Approved For Release 2000/08/10 CIA-RDP96-00787ROO020009TO01-2
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   STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE
   MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025
   (415) 326-6200
   Life Sciences - Building 100
   November 5, 1974
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   I P P
   With the recent world-wide publicity of the so-called paranormal
   research at SRI (see enclosed), several of us in the Life Sciences
   Division have felt it appropriate to develop a facility under our
   operation and control whose primary function would be to attempt to
   replicate research reported anywhere in the world in this generally
   nebulous and poorly controlled area of research.
   Internally, we have been as critical (if not more so) as Nature and
   The New Scientist of the quality of the paranormal research that has
   been in progress at SRI. Almost all of the research reported in this
   area is conducted by "believers" and they tend to consider those who
   are more neutral, but open, as inimical to and prejudioed against the
   demonstration of paranormal phenomena. For example, we were permitted
   to run one experiment with Geller (see blocked portion on page 180 of
   The New Scientist article) which had the appropriate controls and which
   Geller failed on each of three different occasions. Targ interpreted
   this failure as illustrating that Geller's powers can be thwarted by
   experimenters who "disbelieve" in his powers (personal communication).
   This, of course, is an empirical question and could easily be subject
   to test. For example, using the appropriate suite of adjacent rooms,
   one of the rooms could be packed with believers, disbelievers, or
   neutral subjects on different days (scheduled at random) and the per-
   formance of the paranormal subject (in an adjacent room) could be moni-
   tored. The procedure would be kept blind from the subject and,
   preferably, from the principal investigators as well.
   Such phenomena, if they can be reliably demonstrated, can, most
   probably, be explained by natural psychophysiological laws. The
   assumption that they are "paranormal I' is more a confession of our
   ignorance of human abilities at this stage of our knowledge than any-
   thing else.
   At any rate, I suggest that a neutral group, such as our own, should be
   available to attempt to replicate the reported phenomena (e.g., the
   dream transport phenomena reported from the Maimonides Laboratory; some
   of Rhine's studies; the SRI studies by Targ and Puthoff, etc.). My
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       November 5, 1974
       question to you is, would the agency be interestedin supporting such
       a group on an flon-call" basis? We would attempt replication of experi-
       ments of interest to the agency. If the agency is interested, please
       advise me and I will go into detail regarding the design, control pro-
       cedures that would be used, etc., of any experiments we might undertake.
       Sincerely yours,
       Leon S. Otis, Ph. D.
       Director
       Psychobiology and Physiology
       LSO:mm
       Enclosures
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