urnque ability to ascertain the company's
exploration and production reports. "I
don't need to physically leave the office
to do that," he asserts matter of.factly,
"because the coal fields are only a cou-
plc hundred miles away and distance is
no problem mentally."
tered the output of the system below its
normal "at rest" level, seemingly an
impossible feat. In another experiment,
he exteriorized and correctly described
laboratory that not even the experiment-
ers knew would be the target. This ex-
periment was reported in Nature, the
prestigious English scientific journal.
Yet another experiment with an SRI
physicist has convinced Price that he
can change the genetic structure of
plant-life. Thus, one of his. goals is to
develop hybrid seeds. He now is setting
up a program at Kathys Farrns to modify
the genetic structure of food plants in
order to build up their resistance to in-
sects, droughts, severe soil and weather
conditions, and to reduce their growth
cycles. Asked about the success of
such a program, Price answers, "The
numerous experiments I have willingly
undergone under very stringent labora-
tory conditions over the past year at SRI
show that I can produce an effect at will
that is measureable and that gives posi-
tive results." Price was fifty when, as
he states, "{ had an analytical awareness
as to the availability of abilities 1 already
had." He credits Scientology for "open-
ing new vistas and abilities of self to me
and which I now use as a matter of fact."
The unique businessman has oper-
ated across the business spectrum from
his family's construction and building
business to a packaging company he
once owned. He has also held various
posts in government ranging from com-
missioner of police and fire for the City
of Burbank, California, to city council-
man and board chairman.
From his own personal experiences,
and those with others in business and
government, Price now believes that
everyone can do what he does and that
tJevertheless, he will go into the field such abilities are not extra-normal or
periodically to consult witdA~~~d for Ft~leaiS18e2@Qt~/0~/0d :I GGkBRd~
give his impressions of areas being uniquely displaying them," he agrees,
"but the only difference is that f have
knowingly assumed responsibility for
what f da and make the constant deci=
sion Chat it is perfectly okay to do it."
Price feels that most. people refuse
to confront this aspect of themselves
which is why they are. unaware of it or
don't make proper use of it. Yet it does
function for successful business-~nen
whether they admit it or not, he adds.
"Those who really make athing a suc=
cess trust their basic instinctive data and
themselves. They're not just Following
books, procedures, computers, or ad-
visors because they innately understand
that most of the combined data was
gathered erroneously and, therefore,
would lead them to false conclusions."
He predicts that others like himself
will fallow him in busines a and that com-
ponies will start utilizing such skills and
abilities in their operations.
"By virtue of the fact that I have come
forward," states Price, "it can help un-
lockdoors for those in business ...they
can either challenge what i say and do
or they can accept- it and apply it to
self."
Asked about how he sees his own
performance with Princess Goal and its
allied companies in the months ahead,
Price replied, "I have no reservations
about the positive results. Besides, )
am putting myself on the line and am will-
ing to be measured by the company's
performance under my guidance. As
any businessman knows, the final proof
of how valuable I may be will tell on the
bottom line.
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OTS Involvement in ESP Research
Up t o
SG1A 1961
10/61
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SG1A 10/72 OTS funds contract with SRI to explore
t e talents o two subjects. Both results and abili-
ties are inconsistent. One Subject can cause a change
of temperature while another can reproduce information
in a sealed envelope. But neither can duplicate the
work of the other.
SG1A 2/73 ~ ORD renews its interest in the project and it
ecomes a joint OTS/ORD effort.
Monitoring only
ORD/OTS are contacted by Targ and Puthoff of SRI.
Demonstrations by Ingo Swann appear to show ESP has
useful/practical Intel application (Swann apparently
caused a magnetometer to fluctuate).
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Contract with SRI (OTS/ORD) for 0 -- a demon- SG1A
stration of using ESP to describe hidden objects. The
results are so good is provided to work up SG1A
a more complete research plan.
A third "sensitive" (Pat Price) is discovered with
an apparent ability for "remote viewing." The poten-
tial use of this technique for intelligence gathering
spurs all concerned to move ahead quickly.
A new contract to continue and expand the work at
SRI is forwarded from OTS/ORD to the DDO (Mr. Colby)
for review and is referred to the Executive Management
Committee because of its sensitivity.
The contract is finally sent to the DCI (Schlesinger)
who decides to allow the existing contract to be
completed without a follow-on. OTS is told this work
is too sensitive and potentially embarrassing. At
this time OTS is in the midst of an investigation
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SG1A 8/73
regarding its role in the Watergate affair.
~A.n "informal" experiment at SRI with an OSI scientist.
on remote viewing uncovers classified information
and renews Agency interest in ESP. Two "remote
viewers" provide a good description of a military
site by accident. They are then asked to describe
the interior of the building and produce physical
layout, code words and a list of personnel. The
names of the people prove to be incorrect but the
description of the interior and the code names are
accurate enough to convince the new DCI (Colby) to
renew work on ESP.
SG1A 2/74 A new joint OTS/ORD project is funded to develop and
uti ize ESP. ORD is to concentrate on identifying
and measuring the phenomena while OTS is to evaluate
the operational usefulness of the people and techniques
without trying to "understand" them.
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u Friction soon develops between ORD, OTS and the con-
tractor because of conflicting interests. ORD wants
very strict experimental procedures. OTS wants more
practical applications and the contractor wants less
security constraints. The Agency wants more research
while the contractor wants more time and money. ORD
and OTS come up with different interpretations of the
same data .
New directors are named to OTS and ORD. Neither
erector feels "oamfortable" with the project.
The first real use of ESP for intelli ence collec-
tion is a remote viewin attem t
The results are es-
cribed as valid messages eing transmitted over
noisy channels.
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OTS quickly looses its enthusiasm for ESP re-~
search and directs the project officer to come up
with practical applications or abandon the project.
These results are reviewed by other DDO components
and new requirements are generated. However, OTS
and ORD managements both decide not to continue the
project. OTS believes the long range nature of the
research take it out of the purview of its charter
and ORD believes the work performed by SRI is unworthy
of further support.
In response to specific requests from DDO components
OTS does agree to maintain a very limited interest in
ESP. Responsibility for the work is turned over to
an OTS psychologist. He is told to conduct "opera-
tional" experiments but to devote no more than two
percent of his time to the work. The best of the SRI
Subjects agree to work -- on a part-time basis -- with
the psychologist, as do two OTS staff officers who
h~.ve also demonstrated "remote viewing" ability.
One of the requests far operational support is a set
of geographic ca-ordinates which one of the Area Desks
has submitted as a target for "remote viewing." The
two OTS engineers volunteer to "view" the site and
describe an installation under construction which. they
believe to be The
customer is highly impressed with this information
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This same DDO office then provides new co-ordinates
which are in turn passed on tb the "outside" Subject,
(Price). The results of this experiment are presented
to the customer in report form -- with a detailed
sketch-- for evaluation.
Before a meeting can be set up, however, Mr. Price
dies of a heart attack.
Subsequent attempts to have the area desk evaluate the
experiment -- in writing -- finally result: in a
somewhat confusing, but nevertheless official, report.
0
Mr. Price's death effectively ends all official OTS
involvement in ESP research.
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