Proposed Declassification of SRI's Association With CIA: Remote Viewing Investigations
This internal CIA memorandum, from the Director of Research and Development, recommends declassifying the previously SECRET association between SRI and CIA regarding investigations into the use of paranormal phenomena (remote viewing) to collect foreign intelligence. The document states that CIA's Office of Research and Development was tasked by Congress to review and declassify the roughly two-decade-old research program SRI conducted under contract to CIA between about 1972 and 1976. It argues declassification is appropriate because primary SRI investigators — Hal Puthoff, Russell Targ, and Edwin May — had already published widely in open literature; because CIA was responding to a Freedom of Information and Privacy Act request from former SRI employee Russell Targ about his own work; because CIA held current unclassified contracts with SRI; and because Congress requested declassification to facilitate cooperative efforts with international investigators. The memo asks SRI whether it has specific objections. A fax cover sheet from CIA/ORD Emerging Programs Group is attached. The distribution notation is dated 17 May 1995, and the document was approved for release on 2003/04/18.
Description
A CIA Office of Research and Development memorandum to a Senior Contracts Administrator proposing declassification of Stanford Research Institute's (SRI) classified association with CIA and its remote viewing / paranormal intelligence research, conducted under contract from about 1972 to 1976.
Claims
SRI conducted a research program under contract to CIA investigating the use of paranormal phenomena to collect foreign intelligence, classified SECRET, from about 1972 to 1976.
90%CIA's Office of Research and Development was tasked by Congress to review and declassify the program.
85%Hal Puthoff, Russell Targ, and Edwin May were primary SRI employee-investigators who published widely in open literature on this work.
88%CIA was responding to a Freedom of Information and Privacy Act request from Russell Targ about his own CIA-related work.
85%Congress requested declassification to facilitate cooperative efforts with international investigators.
80%
Events
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SRI–CIA remote viewing research contract
Classified SECRET research program in which SRI investigated paranormal phenomena to collect foreign intelligence under CIA contract, lasting from about 1972 to 1976.
Apr 30, 1995
Proposed declassification memorandum
CIA ORD memo proposing to declassify the SRI–CIA association and investigator identities, dated in distribution 17 May 1995.
Apr 17, 2003
Approved for release
Document approved for public release by CIA.
Dates mentioned
Keywords
Entities
Organizations
Extracted text (OCR)
SGi1l Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 ase (Ame 14S mtih—Masreh195- MEMORANDUM FOR: Senior Contracts Administrator FROM: [ Director of Research and Development SUBJECT: Proposed Declassification of SRI’s Association With CIA: Remote Viewing Investigations Karbara, 1. CIA’s Office of Research and Development has been tasked by Congress to review and declassify a twenty-year-old research program which SRI conducted under contract to CIA. This program involved investigations into the use of paranormal phenomena to collect foreign intelligence. We believe that the association between SRI and CIA was classified SECRET during the contract period which lasted from about 1972 to 1976. The purpose of this letter is to inquire as to whether SRI has any specific objections to declassification of this association, or to the declassification of the identity of the investigators involved in the research. 2. There are several reasons why we recommend declassification of the SRI association with CIA. CIA would like to conduct a Congressionally directed review of all past remote viewing efforts in an unclassified forum using uncleared expert behavioral and social scientists. These scientists are already familiar with SRI's work during the early 1970s and cannot possibly avoid concluding that CIA sponsored SRI to perform this work. Attempts to prevent such a conclusion would be futile and possibly counterproductive in managing the reviewers. Three of the primary SRI employee-investigators have published widely in the open literature on their efforts in this area (Hal Puthoff, Russell Targ, and Edwin May). Therefore, SRI's investigations involving the paranormal are well documented in the open literature. 3. CIA is now responding to an inquiry under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts from a former SRI employee and project investigator, Russell Targ, about his own work performed for CIA while he was at SRI. We would like to release the requested information but cannot do so without implicating SRI's previously classified association. 4. It also may be worth considering that CIA has several current contracts with SRI in which the association is unclassified. At least one of these is with the Office of Research and Development, with whom the original paranormal investigations were performed. Therefore, we do not see that any equities in our association will be compromised. 5. Finally, Congress has asked requested CIA to declassify this program work to facilitate the establishment of cooperative efforts with international investigators. When overall program declassification takes place, we believe that all interested parties will realize the early CIA efforts had to have been conducted at SRI. It would be cumbersome indeed for to SRI to have to continually deny the obvious speculation about this former association. euinetnnihe Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 - Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 eae SUBJECT: Proposed Declassification of SRI’s Association with CIA: Remote Viewing Investigations 6. Please advise us as to your concerns, if any, regarding our declassification of your paranormal research efforts with CIA. For further information regarding this and other related issues, please contact | SG1l SG1B in orpD | He will be managing the declassification and review. SG1Il 2 qua» Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 . Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 ; questa a SUBJECT: Proposed Declassification of SRI’s Association with CIA: Remote Viewing Investigations Distribution: Orig. - Addressee 1 - Front Office ORD Chrono SG1I 1 - EPG/ORD 1 - es SG1I pst/orq |(17 May 1995) 3 Cid Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 CLASSIFIED an aay y Emerging FROM: CIA/ORD/ERG P ROGRAMS 846 AMES BUILDING G ROUP SG1B Omor SECRET oa COcCONFIDENTIAL © FOUO SGIB TO: M FAX NUMBER; | FROM: SG1I SUBJECT: O]f Coutrac? — Assocfatio PLEASE NOTIFY THE ABOVE NAMED PERSON OF THIS ARRIVAL AT #: Room #: NUMBER, OF PAGES: __| _ (Including Cover Page) REMARKS/COMMENTS G& SST E Fee Approved For Release 2003/04/18 : CIA-RDP96-00791R000200030004-0 —
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