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Star Gate Records Decl as sifi cation
1.0 Current Status
The Congress directed that Star Gate be reviewed for declassification
and provided billets and funds to achieve this end. In reviewing the
20 year history of the intelligence community's projects in
parapsychology, CIA concurs with the Congressional direction that
the program and all historical information should be declassified and
released to public sources except where national security policy
regarding disclosure of sources and methods or specifics of
operational missions requires that the information continue to be
protected under approved classification procedures.
In addition to the contractor reports that are listed in the
bibliographies prepared during the Star Gate review (which includes
all of the contractor reports that have been declassified already),
there are 43 boxes of material related to Star Gate and its
predecessor projects conducted under various government
organizations that are now under the management and control of
CIA. These boxes include 38 boxes transferred from DIA under
Congressional direction, two (2) boxes containing copies of contractor
reports (in addition to the contractor reports noted above) and three
(3) boxes of historical CIA documents. The DIA documents date
principally from 1979 to the present time. CIA documents generally
cover the period from 1972 to 1977.
The documents include a variety of types, e.g., contract records,
remote viewer (RV) training records, RV inputs against operational
tasks, internal reports, memoranda and briefings, open literature
information on parapsychology and its interest to others, contractor
communications, etc. Some of this material is classified (much of
which appears to be over-classified) and some of it is unclassified
and/or not marked.
Twenty-three (23) of the 38 DIA boxes principally contain multiple
folders each with a report of two similar types and most of which -
95% or more - should be considered as unclassified regardless of how
it is currently labeled. These reports contain either: raw RV inputs
as a part of RV training exercises [Type 11 or raw RV inputs in
response to operational tasks [Type 21. For both types of inputs, raw
RV data essentially comprises handwritten or typed text and/or
hand sketches/drawings which record the "visions" or "impressions"
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that the RV is experiencing during his/her RV "session" on a
particular task.
For the training sessions [Type 11, the tasking is all related to readily
available material or sources, e.g., describe a person (perhaps a
notable politician or entertainer) or describe a situation or place
which has been created by the trainer, etc. Except in those cases, if
any, where the task description might telegraph intelligence
interests, none of these data are classified. Certainly the RV inputs, if
separated from the specifics of the task (which is the general
situation in the report folders) are unclassified.
Similarly, the only data related to the operational tasks [Type 2] that
is classified are those describing: the specific details of the
operational task, the tasking organization (if it is a classified entity)
and/or the requested EEI's (Essential Elements of Information).
Again, RV inputs, once separated from the details of the operational
task (and once again the general situation in the report folders) are
clearly unclassified as they provide only random snippets of
information and crude drawings that do not relate to anything
classified in and by themselves.
Thus, if the assumed guideline noted above regarding the
classification (or lack thereof) of the RV inputs is adopted, the major
declassification effort will need to engage only the review and
sanitization of:
- the two (2) boxes of remaining contractor reports that have
not been declassified already (38 in number), and
- the18 boxes of DIA and CIA material which contain
documents of all types.
2.0 Resource Estimate
The review of the RV operational input folders [Type 2] would
require only assurance that the folder for each task does not include
details of the tasking (usually the case) and, if it does, the extraction
of that information for subsequent declassification review and
processing. Subsequently, the classification marking on the residual
RV information will have to be excised prior to release.
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Similarly,	but even less demanding, is the review of the RV inputs in
the training folders [Type 1]. Here, as above,	tasking	details - usually
separated	- should be removed for subsequent	review.	However, in
this case,	most of the tasking information also	will be	unclassified
except in	those circumstances wherein the task might	imply
classified	intelligence information, knowledge	and/or	interests, not a
common	situation for these training tasks.		
Review of both type folders to identify and extract tasking details is
estimated to require 2 person-days/box (or less). Excising the
classification markings on the residual information and completing
the necessary records management information is estimated to
require 1 person-day/box for records management staff and 2
person-days/box by administrative/clerical support staff.
Thus, the 23 DIA boxes can be sanitized by an estimated total of 69
person-days of a professional reviewer (46 person-days) and a
records management expert (23 person-days) plus 46 person-days of
clerical support. The review task can be performed by a suitable
contractor for an estimated cost of $30K.
