Reading the Enemy's Mind: Inside Star Gate: America's Psychic Espionage Program [Paperback]

Paul Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2005

From behind the cloak of US military secrecy comes the story of Star Gate, the project that for nearly a quarter of a century trained soldiers and civilian spies in extra-sensory perception ­(ESP). Their objective: ­To uncover the secrets of America’s enemies using a skill called “remote viewing.” Assigned to the remote viewing unit in 1983 at a pivotal time in its history, Army Major Paul H. Smith served there for the rest of the decade, witnessing and taking part in many of the seminal national-security crises of the twentieth century.
Now for the first time since the Star Gate secrets have been declassified and the program mothballed by the CIA, the complete story can now be told of the every-day soldiers who were drafted onto this battlefield of human consciousness. From the program's victories such as finding hostages in Lebanon to tracking foreign testing of weapons of mass destruction to unrelenting attempts from within and without to destroy the program, the history of the Star Gate program is extraordinary. This is a story for the believer and the skeptic---a rare look at the innards of a top secret program and an eye-opening treatise on the power of the human mind to transcend the limitations of space and time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When word got out in 1995 that the U.S. Defense Department and CIA had funded efforts to read people's minds, the news understandably excited all sorts of derision and conspiracy theories. Who would imagine that the story behind the efforts is actually a fascinating tale about the possibilities of human potential? Paul H. Smith tells the story of the U.S. "psychic spying" program in his book Reading the Enemy's Mind. Smith doesn't come across as some flaky new-ager. He was a young U.S. Army intelligence officer and Arab linguist who had no previous interest in extra-sensory perception when he was recruited into the program code-named "Star Gate" in 1983. Over the next seven years, he became one of the army's premier "remote viewers" and the primary author of its training manual on the subject. He also served as a tactical intelligence officer in the 101st Airborne Division in Operation Desert Storm/Shield and got a Master's degree from the Defense Intelligence College.

In Reading the Enemy's Mind, Smith reveals that the military and intelligence communities performed hundreds of experiments and operational intelligence assignments using "remote viewing," the government's term for ESP. The program's first big success came in 1979 when a viewer found a downed Soviet bomber in Africa after other intelligence operatives had failed--a coup praised by President Jimmy Carter. The psychics received target assignments from virtually every U.S. national-security agency, and Smith says they produced numerous positive results. Smith's biggest revelation, however, is that the government research found that almost all people--not merely a gifted few--seem to have the potential of developing ESP skills, with enough practice and a few tips from a pro like Smith. Many readers will no doubt find it hard to know what to make of Reading the Enemy's Mind and whether to believe any of it, but Smith writes with both color and a measured tone that together produce a captivating yarn even for the non-believers out there. --Alex Roslin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“One of the most important books about human potential you’ll ever
read.”--George Noory, host of Coast to Coast AM, Premiere Radio on Reading the Enemy's Mind

“The more pragmatic you think you are, the more you should read this fascinating book. It illustrates with unmistakably real examples just how effective psychic espionage can be, and offers tremendous hope for the future.”---Col. Walter J. Boyne (USAF, ret.), New York Times bestselling author of The Wild Blue

“At last, a hard-hitting, comprehensive insider’s view of the Star Gate program. Paul H. Smith names names and provides a much-needed unique and unvarnished history lesson. It is a must read for everyone interested in remote viewing.”--Colonel John B. Alexander, US Army (Ret.), author of Winning the War: Advanced Weapons, Strategies, and Concepts for the Post-9/11 World on Reading the Enemy's Mind

“So you thought the CIA was microwaving messages into your fillings. Boy, were you naïve. They don’t need black helicopters or microwave mind snatchers or psychotropic drugs. All they need is Paul H. Smith. He will do it all himself. Smith’s nonfiction The Manchurian Candidate will make mind readers of us all!”--David Hagberg, USA Today bestselling author of Soldier of God on Reading the Enemy's Mind

“Star Gate warrior Major Paul H. Smith gives us an up-close-and-personal look behind the scenes of the government’s psychic spy program as only an insider can. A must read!”---Harold E. Puthoff, Ph.D., founder and former director of Stanford Research Institute’s CIA-initiated Remote Viewing Program on Reading the Enemy's Mind

