Ap nr Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788ROO2000010002-8 TR .1 @Hr_c MZ1 ST,--@kNFORO RESEARCH INSTITUTE -ORNIA 94025 J PARK, CALIF' 5, 326,6200 18 August 1977 .'@@_'.'Idquarters 'U.S. Army Missile Research and Development command DRDMI-YE, R. Clinton @edstone Arsenal, Alabama@ 35809 i..1,a,'.r Mr. Clinton: To supplement our conversation today, let me take this opportunity to d-ascribe to you some of the history and our thoughts related to the research being conducted by Hal Puthoff and Russ Targ. Russ and Hal transferred from anotber division in SRI to ours and have been members of the Radio Physics Laboratory for approximately 10 months. At the time I agreed to undertake i,esz)onsibility for their research I convened a group of six senior members 0.- the staff of 150 that constitute this laboratory to review and discuss their work and its findings. Each of the six is cleared to levels where all of the material could be discussed. The meeting was held in an appropriate facility so that we could be assured that our discussions with Russ and Hal d not be fettered in any way. Although the meeting was planned for approximately one and one-half hours, it actually took over six. Throughout, thti conversations were unrestricted, wide ranging,.direct., and to the point. AL the end of the discussions each of us had arrived at the conclusion that the data we had considered indicated that the phenomena being described are Probably real, that they are compleiely outside the understanding afforded by conventional physics, and that research in this area should be coatinued. Olu all, felt that the research should be conducted in a laboratory accustomed 'o operating in the realm of hard science; furthermore, we all felt that this LL'jOratory, and I wish to stress that it is an operating laboratory, is an alv2ropriate environment for the conduct of this research. Nothing that has c@ccurred since that meeting has swayed us from these convictions. As I am sure you are well aware, this area of research is, to say the I@Rast, unusual. We recognize that much of the previous work done elsewhere ba3 been slipshod and that it has received sensational-and irresponsible PresB- We believe that our research must be conducted with protocols that a',:e as tight as possible and that are open to critical review by other quali- fied researchers before they are put into effect. Most of the work that has been conducted by Hal and Russ in the past has been oriented toward satisfying client operational needs. Both Russ and Hal 18rPL! with Lhose of us who are in supervisory and line-management roles that a strong and fundamental requirement exists--namely, the requirement to underst'aad what is happening. Consistent with good scientific method, it is ()',Ir vie'u that the phenomenon or set of phenomena responsible for the observed data Must be described in the terms of physics through the inductive process. INCLOSURE 1 UNCLASSIFIE-0 A'-Pfov#d'FGr Rektase,200140310Z ~~CJA-RDP96-00788ROO2000010002-8 Approved For Release 2001103107 : C IA-RDP96-00788 ROO 2000010002-8 R.'Clirfton-' 18 Ali. 2 6i&E 1077 It will then be appropriate to validate theory through subsequent deductive predictions that can be tested by further observation and eXperiment. it is only in this way that we can hope to achieve an understanding of what is happening. Furthermore, it is. only in this way that we will be able to estab- lish whether or not this field will yield results of value to you. If you are able to support a portion of this work being conducted in the manner that I have described, it is MY belief that You will have contributed in an important area of research--an area that must be Of concern to all of us. I hope that these thoughts are of help to you. We will welcome your monitoring and helping to guide this research. Very truly yours, Director Radio Physics Laboratory DAJ-.eb Approved For Release 2001103107 : CIA-RDP96-00788ROO2000010002-8