'Approved For Rele t" d, parapsychology, often linked with the occult and mystical, is sparking new debate- Skeptics debunk the subject, t believers want more research. Slowly but steadily, times, creating an impressionsearch on the Nature. parapsychology of para- of Man in is edging toward scientificnormal activity because Durham, N.C., indicate respectabil- of the large that many per- ity after years of lurkinggaps in precise and verifiedsons seern, to be able ori the fringes. knowledge to predict future Now and carofully controlledabout the nature of the events with startlin-accuracy. re- inind, con- search into extrasensorysciousness and the nervousSuch findings, backers perception, system. of parapsy- clairvoyance, telepathy Parapsychologists argue chology say, are often and other psy- that their duplicated in the chic phenomena is being research proves the abilityeveryday life of ordinary carried out of humans Americans. by government, the military,to reach beyond consciousDreams come true. Researchers medicine limits of and acadernia. The findings,communication by tapping have come.. across accounts some con- submerged of individ- terid, promise to revealpowers of the subconscious.tials who suddenly voiced a vast, unreat- a great seuse ized potential within That notion is a stumblim,of unease about a relative the human rnind. block for or friend, "It is hazardous to makemany, says Norma Bowles, only to learn later predictions co-author of that the person had in this field, but .1 a recent survey of parapsychology,been injured, killed believe we are on the rsi or placed in great verge of discoveries Searrh. She says: "To danger. Others relate at the outer contemplate that vivid dreams fringes of scientific we may be able to inentallythat are later re-created knowledge that 'fish' into inreal life. may completely alter the future an Cl the pastBox StIniford, research our notions of at will-or that director of the, mind's capabilities,"the mind may not exist the Center for Parapsychological says Willis within the Be- Harman of the Stanford brain-is such a troublingsearch in Austin, Tex- Research Insti- concept to theorizes; that tute in California. traditional Western thoughtmost people unconsciously that it use their Possible applications may block our acceptance psychic abilities to of psychic abili- of a devel- scan the "vorld Ly, advocates say, rangeopment that may be as around them, tuning from tech- significant " in to individuals niques in warfare and our discovery of atomic and events that are., crirne detection onergy." important to them. to predictions of new Parapsychology's cause "The person who unexpectedly archaeological has been fur- discoveries, promising thered recently by accountsmeets someone fie especially investments and of psychic wants to likely energy sources. abilities in some individuals.see, or gets a phone call from a, distant Burden of proof. TraditionallyIn the past, such traits friend be lidd just a "far have been thought about, or ()tit" PLMMit, parapsychologygiven a variety of descriptions:even soineone wbo always still gets a vu, seems to cool reception from the mind reading, sixth sense,find a parking place scientific es- premonition no matter how tablishment. Philip 11. and mind over matter. crowded the streets-these Abelson, editor things may of the authoritative Now, reputable researchersbe more than just le-ading journal Science, insist, re- a charmed agrees that parapsycbologicalcont experiments have life," Stanrord says. research taken psychic Such happenings, has improved markedly, events out of the realrn lie contends, may be but he is dubi- of the unlikely proof that psychic ous about the results. and into the probable. abilities are innate Among them: to humans, butmay "These extraordinary m Experimenters at the have been repressed claims require Mairtionides -by overdepen- extraordinary evidence,"Medical Center in New dence on the five perceived lie contends. York City senses- "17indincrs that cluestionclaim. repeated success touch, taste, sinell, the basic laws for mental te- sight and hearing. of nature must he sufkiectedlepathy in transmitting Even in an age of skepticism, to rigorous images and inter- .utiFic scrutiny, and thoughts between wideLv est remains high in must be able to separated in- a sub@iect that has be duplicated by impartialdividuals. Some results, fascinated people since investiga- they say, defy the, beginning tofs. Until then, rrianychance bya ratio of 100 of recorded history. scientists will billion to 1. remain uriconvinced." m At the University of A Gallup Poll released California, in- in June fou nd This continuing disagreementvestigators found a womanthat 51 percent of U.S. flows who, they adult,,; believe in i e V f t1A processes extrasensory perception. said could perceive Aniong per- computer-generat- otit of# be- lucation t @Mviase 200 c W e e nd c 4i0as @1CM'RIDP9 Jd ;A , , i 6 @ ?I M7 RI 1 y5"J pe t S Many srholars see the concealed from her. . subconscious ps cen ui II ' ,e as a deep reservoir of mi Long-term projects Thirty-seven percent acquired infor- at Duke Uni- of adults, be- --1-:1- .