The 1972 CIA Intelligence on Soviet Psychenergetics: Research into Biological Energy Transfer

Intelligence Collection on 'Project 685'\nThroughout the early 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) became increasingly concerned with Soviet advances in what they termed 'psychenergetics.' Declassified intelligence report CIA-RDP96-00787R000500090007-3, titled 'Soviet and East European Research Related to Biological Energy Transfer,' details the extensive state-funded efforts by the USSR to harness psychic phenomena for military and espionage purposes. The research was centered at prestigious institutions such as the Institute of Control Problems and the Institute of Problems of Information Transmission in Moscow.\n\n## Documented Soviet Experiments\nThe intelligence reports focus on several key Soviet figures, most notably Nina Kulagina and Karl Nikolaev. Kulagina was documented by Soviet scientists—and observed by Western intelligence through intermediaries—demonstrating 'telekinesis,' the ability to move objects without physical contact. The CIA reports meticulously detail experiments where Kulagina reportedly influenced the heartbeat of a frog and moved non-magnetic materials under controlled conditions. The Soviets theorized that these abilities were linked to 'bioplasma' or electromagnetic fields generated by the human nervous system.\n\n## The Concept of 'Biological Radio Communication'\nAnother significant area of Soviet research described in the declassified files was 'biological radio communication.' Researchers like B.B. Kazhinsky and I.M. Kogan investigated the possibility that the human brain could transmit and receive information via extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves. The CIA expressed concern that the Soviets were attempting to develop 'psychotronic' weaponry capable of influencing the mental states of foreign leaders or disrupting electronic equipment through focused psychic intent.\n\n## US Strategic Response\nThe documentation of Soviet success in these fields was a primary driver for the initiation of US-based programs, including the early stages of what would become Project SCANATE and later Project STAR GATE at Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The 1972 report concludes that the Soviet Union's commitment to psychenergetics was not 'pseudo-science' but a serious, multi-disciplinary effort involving physicists, neurologists, and engineers. These records, now available through the CIA FOIA Reading Room, provide a factual basis for the Cold War 'psychic arms race' that remained classified for decades.