Within Sketches
The Pool Case That Cuts Both Ways
Pat Price's pool-complex account shows why vivid correct-looking details and absent imagined features must be judged together.
On this page
- What Price reportedly got right
- What the water plant label added wrongly
- Why mixed responses complicate scoring
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Introduction
The reported remote-viewing session involving the swimming pools at Rinconada Park in Palo Alto remains one of the most frequently discussed demonstrations of why individual cases cannot be judged by memorable successes alone. Supporters point to Pat Price’s striking descriptions and sketches of a public pool complex, while critics emphasise that the same session also contained confident but incorrect interpretive additions. Rather than serving as a simple success or failure, the case illustrates the central evidential problem in remote-viewing research: a single transcript can contain genuine-looking correspondences alongside clear mistakes, and any fair assessment must weigh both together.[CIA]cia.govREMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS. SRI….1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN. AND RUSSELL TARG IN T…
What Price reportedly got right
The Rinconada target formed part of early remote-viewing experiments conducted at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) during the 1970s. According to accounts by Russell Targ, Harold Puthoff and later summaries of the programme, Price was asked to describe a location visited by an outbound experimenter without conventional sensory contact. The target was the public swimming-pool complex at Rinconada Park.[CIA+2CIA]cia.govREMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS. SRI….1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN. AND RUSSELL TARG IN T…
Advocates of the case highlight several features that appeared before feedback was given:
- A layout centred on multiple pools rather than a single body of water.
- Geometric forms corresponding to the arrangement of the swimming facilities.
- Structural elements such as towers or elevated features associated with the pool complex.
- Sketches that, in retrospect, were argued to resemble the overall plan of the site more closely than a simple verbal description would have done.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate(PDF) What Do We Know about Psi?The First Decade of…7 days ago — Remote viewing is a nonanalytic ability; describing a distant shape, form, or location on the planet…
The case became influential because the transcript was not merely a lucky guess of “a swimming pool”. Proponents argued that the combination of water, layout and spatial relationships exceeded what would be expected from a vague description alone. Published retrospectives of SRI’s first decade of remote-viewing research have continued to reproduce Price’s drawing alongside photographs of the facility as an example of this claimed correspondence.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate(PDF) What Do We Know about Psi?The First Decade of…7 days ago — Remote viewing is a nonanalytic ability; describing a distant shape, form, or location on the planet…
What the water-plant label added wrongly
The same transcript also demonstrates the risk of moving from description to interpretation.
Alongside the features later compared with the pool complex, Price reportedly interpreted aspects of the target as belonging to a water-treatment or water-purification facility. That interpretive label has generally not been regarded as an accurate description of the actual target. The public swimming pools certainly required pumps, filtration and associated equipment, but the target itself was not a municipal water-treatment plant.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate(PDF) What Do We Know about Psi?The First Decade of…7 days ago — Remote viewing is a nonanalytic ability; describing a distant shape, form, or location on the planet…
This distinction is important because remote-viewing researchers themselves often separate:
- Low-level perceptions, such as “water”, “rectangular”, “concrete” or “open area”.
- High-level interpretations, such as identifying the location as a specific type of industrial installation.
The first category may be partly correct even when the second is wrong. In later remote-viewing terminology, this tendency to build an explanatory story from fragmentary impressions became known as “analytic overlay”. The Rinconada transcript is regularly cited as an example where interpretation appears less reliable than the underlying descriptive material.[CIA]cia.govREMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS. SRI….1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN. AND RUSSELL TARG IN T…
Why mixed responses complicate scoring
The Rinconada example is valuable precisely because it resists simple classification.
If an evaluator counts only the accurate-looking pool layout and ignores the incorrect water-plant interpretation, the case appears unusually impressive. If another evaluator focuses only on the erroneous interpretive label, the same session appears much less remarkable. Neither approach captures the complete evidential picture.
Instead, the transcript contains several different kinds of information:
- Apparent hits: descriptions that reasonably resemble the target.
- Ambiguous statements: details that could fit more than one location.
- Clear misses: confident statements that do not match the target well.
Modern discussions of remote-viewing methodology therefore emphasise scoring the entire response rather than highlighting isolated successes. Blind judging, predefined scoring rules and comparison against decoy targets are intended to reduce the temptation to remember striking correspondences while overlooking incorrect material.[CIA+2CIA]cia.govREMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS. SRI….1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN. AND RUSSELL TARG IN T…
Critics have argued that retrospective matching can exaggerate apparent accuracy, particularly when sketches are interpreted after the true target is known. Psychologists David Marks and Richard Kammann’s broader critiques of early SRI judging procedures stressed that methodological controls, rather than memorable individual examples, determine how much evidential weight such cases deserve.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHarold E. PuthoffHarold E. Puthoff
Why the case still matters
Among famous remote-viewing episodes, the Rinconada pool case endures because it demonstrates an issue that extends beyond one experiment. It shows that a remote-viewing transcript is rarely wholly right or wholly wrong. Instead, it often combines descriptive fragments that appear unexpectedly close to the target with interpretive additions that fail to match.
For researchers, sceptics and historians alike, that mixture is the real lesson. The evidential value of the Rinconada session does not depend solely on its most impressive sketch or its clearest mistake, but on evaluating both together under consistent scoring standards. That mixed-hit character is precisely why the case continues to occupy a central place in discussions of viewer responses and sketch interpretation.[CIA+2ResearchGate]cia.govREMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS. SRI….1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN. AND RUSSELL TARG IN T…
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Endnotes
1.
Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00787R000500410001-3.pdf
Source snippet
REMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL [TARGETS]({{ 'targets/' | relative_url }}). SRI....1:40 THIS IS A REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENT WITH PAT PRICE, DEAN BROWN. AND RUSSELL TARG IN T...
2.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: Research Gate(PDF) What Do We Know about Psi?
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342061969_What_Do_We_Know_About_Psi_The_First_Decade_of_Remote_Viewing_Research_and_Operations_at_Stanford_Research_Institute
Source snippet
The First Decade of...7 days ago — Remote viewing is a nonanalytic ability; describing a distant shape, form, or location on the planet...
3.
Source: cia.gov
Link:https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00787r000500410001-3
Source snippet
ite chosen by experimenters and unknown to the subject...
4.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Harold E. Puthoff
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_E._Puthoff
5.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: 333701229 Research and evaluation of water quality in outdoor swimming pools
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333701229_Research_and_evaluation_of_water_quality_in_outdoor_swimming_pools
Source snippet
(PDF) Research and evaluation of water quality in outdoor...8 May 2026 — The article presents the assessment of the quality of water in...
Published: May 2026
6.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Russell Targ
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Targ
Source snippet
Russell TargTarg and Puthoff both expressed the belief that Uri Geller, retired police commissioner Pat Price and artist Ingo Swann al...
7.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The Reality of ESP, A Physicist’s Proof of Psychic Abilities
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZ24r3y5_U
Source snippet
Pat Price - Psychic Policeman Rescued Heiress Patricia Hearst...
8.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Pat Price
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd5iSBbWr2U
Source snippet
Russell Targ - Remote Viewing & [Third Eye Spies]({{ 'third-eye-spies/' | relative_url }})...
9.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Russell Targ
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_cLp15CaPE
Source snippet
Third Eye Spies with Russell Targ...
10.
Source: aparkadaybayarea.com
Title: Rinconada Pool
Link:https://aparkadaybayarea.com/rinconada-pool-palo-alto-ca/
Source snippet
Palo Alto, CA20 Aug 2019 — Cost: Adults $6, Youth $4, Family of 4 – $15 for residents of Palo Alto · Dog Friendly: No · Parking: Street p...
Additional References
11.
Source: paloalto.gov
Link:https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/community-services/facility-rentals/reservations-community-centers-fields/picnic-reservations/rinconadaparkmap.pdf
Source snippet
Rinconada Park.aiSwimming... Station. Newell Road. Multi-Use. Bowl. Embarcadero Road. Hopkins Avenue. Swimming Pool. Lockers. (No Reserv...
12.
Source: paloaltoswim.com
Link:https://paloaltoswim.com/community-swimming/lap-swim/
Source snippet
Lap SwimPricing: Resident Drop-In: $9 Senior (60+): $8 Monthly Membership: $65 Senior Membership (60+): $52 Non-Resident Drop-In: $10 Sen...
13.
Source: paloaltoswim.com
Link:https://paloaltoswim.com/community-swimming/open-swim/
Source snippet
Open SwimOpen Swim in Palo Alto at Rinconada Pool. Kids pool available in summer. Open Swim 7 days a week in summer. Resident discounts a...
14.
Source: valleywater.org
Link:https://www.valleywater.org/project-updates/rinconada-water-treatment-plant-reliability-improvement
Source snippet
Rinconada Water Treatment Plant Reliability ImprovementThe Reliability Improvement Project is aimed at retrofitting, upgrading and/or rep...
15.
Source: facebook.com
Title: during the [cold war]({{ ‘cold-war/’ | relative_url }}) the cia funded research into what they called remote viewing
Link:https://www.facebook.com/100090372200308/posts/during-the-cold-war-the-cia-funded-research-into-what-they-called-remote-viewing/937678002587931/
Source snippet
During the Cold War, the CIA funded research into what...(b) Swimming Pool Complex at Rinconada Park, Palo Alto (1974) This viewing was...
16.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/HistoryInPictures/posts/in-the-1970s-a-colorado-scientologist-painter-ingo-swann-proved-to-nasa-and-the-/1413446364148099/
Source snippet
In the 1970s, a Colorado Scientologist painter, Ingo Swann...(b) Swimming Pool Complex at Rinconada Park, Palo Alto (1974) This viewing...
17.
Source: wioa.org.au
Title: Low-cost Cryptosporidium Pool Screen test to identify
Link:https://wioa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025_QLD_WIOA_Conference_Seak_ly_2.2.pdf
Source snippet
The high cost of standard Cryptosporidium tests developed for drinking water make it economically challenging for routine swimming po...
18.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30540269/
Source snippet
risk of swimming pool disinfection by-productsby T Pándics · 2018 · Cited by 41 — While disinfection of swimming pools is indispensable f...
19.
Source: vice.com
Title: psychic spy 139 v15n10
Link:https://www.vice.com/en/article/psychic-spy-139-v15n10/
Source snippet
A Psychic Spy30 Sept 2008 — Russell Targ is a preternatural brainiac who developed a government-funded psychic espionage program in the 70s...
20.
Source: facebook.com
Title: Stanford History
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/StanfordHistory/posts/2362449590768801/
Source snippet
Rinconada Pool in Palo Alto's HistoryRinconada New Pool. 1940's. Rinconada is Palo Alto’s second oldest park (after El Camino). Establish...
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