TARG, Russell
American physicist who co-founded Stanford Research Institute's remote viewing program with Hal Puthoff under CIA funding in the 1970s.
Russell Targ is an American physicist who co-founded and directed the Stanford Research Institute's remote viewing research program from 1972 to 1995, conducting experiments into psychic phenomena under contracts from the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency. His work helped establish remote viewing as a subject of serious scientific and intelligence community investigation.
Targ, trained as a physicist and laser specialist, partnered with Harold Puthoff to establish SRI's remote viewing program following initial experiments with psychic Uri Geller in 1972. The program, which received approximately $20 million in government funding over two decades, aimed to determine whether individuals could psychically perceive distant locations and events without using conventional sensory methods.
The SRI experiments involved "viewers" attempting to describe target locations while isolated from any normal means of obtaining information about those sites. Targ and Puthoff developed rigorous protocols involving double-blind conditions, statistical analysis, and independent judging to evaluate the accuracy of remote viewing attempts. Some experiments appeared to show results significantly above chance expectations.
Notable experiments included sessions with retired police commissioner Patrick Price, artist Ingo Swann, and former military personnel including Joseph McMoneagle. The program investigated both laboratory-controlled targets and operational intelligence applications, with claims of success in locating Soviet submarines, missing aircraft, and other military objectives.
The remote viewing program was declassified in 1995 following a comprehensive review by the American Institutes for Research, which concluded that while some statistical anomalies were present in the experimental data, the effects were not sufficiently reliable or accurate for intelligence applications. Targ continues to advocate for the reality of psychic phenomena while acknowledging the limitations of remote viewing for practical applications.
Bibliography:
- Targ, Russell and Puthoff, Harold. 'Mind-Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Abilities' (1977)
- May, Edwin C. 'American Institutes for Research Review of the STARGATE Program' (1995)
- Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies* (1997)