The term "remote viewing" was coined by Ingo Swann and his colleagues at Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The remote viewing process was developed under contract to the U.S. Government to adapt and apply a specific psychic phenomena to intelligence collection, and Swann was the key trainer for that research. In the fall of 1996, The CIA declassified the so-called "Star-gate" program, and for the first time, Americans heard startling official confirmation that their government had for a quarter century, trained and used psychic spies. Using remote viewing, government personnel had observed targets in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, obtaining intelligence unavailable through any other means. The current RV movement grew out of this government program, and many of the best-known and practicing viewers today are ex-military personnel. A number have formed private firms that cater to corporate and private interests.
     An illustrious group of representatives from the RV community assembled for a conference in Mesquite, NV last May. The Godfather of remote viewing, Russel Targ was a keynote speaker. Targ is an eloquent spokesperson for the scientific and spiritual implications of psychic abilities. He delivers a strong case for spiritual unfoldment within the scientific model. Targ's books, Mind Reach written with Hal Putoff, and The Mind Race written with Keith Harary, signaled the start of the RV community as we know it today.
     Articulate as Targ is, one would have to say that remote viewing has been popularized by Ed Dames, whose numerous appearances on the Art Bell Show helped to galvanize intense public interest. But Dames came in for a harsh round of criticism at the conference for some ultimately erroneous predictions broadcast over the radio. There is a concern that such perceived irresponsibility detracts from the credibility of the work.
     Some might question whether remote viewing is a plausible enough field to warrant an entire conference. Conference organizer Paul H. Smith, a high-energy, retired Air Force major, assured me that although remote viewing doesn't work all the time, 'practiced, experienced viewers can access a target nearly 100% of the time. This doesn't mean they get all the data they were looking for. All it means is that they retrieve information indicating that they were 'there.' However, these experienced viewers regularly obtain extremely accurate, often error-free information from the target."
     President and chief instructor for "Remote Viewing Instructional Services, Inc., an Austin, Texas based company providing training and operational support for remote viewing, Smith was for seven years a government remote viewer working for the U.S. army and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was the chief coordinate remote viewing (CRV) theory instructor for the government program, and primary author of the government CRV manual. He performed hundreds of operational remote viewing sessions as a government RV'er.
     Smith described for us exactly what remote viewing is..and is not: "Remote viewing (RV) is a skill by which a 'viewer' can perceive objects, persons, or events at a location removed by either space or time. In other words, one does not actually have to be there or need any physical connections, such as television, telephone, and so on to gain information about the target. RV exploits and improves upon what is more commonly called 'psychic' ability, and works whether the target is in the next room or on the other side of the planet. Neither time nor any known type of shielding can prevent a properly-trained remote viewer from gaining access to the desired target.
     "Remote viewing is not 'being psychic' as commonly understood by the media and many practitioners of paranormal arts. Remote viewers are not typical clairvoyants, fortune tellers or psychics. Although many of the more traditional psychics have amazing abilities, there is a qualitative difference between the average 'natural' psychic, and a properly trained remote viewer.
     One of the wonderful things about RV is that virtually anyone can learn to do it. Much like studying a musical instrument or learning to draw, nearly all of us have the capability to acquire the techniques and put them into practice. There are those who might not believe this. You often hear people say they can't learn to play the piano or draw a straight line --- or to remote view - because they don't have 'the talent.' But what really gets in the way is nearly always a simple lack of time, motivation, or energy to devote to learning the principles and then practicing enough to become proficient.

     "Unless there is some sort of physical or mental handicap that prevents it, almost anyone can learn to play piano at least competently, can learn to draw aesthetically, and can learn to remote view reasonably effectively. It just takes desire, time, the right teacher, and the belief that it is at least possible. "Even novice viewers may surprise themselves at the accuracy of some of their sessions. Though we anticipate beginners will perform less consistently than those who are more accomplished, we also expect them to frequently turn out commendable results."

Civilian Application of RV

     The RV technique is finding its own useful niche outside of governement work. Lyn Buchannan has created a private company that works in the civilian domain in the recovery of missing people. Lyn explained that remote viewing has a long history of finding hostages, including the famous General Dozier incident, his company is now using it for police work with good success.
     Buchannan is unclear as to the ideal role of remote viewing in our society. He explained that, "We are still in the process of working that out. We have stock brokers using it, doctors using it for medical diagnostics, police using it for drug investigation and a multitude of other purposes. To my surprise, real estate salesmen have found it of tremendous benefit when it comes to selling houses and matching the right house up to the buyer. "We are going to be doing research into scientific Research and Development uses, like archeology. Many new and interesting applications are cropping up."
     Buchannan's company does CRV work for companies and sometimes individuals, and trains and educates people about CRV. He also has a public service arm called the Assigned Witness Program. "The name came about one day when I was talking to a police department investigator who told me what they really needed for this case was a witness. 'I can assign one,' I said."

