Knowledge Explorer | Intellectual Disciple
There is a direct and vital connection between Ingo’s work as an artist and his lifelong research into remote viewing, perceptual awareness systems, parapsychology, and bioenergetics. His early drawings of inner imagery became a doorway into understanding how perception functions beneath conscious awareness.
As Martin Ebon wrote in Spiritual Frontiers Quarterly:
“It was when Ingo started to make drawings of his psychic visions that he discovered a very basic kind of ESP system that lies within us in undeveloped form. It is this system and the process of using it that became the foundation of Ingo’s lifelong research.”
Ingo often described himself humorously as a “guinea pig,” but his intention was deeply serious:
To demonstrate that these perceptual capacities could be studied, documented, and validated through established, peer-reviewed scientific methods.
This section presents the empirical record of that work: the experiments he took part in, the institutions that collaborated with him, the archives preserving the history, and the programs that continue that legacy today.
Much of Ingo’s research is preserved at the University of West Georgia’s Ingram Library, Special Collections, one of the most significant repositories of parapsychology, consciousness studies, and humanistic psychology in the United States.
Alongside Ingo’s papers are the collections of major figures such as Dr. William Roll, project director of the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory and one of Ingo’s closest friends.
These collections form a shared historical framework for understanding the scientific environment in which Ingo worked.
Of exceptional importance within the UWG collection are Ingo’s Stanford Research Institute (SRI) files. They are the most complete archival record of the origins of Controlled Remote Viewing (CRV) and the early scientific attempts to map perceptual awareness systems.
These records include:
- documentation for the first generation of RV test subjects, including Thomas (Tom) M. McNear, CPT, US Army (Retired as a Lieutenant Colonel) and Ingo;
- transcripts, sketches, matrices, and analytical summaries;
- internal memos describing perceptual signal behavior;
- early theoretical models and working notes;
- procedural refinements written by Ingo during CRV development; and
- correspondence with SRI scientists and other researchers.
Together, these files chart the emergence of CRV as a structured methodology, something that did not exist before Ingo’s involvement.
But Ingo’s personal research extended far beyond formal government protocols. His exploratory sessions targeting Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury became some of the most historically discussed perceptual experiments of his career.
His Jupiter session produced details later echoed by NASA’s Voyager mission. Astronaut Edgar Mitchell remarked on Ingo’s Mercury work:
“It took Mariner 10 months to get to Mercury — but Mr. Swann was able to project his consciousness there in an instant. Mr. Swann’s findings — weeks before we received the Mariner 10 data — were incredibly accurate.”
All related materials (slides, transcripts, speeches, analysis binders) are preserved in the UWG collection.
WHAT YOU WILL FIND ON THIS PAGE...
This page brings together a broad overview of Ingo’s empirical work and the archival resources that preserve it. Here you’ll find:
A partial but representative list of Ingo's scientific collaborations. Including experiments in:
- perceptual-signal tracking;
- bioenergetics and psychokinesis;
- extended perception trials;
- ESP and PK laboratory protocols; and
- cross-disciplinary studies connecting imagery, attention, symbolism, and cognition.
These examples highlight Ingo’s extraordinary range as both subject and collaborator in formal research settings.
Information about the University of West Georgia's Human Consciousness Program.
One of the few academic programs in the world exploring consciousness through:
- Psychology
- Parapsychology
- Phenomenology
- Transpersonal Studies
Ingo’s archive is a key resource used by faculty, graduate students, and visiting scholars in this program.
Descriptions of other major human consciousness archives held at UWG.
These archives provide a shared research environment that contextualizes Ingo’s contributions within a broader scientific tradition.
Details about the Ingo Swann Research Fellowship
This annual fellowship supports scholars studying parapsychology, consciousness, or extraordinary human perception. This includes:
- Fellowship background.
- Announcements of each year’s recipient.
- Links to public lectures by fellows.
- Application details for future scholars.
The fellowship ensures that new research continues to grow from Ingo’s legacy.
A Psychic Guinea Pig
A Partial List of Ingo's Experiments
- Cleve Backster, Backster's Lab (1971): telepathically interacting with plants/plant consciousness and psychokinetic effects on small samples of graphite.