"I have covered the CIA since before its inception--back when it was still the OSS--and I thought I knew everything about it. Paul Smith opened my eyes to the most electrifying, inside-the-CIA expose ever. I was worried about the Company reading our mail. I was naive. I should have feared them reading our minds!"--Jack Anderson, Pulitzer-Prize journalist on Reading the Enemy's Mind

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812578554
• ISBN-13: 978-0812578553
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul H. Smith, Major, US Army (ret.), is the author of Reading the Enemy's Mind: Inside Star Gate -- America's Psychic Espionage Program." As a seven year veteran of the government's 'psychic espionage'effort, Paul was originally assigned to the Army's Center Lane remote viewing program starting in 1983 and later transitioned with the program to the Defense Intelligence Agency in early 1986. He was transferred out of the program in 1990 to participate in Desert Storm as a tactical intelligence officer with the 101st Airborne Division.

During his years with what ultimately came to be known as the Star Gate Program, Paul served concurrently as an operational remote viewer, training instructor, unit historian, recruiting officer, and security officer. Directly trained by the creators of remote viewing, Ingo Swann and Dr. Harold Puthoff of SRI-International, he was later the main author of the DIA "coordinate remote viewing" manual, and was primary theory instructor for the unit, being involved in the training of other now-well-known viewers including Lyn Buchanan, Mel Riley, and David Morehouse.

Smith retired from the Army in 1996 and started a commercial remote viewing training company, Remote Viewing Instructional Services Inc. in January 1997. His Austin, Texas-based company continues to train students. In 1999, he participated with Puthoff, Buchanan, Russell Targ, F. Holmes Atwater, and other researchers and remote viewing veterans to found the non-profit International Remote Viewing Association, and currently serves as IRVA's President. He organized and chaired the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2006 remote viewing conferences.

Paul has been interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning, the History Channel, A&E Network, and at various times by both Art Bell and George Noory on Coast-to-Coast AM, by Jeff Rense on "Sightings," and numerous other national, regional, and local media outlets.

He has a bachelors degree in Middle Eastern Studies (with minors in English and Art) from BYU, a masters in Strategic Intelligence (Mid-East emphasis) from the Defense Intelligence College, and is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Consummate RV History, February 21, 2005

By 

GR (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading the Enemy's Mind: Inside Star Gate: America's Psychic Espionage Program (Hardcover)

Paul Smith has done a remarkable job in tying together the numerous loose strings left dangling in other works on remote viewing (RV); consequently, this book will be considered a seminal work in this field. Many of the pioneers already have published significant works. For those new to RV, following are some of the more important books to consider: Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ began the public outing of remote viewing in their work `Mind Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Abilities' in 1977. (Targ recently published `Limitless Mind: A Guide to Remote Viewing and Transformation of Consciousness,' an overview and `how to' of remote viewing and remote influencing). Although not a member of the military unit, Jim Schnabel's 1997 book `Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies' was the first full public accounting of the U.S. government's use of RV. Since then, we have seen several of the major players in military RV publish their accounts. Joe McMoneagle, the most widely known of the military viewers, has published four very significant books on RV, most recently, `The Stargate Chronicles; Memoirs of a Psychic Spy.' Fred Atwater published `Captain of My Ship, Master of My Soul: Living With Guidance,' which went beyond the usual `I was there' recollection to provoking the reader to exploring the metaphysical. Lyn Buchanan authored the excellent `The Seventh Sense: The Secrets of Remote Viewing as Told by a "Psychic Spy" for the U.S. Military.' Of interest, Lyn details the critically important observation that remote viewers have different strengths and that it is crucial to database viewing results to increase the accuracy of RV sessions. Dale Graff, one of the unit's directors, has authored two books in this area: `Tracks in the Psychic Wilderness: An Exploration of Remote Viewing, ESP, Precognative Dreaming, and Synchronicity,' and `River Dreams: The Case of the Missing General and Other Adventures in Psychic Research.'

Most of these authors were hindered by security or personal concerns-Paul was able to bring a large portion of what remained hidden into the open. What sets Paul's book apart from the others is his attention to the philosophy and meaning Ingo Swann imparted behind each of the stages he developed (along with Hal Puthoff) for controlled remote viewing. Paul remains the faithful student of Ingo's teachings, and takes great pains to elaborate on the how and why behind the stages of controlled remote viewing.

