Figure 1: Four segments in a row of significant deviations during CRV Stage 2 are highlighted in yellow.

Figure 1: Four segments in a row of significant deviations

during CRV Stage 2 are highlighted in yellow.

The CRV-REG Study


The CRV-REG study was inspired by an informal experiment conducted during the 2008 Labor Day weekend. While attending an introductory controlled remote viewing (CRV) training class a student, Melvin Morse, M.D., ran a Psyleron random event generator (REG) concurrently with the execution of a Stage 3-level CRV session by an instructor, Paul H. Smith.  The REG demonstrated some marked departures from randomness in its data stream that correlated with events in the remote viewing session typically considered to represent non-local connection with what we call the 'signal-line.'

The Psyleron REG

The Psyleron REG, based on technology developed at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Lab, is a portable device that produces a stream of digital random events. Put simply, the REG puts out a random stream of 1's and 0's. A sample sequence might look like this: 101011100100100101 and so on. A non-random stream would have many more 0's or 1's and might look something like this: 000101100000000001. The speculation is that human intention in some way interacts with the random processes at the lowest level of the universe and imposes order there, and it shows up in the REG.

Figure 2: Detailed view of first highlighted segment in Figure 1.

Figure 2: Detailed view of first highlighted segment in Figure 1.

Data exceeding the curves have a less than 1-in-20 odds

of occurring by chance alone.

The output of the REG is recorded and analyzed by a computer and is displayed as a graph of cumulative deviations about the theoretical mean. The graph is depicted with a standard x-y axis, and with symmetrical parabolic curves superimposed on segments of the data. These curves represent the point at which cumulative imbalances in the ratio of ones and zeros in the data stream reach statistical significance. The theoretical odds are 1-in-20 that an effect exceeding these thresholds is due to chance alone. As the deviations extend beyond the threshold of the curves, the odds that the effect is due to chance diminish rapidly.



The Initial Experiment

In the initial experiment the REG demonstrated some significant departures from randomness in its data stream that correlated with events in the CRV session. These deviations can be seen in the charts of REG data recorded during Smith's session. In particular, the highlighted section of the chart in Figure 1 depicts four consecutive segments that appear to exceed the 1-in-20 chance criteria. A detailed view of the first segment, the beginning of Smith's Stage 2 activities, is depicted in Figure 2. These segments correspond to Stage 2 CRV events and were selected real-time prior to the graph being generated!

This was also an excellent CRV session. A nine digit random number '080901923' was assigned and intended to "connect" Smith's perceptions with the target. The target selected by Smith's students was the Beijing Olympic Stadium, called "Bird’s Nest," at the time of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics.

Stage 3 CRV Sketch of Bird's Nest Target Stage 3 CRV Sketch of Bird's Nest Target The Beijing Olympic Stadium - Bird's Nest

Stage 3 CRV sketches of the target along with an arial view of the Beijing Olympic Stadium - the "Bird’s Nest"


Compare Smith's Stage 3 sketches to an arial view of the target. Note the references to "colosseum," "water," and what appears to be fireworks over the structure.

Goals

Our goal was to see if this effect could be replicated in a more formal experimental framework.  We hope the data will show an organizing effect between the output of an REG and the access of the signal line by a remote viewer during a CRV session. If such an effect is found we hope to correlate the stages of CRV with non-random data in the REG output.

Proposal

Our first step was to generate a proposal that would outline what we wanted to study, how we were to go about it and the requirements to successfully complete it. We outlined previous studies and how our study would add to the existing knowledge base. We stated our hypothesis and the implications if borne out and a summary of the study with associated references.

Experimental Design

Next we designed our experiment. The design incorporates the outline of the proposed study along with detailed lists of the tasks and methodology associated with conducting the experiment. It is crucial to outline a procedure for each task so that nothing is left to interpretation by the experimenters.

Institutional Review Board

Although remote viewing is considered to be a harmless task, the study group decided to form and recruit a formal institutional review board (IRB). The role of the IRB is to review the experimental design and to determine if the experiment is safe and appropriate for the use of human subjects.

Funding

Once the experimental design was approved by the IRB the study proposal was transmitted to potential donors. We were fortunate to receive funds from a number of contributors to the IRVA Gabrielle Pettingell Memorial Research Fund allowing us to concentrate on a successful study.

Execution

An early November 2008 date was set for the experiment and six remote viewers were recruited along with four volunteer staff members to run the computers, REGs and to initiate the CRV sessions. On Friday and Saturday, 7-8 November 2008 in Austin, Texas, the experiment was conducted. Four rounds of six viewers each, produced a total of 24 remote viewing sessions together with matching REG data sets.

Analysis and Conclusions

Remote viewers tend to do their best work when they have the least amount 'invested' in the outcome. The remote viewers in the study endeavored to do a good job for the experimenters and hoped to effect the REG outcome in a non-random manner. Their desire to do so may have resulted in sub-standard remote viewing performance. Consequently, the first set of sessions on Friday afternoon showed little site-contact for the RV sessions, and also very little REG movement away from the random baseline. Though disappointing, it was supportive of the first half of the hypothesis, which was: if RV sessions were less successful in ‘connecting,’ there should be little impact on the REGs.

The Saturday sessions were higher in quality, and seemed to provide positive evidence for the second half of the hypothesis, which was that RV sessions that "connected" to the signal line would see the REG data streams affected towards non-randomness.

We are now in the painstaking data analysis stage of the study, and all the original data is now posted on this website.  As we slowly make our way through the process, we will update each session with commentary, and the results from our analysis.

We hope this project will promote additional research by establishing a framework for future remote viewing studies. We have included all the documentation associated with the study on this website. It is our disire that others will use the documentation as a template for further research and examination of the remote viewing phenomena. We also invite those individuals who are interested to download the REG spreadsheet data, and do their own analysis and draw their own conclusions.

A special thanks to all the IRVA members who contributed to the project through the donation of their time and energy, and through their generous financial contributions to the Gabrielle Pettingell Memorial Research Fund.