U.S. Military-grade psychic

The following is a very partial, incomplete and cursory account of certain intriguing details present in a controlled remote viewing (CRV) manual used by intelligence agents and disseminated by Paul H. Smith. This article is as far a substitute from reading the work itself as can be imagined, as many important details are omitted here. Instead, the purpose of this article is simply to give a cursory look at the amount of structure and sophistication required to conduct a truly high-quality remote viewing session.

Remote viewing is classified at the outset of the manual as a form of “psychoenergetic perception,” and defined by SRI-International as “the acquisition and description by mental means, of information blocked from ordinary perception by distance, shielding or time.” The remote viewer is the person who engages in this activity and the “monitor” is defined as the individual who assists in the session in various ways. The viewer is not given the nature or location of the site but is provided a cue which functions as a channel by which the contents of the location are accessed.

The remote viewing process is structured according to six stages, detailed below. These stages constitute a learning progression from one stage to the next, and the mentor looks for certain milestones that determine when a viewer is ready to progress to the subsequent stage. Generally, the viewer will ideally demonstrate consistent control and replication of relevant stage elements and is able to operate without the interference of analytic overlay for 5–6 sessions. After this, he writes out an essay-long account of what he viewed, and sufficiently high levels of accuracy warrant movement to the next stage.

The text postulates the existence of an immaterial “Matrix” in which all information is housed. Students of Hinduism may note a conceptual resemblance to the concept of the Akashic records, David Bohm’s implicate order, or perhaps Carl Jung’s collective unconscious or objective psyche. Access to the Matrix is obtained through a hypothetical “signal line” used by the viewer to perceive and decode the information.

The signal line functions as a carrier wave and is controlled through an “aperture” in spacetime that provides the viewer access to the Matrix. This generates a rapid influx of signal energy by which the viewer is given access to a “gestalt” of information (“gestalt” refers to a holistic or unified picture greater than or not reducible to the sum of its parts).

The “Limen” refers to the threshold of consciousness (liminal) acting as the interface between the subconscious (subliminal) and conscious (supraliminal). The danger of overreliance on the conscious, analytic component of the mind involves the possibility of “Analytic Overlay (AOL),” which consists of subjective interpretation of data that may be irrelevant to the target.

The signal line impinges on the autonomic nervous system which causes the information received to be converted into a reflexive nervous response through muscular channels which results in what in remote viewing theory is known as an “ideogram.” Despite the usefulness of the ideogram in sketching what the viewer perceives, symbolic thought emerging from the conscious mind can distort results through imposing linear, sequential, analytic and quantitative thought patterns onto data whose nature is fundamentally nonlocal.

This can occur when, for example, the contents of a target contain a metal complex which actually consists of a bridge, but which the viewer misinterprets as a sports stadium due to prior associations of these materials with the latter. The analytical “left-brain” must not be allowed to interfere with the more holistic and intuitive processes of the “right brain,” which major in this process.

The text describes the “first time-effect,” more colloquially known as “beginner’s luck.” Remote viewers will oftentimes experience extraordinary success at the beginning, only to gradually decline in accuracy unless proper protocol in skill cultivation is applied. The hypothesized reason for this in the manual describes dormant psi-conducting channels that initially catch the analytic watchman off-guard, only for the latter to resume its function and interfere with the accuracy of these channels in subsequent viewing.

The manual advises that the ideal training protocol for remote viewers involves “quitting on a high point” rather than practicing ad nauseam, and that failure to do so may result in “overtraining” or burnout, which can severely impede remote viewing accuracy in the absence of adequate rest. The number of viewings an individual can do in a single day varies a great deal, and a rest period is known as “absorption” is recommended following this process.

“Inclemencies” (sources of physical or mental stress that may impede remote viewing) are taken into account to determine if they can be worked through. Hunger and the need for waste elimination are particularly potent inclemencies that ought to be eliminated prior to the beginning. Extra-personal inclemencies such as extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic radiation, generated by solar storms or sunspots, may also impede the viewer.

An inclemency would be one of many occasions that would require a “break.” In the event of analytic overlay, the signal line is put on hold while AOL is flushed from the system. Breaks are often necessary, according to the manual, in the event the viewer becomes confused by events either in his immediate physical environment or by what is communicated in the signal line. Such interference can cause a great deal of inaccuracy and the viewer is encouraged to take whatever time necessary to ensure the coherent viewing may be resumed.