- Dr. Gertrude Schmeidler, City College of New York (1971): psychokinetic effects on recorded temperature as recorded by thermometers in sealed thermisters.
- Dr. Karlis Osis and Dr. Janet Lee Mitchell, The American Society for Psychical Research (1971-1972): out-of-body consciousness and perceptions from which the term Remote Viewing was coined.
- Dr. Carole Silfen, The American Society for Psychical Research (1972): temporal and spatial perception aspects of Remote Viewing potentials.
- Dr. Harold Puthoff and Dr. Russell Targ, Stanford Research Institute (1972): psychokinetic perturbations of helium, nitrogen, thermisters, magnetometers, and photomultipliers.
- Dr. Harold Puthoff and Dr. Russell Targ, Stanford Research Institute (1973): experiments which led to the creation of Project Scanate, a CIA-funded program of Remote Viewing by geographical coordinates.
- Dr. Willis Harman, Stanford Research Institute (1973): experimental prophetic correlations.
- Arthur Twitchell, Dr. Janet Lee Mitchell, Dr. John Wingate, and Dr. Gertrude Schmeidler, American Society for Psychical Research (1974): precognition and human consciousness.
- Stanford Research Institute (1974-1988): continuous in-depth research funded by various governmental and private clients, including the CIA, ARPA, DIA, DOD, Army Intelligence, MIA, AMSAA, NAVELEX, Stephan Schwartz/Mobius Group, and Trammel Crow, some of which led to Ingo's creation of Controlled Remote Viewing (CRV) and to CRV's operational use as an espionage tool under Project Center Lane and later Project Star Gate.
- Dr. Robert Miller, Georgia Institute of Technology (1975): psychokinetic effects in a diffusion cloud chamber.
- Dr. Marcel Vogel and Randall Fontes, San Jose, California (1975): psychokinetic effects on plants.
- Dr. Jacques Vallee, Dr. Arthur Hastings, and Dr. Gerald Askevold, Institute for the Future (1975): Remote Viewing experiments utilizing computer conferencing.
- Dr. William Roll, Psychical Research Foundation (1976): long-distance remote hearing experiments.
- Dr. Charles Tart, University of California at Davies (1977): clairvoyant viewing of equipment.
- Dr. Elmer Green, Menninger Foundation (1989): physical fields and states of consciousness.
- Dr. Gerald Epstein, New York, New York (1990s): lucid dream work and mental image accessing, management, and decoding.
- Dr. Michael Persinger and Dr. William Roll, Laurentian University Neuroscience Research Group (1998/2000): neuropsychological, cognitive, and personality assessments and EEG analysis of brainwave frequencies.
The "probes" [at SRI in August of 1972] of helium, nitrogen, thermisters, magnetometers and photomultipliers constituted psychokinetic-type experiments -- the "mind-over-matter" thing. I think some few of these experiments went well, for I remember that when it seemed a PK effect had been achieved, the technicians who has set up the equipment usually said "there must be something wrong with the equipment."
--Ingo Swann, Remote Viewing: The Real Story
The University of West Georgia (Uwg)
Consciousness Research @ UWG
Cleve Backster
Backster was a well-known CIA interrogation specialist in the 1960s, famous for his unique experiments involving plants and polygraph tests. He believed that plants were capable of feeling pain and had extrasensory perception (ESP), which gained widespread media attention. After World War II, Backster established the CIA's polygraph unit and later founded the Backster School of Lie Detection in New York City in 1960. The school, now called PEAK Polygraph Training, trained law enforcement officers on how to use the polygraph test. Though it is no longer operational, its impact continues to be felt in the field of lie detection.
