Jacques Vallée
Computer scientist Jacques Vallée became interested in remote viewing after learning about research by Russell Targ and Hal Puthoff at the Stanford Research Institute, where he developed ARPAnet, a forerunner of the Internet. Vallée designed an experiment in which twelve subjects who were active as experimenters and clairvoyants in PSI research (including Ingo Swann) were tested for their ability to describe mineral rock samples from a distance. Participants, who were in different regions of the United States and Canada, typed in their descriptions using ARPAnet terminals.
The geological samples were divided into an open series and a double-blind series. The evaluation was carried out by a committee of five independent analysts. The correct target sample was identified in 8 out of 33 cases in the entire group with a probability of one hundred to one (p = 0.01). However, only Ingo Swann was consistently correct in his part of the experiment and thus significantly above chance (p = 0.04).
Both the open and the blinded test series showed evidence of non-local perception, which contradicts the skeptical hypothesis that poor methodology is responsible for the positive results. Although the experiment succeeded in demonstrating PSI effects, its main experimental manipulation failed.
As a rich source of observations involving unique phenomena,Psi R esearch has a unique place in science: It should not begin for rec ognition from physics. In astrophy sics you don’t try to reduce or deny «impossi ble » observationsby the so-called “laws” of lab physics on Earth … that cannot reproduce the observed phenomena.
(Translation of the quote: As a rich source of observations involving unique phenomena, psi research has a unique place in science: it should not beg for approval from physics. In astrophysics one does not try to reduce or deny “impossible” observations by the so-called “laws” of laboratory physics on earth … which cannot reproduce the observed phenomena. Psi research should lead, not follow.)
Publications:
- The Software of Consciousness: Intriguing Lessons and Lingering Puzzles on the Far Side of StarGate (PDF)
