Historical Backgrounds
This page contains a compilation of tables, charts, graphics, and other chronological overviews of the history of remote viewing in general and Controlled Remote Viewing (CRV) in particular.
Introduction
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CRV Timeline
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| Dates | Milestones |
|---|---|
| 1979–1980 | U.S. Army INSCOM relays desire for a training method |
| 1980–1981 | Puthoff/Swann develop initial CRV stages |
| 1981, March | First Stage 1 training sessions |
| 1982 | McNear and Cowart begin CRV training (Cowart soon departs) |
| 1984 | Ray, Cavanaugh/Shufelt and Smith begin training for later Center Lane (Dames is ad hoc addition) |
| 1984, April | McNear completes training through Stage 6 |
| 1984, December | remaining trainees complete through Stage 3 |
| 1986, May | DIA CRV “manual” published in-house |
| 1994, April | Schnabel & Durant Stage 1–6 training (condensed) with Swann |
| 1995/96 | Swann requests name change to “Controlled” Remote Viewing |
| 1998 | DIA manual released to the public by Palyne Gaenir |
| 2004–2010+ | Tom B. CRV training with Swann |
First published: Paul H. Smith, CRV is not the Devil, IRVA Conference talk, 2022
3. The military operational RV periods that are covered are as follows:
| Program Cover Name | Sponsoring Headquarters | Approximate Dates of Existence |
|---|---|---|
| Gondola Wish | Army INSCOM | 1977 to 1979 |
| Grill Flame | Army INSCOM (and AMSAA) | 1979 to 1983 |
| Center Lane | Army INSCOM | 1983 to 1985 |
| Dragoon Absorb | Army INSCOM and DIA | 1985 to 1986 |
| Sun Streak | Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) | 1986 to 1990 |
| Star Gate | DIA | 1990 to 1995 |
Further, there is a period from about 1975 to around 1979/80 where the Air Force managed the program under the leadership of Dale Graff; and there may be documents from this period also mixed in with the rest of the archives. AMSAA was an Army organization at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD which carried on a fairly intensive remote viewing program for a short time during roughly 1978–1979.
4. Some of those assigned to the military RV unit are as follows (people are listed alphabetically, independent of program cover name they served under, and including last names only for those who are generally publicly known and, as far as I can determine, whose full names appear in the Archives; question marks [?] after viewer numbers reflect uncertainty about whether the number is correct or not):
| Name | Period of Service | Viewer Number | Method | CRV Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Anderson | Dec 1989 – Aug 1992 | 052* | CRV (1989) | Pettingell/Smith/ Buchanan/Riley |
| F. Holmes “Skip” Atwater | Sep 1977 – Dec 1987 | 66, 051 | Trainer/Training Manager | |
| Ken Bell | Jan 1979 – May 1981(?) | ? | GRV/ERV | |
| Lyn Buchanan | Apr 1984 – Dec 1991 | 018 | CRV (late 1984), ERV | Smith/McNear/Ray Cavanaugh/Dames |
| Charlene Cavanaugh/Shufelt | Aug 1983 – Jul 1987 | 021 | CRV (Jan–Dec 1984, 1985–86), ERV | Swann/McNear/ Atwater |
| Rob Cowart | Sep 1981 – Nov 1982 | 025* | CRV (1982) | Swann |
| Robin Dhalgren | May 1988 – Jun 1995 | 025* | CRV (1988, partial), WRV, ERV | Dames/Buchanan |
| Ed Dames | Jan 1986 – Dec 1988 (plus ca. 20 weeks training in 1984) | 099 | CRV (ca. 20 weeks in 1984, Stage I–III) | Swann |
| Angela Dellafiora | Jun 1986 – Jun 1995 | 079 | WRV, ERV, CRV (partial) | Dames |
| Fernand “Fern” Gauvin | Jan 1978 – Dec 84 (part time viewer) 1987 – 1991 (full time admin) | 072(?) | GRV/ERV | |
| Gene Lessman | early 1986 – 1988 | 052* | ERV trainer | |
| Joe McMoneagle | Dec 1978 – Jun 1984 | 01, 372 | GRV/ERV | |
| Tom McNear | Sep 1981 – Mar 1985 | 63 | CRV (1982 – Jul 1984) | Swann |
| David Morehouse | Jun 1988 – June 1, 1990 | 032* | CRV (1988), ERV | Pettingell/Smith/ Dames |
| Gabrielle Pettingell | Jun 1987 – Dec 1990 | 095 | CRV (1987) | Smith/Dames |
| Bill Ray | 3 Jan 1984 – 8 Jun 1987 | 101 | CRV (Jan–Dec 1984, 1985–86), ERV | Swann/McNear/ Atwater |
| Mel Riley | Dec 1978 – 1981 & Jun 1986 – June 20, 1990 | 011 | GRV, CRV (1986), ERV | Smith/Dames |
| Greg Seward | Nov 1989 – Jun 1995 | 049 | CRV (1989), ERV | Pettingell/Smith |
| Paul H. Smith | Sep 1983 – Aug 1990 | 003 | CRV (Jan–Dec 1984, 1985–86), ERV | Swann/McNear/ Atwater |
| Hartleigh Trent | Jan 1979 – Oct 1983 | GRV/ERV |
Sometimes the same number was re-used after a source left the unit. So 025 was used both for Rob Cowart and for Robin D., and 052 was used for Gene Lessman and for Linda A. Dave Morehouse shares 032 with an unidentified Grill Flame viewer. Dates of service should make clear which person is referred to in the Archives.