After attending the Milton Academy in Massachusetts, Bird worked in France from 1946-1947 in the resettlement of French families displaced by World War Two. Bird obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Harvard in 1951, during the time of his studies he lived with Colonel and Mrs. Sergei Boutourline who were from Russia. From 1951 to 1954 he was trained and served in U.S. Intelligence, spending two years in Japan. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army and served until 1956 in the Psychological Warfare unit in Vietnam. After being discharged he worked as an arts critic at the Honolulu Advertiser in Hawaii, then in 1958 began serving as a personal assistant to Dr. James H. Rand at the Rand Corporation in Washington D.C. In 1965 Bird obtained a Master of Arts in Soviet Studies from American University. He then spent 1967 to 1968 as a foreign correspondent for TIME/LIFE in Yugoslavia. In 1973 he co-authored with Peter Tompkins the Secret Life of Plants. In 1979 he published The Divining Hand: The 500-Year Old Mystery of Dowsing. Secrets of the Soil, also co-authored with Tompkins, was published in 1989.
Harari was a noted psychoanalyst, clinical and forensic psychologist, disability examiner, and prolific workshop leader worldwide on issues of peacemaking and political psychology. He was an active officer and member of many international psychology groups, including the Psychologists for Social Responsibility, the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, the National Accreditation Association for Psychoanalysis, the Council of Representatives of the APA (1974-1994), and the Committee on International Relations in Psychology. He served as president of the International Association of Applied Psychology, president of the New York State Psychological Association, and president of the Rockland County Psychological Society. Harari was an APA fellow in eight divisions, including Clinical, Psychotherapy, and Independent Practice.
Guggenheim is recognized as a pioneer in the field of After-Death Communication (ADC) experiences, earning him the title of "father of ADC research." He has dedicated over 25 years to studying and sharing his knowledge on this subject. In the mid-1970s, Guggenheim delved into spiritual teachings and expanded his understanding of reality under the guidance of Reverend Anne Gehman. Together with his former wife, Judy Guggenheim, they founded The ADC Project and conducted extensive research by interviewing 2,000 people and collecting over 3,300 firsthand accounts from individuals who believed they had received messages from deceased loved ones. Their book, Hello From Heaven!, was self-published in October of 1995 and later picked up by Bantam Books for hardcover publication in April 1996, making it the first book on after-death communication to be published.
In 1960, Knowles graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor's degree before earning a Master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966. He has held various jobs throughout his career, including teaching English and ESL, working as a medical transcriptionist, and owning his own software company called ABCZ Software. In 1999, he joined TransDimensional Systems, one of the earliest commercial remote viewing companies, as a remote viewer. However, the company shut down in March 2003. From 2005 to 2008, Knowles worked for the Aurora RV Group, followed by the Applied Precognition Project from 2012-2016. In 2017, he released his book Remote Viewing from the Ground Up, which chronicles his experiences at TransDimensional Systems as a novice trainee in their "Bananaslam" program to becoming a viewer and eventually a Training Coordinator.
Krippner is an American parapsychologist and psychologist who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. in 1954 and obtained his M.A. (1957) and Ph.D. (1961) from Northwestern University. He has been part of Saybrook University's executive faculty since 1972, serving as the Alan Watts Professor of Psychology until 2019. In addition to this, he has held positions such as director of the Kent State University Child Study Center (1961-1964) and director of the Maimonides Medical Center Dream Research Laboratory in Brooklyn, New York (1964-1972). Krippner has published extensively on a variety of topics including altered states of consciousness, dream telepathy, hypnosis, shamanism, dissociation, and parapsychology. He has also taken leadership roles in several divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA), including serving as President of Division 32 (concerned with humanistic psychology) from 1980-1981 and President of Division 30 (the Society for Psychological Hypnosis). Krippner's research on dream telepathy with Montague Ullman at the Maimonides Medical Center earned him the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology in 2002.
LaShan was a psychologist, educator, and best-selling author of How to Meditate (1974), a practical guide to the practice. He wrote over 75 articles and 15 books on various topics, including psychotherapy, war, cancer treatment, and mysticism. He also dabbled in science fiction under the name Edward Grendon. LaShan earned his bachelor's degree from The College of William and Mary, his master's from the University of Nebraska, and his Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago. He taught at several institutions, including Pace College, Roosevelt University, and the New School for Social Research. He also served as a psychologist in the United States Army for six years. During the 1960s and 1970s, LeShan conducted extensive research in parapsychology. In his book The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist: Toward a General Theory of the Paranormal, he explored topics related to paranormal phenomena, mystical thought, and quantum mechanics. In World of the Paranormal: The Next Frontier, LeShan delved further into his ideas about the paranormal, proposing that psychic abilities such as clairvoyance, precognition, and telepathy can be explained using quantum theory. In the 1980s, LeShan shifted his focus to pioneering work in psychotherapy for cancer patients.
