PARAPSYCHOLOGY IN THE USSR.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00792R000500210002-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 5, 2000
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: OUTLINE

Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
F'ARAF'Sti'GHOLOGY IIV THE USSR.
I. Reports of studies of~si in the USSh~c n back__Tta t_he mi.d i.4_th
cen?tu~_ ~Accordi~ng to MAR"fIIV EBON, in his book, "F'SI -IN THE,.USSF~,
RELIGION t+lITHOUT A CROSS" (see Appendix 1, Reference Literature),
Russian scientists and laity have been researching various
parapsychological phenomena far decades hefar-e the 1yi7 October
Revolution.
From 1857 to 18b7, the newspaper "WESTlVIf': EUROF'Y" in F`eter-sburg
appeared, which dealt with mediums and other- openly une::plainable
phenomena.
- The medium phenomenon was reexamined for its veracity around 18bs~: by
a special committee of the Physical Society of the University of
Petersburg, which was founded just far this purpose, and a dispute
developed between Mendelejev and the then-pr-aminent spit-itualist
A.N. AEisakov over- the presumptions and methodologies of the study.
Mendelejev had openly exposed fraudulent. mediums,
- The oldest Einown report of telepathy experiments in Russia
describes, as does EBOIV in his book, telepathy experiments in
Tashkent through Al e::ander Wi 1 ki ns around 187sa, and was publ i si-ied i n
Faris in the "Annals of Physical Science".
- The f~ussian Society far E.:perimental F'sychalogy was founded in 1841.
It was interested in clairvoyance, psychometry and poltergeist
phenomena. Materialism led to a search far new, new, no longer
religious truths. Hypnosis, seances, with their connections to
ghosts, and a string of une:;plainable, supernatural phenomena such
as thought transference and other related areas were popular.
- So, research in parapsychology in the USSR was about the same as in
the USA and other European countries up until the time of the
industrial revolution.
II. EE~OIV lists other scientists and works
in
parapsychology
which
occurred between the 1417 October revolution
and
the mid 'SOs:
~-~~~-
- VLADIMIR M. BECNTEREV (Leningrad): mental communication between dogs
and humans.
- fi.fi. LAZAREV 11922): published "Psycho-chemical F'r-inciples of the
Nigher (Verve Energies", in which the possibility of telepathic
communication due to neurological functions was studied.
- F.R. KASCNIfVSE'I: conducted other pertinent studies of mental
Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
 Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
telepathy with dogs, and published a book: on thought transference in
Mnscaw i n 19^.'.
- LEQNTD L. VASILIEV (died in 19b6). A student of E~ECHTEREV, joined
the Institute far ~Sraln Research in Leningrad in iy~i, and became a
member of the committee to study mental suggestion (the e.?:pression
for telepathy at that time).
- 19?4: The end All-Russia Congress far F'sychoneuralogy recommended a
joint-~sark: of the Russian scientists and the International Committee
far Parapsychological Studies.
~,wu~{E? ~.-s~~:,e one selected Committee for tt-~e Study of 1~1entC-tl
Suggestion came about through the Society for I'+leurology,
Refle~olagy, Hypnosis and fiiaphysics was ended.
19L8: The Institute of Drain Research in Leningrad began a study of
the Passible practical factors of telepathic phenomena from person
to person, resulting in the conclusion that the phenomena of thought
transference do oat rest on "electromagnetism".
-- 199: Soviet parapsychology received Strang impetus through the
french publication of supposed american ship-to-share telepathy
attempts with the atomic submarine Nautilus. These attempts were
officially denied by the Americans.
iii r-~Nr 11 f ?~'~'b~-~ ~.L. VHSILiEV, according to Shiela Ostr-ander and Lynn
Schroeder in their hook: "PSI" (see Appendix; 1, Reference
Liter-atureS, reprimanded soviet scientists, referring to these
Nautilus reports, far their considerable number of ESF' and telepathy
studies which were carried out under Stalin's regime, but were as
yet unpublished. He stressed the need to shake off the prejudices
against parapsychology. He is convinced that the discover-y of ESF'
energy will be of the same significance as atomic energy.
1461: L.L. Vasiliev received the leadership of the first ESF'
laboratories sponsored by the soviet administratio
th
ns
e Special
Laboratory for Parapsychology at the University of Leningrad.
After Vasiliev`s death in 19bb, the center of soviet
parapsychological research partially shifted from Leningrad to
Moscow, where IF'PtILIT ti~OSAN, Director of the Section for
L~ioinformation on the totally soviet scientific and t
h
i
ec
n
cal A.S.
Popov Institute far Radiotechnolagy and Electrical Communication was
located.
- EDUARD }~, NAUMOV and }:ARL NI}.CILAEV were }inawn at this time through
telepathy es;periments which were conducted over the distance of
Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
 Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
Moscow to Leningrad.
In the summer of 1968 a conference in Moscow on "Technical
F'arapsychalogy" took: place.
