The telepathy refers to a hypothetical exchange of information between two people using only thought. In parapsychology, telepathy is one of the “extra-sensory perceptions”. Until today, this discipline is not recognized by the scientific community, and the experiences of parapsychologists are still strongly criticized by the scientific community, especially because of their methodology. Telepathy is therefore not a scientific discipline for the moment, but on the other hand, it represents a subject very much used by many science fiction writers. What if fiction becomes reality in the future? CIA documents show us the findings of the USSR on this subject, during the Cold War.
research on telepathy
Three recently released CIA reports (available here), dating from 1963 and 1964, investigate the Soviet Union’s use of extrasensory perception, and the attempt to develop “cybernetic telepathy”. The documents in question thus detail the conversations that an agent had with Soviet scientists, and a student, about the USSR’s interest in the development of extrasensory perception (and more precisely, telepathy).
According to these documentsit seems that the work of the Soviet Union to develop telepathy took place at the same time as those of the United States, a nation which was also interested in this field during the Cold War. The documents were obtained through a freedom of information law, and it says that DA Kerminovone of the Soviet scientists interviewed by the CIA, describes an experiment in which USSR researchers were able to “record” the central nervous system signals of a man playing the piano. These signals would then have been broadcast into the arms of another person who had never played a piano before. The scientist DA Kerminov then says about this:
This person was then able to play difficult music, but they also retained some of this skill as a lifelong learning.
However, the CIA agent in charge of the investigation will write “When pressed for more details, he could not provide them, nor refer to publications”. Kerimov however went on to say that the scientist Vasilyev was able to demonstrate very strong extra-sensory perception with certain subjects, although only certain people are able to receive the “waves” related to telepathy. The CIA Agent will write in comment about it “Some of the extra-sensory perceptions, which Kerminov admitted to believing, consisted not only in guessing events, but in predicting future random events”. Kerminov indeed affirmed that it was possible, according to a certain state of concentration (attainable by certain people only), to be able have access to certain elements of the future.
By reading the various declassified reportsit seems obvious that the CIA agent thinks that Kerimov seeks to surprise them and brag about its results, in order, perhaps, to scare not only the CIA, but also the entire American government. The CIA agent will indeed write a note in conclusion indicating that, for him, the USSR is not further ahead in the realm of telepathy than the United States. But apart from telepathy proper, concerning human interactions through thoughtthe field of cybernetics was also closely studied by the USSR.
From telepathy to cybernetics
Today, the word “cybernetics” is closely associated with science fiction, but in the early 1960s, on the other hand, this term encompassed all scientific efforts aimed at better understanding the exchanges that there could be between humans and machines. This was indeed a field of study which, among other things, tried to develop a framework for all human-machine interactions. It was thought that if we could construct a mathematical framework for all biological interactions, we could easily transpose it to machines.
Some scientists, in the United States and the Soviet Uniontherefore thought that it would be possible to eliminate the middleware altogether (or middleware) of a language, in order to establish direct communication between humans and machines, under the guise of telepathy. But based on the CIA agent’s conversations with the Soviets, the experiences on this were none of those. than in their infancy in the USSR. In contrast, Kerimov pointed out that as part of another project related to this research, USSR researchers had developed a “simulation of a frog’s eye” for airport surveillance purposes. So we wonder (halfway) if the Russians use similar processes, currently, to monitor Ukrainian airports.
Photograph of Toronto Pearson International Airport. What would international relations be like if airports and other complexes knew they were constantly being spied on by foreign powers, including within them?
Currently, cybernetics still exists, but rather as a source of inspiration for a thousand varied and specific fields of study. This is a development that the Soviet scientist predicted, according to the comments of the CIA agent :
Kerminov expressed some skepticism towards cybernetics enthusiasts. He was fully aware of the “fashion” aspect of this development and did not expect miracles. Cybernetics, he said, is not a science.
In the United States, meanwhile…
But what about the United States? ? Well know that during this same period, both the US military and the CIA attempted to explore the limits of human capabilities in their own “extrasensory perception and telepathy programs”. All of these programs have generated thousands of pages of documents and fascinating stories, but have produced no psychic warriors, nor any method of direct and reliable communication between man and machine.
However, let us tell you about the Gateway Experience, which has been talked about a lot. In 1983, the CIA wrote an obscure report (available here) on this experiment. It all started in 1950 with Robert Monroe, who managed to demonstrate that certain sound patterns had identifiable effects on human behavior (drowsiness or alertness, for example). In 1956 A research department was therefore created by Monroe, the objective of which was to study the effects of sound on human consciousness. Monroe will go so far as to write a book, in 1971, who talks about his own experiences, out of body journey.
Experiments of this type become “fashionable”, and arouse interest. In 1983, the CIA publishes a report entitled Analysis and Evaluation of the Gateway Process, or “Gateway Process”. This report explains how a training system designed to improve focus, increase brainwave frequency, and alter consciousness can ultimately allow you to escape the limitations of time and space.
As such, an experiment took place: the scientists involved ohaven’t tried talking to the Martians by interviewing a medium as he “visited” Mars a million years ago during a trance. This experiment caused the laughingstock of many scientists, although a small part of them showed interest in the experience. As you will have understood, there is undoubtedly still a lot to learn about the research previously carried out (or in the process of being carried out) by the United States and the USSR/Russia, and we look forward to discovering more. more documents on this subject in the future.
And you, on your side, does this type of work tend to worry you, or, conversely, tends to fascinate you? Unless it’s both at the same time? We let you answer vsThis question via our survey, and via our comments area !