Born on April 3, 1936 in West Virginia, Mitchell joined the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC) and served from 1958 to 1961. After her time in the WAC, she worked as a Research Assistant at the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) for six years, conducting laboratory studies on extrasensory perception (ESP). During this time, she also earned a B.A. in Psychology from Hunter College in 1972 and later received her Ph.D. in experimental cognition from City University of New York in 1981. In 1985, she relocated to Arizona where she became a professor at Yavapai College. As a leading researcher in parapsychology, Mitchell dedicated her work to studying out-of-body experiences, human consciousness, and extrasensory abilities. Her unwavering curiosity and dedication to expanding knowledge gained her high regard among colleagues and admiration from those who were impacted by her research. Among her published works are two books: Out-of-Body Experiences: A Handbook and Conscious Evolution.
Anne Cohen Richards dedicated her career to the study of humanistic psychology, serving as a professor at the University of West Georgia for over 25 years. She received her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University, where she studied under well-known psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and James B. Klee. Continuing her education at the University of Florida, she worked with notable professors including Arthur W. Combs and Sidney Jourard. She holds a Doctor of Education degree. Richards has co-authored and edited several books, including collaborations with her husband Fred Richards and I. David Welch. She also served as the Executive Officer for the university's chapter of Association for Humanistic Education and currently serves as a trustee for the Field Psych Trust, which supports research in perceptual psychology and honors the contributions of Arthur W. Combs.
In 1981, she gave a controversial lecture at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Over the years, she has become a renowned psychic detective, working on over 400 cases with police departments in various states and countries. With her unique understanding of both law enforcement and the supernatural, she has been featured on numerous shows such as Larry King Live, Court TV's Psychic Detectives, Good Morning America, A&E Beyond Chance, and A&E Unexplained. She has collaborated with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies on around 600 unsolved cases, using her method of holding objects belonging to missing persons to gather information about their disappearance. Her book, A Mind for Murder: The Real-Life Files of a Psychic Investigator, was originally published in 2005.
Born in England, Roberts moved to New York City in 1978 and later received training at the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain in London. Roberts has made appearances on popular television shows like Unsolved Mysteries and has been featured in various newspapers and magazines. Since 1986, she has shared her yearly predictions with the public through Cindy Adams's column in the New York Post. Along with being a psychic medium, Roberts has also worked alongside parapsychologist Dr. Michaeleen Maher, which has been documented in two editions of the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. She is also trained in handwriting analysis from the American Franklin School of Contemporary Studies under Patricia Marne. In 1996, she was introduced to renowned remote viewer Ingo Swann by Dr. Maher and they conducted an investigation together. Paula is open to participating in experiments (from reputable sources) and has taken part in activities such as ghost-hunting, lectures, and traditional séances. She was even selected as the medium for one of Houdini's Official Halloween Seances in New York City.
Roll was a renowned figure in the fields of psychical research and academic parapsychology. Born in Bremen, Germany in 1926, he spent most of his childhood in Denmark, his mother's homeland. Dr. Roll's fascination with paranormal phenomena began at the young age of 16 when he had an out-of-body experience.
He pursued higher education at Oxford University under the guidance of H.H. Price and focused his Master of Letters thesis on "Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research." His doctoral studies at Lund University in Sweden delved into the topic of "This World or That: An Examination of Parapsychological Findings Suggestive of the Survival of Human Personality after Death." He gained experience working at J.B Rhine's Duke Parapsychology Laboratory in Durham, N.C before establishing and directing the Psychical Research Foundation (PRF). In the 1980s, he joined the faculty at the University of West Georgia where he served as a professor and was initially funded by the PRF. He later continued teaching as an adjunct professor in the Psychology department until his retirement in 2008. Dr. Roll is well-known for his contributions to cases such as the Seaford Poltergeist and Columbus Poltergeist. He also served as president of the Parapsychology Association, authored four books, published over one hundred scholarly articles, and edited eleven volumes of Research in Parapsychology.