__A -P f-l". N-_ *- -1110;ht t-@ r", P__ Woman in parapsychology experiment undergoes test for extrasensory perception. CIA-RDP96-007879"0200080014-9 @z .......... 40- Tf A-1 U" -,WAVr,@ Z,01,4@ viet research may someday enable the Russians to perceive paranormally tlic- contents of top-secret U.S@ doctinietiLs, psychically i11111-4011CO the thou lits of U.S. military leaders and even cause the instant cleath of any U.S. official or the disabling of military equipment, in- cluding spacecraft. rets. Last year the So- Guarding set. viet Union deported Robert C. Toth, a Los Angeles Thneg correspondent, after lie had been given a paper on parapsychology by a Russian scientist. All fornial Western contact with Soviet parapsychologists ended in 1972, when -in government classified re- the Eussi, search being done in the field. U.S. government officials will not re- 0,11 veat the extent of research being con- clucted into the military aspects of parapsychology, but Stanford Research continuincy re- Institute scientists are Louisa and J. B. Rhine, creatom of rnodern techniques for researching psychic abilities. search into the area in conjunction with government agencies. foretell future events-while 30 per- cent believe in d6ji! vu-the feeling of having experienced a place or event at -in earlier time. One result of such widespread be- liefs is a continuing spate of sensation- alist articles, books and movies about the parancirmal, most of which serve to titilk(te rather than inform, in the opin- ion of serious psychic researchers. However, since J. B. Rhine began his pioneering work in the field at Mike University more than 40 years acm, research in parapsychology has been going on among a small group of scientists who maintain traditional standards of scientific proof. "In the past, psychic research has been sandwiched between a general public that is overcredulous and a sci- entific community that is overly dubi- ous, contends Edward Kelly, a parapsychology researcher at Duke, "As a result, most legitimate parapsy- chologists have become so sensitive about reckless use of their data that thev are reluctant to make any broad clainis on their findings." Into the mainstream. Now, such au- thoritative bodies as the Smithsonian Institution and the California IMuseurn ol' Science and Industry are promoting credible information on the subject. One Smithsonian travelina exhibit called "Psi Searcli"-based on the book of the San-le iianie-has been seen by mare than 2 million Americans in the 1,mt 21/2. years. A growing number of colleges, including the University of Southern California and Towa State L,Tni\,@_r@ity, offer parapsychology se-mi- liars as a result of increased interest. kd geates of )s4c@c r( earch con- efeasaQ te, d AN @A applications in education, business, health care, national security and the arts. They assert that the U.S. is not oJevoting enough resources to studies in parapsychology, and that Soviet-bloc psychic explorations are far ahead of American work in the field. Soviet weapon? Some authorities believe there are ominous implications for the intelligence community. A re- contly declassified document of the, Defense Intelligence Agency that ex- amined Russian capabilities in parapsy- chology cites repeated examples of individuals who allegedly can will ob- jects into motion, and "psychotronic" generators that store psychic energy. The report, some of which sounds like science fiction from in undisci- plined imagination, speculates that So- These researchers say that in 1,975, working with two well-known psy- chics, they demonstrated the possibili- ty of clairvoyant spying. They relate 0 how a psychic described in remarkable detail a secret, un.dergro Lind U.S. mili- tary installation. Another individual, given geographic coordinates of it South Indian Ocean island, rellortedly made a fairly accurate sketch of a loea- tion on the island. "Fundin.- of U.S. parapsychological research averages about half a million dollars annually, and that is mostly pri- vate money spread through 14 labora- tories," says Charles Tart, a noted parapsychologist at the University of California at Davis who I-Las studied So- viet research in the field. Tart says Rus- spends the equivalent of 50 million sia dollars each year, using hundreds of ,,,Tz__ top scientists and seriously exploring t parapsychology's military applications. ar, Nonetheless, 1), apsychology is find ing the road to acceptance a rocky one. '011 Scientific ournals almost never pub- A @,e lish reports of psychic research, though the Parapsychological Association has been affiliated with the American As- sociation for the Advancement of Sci- ence since 1969. Moreover, a number of scientists, educators arid. writers formed the-. Coi amittee for the Scientific Investi-a- tion of Claims of the Paranormal list ir to debunk p, arapsychology. Tlie committee contends that the current us vogue for unexplained happenin- may "break clown society's critical 1-111ment, and may also jeopardize oor N., resistance to now and unforeseen forms of tyranny.- Stich arguments over the validity of R000200@P%Itl-Wcely to i unresolvect e future. U.S. NEWS & MIORLD REPORT Juiv 31 Approved For Releasso2001/03/26