The Central Intelligence Agency has investigated the controversial phenomenon called parapsychology as it relates to intelligence collection. The author was involved with many aspects of the last such investigations. This paper summarizes selected highlights of the experiences of the author and others. The intent is not historical completeness. Files are available for those interested in details. Instead the intent is to record some certainly interesting and possibly useful data and opinions. This record is likely to be of future benefit to those who will be required to evaluate intelligence related aspects of parapsychology.

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Parapsychology in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions, by Dr. Kenneth A. Kress, Studies in Intelligence, Winter 1977 [16 Pages, 1.1MB]

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The post Parapsychology in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions, by Dr. Kenneth A. Kress, Studies in Intelligence, Winter 1977 first appeared on The Black Vault.

This report presents the results of a review of Soviet research on the biophysics of parapsychological processes. The reviewers centered their attention on novel biophysical Information transfer (NBIT) mechanisms. The body of the report treats Soviet application of statistical theories, research done on electrostatics, the development of remote sensors, hypothesized carrier mechanisms, human sensitivity to magnetic fields, and performance training to improve. NBIT speculations are made with respect to Soviet research organization and as to the direction of future R&D. Conclusions are drawn concerning Soviet progress in understanding and applying NBIT mechanisms.

I requested the document Parapsychology and AI Research Report, 75-11096, but received the below report instead. I believe the CIA made a mistake, and I have filed an appeal for the record I requested. However, the below is related, and is archived here for reference.

Document Archive

 Novel Biophysical Information Transfer Mechanisms (NBIT), 14 January 1976 [119 Pages, 11.9MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/cia/parapsychology-AI-CIA.pdf

The post Novel Biophysical Information Transfer Mechanisms (NBIT), 14 January 1976 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the document:

“The purpose of this study is to review and assess Warsaw Pact country activities in para physics research. This includes assessment of trends, current research, and potential future achievements. Main concentration is on the USSR. Those topics that are considered of high potential are emphasized, although other topics that may have an indirect influence are also considered. This study has also been updated to include recent paraphysics research and activities that have occurred since the 1978 publication of the original study.”

Below, you will find two releases of the document.

First, you will find the latest release, given to me under FOIA Case FOIA-0078-2018 with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). This is a newer, less redacted copy, than the one below it of the same document, released many years prior.

Document Archive

2018 Release

 Paraphysics R&D – Warsaw Pact, March 30, 1978 [144 Pages, 4.9MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/PARAPHYSICS_RD-WARSAW_PACT.pdf

Original Release

Paraphysics R&D – Warsaw Pact, March 30, 1978 [125 Pages, 1MB]

The post Paraphysics R&D – Warsaw Pact, March 30, 1978 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Mind control (also known as brainwashing, reeducation, brainsweeping, coercive persuasion, thought control, or thought reform) is a controversial pseudoscientific theory that human subjects can be indoctrinated in a way that causes “an impairment of autonomy, an inability to think independently, and a disruption of beliefs and affiliations. In this context, brainwashing refers to the involuntary reeducation of basic beliefs and values”.

The following is a list of documents pertaining to mind control and research of the U.S. military and government.

Declassified Documents

Interrogation: Science and Art [371 Pages], December 2006 – U.S. military personnel and intelligence officers in particular are expected to gain accurate information from detainees or prisoners and thus need to know “what works” in “educing” information through interrogation, strategic debriefing and information elicitation. This book presents the work of 13 specialists in law, psychology, military intelligence, neuroscience, computer science, conflict management and library science. The authors review what is known and not known about educing information.

Is Military Research Hazardous to Veterans’ Health? Lessons Spanning Half a Century, 08 December 1994 [58 Pages, 3.48MB] – During the last 50 years, hundreds of thousands of military personnel have been involved in human experimentation and other intentional exposures conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD), often without a service member’s knowledge or consent. In some cases, soldiers who consented to serve as human subjects found themselves participating in experiments quite different from those described at the time they volunteered. For example, thousands of World War II veterans who originally volunteered to ‘test summer clothing’ in exchange for extra leave time, found themselves in gas chambers testing the effects of mustard gas and lewisite. Additionally, soldiers were sometimes ordered by commanding officers to “volunteer” to participate in research or face dire consequences. For example, several Persian Gulf War veterans interviewed by Committee staff reported that they were ordered to take experimental vaccines during Operation Desert Shield or face prison. The goals of many of the military experiments and exposures were very appropriate. For example, some experiments were intended to provide important information about how to protect U.S. troops from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons or other dangerous substances during wartime. In the Persian Gulf War, U.S. troops were intentionally exposed to an investigational vaccine that was intended to protect them against biological warfare, and they were given pyridostigmine bromide pills in an experimental protocol intended to protect them against chemical warfare.

On Resisting Social Influence [34 Pages], September 1979 – Resisting social influences becomes important when such influences can be appropriately thought of as ‘mind control.’ When information is systematically hidden, withheld or distorted it is impossible to make unbiased decisions. Under these circumstances, people may be subtly led to believe they are ‘freely’ choosing to act. It is precisely this kind of decision that persists and most affects our behavior since we come to believe in those attitudes and actions for which we have generated our own justifications. The thesis of this essay is that ‘mind control’ exists not in exotic gimmicks, but rather in the most mundane aspects of experience. Because it does, it is possible to reduce our susceptibility to unwanted coercive control by increasing our vigilance and learning to utilize certain basic strategies of analysis. In this paper, we present resistance strategies which are broadly applicable to the wide array of mind-manipulation attempts that surround us daily–in a ‘self- help’ format that provides for ready accessibility. Findings from relevant social-psychological research, from interviews and personal experiences with con men, cultists, super-salesmen and other perpetrators of mind control comprise the reservoir of information from which we have drawn.

