The Psychic Battlefield: A History of the Military-Occult Complex [Paperback]

W. Adam Mandelbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2002

A former intelligence professional sheds new light on the obscure intersection of the military and the paranormal—the military-occult complex—and reveals the incredible story of psychic abilities turned into a weapon of war by the world’s soldiers and spies.

In the annals of military and espionage history, many strange tales have been told, but none can match the saga of psychic espionage-the history of the military-occult complex. With the flavor of fiction, yet with its foundation in fact, The Psychic Battlefield is the complete history of the use of man’s extrasensory powers in search of the information needed to win wars—hot and cold.

The Psychic Battlefield spans the five-thousand-year history of ESPionage, from the attempted overthrow of the Pharaoh Rameses by magic to the CIA’s use of military-trained psychics during the Cold War. It is a story as true as it is incredible.

The cast of characters includes such noteworthy names as sorcerer-poet Aleister Crowley, author Ian Fleming, spoon-bending General Stubblebine, and psychic warrior David Morehouse. In addition, the book features an exclusive interview with top psychic spy Joseph McMoneagle.

Most remarkable of all is Mandelbaum’s fascinating expose of the paranormal research and remote-viewing experiments conducted by the CIA, as well as the real effectiveness of the government’s Stargate program.

Attorney, psychic, former intelligence professional, and dark-side investigative reporter, W. Adam Mandelbaum clearly demonstrates that the final frontier of future wars and spies is the mind. Stay tuned.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As far back as ancient Egypt, when King Nectanebus used magic and wax figurines to control the outcome of an upcoming battle, military leaders and heads of state have used virtually every magic trick in the occult book to influence the course of international relations. Bizarre as it may seem to those impatient with such things, the practice continues to the present day, with even the Pentagon and the CIA trying a hand at metaphysical warfare. In this work spanning 5,000 years, Mandelbaum--a former U.S. intelligence agent who claims to be a psychic--recounts the means by which various nations have pressed the supernatural world into military service. Some sections, such as that on the mystic Rasputin, mostly recount what has already been told many times over. Elsewhere, the material intrigues, if only by showing the extent to which government agencies have placed their faith in psychic phenomena. In one episode, Mandelbaum recounts that in the 1970s a U.S. government-employed psychic warned that Secretary of State Henry Kissinger would be attacked by Libyan assassins in Saudi Arabia, and that Kissinger's wife, Nancy, would be killed. The warning came while Kissinger was actually en route to Riyadh; the psychic was part of the secret Project Bluebird, which sought to read the mind of Libya's Moammar Khadafy. In response to the psychic's prediction, U.S. authorities had Kissinger whisked away immediately upon landing. Mandelbaum's forthright belief in the occult ("The Force does exist--within us") will raise eyebrows and even a few guffaws among skeptics, but his material is both informative and entertaining, and will find a readership among military history buffs and believers in the paranormal. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

W. Adam Mandelbaum is a New York attorney, practicing psychic, and former intelligence officer. He is the cofounder of the Intuitive Studies Institute, a remote-viewing research group.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312288727
• ISBN-13: 978-0312288723
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable history of psychic warfare., February 16, 2000

By 

Joseph W. McMoneagle (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Psychic Battlefield: A History of the Military-Occult Complex (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a very enjoyable and eminently easy book to read about the history of PSI and its use in warfare, this is an excellent book. There is a lot of material here. Some of it has been around for a long time, but not so much of it has been collected and stashed in one place, which makes this a great book for the home library. Of particular interest is both the intense interest in, and use of psychics throughout history, by governments as well as individuals. It would seem through evidence, that while "psychic functioning" has sometimes been heavily relied upon and sometimes ridiculed, it has always been with us, and for a very long time. A nice compendium of information.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Smug, smarmy, misleading & affected. What a waste of time., August 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Psychic Battlefield: A History of the Military-Occult Complex (Hardcover)

Have you ever gotten completely annoyed after paying $10 to see a horrible movie, thinking "I just lost 2 HOURS of my life, that I will never be able to get back!" ?? This is how I feel, after reading this poorly written book.