The two (2) boxes which contain the 38 classified SRI/SAIC classified
reports that have not been sanitized can be reviewed for
declassification most readily by the most recent contractor, i.e., SAIC.
This contractor, in conjunction with the Star Gate PMO, declassified
the majority of all of the contractor reports in 1994 and is, therefore,
very familiar with the process. The document review process is
estimated to require 38 person-days of contractor time to include
document review, excising of classified data and markings, and the
reprint and reassembly of sanitized versions for government review
and approval. Estimated cost for this contractor effort is $40K.
Subsequent government review/approval/recording is estimated to
require 1 person-week of records management staff.
The remaining 18 boxes of material will require substantially more
time and investment. The 3 CIA boxes comprise material that has
been previously archived and hence should be somewhat easier to
review than the documentation contained in the 15 DIA boxes. In
addition, all of the CIA documents are 20+years old and many can be
declassified based upon that fact alone.
The 15 DIA boxes contain a potpourri of documentation including
copies of classified contractor reports (which may be duplicative and,
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as such, should be destroyed), open source literature, internal formal
and informal memoranda and correspondence, program office status
and progress reports, logs and details of operational tasking, etc.
These data will be supplemented by any information extracted from
the Type 1 and Type 2 folders noted above, although this is not
anticipated to add much volume to the total.
Review and sorting of these boxes is estimated to require 2 person-
weeks/box including sorting of the documents into the categories of
1) unclassified open literature for destruction, 2) other classified
material which is duplicative and can be destroyed, 3) classified
material that cannot be declassified under current policy and must
be archived by the CIA and 4) review and recommendations for the
sanitization and declassification of the remaining documents. Cost to
perform this review by a qualified contractor is estimated at $120K.
Subsequent records management and, as appropriate, sanitization
processing is estimated to require 1 person-week/box for records
management staff and I person-week/box for clerical support.
Thus the total estimated labor and funding support to review and
declassify the 43 boxes of material is:
Records Clerical Contractor
Mgmt Support Funding
Staff (p-days) ($K)
(p-days)
23 boxes of RV inputs 23 46 40
2 boxes of reports 5 30
18 remaining boxes 90 90 120
Given the uncertainty in the estimates above, recommended staffing
and funding for the declassification process is I full-time records
management staff (to also be the declassification team leader), I full-
time administrative/clerical support staff and a contractor budget of
$250K. The process should be completed in less than 1 calendar
year.
Finally, and in addition to the billets and funds above, a requirement
for the services of I full-time FOIA staff expert is estimated once the
bulk of the available documentation is released to public sources.
Numerous FOIA request can be anticipated subsequent to this release
of this information. Fortunately, most of these requests can be
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referred to the National Archives for processing once the declassified
documents have been transferred.
3.0 Declassification Plan
The objectives of the declassification plan and program is to
declassify as much of the information described above as possible
under an approved declassification TOR (such as in the attached draft
TOR) and to release the subsequent unclassified documentation to
the National Archives. Only those data deemed to fall under the
specified caveats such as those noted in the attached TOR will
continue to be classified and will be archived and retained within the
CIA. Subsequent to approval of this plan, billets and funds will be
provided to (for example) the Historical Records section of the Center
for Studies in Intelligence to support the efforts of that office in the
review, record generation, declassification, release and/or archiving
of these documents. As noted above, extensive FOIA requests are
anticipated once the information regarding this program is released
to the public, so some funds will also be provided to that office to
support responding to these requests.
The declassification plan comprises the following tasks - assuming a
10/1/95 start date:
Task
Assign lead for process to appropriate CIA organization
Develop, approve declassification TOR
Let contracts for review of contractor reports
Let contracts for review of all other boxes
Completion of all contractor efforts
Completion of government review and processing
Complete transfer of all declassified documents
to National Archives
(*OOB - On Or Before)
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006
Completed
10/15/95
11/15/95
12/15/95
1/15/96
7/30/96
9/15/96
9/30/96
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