Remote Viewing

Controlled Remote Viewing represents a formalized, trainable protocol for alleged psychic perception of distant targets, developed by Ingo Swann at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in the 1980s. Unlike earlier free-form remote viewing, CRV uses a rigid six-stage structure: Stage I (ideograms and gestalt impressions), Stage II (sensory descriptors), Stage III (dimensional sketches), Stage IV (detailed analysis), Stage V (queries and hypotheses), and Stage VI (modeling and 3D representation).

The methodology emerged from Project SCANATE (1973 CIA 'scanning by coordinate' experiments) and evolved through successive military programs: GRILL FLAME (1977-1983), CENTER LANE (1983-1985), SUN STREAK (1985-1990), and STAR GATE (1990-1995). The DIA's 1986 CRV Manual codified training procedures using coordinate-based targeting, structured response protocols, and analytical overlay reduction techniques. Hundreds of operational intelligence taskings were conducted, targeting Soviet installations, hostage locations, and weapons facilities.

Sensory-Shielded Laboratory Infrastructure

Specialized facilities developed at SRI, Princeton's PEAR Lab, and military installations combined electromagnetic isolation with precision instrumentation to detect alleged psi phenomena while controlling for conventional sensory leakage. Key components included: double-walled Faraday cage construction blocking external EM fields (radio, cellular, ambient electrical noise); acoustic isolation chambers preventing sound transmission between viewer and target areas; magnetometer arrays detecting alleged psychokinetic perturbations of local magnetic fields; random number generator networks for micro-PK testing; environmental controls (temperature, humidity, lighting) eliminating physical cues; and video/data recording systems documenting all sessions. SRI's facilities, used extensively during SCANATE and STAR GATE programs, featured separate sender/receiver rooms with complete sensory isolation. The 1974 Nature publication 'Information Transmission under Conditions of Sensory Shielding' (Puthoff & Targ) documented experiments where remote viewers in Faraday cages reported details of distant locations being visited by agents—with claimed statistical significance despite sensory isolation.

Declassified CIA and DIA documents confirm substantial government investment ($20+ million, including laboratory infrastructure) with mixed results—occasional striking hits amid predominantly vague or incorrect data. The 1995 AIR evaluation concluded: some statistical evidence for anomalous cognition exists (Utts report), but operational utility remained unproven and effect sizes were too small for reliable intelligence work (Hyman report). The protocol and infrastructure represent rare intersection of parapsychology and military intelligence, providing systematic cognitive structure and rigorous experimental facilities for investigating alleged psi phenomena. Skeptics note that even perfect EM shielding doesn't eliminate psychological artifacts, expectation effects, or statistical anomalies from selective reporting. The laboratories represent serious scientific infrastructure applied to controversial phenomena—demonstrating that institutional parapsychology research employed legitimate experimental rigor, even if underlying phenomena remain unproven.