Smith, author of Remote Perceptions and Diary of an Abduction, holds a Ph.D and is one of the founding directors of the International Remote Viewing Association (IRVA) as well as the founder of the Nevada Remote Viewing Group. Over the years, she has provided remote viewing consulting services for organizations like Psi Tech and Intuition Services, while also teaching this skill both in Las Vegas and internationally. In the 1980s, Smith participated in research at the Psychophysical Research Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey before moving on to work as a research staff member at Princeton University's Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory until its closure in 1987. At PEAR, she was involved in projects focused on topics such as Precognitive Remote Perception (PRP) and Human-Machine Interaction (REG). While working at PEAR, she enrolled as a student at Saybrook Graduate School to pursue her doctorate degree in psychology. Prior to that, Smith earned her bachelor's degree in psychology in 1978 and worked as a research nurse for the Faculty of Medicine at Manchester University while also studying for her master's degree at the Institute for Child Development at Manchester University.Her work has been published in various academic journals including Cortex, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Journal of Humanistic Psychology. She continues to write, teach, and conduct applications work through her involvement with the Nevada Remote Viewing Group.
Born in Vienna, Austria in 1910, Weisskopf-Joelson emigrated to the United States in 1939 amid World War II. She earned a doctorate in psychology from the University of Vienna and went on to teach at prestigious universities such as Briarcliff College, Indiana University, Purdue University, Duke University, and finally the University of Georgia. Alongside her teaching career, she also served as a clinical consultant for the state of Indiana. During her time at Purdue University, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was hospitalized for treatment between 1962-1964. It was during this time that she started showing signs of schizophrenia. Despite this challenge, she continued teaching for one year at St. Mary-in-the-Woods College in Terre Haute. Weisskopf-Joelson documented her experiences with mental illness in a diary which was later published as a book titled Father, Have I Kept My Promise? by Purdue University after her passing in 1988. After being discharged from the mental hospital in 1966, she returned to teaching and had a successful academic career until her retirement from the University of Georgia in 1978.
The Internation Association of Remote Viewers (IRA) Video Collection
The Video Collection contains VHS tapes and DVDs dated 2000-2014.
On March 18, 1999, a group of scientists and practitioners convened in Alamogordo, New Mexico to form the International Remote Viewing Association (IRVA). This meeting took place during the first professional conference on remote viewing held in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The founding members included notable individuals such as Hal Puthoff, co-founder of SRI's remote viewing program; David Hathcock, retired business executive and organizing facilitator; John Alexander, retired US Army Colonel in Special Forces and Intelligence; Lyn Buchanan and Paul H. Smith, both former US Army remote viewers and trainers; Skip Atwater, former US Army RV unit operations and training officer; Angela Thompson Smith, RV researcher, author, and trainer; Macello Truzzi, Professor of Sociology at Eastern Michigan University; Russell Targ, co-founder of SRI's remote viewing program; and Stephan Schwartz, author and remote viewing researcher.The main purpose of IRVA was to establish an organization that would evaluate the practice of "remote viewing," promote scientifically sound research methods, propose ethical standards, and provide educational resources for both the remote viewing community and general public. Their ultimate goal was to present unbiased information about remote viewing through their website, which includes published scientific findings, current research articles, educational opportunities, practice targets, community discussions, videos related to remote viewing, access to the CIA Stargate Archives, and listings of upcoming events related to remote viewing.
The Ingo Swann Research Fellowship
The fellowship was established to advance scholarship in the field of human consciousness and to encourage use of the human consciousness collections in the University of West Georgia, Ingram Library’s Special Collections in unique and creative ways.
Resources
Links
Archives of those mentioned in Ingo's Roll of Honor from his Real Story of Remote Viewing:
Elmer Green
Erlendur Haraldsson