'Remote viewing' is only part of our mysterious Universe

By Steve Hammons


February 22, 2006

"Remote viewing" is a technique and skill that is quite interesting. Remote viewing usually refers to the original program sponsored by CIA, DIA and Army intelligence during the 70s, 80s and early 90s as well as offshoots of those techniques that have developed since.
A research outfit called SRI did much of the original work on remote viewing and continues similar research today. Women and men, some military and some civilian, were trained in remote viewing and tasked with operational missions that were important to U.S. national security at the time. The program used a somewhat formal protocol that helped remote viewers perceive things using only their minds.
In 1995, the CIA cancelled the remote viewing program. At least they told the public they did. Many suspect that U.S. Government remote viewing efforts continued.
Remote viewing was used to help our national defense intelligence efforts by gathering information on places, people, things and events of interest. Remote viewers learned to get into a certain state of mind, perceive remotely, then report and draw their findings.
However, the formal and somewhat narrow technique of remote viewing seems to be just a slice of a much broader and deeper situation.
Interestingly, some of the key scientists at SRI were not psychologists but physicists. They found indications in physics research that the Universe and Nature seem to be structured in such a way that phenomena like remote viewing are possible and natural. The physical world we live in and the physics involved simply work in ways that are somewhat surprising to us, such as the way remote viewing seems to operate.
Hunches, intuition, gut feelings all can be similar phenomena. Our unconscious minds are linked to larger things including networks of information, feelings, perceptions and realities. Undoubtedly, we are connected to the larger Universe and spiritual levels of reality. Remote viewing is another sense that we have, just like sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.
In psychology, Carl Jung's "collective unconscious" was an idea that humans can tap into, and are part of, a large consciousness. Our individual consciousness might be part of a larger, common consciousness. Einstein put forth his "unified field theory" about a single, underlying force. More recently, the concept of "zero-point energy" explores similar theories.
Some students of remote viewing have said that this is not a new skill that our advanced brains are now evolving to learn. Rather, it might be an old capability that our ancient ancestors had. Over time, our more conscious intellectual minds may have diluted this sense. We might simply be re-learning something very old.
It has also been hypothesized that animals may use a kind of remote viewing to communicate and to perceive aspects of their surroundings.
Think about it. We can't see TV, radio and cell phone signals around us. But when we have the right receiver, we can tap into them. So, maybe it's not so strange that other signals we can't see or touch are real, and we can tap into them to perceive things that might originate far away. In fact, remote viewers use the term "signal line" in referring to tracking a perception.
Remote viewing also involves the awareness that we can incorrectly interpret incoming data. A misperception can occur when our conscious minds get in the way and our imagination or existing mindset fills in the blanks or jumps to a conclusion about a remote viewing impression. Remote viewers call this "analytic overlay" and good remote viewers take steps to minimize it.
Over the decades, remote viewers tried to perceive information about enemy weapons and facilities, threats to U.S. assets and to locate kidnapping victims, among other things. Keeping the perceptions and reports accurate was obviously an important consideration.
In some cases, qualified remote viewers reportedly perceived highly unusual things such as UFOs and extraterrestrial beings piloting them and visiting Earth. Some people might say that this indicates remote viewing is not reliable. Perceiving a UFO as an extraterrestrial spacecraft through a remote viewing effort certainly goes out on a limb.
But, more commonly, remote viewers tackled more down-to-Earth targets that could be confirmed through satellite images or other methods. Confirmation of accurate remote viewing occurred in experiments and training as well as real-life and life-or-death intelligence operations.
Remote viewing experts indicate that the technique can be used successfully not only for perceiving things in space, that is, things out of sight and far away, but also in time. Things past and future can also reportedly be perceived by remote viewing. This brings up many theories in physics and science fiction that time has interesting characteristics which we might not fully understand.
There are many good books on remote viewing, many written by the military and intelligence personnel who did that kind of work for the CIA, DIA and Army intelligence. Many legitimate training courses are also available. The Web is full of information on aspects of remote viewing. At the least, it is interesting to read these stories and learn about the research. At most, it could change us for the better and contribute to the advancement of science, medicine and the human condition.
As we face challenges as individuals, societies and the human race, remote viewing seems like a skill that can open a door into greater understanding of the Universe and Nature as well as ourselves. Remote viewing seems to be a clue, a message, that all is not what it seems. That there are interesting paths in Nature and within all of us that can lead to very meaningful discoveries.