PROJECT
STARGATE
Also
worthy of note is some of the later work of Puthoff and Targ, attempting
to enhance the accuracy and reliability of RV |
 |
by using different
error-correcting techniques (i.e., majority vote and Associational
Remote Viewing).
The STARGATE project continued well into the 1990s, under the direction
of physicist Edwin May, first at SRI and then at SAIC (Science
Applications International Corp.). Extending earlier work of Puthoff and
Targ, May and his colleagues conducted a number of studies exploring the
potential of RV for intelligence-gathering, while also attempting to
understand some of its underlying mechanisms. Working with a small,
select group of "expert" remote viewers, the SRI/SAIC
researchers continued to produce some very striking examples of the
applied potential of remote viewing, while also exploring certain
fundamental questions about the nature of this skill.
In its totality, the STARGATE work provides some of the most solid
evidence for psi to date - as can be witnessed by the recently
declassified documents. Nevertheless, an agency contracted by the CIA to
evaluate the 24-year program (American Institutes for Research or AIR)
managed to give a mixed review, with a positive assessment by
statistician Jessica
Utts, a negative one by psychologist Ray Hyman, and an overall
recommendation by the AIR staff to terminate the STARGATE
program. Although accepting that a significant effect had been shown
under scientifically rigorous conditions, the AIR report suggests that
there is no need to accept the reality of RV, and that, in any event,
its pragmatic utility for intelligence-gathering had not been
demonstrated. Following this, Edwin May made several public appearances
strongly challenging the objectivity of the AIR, and
questioning the true motives driving its report. An article
by May, detailing some of the more objectionable aspects of this
affair, has appeared in the Journal of Scientific Exploration,
along with articles by SRI researchers Hal
Puthoff and Russell
Targ and AIR consultants Jessica
Utts and Ray
Hyman.
[For more detailed information on Stargate, go to Cognitive
Sciences Laboratory website. |
| |
| Further Reading: |
| The
American Institutes for Research Review of the Department of Defense's
STAR GATE Program: A Commentary by Edwin May |
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May, E. C., Utts, J. M., Humphrey, B. S., Luke, W. L. W., Frivold, T. J., and Trask, V. V. (1990). Advances in Remote-Viewing
Analysis. Journal of Parapsychology, 54, 193-228.
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May, E. C. and Vilenskaya, L. (1992). Overview of Current Parapsychology Research in the Former Soviet Union. Subtle
Energies, 3, No. 3, 45-67.
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May, E. C., Spottiswoode, S. J. P., and James, C. L. (1994). Managing the Target-Pool Bandwidth: Possible Noise Reduction
for Anomalous Cognition Experiments. Journal of Parapsychology, 58, 303-313.
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May, E. C., Spottiswoode, S. J. P. and James, C. L. (1994). Shannon Entropy: A Possible Intrinsic Target Property. Journal of
Parapsychology, 58, 384-401.
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