Project Stargate

  Origins and Context

The CIA initiated Project Stargate in 1972 to investigate potential military and intelligence applications of psychic phenomena, particularly remote viewing.¹ The program emerged from concerns that the Soviet Union was developing psychic capabilities for espionage purposes.²

  Program Structure

The program operated under various codenames including GONDOLA WISH, GRILL FLAME, CENTER LANE, DRAGOON ABSORB, and finally STARGATE.³ Research was conducted at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) under the direction of physicists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ.⁴

  Key Findings

Remote viewers claimed successes in various operations, including locating downed aircraft and describing Soviet facilities.⁵ However, scientific evaluation of the program's results showed that while some trials produced interesting results, most were inconclusive or could not be reliably replicated.⁶

  Legacy and Declassification

The program was terminated in 1995 after a CIA-commissioned report by the American Institutes for Research concluded that remote viewing had not proven useful for intelligence operations.⁷ Documents were declassified in 2000-2004, revealing extensive research into parapsychological phenomena during the Cold War.⁸

  References

1. cia.gov ↩

2. cia.gov ↩

3. U.S. Army, "US Army's Interest in Psychoenergetics," CIA STARGATE Collection; DIA, "DRAGOON ABSORB Action Plan," CIA STARGATE Collection; American Institutes for Research, "An Evaluation of Remote Viewing: Research and Applications," CIA CREST ↩

4. cia.gov ↩

5. SRI International, "Final Report," CIA STARGATE Collection; CIA, "Preparation for the SRI Remote Viewing Experiment Arrangements with NPIC and NED" ↩

6. cia.gov ↩

7. cia.gov ↩

8. cia.gov ↩