The 1974 Stanford Research Institute Psychical Evaluations: CIA-Monitored Anomalous Cognition

The CIA and Project SCANATE

In the early 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) grew concerned over Soviet advancements in 'psychotronics.' In response, the agency contracted physicists Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) to investigate the potential of anomalous cognition, then termed 'remote viewing.' By January 1974, the program—often referenced in declassified files as part of the broader STARGATE lineage—conducted a series of controlled experiments to determine if human consciousness could perceive distant locations or influence physical systems without sensory input.

Experimental Protocols and Results

The 1974 SRI evaluations focused on high-performing subjects, including Ingo Swann and Pat Price. One of the most famous documented trials involved 'long-distance viewing,' where subjects were asked to describe locations chosen at random by an experimenter traveling to secret sites. According to declassified report CIA-RDP96-00787R000700020003-8, the accuracy of descriptions provided by the subjects was 'statistically significant,' frequently providing specific architectural details of top-secret facilities. Additionally, the researchers conducted experiments with magnetic shielded rooms (Faraday cages) to rule out electromagnetic communication, finding that the 'psychic' signal was not inhibited by physical shielding.

Institutional Impact and Declassification

The SRI research led to over two decades of intelligence community funding for what would become Project STARGATE. While the program was officially shuttered in 1995 following a critical review by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), thousands of pages of SRI laboratory notes and CIA internal assessments were released in the late 2010s. These documents, available via the CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room and the Black Vault, show that senior intelligence officials took the findings seriously enough to recommend operational use for hostage location and strategic site surveillance. The 1974 SRI documents remain the primary evidence for the US government's historical investment in psychical research as a matter of national security.