The viewer/source numbers will be helpful in sorting out who the viewers and who the monitors were on many of the various sessions. There are a number of numbers from the Grill Flame years that haven’t yet been identified as to which individuals they belong to. This is at least partly because viewers at the time were often assigned several numbers which were used interchangeably as a security measure.
Commanders of the Ft. Meade unit, and their tenures are as follows (I only include the full names of those whose full names so far as I can determine appear in the Archives):
| Name | Period of Service |
|---|---|
| Maj. (later LTC) Murray “Scotty” Watt | 1978 to |
| LTC (later Col.) Robert Jachim | to Jul 1983 |
| CPT F. Holmes Atwater | Jul – Aug 1983 |
| LTC Brian Buzby | Aug 1983 – 1985 |
| Maj. William G. “Bill” Ray | 1985 – Jun 1987 |
| LTC William “Bill” X. | Jun 1987 – Jan 1988 |
| Fernand “Fern” Gauvin | Feb 1988 – Fall 1990 |
| Dale Graff | Fall 1990 – Jun 1993 |
| Al G. | 1993 – Jun 1995 |
| Note that three of the commanders also appear in the list of viewers. Gauvin and Ray both served as viewers (Gauvin as a “part-timer”) before they became commander (also known as “branch chief”). Atwater served as interim commander between Jachim and Buzby while simultaneously serving as operations officer and training officer. | |
5. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) also figured prominently in the remote viewing saga. By the late 1970s under chief scientist Jack Vorona the Agency was a major supporter of and contractor for the SRI research. This continued up to the Star Gate program’s demise in 1995. But besides the research angle, DIA absorbed the Army’s operational unit starting in 1985 (with the official transfer from Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) coming on 30 January 1986). Important figures in the DIA effort were:
- Dr. Jack Vorona (deputy director in charge of science and technology intelligence issues)
- Dale Graff (who transferred is DIA in about 1980 when the Air Force discontinued its program)
- Jim Salyer (who monitored the SRI program for DIA from the 19705 through about 1990)
- John Berberich (replaced Vorona in early 1990)
Most primary DIA-related activities took place at the Defense Intelligence Analysis Center (DIAC) located on Bolling Air Force Base, across the Anacostia River from metropolitan Washington, DC. DIA’s actual headquarters, though, were in the E-ring of the Pentagon, where the Director’s office was at the time.
6. Despite labels such as “The ClA’s ‘Star Gate’ Program,” the Central Intelligence Agency never actually ran the Star Gate program. In 1994 Congress ordered DIA to turn the Program over to the CIA. The day the CIA took control, June 30, 1995, the Agency terminated the program as a functioning element. No military remote viewers ever actually worked directly for the CIA as viewers.
7. Projects and project numbers: The operational remote viewing projects conducted at Ft. Meade were usually numbered with the year and the order in which the tasking was received. For example: 8709 (the project against the Stealth aircraft) was the ninth project received in 1987. In the Archives, unfortunately, the actual target of a given project is in most cases missing, so it is frequently difficult to know what the purpose of the sessions was. However, reports included with the sessions often give useful clues as to what the mission was, and in some cases tasking information about the targets is included as well. Fortunately, this same problem doesn’t exist for the training sessions, where the majority of them come with the feedback attached so it is possible to see how well the viewer did in describing the intended target.
Glossary
- ACSI – Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence – the senior intelligence officer (usually a two-star general) on the Army staff in the Pentagon.
- CRV – Coordinate Remote Viewing (now called ‘Controlled’ Remote Viewing).
- DCSINT – Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence – replaced the ‘ACSI’; term.
- DIA – Defense Intelligence Agency.
- ERV – Extended Remote Viewing.
- Human Use – Rules governing experimentation on human subjects in scientific settings.
- ITAC – A Intelligence, Threat, and Analysis Center (an Army intel analysis organization)
- INSCOM – The U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Security Command.
- Monitor – Assists a remote viewer during the session (sometimes referred to as “interviewer”)
- SAIC – Science Applications International Corporation.
- Session – The period of activity during which remote viewing is done.
- SRI – Officially, ‘SRI-International’ – formerly the Stanford Research Institute
- Viewer – Remote viewer (sometimes also referred to as a “source.”)
- WRV – Written Remote Viewing (an RV method mixing channeling and automatic writing).