I have read 5 books on remote viewing in total, including 2 by Joe McMoneagle, 1 by Courtney Brown and finally the Jim Schnabel book "Remote Viewers : The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies" before this disaster, so I feel that I have a good reference point by which to form an educated opinion. Based on that, I have one question for W. Adam Mandelbaum: Why write a book, when you have nothing to say? If you're into VAGUENESS, innuendos and HINTS about things that you nor I can substantiate, even if this horrible author actually gave us straightforward FACTS to investigate (of which there are VERY few) then this is the book for you. If you don't want to learn ANYTHING, by all means, click "Add to Cart" right now. For those who are seriously interested in what seem like FACTS (he names names, folks) then go for the Schnabel book, and then up to Joe McMoneagle's work. Leave this one out completely, as it is a VERY frustrating read (HINTS HINTS HINTS!), and the author has crowned himself the "original" writer on this subject, which is patently untrue. The condescending attitude toward his peers, his arrogance and self proclamation of importance in the PSI programs only serves to alienate the reader. Through this tedious read, it is also plainly obvious that this man is in this for the money ONLY, and shamelessly attempts to drum up business for his company. Also, his unprofessionalism being blaringly apparent is demonstrated on this very website. Read HIS reviews of OTHER remote viewing works. This is something that should simply not be done, nor allowed. Go to the page for the Schnabel book, read Mandelbaum's review, and click on his name to read ALL of his reviews. It is absolutely PRICELESS to read over and over again such phrases as "For the complete history of psychic spying, get my book PSYCHIC BATTLEFIELD." and "As the author of the newly published PSYCHIC BATTLEFIELD, (St. Martin's Press 2/2000)", not to mention my favorites "Hell, I should know, I am the author of the first complete history of psychic spying--THE PSYCHIC BATTLEFIELD." and the shameless self-promotion in his review of Jim Schnabel's book, "For the complete story, I recommend my work." Are you disgusted yet? Getting the point? Well, Mandelbaum's book has the same feel as his reviews. Disgracefully self centered, for someone who was a VERY, VERY minor player in the PSI world. ...If you read this book before any others on the subject, you will surely toss your interest in PSI research into the dumpster right along with this amateurishly written nonsense. (Doesn't St Maarten's press have an EDITOR on staff?) Oh, and by the way, Mr Mendelbaum, you may remove your lips from Joe McMoneagle's buttocks now. We get the point. He's very good, and dignified. Learn from him. And grow up.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A lot of info, but significant drawbacks, March 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Psychic Battlefield: A History of the Military-Occult Complex (Hardcover)

Wow -- it's impressive that Joseph McMoneagle gives this book 5 stars. Author Mandelbaum has done a lot of research, and presents use of the paranormal by the military in ages past well, with some good discussion of the ethics of using psi, the validity of psi and remote viewing, and some useful comments on how the implications of remote viewing affect our world view. But in my opinion the drawbacks of this book severely limit it.
For instance, Mandelbaum lists as "not fact" the story by David Morehouse that Morehouse's army helmet was hit by a machinegun round. Why is it not fact? Because one scientist says that head trauma can't awaken psychic experience. And because McMoneagle had a Near Death Experience (awakening McMoneagle's psychic ability), that means Morehouse couldn't have very separately suffered head trauma. Not only are there a number of people who report that head trauma awakened their psychic talent, but one could also find a number of scientists who would say McMoneagle's NDE couldn't have any relationship to psychic ability. Why the double standard? Does Mandelbaum really confuse McMoneagle's NDE (without head trauma) with Morehouse's head trauma (without NDE)? How illogical to claim that one man's NDE disproves another man's head injury! Morehouse was actually struck by a bullet; by including such pointless attacks, Mandelbaum makes us wonder what other stuff Mandelbaum made up.
Mandelbaum also criticizes Morehouse because Morehouse couldn't remote-view the location of a stolen manuscript. Yet McMoneagle, in McMoneagle's own book, says that "Remote viewing is _not_ good for locating [lost] things" (emphasis in original). There's little dispute McMoneagle is the best; yet Mandelbaum criticizes Morehouse for not doing something McMoneagle says can't be done.
Mandelbaum's chapter 24 contains repeated sophomoric insults to Ronald and Nancy Reagan. What does that have to do with the book topic? Where was the editor?
Some editing out of personal animosity and illogic, and the removal of cutesy and sophomoric comments, would greatly improve this book. For the person interested in remote viewing, I'd recommend, instead, Jim Schnabel's _Remote Viewers_ and Joseph McMoneagle's _Mind Trek_.