Target Creation
The experiment target pool was created by two of the researchers. Targets were standard geographic locations (including unique land forms, land/water features, human-made structures, etc.). Paul H. Smith selected targets for five of the six viewers in the experiment (Target Pool 1). Since Smith also participated as a viewer, a second set of targets was prepared in the same manner by John Stahler to be used for the sessions Smith executed (Target Pool 2). The target pools contained five discrete targets, four of which were used, with one in reserve. All viewers and their taskers were double blind to targets they were assigned to remote view until after viewing was completed and session materials for that target were sequestered.
Target Preparation
Each target was represented by a feedback sheet consisting of the target name, the name of its most specifiable geographic location, and geographic coordinates for its precise location. Under this was a photo or photographs of the target location. Viewers were asked to mentally access the actual target location itself, not the photo that represents it.Each target was sealed inside its own individual, identical, opaque manila envelope. These five envelopes were presented to a disinterested third party who shuffled the envelopes and then numbered the envelopes arbitrarily from one to five.
Target Selection
Each new session rotation was initiated by the random selection of the target to be used during that rotation. A single six-sided die was rolled, until the resulting number corresponded with the numbered of an unused target envelope.Viewers were tasked at the beginning of each session and for each of the three subsequent rotations using what has become known as “encrypted coordinates.” These “coordinates” consist of the year, month, and day in reverse order followed by a two digit target pool number ('01' for targets selected by Smith and '02' for targets select by Stahler) and a letter representing which session is being undertaken. So, for example, for the first trial on Friday, November 7, 2008 each viewer received the coordinate ‘08110701A’ or ‘08110702A’ when it was time for him or her to initiate the session. In the vernacular of CRV, the respective “encrypted coordinate” expresses the tasker’s intent for the viewer to describe the target represented by the feedback sheet contained within the envelope selected for each session rotation. The encrypted coordinate was written on the selected target envelope.