History20th centuryUnited Stateslow confidence

The CIA began its own research into psychic phenomena in the summer of 1972, investigating whether people could 'see' distant locations and objects without being physically present, a capability called 'remote viewing.'

Notes on verification

Corroborated by CIA's own declassified materials, Federation of American Scientists archive, Wikipedia, and peer-reviewed/academic sources co-authored by the program's founding director. Minor discrepancy over exact start (1970 vs 1972) does not undermine the core claim. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=unverified indep_score=0.3 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable] [rescored 2026-09-15: curated origin-host map (PR #65); unclassified hosts no longer scored as aggregators]

Sources