Albert Newton Stubblebine III was a U.S. Army major general whose documented career ran from a 1952 commission after graduation from the United States Military Academy to retirement from active duty in 1984.1 His official Military Intelligence Hall of Fame biography records service in Armor, chemistry instruction at West Point, duty with the U.S. Army Imagery Interpretation Center, assignment to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, service as G-2 of the 25th Infantry Division, and later senior intelligence and research-development posts.1 A 1979 Army acquisition magazine profile states that he held a master's degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University, graduated from the Command and General Staff College and the National War College, and took command of the U.S. Army Electronics Research and Development Command after leading the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School.2
Documented Army Career
The Army's Hall of Fame account credits Stubblebine with helping develop the echelons-above-corps portion of Army intelligence architecture and with conceiving an early application of critical node targeting for the electronic battlefield.1 It also lists command of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School from 1977 to 1979, command of the U.S. Army Electronics Research and Development Command beginning in 1979, and final active-duty service as commander of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.1 His recorded decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.1
INSCOM and Remote Viewing
Declassified STAR GATE records show that Stubblebine was briefed on INSCOM's GRILL FLAME remote-viewing work on June 30, 1981, shortly after becoming commanding general of INSCOM.3 The briefing memorandum says the program had completed hundreds of training and operational sessions by June 1981, that INSCOM was working with the Defense Intelligence Agency and SRI International, and that Stubblebine wanted legal and funding issues resolved before the joint contractual work continued.3 The same memorandum records that Stubblebine viewed customer evaluations as evidence that the work should continue and be supported.3
When congressional funding direction ended INSCOM's GRILL FLAME operation on September 30, 1982, Stubblebine signed a memorandum saying he had decided to conduct a similar effort inside the Army Counterintelligence and Operational Security Program.4 The follow-on became CENTER LANE, and an April 1983 letter from Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence William E. Odom to Stubblebine called it Stubblebine's "new initiative," discussed new research-development funding, and urged a clearer audit trail, special access controls, and coordination with DIA before expected congressional and senior-government briefings.5 In May 1984, Stubblebine signed a CENTER LANE mission statement authorizing the project to develop and apply "psychoenergetics" for intelligence collection and counterintelligence operations, train selected personnel, and explore psychoenergetic communications and psychokinesis under human-subject protections.6
What the Records Establish
The declassified record establishes Stubblebine as a senior Army sponsor of classified remote-viewing and psychoenergetics work, not as proof that those methods produced reliable intelligence.3456 A CIA-requested 1995 evaluation by the American Institutes for Research concluded that remote-viewing reports were too vague, inconsistent, and subjective for actionable intelligence and that continued use in intelligence-gathering operations was not warranted.7 That distinction is central to assessing Stubblebine: his role in keeping the program alive is documented, while the claimed intelligence value of the method remains unsupported by the later official review.7
Controversial Practices
Public accounts of Stubblebine's command period describe interests that went beyond formal remote-viewing tasking.8 A 1995 investigation in The Independent reported that he held psychokinetic spoon-bending sessions for INSCOM officers, used neuro-linguistic programming and self-help training ideas, sent personnel to the Monroe Institute, and personally took part in remote-viewing sessions.8 The same account reported that these practices generated concern among some superiors and former colleagues, while also noting that Stubblebine retired in 1984 and joined BDM Corporation after leaving active duty.8
Later Public Claims
After retirement, Stubblebine and psychiatrist Rima Laibow became associated with the Natural Solutions Foundation, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center described as warning against vaccinations, pharmaceutical companies, and genetically modified foods.9 SPLC reported that Stubblebine claimed H1N1 swine flu was genetically engineered as part of a World Health Organization, United Nations, and United States sterilization scheme, and that he also asserted an airplane did not hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.9 The 9/11 Commission Report, drawing on FAA, NTSB, TSA, and other records, concluded that American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001.10
Assessment
Stubblebine belongs in a disclosure dossier because he was a high-ranking intelligence officer whose signature appears in declassified records authorizing and protecting Army psychoenergetics programs.3456 His verified importance is institutional rather than evidentiary: he helped move remote viewing from a fragile experimental effort into a compartmented INSCOM program, but the available official record does not validate paranormal collection or his later public conspiracy claims.67910