Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Having been an undergraduate at MIT, I can attest to the innate scepticism that Paul Smith describes when those trained in the scientific method are first exposed to remote viewing. I also understand that the government, funded by taxpayer dollars in channels constantly modified by the electoral process, would be an unreliable sponsor for such efforts, regardless of their degree of success. Yet Paul Smith has done us all a profound service with his very well written and emotionally measured story of the history of remote viewing. This book really does make a difference and it is a pleasure to read and get to know a man who has lived at this most interesting borderland of science as we now know it.

The courageous heroes in Smith's saga of RV insiders are laser physicists, artists, military types right up the ranks, spies of every stripe and, believe it or not, some forward thinking members of the United States Congress! Without the personal courage to put their reputations and careers on the line, the highly successful secret remote viewing program described in detail in Paul's book would never have happened. This is a well-written story about how brilliant but otherwise ordinary people had the courage to do on a daily basis something that less open minds believe is impossible. I, for one, certainly hope there are other secret RV programs still in existence tackling the extremely difficult problems democracy faces in the war on terror. Our country needs more scientifically based, forward looking programs like this one. We certainly need more brave people willing to look carefully into the incredible human potential we all possess. My favorite quote in the book is "...human consciousness is not locked within the narrow confines of our physical bodies, ...it does not stop at the edge of our skins, but...can roam virtually at will across the face of the planet, down the hallways of time, and into at least some of the secrets of men." You don't have to be a physicist, artist, military type, spy or member of congress, to enjoy Reading The Enemy's Mind!

This is a uniquely comprehensive and reliable book about Remote Viewing. The history of RV - and its military/intelligence applications - is brought to life by the author, who was one of the first "pychic spies" trained by Ingo Swann. Plus, the theory and practice of real Remote Viewing is explained in crystal-clear language. Stands alone in the field, and will probably remain the definitive work on the topic.

First of all, read the other reviews because the previous reviewers hit on most of the salient points and there is no sense in repeating what they say most of which I agree with. Now, you are either someone who knows a little about remote viewing or maybe very little or nothing. If you know a lot about remote viewing, you have already read this book I wager. If you know a little bit about remote viewing and are interested in learning more about the field, you will want to read this book for a lot of good background information as well as practical tips of how to go about remote viewing since this is not a theoretical book per se but one which recounts the actual and practical experiences of people doing this for a living. This book should be a standard read for undertaking your own remote viewing projects. You will want to obtain more of a "how to" book in addition to this one to get some specific techniques down. However, this book will add invaluble information and insights to help in your own adventures.

For those who have discovered remote viewing or have come across this book and entire field for the first time, this book is pretty evenhanded and tries to stick with factual events and actual session results as much as possible. There is not really any far out speclation as to "the" explanation of how remote viewing works nor does the author make any far fetched claims of uncovering the secrets of UFO's, conspiratorial cabals or end time propechies which can not be verified objectively (or at least we haven't figured out how to verify these types of things objectively yet.) There are plenty of people who make these claims and plenty of books which read like science fiction, but the problem is that the reader is left with things that can't be verified easily and has to decide to believe in a tale or dismiss the entire field. Now, you can choose to believe what Paul Smith says in this book or not. However, Smith provides numerous references and notes in this book. Even more importantly, he provides information which the reader can verify or if s/he desires and can perform similar experiments which can be verified. This is the nice thing about remote viewing in general; one can test out the concepts themselves. The book is well written and flows easily. One reviewer indicated it might be a bit of work to read which I iniitally thought as I was reading the first chapter but then it was hard to put the book down as the meat events and experiences were related. Hopefully, you will decide to read this book first rather than some other more speculative books on the subject to keep some balance in your investigation of this interesting and practical metaphysical field.

This book is the most reasoned and detailed of any book on remote viewing that I've encountered (and I think that I've read all those that are available in the US). Paul Smith offers explanations and descriptions of the remote viewing process at a level of detail sufficient to satisfy, without suggesting that a person can learn these finely-tuned skills on his or her own. The history of remote viewing is presented with a depth surpassing mere summary, and he introduces the reader to the most interesting and intriguing figures in RV's life cycle. In addition, Mr. Smith openly addresses issues concerning the developments (some of them troubling) of remote viewing subsequent to its military use. Paul Smith's writing style is lucid and engaging. Heartily recommended.

Ingo Swann is the God-Father of the remote viewing program that started it all. Paul Smith, one of Ingo's star students, writes a cohesive and comprehensive story from the inside view of the many covert remote viewing programs and its participants over a more than 25 year time line.

Paul Smith sets the story straight and fills in many details that have been glossed over by others, or just plain lied about.

Many of the people claiming to have been key players in these programs are given exposure by Paul to what may have been hidden previously, and purposedly kept in the dark by these same individuals.

Paul Smith as done a wonderful job of writing this story, allowing us to live with him in his own personal journey from a sceptic to a psychic spy.

This book is an important addition to the few good books on the subject of Remote Viewing. It should be required reading for any person interested in this subject.

Paul Smith was named unit historian for the Army's Center Lane - Sun Streak - Star Gate project, and reading this book it is clear why. Smith has an exceptional eye for detail, and goes out of his way to back up any assertions he makes with evidence. In many ways, his method of writing resembles journalistic reporting, meticulously footnoted with his sources clearly identified.

What does differentiate Smith from a journalist, however, is his lack of objectivity when it comes to the various personalities within the RV "community." The author clearly "sides" with the Swann-Puthoff protocol for remote viewing, and holds these pioneers and their methods in undeniably higher regard than any of the more "progressive" viewers who sought to alter or in any way modernize the practice of RV. In that way Smith is a traditionalist or purist, and his critique of other parapsychological methods being integrated into the remote viewing process must be taken with the proverbial "grain of salt." I imagine this has much to do with Smith's close relationship to Swann, who insisted that his protocols be strictly followed in order to maintain the integrity of the technique.

This attitude aside, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a clearer picture of how RV evolved in relation to the Army's use of it for espionage purposes. The title is sadly misleading - there is little if any "mind reading" going on in this story - but the book itself is fascinating.