A “Too Much Break” becomes necessary when too much information is provided by the signal line all at once, causing an overload of information. Effort is then made to slow down the system in order to acquire information in order of importance (quality, not quantity!). The viewer resumes after this overload is dealt with. A bilocation break occurs when the viewer is too absorbed in the site in a way that makes it hard to objectify (coherently articulate and operationalize through discursive thought) site information. This can also occur if the viewer is too absorbed in what is happening in his immediately physical context. In this case, the viewer may be only weakly connected with the signal line.

The ideal environment is one that has as little distracting stimuli as possible.

Once the cueing information is provided, the session has officially begun. The manual articulates six stages involved in the remote viewing process:

1. Stage 1 sites — Specifies broad characteristics of the area (mountain, ocean, desert, forest, island, etc.). Signal line is acquired and used to establish a gestalt (general, holistic picture). The viewer then goes on to objectify and decode the received contents. Information in the signal line is “encoded” or translated into a code or information system which is transmitted across the signal line, and which the viewer must decode through proper structure. This occurs after the prompting method (coordinates or arbitrary tag of numbers) is used to “evoke” the signal line, at which point it impinges upon the autonomic nervous system.

The use of the ideogram is the first component of the I/A/B sequence.

The “A” component involves feeling and motion and involves the use of impression to determine physical consistency of the target.

The “B” component refers to the first, spontaneous analytic response to the ideogram and A component.

Phase I of Stage I involves identifying the major gestalt, and Phase II involves identifying a second one, if applicable.

2. Stage 2 sites — Description of site in terms of five senses. This stage usually entails the use of clusters of words, typically between three or four. At this stage, the aperture through which the signal line enters the viewer typically widens, causing the information to seep through to the subject more slowly, allowing greater descriptive precision.

The aperture continually widens as the viewer proceeds through stages II and III, at which point “dimensionals,” or words used by the viewer to conceptualize perceived elements, become relevant (vertical, horizontal, etc.). Analytic overlay will typically decrease significantly during this stage. Dimensionals occurring during stage II are typically rejected as unreliable. During relevant widening of the aperture, the viewer may experience Aesthetic Impact (AI), which is experienced as an intense sensory impression.

3. Stage 3 sites — Significant characteristics of the area. Perception of dimensionality occurs in which the viewer perceives a composite of site aspects. At this stage, the viewer is able to begin to perceive dimensions of things like airports, monuments or bridges.

The six primary dimensionals perceptible at this stage are “diagonal,” “horizontal,” “mass,” “space,” “vertical,” and “volume.” The widening of the aperture that occurs at this stage may flood the viewer with information with sufficient intensity that he experiences an Aesthetic Impact (AI), which consists of a vivid and subjectively and/or emotionally intense impression of elements of the site. This AI can distort results and must be identified and allowed to dissipate in order for the session to proceed properly and accurately.

Perception of mobility (objects or persons moving from one place to another) may likewise become especially vivid at this stage. AOL may occur in this stage in such a way that the analytic component of the mind imposes an interpretation of the site on the signal line that may resemble the actual contents of the target in some ways, but results in unacceptable distortion nevertheless.

The manual itself uses the example of someone attempting to perceive Westminster Abbey but interpreting it as Notre Dame Cathedral. During this stage, it is possible for the viewer to experience AOL Drive, which occurs when the viewer thinks he is on the signal line but is only imposing his own analytic overlay onto the target. AOL Drive may endure into subsequent stages if not dealt with appropriately in this stage. Repeating signals, signals ending in blackness, or unusual participation in the signal line, may all be signs of the presence of AOL Drive. During this stage, “ratcheting” may occur, which refers to the same AOL occurring again and again, as well as AOL “Peacocking,” which occurs with the unfolding of one AOL after another, similar to that of the unfolding of a peacock’s tail.

4. Stage 4 sites — Qualitative mental percepts or feelings. At this stage, it becomes necessary to properly organize and structure the tremendous amount of information the viewer has received. This allows the viewer to begin to focus on finer-grained information relevant to the target.

5. Stage 5 sites — The viewer learns to interrogate these qualitative mental percepts. This stage does not require direct access to the signal line, but instead, involves deriving data by accessing information that has been deposited in the brain below the threshold of consciousness at earlier stages during the remote viewing session.

The signal line imprints data on the brain through rearrangement of neuron clusters into the relevant patterns and is accessed through a prompting methodology that involves dividing possible types of data into the four categories of objects, attributes, topics and subjects.

According to the manual, attributes and topics are the most useful categories from which data may be retrieved, although others should be considered relevant as well.

6. Stage 6 sites — The viewer engages in three-dimensional modeling of the site and the relationship of its contents to one another. During this stage, kinaesthetic interaction with the site helps stave off the temptation to produce AOL and may help prompt further information relevant to the site.

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Founding editor Katherine T. Hoppe.