Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
by Annie Jacobsen
View on GoodreadsWhy would the CIA, the DIA and the Army spend decades funding research into ESP and psychokinesis? Because they feared the Soviets were getting there first. Jacobsen follows remote viewing through Stanford Research Institute and SAIC from 1973 to 1995, Stargate included, and leaves it to you whether any of it worked.
Core ideas
- A psychic arms race: Both superpowers treated paranormal research as a defense priority, and neither side wanted to fall behind.
- Deep roots: The story reaches back to Nazi-era ESP interest and the CIA's MKUltra research, with Uri Geller, Andrija Puharich and astronaut Edgar Mitchell in the cast.
- Claims and critics: The programs claimed uses like locating hostages, fugitives and military assets, and the scientific fight over the statistics gets its hearing too.
Published2017
Pages544
ISBN9780316349369
ReadMay 2024
