Why Open Targets Are So Hard

Introduction

One of the largest gaps between laboratory demonstrations of remote viewing and practical use is the problem of open-ended targets. In many experiments, viewers are asked to describe one target chosen from a limited, predefined pool of photographs or locations. Operational tasks are fundamentally different. A search team may need to identify the location of a missing person, an intelligence analyst may need to determine activity inside an unknown facility, or investigators may seek information about an event with no predefined answer set. In these situations, the possible correct answers are effectively unlimited.

This distinction matters because broad or partially correct impressions can appear meaningful when compared against a known set of candidate targets, yet contribute little when there is no constrained list for comparison. The central question therefore shifts from whether some descriptions resemble a target after the fact to whether the information is sufficiently specific, unique and reliable to guide decisions before the answer is known. The 1995 American Institutes for Research (AIR) evaluation highlighted this practical distinction, noting that operational users required concrete, verifiable information while remote-viewing reports often consisted of broad descriptions requiring substantial interpretation.[National Security Archive]nsarchive2.gwu.eduAppendix C, the interview reports, end users and remote viewers describe the operational targets presented to remote viewers. These…Re…

Why target pools make experiments easier

Laboratory remote-viewing studies deliberately simplify the statistical problem. Researchers typically create a finite collection of targets, randomise the selection process and ask independent judges to determine which target best matches the viewer’s transcript. This design helps estimate whether matching exceeds chance expectations.

However, these same design features reduce the complexity of the task compared with real-world applications.

A limited target pool offers several advantages:

For example, if four photographs are available—a bridge, a waterfall, a cathedral and a desert—a transcript mentioning “large stone structure beside water” may be sufficient for a judge to identify the bridge as the best match, even though the description omits many distinguishing details.

Outside the laboratory there is no comparable shortlist. If the task is to locate an unknown warehouse, identify a concealed submarine, or determine where a missing aircraft crashed, there may be millions of possible locations. A description such as “metal”, “water”, “industrial area” or “mountains” does not meaningfully reduce the search space.

The AIR evaluation explicitly recognised this distinction. It noted that intelligence consumers valued specific, concrete and independently verifiable information, whereas remote-viewing reports frequently consisted of general impressions requiring interpretation by analysts.[National Security Archive]nsarchive2.gwu.eduAppendix C, the interview reports, end users and remote viewers describe the operational targets presented to remote viewers. These…Re…

The missing person and hidden facility problem

Open-ended operational targets expose a difficulty that is largely hidden in closed laboratory designs.

Consider a missing-person investigation. The useful questions are highly specific:

A report stating that the viewer senses “trees”, “water”, “cold”, “metal fencing” and “an isolated feeling” may later appear compatible with many discovered locations. Before the outcome is known, however, these descriptors rarely identify one location strongly enough to justify allocating personnel or resources.

The same issue appears in intelligence applications. A hidden research facility could potentially exist anywhere within an entire country. Broad descriptions such as “large building”, “security”, “vehicles” or “underground activity” apply to numerous military and industrial sites. Unless the information narrows possibilities dramatically, the operational value remains limited.

This concern appeared repeatedly during reviews of the U.S. government’s remote-viewing programme. Interviews with intelligence users reported that operational reports often lacked the precision needed for actionable decisions. The AIR review also discussed evidence suggesting that performance declined when targets became more novel and less constrained than the familiar photographic targets used in many laboratory studies. Dynamic operational targets presented a much more demanding challenge than static experimental photographs.[National Security Archive]nsarchive2.gwu.eduAppendix C, the interview reports, end users and remote viewers describe the operational targets presented to remote viewers. These…Re…

Why vague impressions rarely reduce uncertainty

Open-ended tasks are difficult because every additional piece of information must meaningfully reduce uncertainty.

Imagine being told only that an unknown location contains:

• concrete,
• vehicles,
• people,
• fences,
• lights.

These characteristics describe countless airports, factories, military bases, warehouses and transport depots. Each individual statement may be accurate somewhere, but together they still fail to identify a unique target.