Parapsychology in Intelligence [12 Pages], 1977

Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification, November 1974 – A Study Prepared by the Staff of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, Second Session. – A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. This report responds to a directive issued to the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights to conduct an investigation into behavior modification programs, with particular emphasis on the federal government’s involvement in the technology of behavior control and the implications of this involvement for individual rights. Two basic considerations motivated the investigation: first, the concern that the rights of human subjects of behavioral research are sufficiently protected by adequate guidelines and review structures; and second, the question of whether the federal government has any business participating in programs that may alter the substance of individual freedom. Although the material included in this report is by no means comprehensive, some initial findings are apparent: (1) there is widespread and growing interest in the development of methods designed to predict, identify, control, and modify individual behavior; (2) few measures are being taken to resolve questions of freedom, privacy, and self-determination; (3) the Federal government is heavily involved in a variety of behavior modification programs ranging from simple reinforcement techniques to psychosurgery; and (4) a number of departments and agencies fund, participate in, or sanction research involving various aspects of behavior modification.

Hypnosis In Intelligence, October 1966 [32 Pages, 4.91MB] – Hypnosis is one of the oldest techniques for altering and controlling human behavior. A method that has had its share of mistrust and professional neglect. Hypnosis in the past twenty years has been the subject of serious inquiry and sustained interest.  During this time, and even before, professional hypnotists have speculated on the possibilities of using hypnosis in warfare and in intelligence work. They have proposed that hypnosis could be used to strengthen the psychological defenses of captives and that it could be the means of gaining compliance from otherwise uncooperative persons. This paper explores some of the operational implications of these proposals.

Brainwashing From a Psychological Perspective, February 1956 [94 Pages, 11.7MB] – Received from the CIA. I had received a poor reproduction of this document many years ago, but in July of 2016, I was able to receive a much better, cleaner, more readable copy – so it has been replaced here.

Communist Control Techniques, [123 Pages], 2 April 1956

Classified Subject Header CIA Memorandum, 9 July 1951 [2 Pages, 0.8MB] – This memo, received from the CIA, is a declassified document involving the use of hypnosis, and its uses. It is heavily redacted, but shows a disturbing use of hypnosis, as documented by the CIA.

SEE ALSO: MKULTRA

The post Mind Control Collection first appeared on The Black Vault.

Background

Declassified Documents

Biological Radio Communication

 Biological Radio Communication, March 1963 [31 Pages, 1MB]

 Biological Radio Communication, April 1963 [179 Pages, 6.45MB]

General Parapsychology Documents

The Radiating Brain, by Ferdinando Cazzamalli, March 22, 1966 [254 Pages, 18.5MB]

Scientist Advances Hypothesis: Quantum Telepathy? Tells the Doctor of Psychological Sciences. July 6, 1973 [14 Pages, 1.5MB]

Parapsychology – Fiction or Reality, 1974 [23 Pages, 0.7MB] – The question in the title has been debated in the scientific and popular scientific literature all over the world for decades. Protracted periods of quiet .alternate with heated discussions that are precipitated by news on some paranormal phenomenon.
The authors of this article do not consider themselves specialists in parapsychology. However, in view of the increasing number of publications (especially of a popular scientific nature) both abroad and in the USSR, they feel compelled to take a position on observations and research on individuals with paranormal faculties. These publications are primarily the work of journalists and only in isolated cases of specialists, including psychologists and physiologists. They are not infrequently sensational and they do not fulfill the requirements of proper research. Nevertheless, they fall on the receptive ears of scientists in various disciplines, not to mention the average reader.” In this connection, the results of a survey conducted by the editorial staff of the English periodical “New
Scientist” in 1972 are informative.

Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research, April 15, 1975 [68 Pages, 1.6MB]

On the Edge of the Fantastic, 1977 [11 Pages, 1MB]

The One Human Problem, Its Solution, and Its Relation to UFO Phenomena, January 3, 1977 [25 Pages, 1MB] – The author divides development of life in a biosphere into seven stages: (1) development of planet, primordial atmosphere and ocean; (2) appearance of amino acids; (3) appearance of self-replicating supermolecules; (4) formation of one-celled organisms; (5) formation of multicellular organisms; (6) brain linkage of an intelligent technological species; (7) the omega or allness stage. The sixth stage consists of linkage of all individual brains in the species into one single superbrain.

“NO!” to Parapsychology, May 1977 [22 Pages, 1MB]

Paraphysics R&D – Warsaw Pact, March 30, 1978

 Phenomena Become [sic] Explainable, July 27, 1981 [16 Pages, 1.6MB] – Foreign intelligence records archived/translated by the U.S. Military.

Psychokinesis and it’s Possible Implication to Warfare Strategy, 1985 [89 Pages, 1.3MB]

The Mind/Mind Problem, 2005 [17 Pages, 1MB] – This document is a draft of Chapter 20 from “The Evolution of ROBART,” written by H. R. Everett of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, California. In this chapter, the author ponders why a human being’s “conscious mind” does not openly communicate with its “subconscious mind.” In taking a closer look at the interaction between the “conscious” and the “subconscious,” Everett discusses hypnosis, including getting hypnotized, prior-life memories, trance, and human suggestibility; the ideomotor effect; synchronicity; Psi phenomena, including the “telepathic” German horse named “Clever Hans,” psychics and mentalists, and remote viewing; and mirror neurons.

Psychotronics

 An Approach to Understanding Psychotronics, June 1976 [88 Pages, 4.6mb]

 Psychotronic (Selected Articles), 1978 [16 Pages, 2.66MB]

 Psychotronic Weapon Use, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Responsive Records – Released May of 2014 [159 Pages, 15.8MB]

The post Parapsychology Documents first appeared on The Black Vault.