-- NINA tkULAGINA and WCILF MESSING are the two mast famous soviet
"stars" of this time with supposedly especially great
parapsychalagicai talent, N. k:ULAGINA fascinated onlaak:ers with
psychak:inetic abilities, in which she made compass needles and other
articles move with an energy which seemed to radiate from her hands.
W. MESSING held Iarge crowds of spectators with his telepathic
e::hibitians in Bann,
In July, 1970, the russian newspaper "Radio-Technika" published
research results of the above mentioned professor F~::QGAP1 in Moscow,
which had supposedly convincingly graven the existence of telepathic
passxbilities through statistical methods.
S, OSTRANDER and L, SCHROEDER in their book "F`ST" maintained that
while, by 1970 there were already mare than ,~c~r centers in the USSR
far the study of paranormal phenomena, and that by 1967 there were
already yearly budgets of at least iti million rubles had been put at
their disposal far these studies, and parapsychoingy in the USSR
enjoyed official sanction, VLADIMIR LVQV's article in the newspaper
LE MONDE (4 AUG 76} denied its tafficial} recognition in the. USSR.
He logically pointed out in his article that it is a mistake to
accept that parapsychology enjoyed official recognition in the USSR.
Moreover, the truth was simply that, parapsychology in the Soviet
Union was not recognized as an official branch of science. No
institute and na research center in the Soviet Union devoted itself
to telepathy or psychokinesis, etc., but there were simply a group
of amateurs who associated themselves with the paranormal.
According to EBON, this opposing opinion maF;es clear the
unpleasant situation in which parapsychology found itself in Russia
at this time. It held no official status, but individuals and
private groups could carry an such studies without special official
intervention.
Further examples of the historical development of soviet
parapsychology are found listed in Appendix 1, Reference literature of
western authors. The book "P'SI" by S. DSi'RANDER and L. SCHROEDER
contains an e::tensive source of proof,
III. A literature search on the theme, made in open-source databanks
in December, 199D, for the time around 1968, turned up ^7 institutes
andlar centers in which researchers were occupied with paranormal
phenomena, in the widest sense of the term (see List of Institutes,
Appendix; ~} ,
Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
 Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
Flere were explored practically all aspects of parapsychology, such
as the general concept "ESF"' {in German, ASW), and the subject reports
of telepathy, telepathic hypnosis, clairvoyance, as well as the concept
of "psychokinesis" {the physical influence of man over matter), which
encompasses the study of the human biafield, the application of the
N~::IRLIACd effect, and healing through laying on of hands.
There appear to be the reports of telepathy and telepathic hypnosis,
like hypnosis per se, which the most basic research and the widest
developrr!~~~nt of r~=parts of soviet parapsychology.
In i'y6 >-=L, VASIL_IEV, in his book on e::perimental st!.!dies of
"Rental suggestion", showed the advanced position of (such) pertinent
research in the USSR, Efforts toward the aimed telepathic manipulation
of human r_ansciousness seem to have played a large role in telepathic
hypnosis. Research and application of hypnosis is wide spread in the
USSR. It is used in medicine, psychotherapy, physiology, psychology,
psychiatry, arrd in e:~tperimental education. Also the possibility. of the
development and application of drugs for the augmentation of hypnosis
was resear-shed,
Soviet scientists such as L.L. VASILIEV, I.M. t~::OGA1V, V. MUTSGHALL,
V.F. BASSIIV, M.V. AVAFUMOV, I. D, DtJErROVSF:I, V.L. RAIk::OV and F'. A.
SL OErODYAIVIk::, with thei r co-authors have made names for themselves i n
the above named reports for the timespan of 1968 on. The exceptional
works published just in the .; years 1969-1971 by S.A. EGOf,OV, F'. V.
ZAGRYADSF~:I, F. D. MORDVINOV and ht, B. YAI~OVETS and their ea-authors from
the #~:irov Military-Medical Academy in Leningrad, fall especially into
the area of psychophysiological research in connection with
erganometric questions, and only peripherally have something to do with
parapsychology (see also Appendix 3, Author list).
ITI. It_was r-epor-ted again and again in the rainbow press that the
mi 1 i tarp and the secret pol x ce were behx nd the r-ussi an efforts to~ `ecj t a
scientific t~rie onM1parapsychalog~.
The contents of these statements could never be substantiated and
the soviet open-source literature on parapsychology also gives no
reliable evidence. Certain revelations in the past years in the USSR
have made assumptions that research has been dare here - but these and
the research results were and will be held in secret.
Signs of the efforts of soviet parapsychologists to use telepathy as
a world-wide telecommunications system far cosmonauts between one
another- and betiieen earth and the cosmonauts in space were already
visible in the 5ra's. In 1967, the russian trade paper "Marine Repar-t"
wrote that cosmonauts in space can "get together (mentally) with each
Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
 Approved For Release 2000/08/15 :CIA-RDP96-007928000500210002-8
SG1 E
SG1 B
other easier than with people on earth. Psi-training was said to have
been taken up on the cosmonauts training program. Supposedly,
phenomenal psi es;periments between soviet cosmonauts and scientists an
the earth were said to have been conducted. The dates and results of
these e: