Formerly secret documents show how the Ministry of Defence tried to recruit psychics, whose targets almost certainly included Osama Bin Laden and weapons of mass destruction
By Nick Pope
IntroductionTraditional methods of gathering intelligence include using satellites, intercepting communications and recruiting agents. Now, secret documents have emerged revealing that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) ran a covert project to recruit psychics, in the hope of tracking down people and items of interest to the government and the military.
BackgroundThe technique is known as remote viewing and a search for the phrase on Google reveals nearly a million hits. Remote viewing is a technical term, but what it really means is trying to use psychic ability - extra-sensory perception - to find things. Uri Geller claims to have undertaken such work for companies keen to see if he can help them locate previously unknown oilfields and mineral deposits. The technique has been used by intelligence agencies too, though details of the British study only emerged this year.
HistoryThe term remote viewing was coined in the Seventies by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, in America. Their work soon attracted the attention of US intelligence officials. The Americans knew that the Soviets were studying parapsychology and were worried that the USSR might make a breakthrough in an area where the US had no expertise. In the language of risk management, this was a classic case of "low probability/high impact". In other words, there was no corporate belief in ESP and even the sponsors of the study were probably sceptical of the chances of success. But if it did work and if the technique could be harnessed by the government, the potential benefits were huge. That's why it was worth trying.
Both the Pentagon and the CIA funded remote viewing programmes, which went by codenames that included Grill Flame, Sun Streak and Star Gate. A few documents have previously been released under the US Freedom of Information Act and some of the former remote viewers have spoken out about their government work, which included searching for hostages in Beirut, arms dumps, drugs caches and terrorists, as well as attempting to identify the location of patrolling Soviet ballistic missile submarines.
In the Nineties, when I was running the MoD's UFO project, I found myself on the receiving end of all sorts of other strange reports. Within government, there was nowhere else to send them, so although such things were technically outside my terms of reference, I found myself getting drawn into subjects as diverse as alien abductions, crop circles and sightings of ghosts at military bases. I was contacted by a handful of people who claimed to have ESP abilities and who volunteered to become 'psychic spies' for their country. I set them a few basic tests and recall being unimpressed by their abilities. But I had regular dealings with the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) in relation to my research and investigation into the UFO phenomenon and as I recall, I had some speculative discussions with them about remote viewing. But I don't recall putting anything down on paper and the idea of running an MoD remote viewing programme went no further, at least in my mind. In 1994 I was promoted and left the UFO project for another MoD post. Now it transpires that the MoD did sanction a remote viewing project after all, albeit several years later. Because of the compartmentalised nature of the Department and the need to know principle, I wasn't consulted on this and played no part in the study.
The MoD StudyProof of the highly classified study's existence was obtained earlier this year by Timothy Good, an author and researcher recognised as one of the world's leading authorities on UFOs and the unexplained. He used the Freedom of Information Act to ask that the MoD release any documents the Department held on remote viewing. His request took several months to process because of the sensitivities involved, but the MoD did finally respond, releasing a 168 page report which had formerly been classified UK Secret. Large sections of the report have been blacked out because the MoD believe their release would compromise defence interests in relation to the working practices of the DIS. Other sections have been blacked out because the MoD judge that release would undermine international relations. This is almost certainly a reference to the US, because the report draws heavily on American research and is likely to include details of MoD liaison with the US intelligence community with regard to remote viewing.
The MoD's remote viewing study was undertaken in 2001 and the report into this work was dated June 2002. Details of the distribution are not known, because the MoD has withheld this information, but only three copies of the report were ever made. Some of the work was carried out by a commercial company, presumably on a contract basis. Again, details of this company's identity have been withheld by the MoD.
The initial plan was that the study should use known remote viewers. An internet search was carried out and a number of potential recruits were identified and contacted, though no indication was given that the real sponsor was the MoD. A commercial property was rented, to further disguise the fact that this was a government programme. However, for a number of reasons, those people contacted either failed to reply or declined to get involved. The study then fell back on the strategy of using people with no declared track record of remote viewing. We don't know who these 'novices' were, but one possibility is that they were military personnel 'volunteered' by their chain of command.
Firstly, the remote viewers were given a detailed questionnaire which included such questions as "at what age did you have your first psychic experience?" and "have you ever participated in a séance?". The experiments themselves were carried out under rigorously controlled conditions. The remote viewers were placed in a room with a monitor (i.e. the person undertaking the tests), who would have photographs of six test targets, which included buildings, places, events, objects and people. Below each photograph was a basic question such as "what is this place?", "where is this place?" or "who is this person?". The MoD has withheld details of some targets, but others have been declassified. They included photos of a wine glass, a knife, a petrol station forecourt and Mother Teresa.
The remote viewers were monitored by a sophisticated array of equipment. Each was recorded on tape and video, and measurements were taken with sensitive electronic and magnetic probes, to see whether electromagnetic fields have a bearing on remote viewing, as some people have previously suggested.
The ResultsIn the end, eighteen remote viewing sessions were undertaken. Much of the declassified report consists of detailed records of the individual sessions, recording the remote viewers' behaviour during the sessions and assessing the results. Some of the results were bizarre and hilarious. One subject wrote the word "rats" in block capital letters. Another failed to write anything at all. One subject fell asleep and the highly classified report contains the priceless sequence of comments "deep breathing; asleep?", "snoring" and "probably asleep", finishing with a reference to the monitor: "leaves and turns off recorders".
Intriguingly, while some remote viewers are adjudged not to have accessed the target, some assessments stated that "the subject may have accessed the target" or that the subject "had accessed some of the features associated with the target". In fact, despite the fact that the subjects were complete novices, 28% of the sessions were scored in this way. Looking ahead, the report's author said that this could serve a baseline against which to measure the performance of more able psychics in later tests.
The report states that two psychologists took part in some of the initial remote viewing sessions, but says that they were unhappy about undertaking this work and refused to take part in further sessions. Again, the details of their objections have been withheld by the MoD.
The Sensitive TargetsThe ultimate aim of this study is not apparent because much of the critical information is still being withheld by the MoD. But there is a telling clue in the document that has been released. Reference is made to the first phase of the study, aimed at recruiting remote viewers. There is then mention of a second phase, which the report describes as being aimed at "the selection of one or more individuals who it is felt can be 'trusted' to be used for the sensitive targets".
The "sensitive targets" are not detailed, or if they are, the information has been blacked out. Another part of the report talks about the "conclusion of the task" and makes reference to "follow-up work including the search for ..." - the rest of the sentence is blacked out. So what are the targets? We can't be certain, but based on the CIA's project and bearing in mind the date of the MoD study, it would be surprising if the targets did not include Osama Bin Laden, and perhaps the weapons of mass destruction that some believed Iraq possessed. In a sense, the DIS will have regarded remote viewing as just another potential means of gathering intelligence - and like any intelligence-gathering capability, the issue is how best to focus your capability on current requirements, and in particular, on the high-value targets. Intriguingly, one page that is almost entirely blacked out obviously features a photograph of an individual. The question underneath was not blacked out, perhaps in an oversight. It reads "Asian inhabitant. What colour is he wearing?" Could this have been Bin Laden?
Of course, these were only the test targets and when the story broke, the MoD press office described the study in language which suggested that the Department was simply undertaking an intellectual exercise to validate academic research. Naturally, however, the DIS will have been hoping the study would succeed and would have been looking ahead to the development of an operational remote viewing capability. The "sensitive targets" quote cited above makes this fairly obvious.
ConclusionSince the story broke in the media I have discussed it with some of the world's leading experts on remote viewing, including Hal Puthoff and Paul H. Smith. I have also been interviewed about it on Newsnight, British Forces Broadcasting Service and numerous BBC radio stations. In all of this I have made clear my absolute support for the MoD, in the face of criticism that this was a waste of time and money (the MoD say £18,000 was spent on the study). My only criticism is with the methodology. It seems to me that several factors combined to make the study less successful than might otherwise have been the case. Firstly, the highly classified nature of the study precluded consultation with the very people who could have given advice on how best to select the remote viewers, test them and develop the operational remote viewing programme that must have been the ultimate goal. Secondly, the selection process was both flawed and unsuccessful. Searching the internet for people who claim to have remote viewing skills would probably have turned up all sorts of con artists and deluded individuals, alongside some of the people genuinely associated with the US government's now defunct remote viewing programmes, or involved in academic research into the subject. But the highly classified nature of the study meant that the approaches to these people could make no mention of the fact that this was a government study, and the MoD was unable to get co-operation from the people they had targeted and whose participation they really needed. My overall assessment, based on my 21 years service in the MoD, is that the study was well-intentioned, but that the errors in the methodology meant that it was a missed opportunity.
So, what happened after the study? Were further tests undertaken? Were lessons learned and was an operation remote viewing programme ever developed? We don't know. But perhaps the MoD let slip one small clue. In responding to questions from the media, the MoD press office said the study was of "little value to the MoD". That's not quite the same as "no value to the MoD".
Nick Pope served for 21 years in the MoD and is best known for having run their UFO project. Nick Pope's website is www.nickpope.net. His new dvd through Reality Entertainment is available now entitled
Nick Pope: The Man Who Left The MOD.
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