Of interest, approaches to RV are as distinct as the people who practice it. For example, while Lyn Buchanan believes that you should practice ideograms until your subconscious is trained to immediately associate a specific ideogram with a specific item or activity (e.g., a wavy line equates to water) that you receive from the signal line, Paul Smith doesn't feel this is necessary. Dale Graff thinks that Swann's rigid process of controlled remote viewing may not be necessary as one may be able to obtain target data through directed precognitive dreaming. One common thread through the majority of the military viewers is that RV is a form of martial art (e.g., Joe McMoneagle's Rvdo), and requires practice like any martial art to develop expertise.

Be advised that there are other non-military RV practitioners worth noting such as Dr. Angela Thompson Smith who authored `Remote Perceptions: Out-of-Body Experiences, Remote Viewing, and Other Natural Abilities.' Stephen Schwartz has used RV to conduct archeological digs (see `The Alexandria Project' and `The Secret Vaults of Time: Psychic Archaeology and the Quest for Man's Beginnings.') For those wondering why, if all of this is real, hasn't the scientific community acknowledged its existence should read Dr. Dean Radin's work summarizing the over 130 years of valid scientific research in psi in his book `The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena.'

And then there is Ingo. Considered the father of controlled remote viewing, he has authored numerous books, and has been writing his own history of RV which can be accessed at his website http://www.biomindsuperpowers.com/

Finally, those who are interested in knowing the current status of RV should visit the International Remote Viewing Association's website at http://www.irva.org/

In summation, Paul Smith's book is a must read for those who want the most complete, up-to-date accounting of RV and it's rise and fall in the U.S. government.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smoothly readable and extremely informed, August 3, 2005

By 

Palyne Gaenir (Ozarks) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reading the Enemy's Mind: Inside Star Gate: America's Psychic Espionage Program (Hardcover)

Author Paul Smith, a former intelligence officer in the famous US government STAR GATE program, clearly waited to publish this until he could have "the last word" in a field where half a dozen participants have already published books about their experience in the program.

This gave him good positioning for reviewing not only his experience and the program overall, but anything written by others. It allowed a great deal of information collection for hindsight, which is one of the strongest feelings of the book--that someone took plenty of time to dot the I's and cross the T's.

The book is written very smoothly, and so despite being information-dense, it's highly readable. It doesn't feel like a textbook. It combines a good read with a ton of info, something difficult to do in nonfiction. He did a nice job.

There are a few event-points that he 'wrote over' quite elegantly, that rendered a couple significant issues invisible, and maintained a picture of history I feel is more creative and preferred by him, and less factual objectively. The 'suave grace of the writing' crossed the line to 'smooth talker' there (reminding me he's an intelligence expert). Nobody without a close association to either those events or those in even better position for facts on those events would think to question though.

I give it 5 stars because it's immensely readable, intensely filled with information, and given some of the books by former participants have been closer to fiction than non-fiction, Smith's book is an education for those new to RV and a big relief to those already involved with it.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scientific Remote Viewing wins over Psychic Cleo, April 15, 2005

By 

Gunrunner (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading the Enemy's Mind: Inside Star Gate: America's Psychic Espionage Program (Hardcover)

Amazingly coherent, exceptionally well-stated book that accurately (and with no touchy-feely New Age hyperbole) describes the evolution, history and performance of the modern--and now defunct--US Government Remote Viewing program.

Usually books investigating the Remote Viewing phenomena are one of two types; either they are emotive screeds for the "true believers," or they are dismissive to the point of being arrogantly pretentious, offering no reasonable analysis of why the US Government investigated for over 20-yrs a phenomena of interest that potentially affects the national security of the United States.

Paul Smith is an extraordinarily gifted Remote Viewing historian. He possesses a keen intellect and insists upon facts and "ground truth," and he brings that integrity to this book. Paul does not accept hearsay. He demands protocol and proof, and in this book he documents well the history of the US Government Remote Viewing program, his recruitment, training and education in Remote Viewing, as well as his efforts to keep the program loyal to the disciplined methodologies that bring some level of credibility to the program. While Ingo Swann, the "father of modern Remote Viewing" plays an important role in the evolution of the program, it is people like Paul Smith that made the program real, reliable and credibly represented.

Science is a realm of absolutes, and while Remote Viewing may never be able to adhere to the highest tenants of scientific methodologies, it is, nonetheless, and interesting phenomena that requires further study.