Marty Rosenblatt is attempting to develop a cadre of people over the internet who are interested in sharpening their intuitive skills and putting them to use in such practical arenas as the stock market. Rosenblatt believes intuition can be trained. His program for using such skills to work the stock market, MISTIE {Minute Stock-simulator for Training and Intuition Exploration}, incorporates the AVM Project, which employs an animal, vegetable or mineral target/photo that is randomly chosen after you enter your stock market prediction.

Jack Houck, possibly the best-known person in this field, has developed an array of techniques --- metal bending, RV, and psychokinesis (PK), or mind-over-matter - that allow people to access the mental access window (MAW} through which RV and other psychic activity take place. Houck told me that of the 15,000 people who have been to his PK workshops, approximately 85% have experienced some level of PK. He feels that the primary application for such work is in the area of healing, with the additional benefits of improving self-confidence and learning how to achieve goals. Houck sees PK as "real proof of the power of positive thinking."
     Lest anyone have a concern that the process is difficult or uncomfortable, Houck describes his workshops as PK parties, because in the process of bending spoons, everyone has a wild and fun time. His next evening party will be at the Learning Light Foundation in Anaheim in October.

Joni Dourif, President of PSI TECH, was asked to commercialize RV for the civilian sector in the early 1990's. Dourif has no doubt that the "average person" can learn RV techniques. The PSI TECH TRV video-training tapes she produced along with Major Ed Dames teach Technical Remote Viewing (TRV), an advanced version of the original military unit's protocols, coordinate remote viewing (CRV). "TRV is a skill," Dourif explained, and like any skill, if one applies rigor and disciplined practice, one has a higher probability of success. When asked about the controversial Dames, Dourif replied simply that "Ed has retired."

Joe McMoneagle of the Monroe Institute, author of Mind Trek, also was a participant in the US government's remote viewing program. Mind Tek is a nuts-and-bolts approach to an ability the author considers to be inherent in us all. McMoneagle's book reveals no CIA secrets, but he does disclose the laboratory methods employed during US government research into the field, stressing protocols that insure the veracity of results. The case he makes for the reality of remote viewing is strong. McMoneagle takes a step beyond experiments in the laboratory and what viewers can find over the physical horizon, exploring the implications of a practiced RV ability that would allow us to see into the distance across time, into our past and into our future.

Other Luminaries in the Field

Charles Tart, Ph.D., is a long-time researcher in parapsychological phenomena. Tart emphasizes the repeatability of the RV phenomenon and the fact that RV results tend to not diminish over time.

Larry Dossey, M.D., is a physician of internal medicine, formerly with the Dallas Diagnostic Association and former Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital. He served as a battalion surgeon in Vietnam, and is past president of the Isthmus Institute of Dallas, an organization dedicated to exploring the convergence of science and religious thought.

John Alexander, Colonel US Army (ret.), is the author of the recently published Future War: Non-lethal Weapons in Twenty-first Century Warfare, and of The Warrior's Edge. In 1980, his seminal article, "The New Mental Battlefield," which described how psychic warfare might be employed on the battlefield, was published in Military Review. Alexander believes the secrecy that has long been associated with RV has been both a curse and blessing. He suggests we look openly at ways the phenomenon can be responsibly applied, lessening the chance of unwarranted claims by charlatans.

Skip Atwater is the Lab Director of the well-known Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences that does research into the out-of-body experience. His background includes a stint as the Operations and Training Officer for the US Army Intelligence remote viewing program.

Stephen Schwartz, author of The Alexandria Project, was one of the first to use remote viewing techniques to find lost archeological sites. Conceptually, Schwartz is convinced that RV out to be a successful technique for geologic search, but acknowledges that is an extrapolation from research in other areas, and that there hasn't been enough research to reach a definitive conclusion. This, however, does not deter him.

     "One the basis of the evidence from actual searches and excavations or dives, remote viewing has proven to be a highly useful technique for the location and reconstruction of archaeological sites," said Schwartz. "It has shown that it can be a better choice than traditional electronic remote sensing technologies, although I believe the optimal approach is to use all available options. The best thing about remote viewing is that the best-case scenario using electronic search techniques, is the worst-case scenario using remote viewing.

Greg Kolodziekzyk teaches a mental technique that allows anyone to utilize his or her intuitive abilities in a controlled, goal-oriented manner. He teaches how to apply associative remote viewing (ARV) to make accurate predictions of random future events. Greg has used this mental technique for two years to predict the outcome of various random financial markets.

     RV has developed considerably since its initial inception, and its goals have expanded dramatically. The remote viewing community is now doing serious research into an area I would describe as "applied psychics." The techniques are being used to bring measurable results in everyday life, as well as becoming a gateway for expanded perception and exploration of non-physical realities.

For information about the 2001 RV conference in Mesquite, NV, e-mail Rvconference@rviewer.com.

Paul Andrews is a WLT feature writer specializing in leading-edge human potential and deep history topics.