Operational usefulness depends less on accumulating broadly correct features than on providing combinations that sharply distinguish one possibility from thousands of alternatives.

Information becomes progressively more valuable when it includes characteristics such as:

This illustrates why specificity, not simply descriptive richness, becomes the limiting factor. Large numbers of broadly applicable statements may produce an impression of accuracy while leaving decision-makers unable to determine what action should actually be taken.

Why interpretation becomes a major source of error

Open-ended targets also increase the role of interpretation.

Laboratory judging often occurs after both the transcript and target are available. Judges can compare similarities directly and decide which target fits best. Operational users do not have this luxury. They must interpret ambiguous information prospectively.

This creates several difficulties:

• Analysts may unconsciously emphasise statements that fit existing expectations.
• Multiple interpretations of the same description may appear equally plausible.
• Failed predictions can later be reinterpreted in more favourable ways.
• Genuine errors become difficult to separate from flexible interpretation.

The AIR review identified this reliance on analyst interpretation as an important operational weakness. Rather than receiving directly usable intelligence, decision-makers frequently had to infer meaning from broad descriptions, increasing subjectivity and reducing confidence in the resulting assessments.[National Security Archive]nsarchive2.gwu.eduAppendix C, the interview reports, end users and remote viewers describe the operational targets presented to remote viewers. These…Re…

What specificity must add before action

For remote viewing to become operationally valuable, specificity must accomplish more than producing interesting descriptions. It must generate information that changes decisions before outcomes are known.

In practice, that means adding elements such as:

These requirements explain why many researchers distinguish statistical evidence from operational capability. A measurable laboratory effect, even if accepted, does not automatically demonstrate that remote viewing can solve open-ended intelligence, law-enforcement or search-and-rescue problems. The practical challenge is not simply detecting information above chance but producing sufficiently precise information to reduce uncertainty enough for informed action.

The debate over remote viewing therefore centres not only on whether unusual correspondences occur under controlled conditions, but whether those correspondences can survive the transition from closed experimental target pools to the essentially unlimited answer space presented by real-world operational targets. The available government evaluations concluded that this transition had not been demonstrated, even while acknowledging that some laboratory findings merited scientific discussion.[National Security Archive+2CIA]nsarchive2.gwu.eduAppendix C, the interview reports, end users and remote viewers describe the operational targets presented to remote viewers. These…Re…

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Endnotes

1. Source: nsarchive2.gwu.edu
Link:https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB438/docs/doc_57.pdf

2. Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00791R000200180005-5.pdf

3. Source: psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk
Title: spr.ac.uk Remote Viewing
Link:https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/remote-viewing/

Additional References

4. Source: researchgate.net
Title: 345430975 Remote Viewing Applications An Historical Overview and a New Survey
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345430975_Remote_Viewing_Applications_An_Historical_Overview_and_a_New_Survey

5. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/100090372200308/posts/during-the-[cold-war

6. Source: academia.edu
Title: Volume 4: Operational Remote Viewing: Memorandums and Reports.Read more
Link:https://www.academia.edu/95285973/The_Star_Gate_Operational_Remote_Viewing_Program_A_Human_Intelligence_HUMINT_Collection_Platform

7. Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Title: Follow‐up on the U.S
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10275521/

8. Source: scispace.com
Title: What Do We Know About Psi?
Link:https://scispace.com/pdf/what-do-we-know-about-psi-the-first-decade-of-remote-viewing-42m4cti21j.pdf

9. Source: youtube.com
Title: Scientific and Spiritual Implications of Psychic Abilities
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgyYms376Mg

10. Source: youtube.com
Title: How the CIA Fooled Us to Believe in Remote Viewing: SCAM Exposed! | Jeremy Rys
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbY6rT4sFk0

11. Source: youtube.com
Title: Inside Operation Stargate: The CIA’s Psychic Spy Experiment
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oasTnsLw_n8

12. Source: ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu
Title: sa jan02srm01
Link:https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/sa/sa_jan02srm01.html

13. Source: youtube.com
Title: Remote Viewing and Statistical Validation
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrwAiU2g5RU