In the realm of government secrets, few programs are as bizarre as the U.S. military investigation into psychic spying. For over two decades, American intelligence agencies funded research into remote viewingthe alleged ability to perceive distant, hidden, or inaccessible locations using only the mind.
Known as Project Stargate (or simply Star Gate), this classified program operated from the 1970s through the 1990s, employing psychics to attempt to describe enemy installations, locate missing persons, and gather intelligence on foreign operations.
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How It Started
The story begins in the early 1970s at Stanford Research Institute (SRI), where researchers were exploring claims of extrasensory perception (ESP). The U.S. government, always looking for intelligence advantages during the Cold War, took notice.
As Wikipedia reports, the term “remote viewing” was first suggested by Ingo Swann in December 1971 during an experiment at the American Society for Psychical Research in New York City.
The Program in Action
Key elements of the program included:
- Remote viewers (often individuals claiming psychic abilities) were tasked with describing targets they had no physical access to
- A “sender” would sometimes be positioned at the target location, allegedly to “beam” information to the viewer
- Sessions were strictly controlled, with viewers working blind (not knowing the target location)
- Results were recorded and evaluated by judges who compared descriptions to actual targets
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) ultimately took over the program, which continued until the mid-1990s.
As Federation of American Scientists reports, the initial research program called SCANATE was funded by the CIA beginning in 1970.
The Famous Remote Viewers
Famous viewers included:
Ingo Swann: One of the first remote viewers, credited with developing protocols. A New York artist and Scientologist who possessed claimed psychic abilities.
