Attendance at Scientific Seminar in Support of GONDOLA WISH (U)
What this is
That this is a 902d MI Group memorandum of 31 July 1978 reporting attendance at a scientific seminar in support of GONDOLA WISH.
That on 29 July 1978 an Army officer attended a public seminar conducted by Charles T. Tart, and that the memorandum records Tart as then on leave from UC Davis and serving as a consultant to SRI in parapsychology.
That the officer bought copies of Tart's book for resale and recorded the entire afternoon session on tape, a recording said to be available for review.
That Tart told the seminar he believed Soviet parapsychology research was militarily funded and ahead of US work, that he said US Government sponsorship was almost zero and that his own approaches to officials had been discouraged, and that he referred enquirers to the Monroe Institute.
That an Army officer questioned Tart privately about Soviet contact without disclosing his official capacity, and recorded that Tart said he had received Soviet requests for copies of his studies.
That the officer certified no classified or sensitive information was disclosed at the seminar, and that the memorandum is signed by 2LT Frederick H. Atwater over the title Project Officer.
6 passages read · 2 pages held · the rest is not described
Open the document at cia.gov/readingroom →6 passages read
“31 July 1978 MEMORANDUM THRU: Chief, OPSEC Spt Div FOR: Commander, Security Support Detachment, 902d MI Group SUBJECT: Attendance at Scientific Seminar in Support of GONDOLA WISH (U)”
CATALOGUE FACT - THIS DOCUMENT HAS A TITLE, A DATE AND AN AUTHOR. The work order lists it as 'CREST CIA-RDP9600788R0020001600130', untitled, never opened. Two handwritten routing initials sit across the THRU line, one dated '7 Aug' - consistent with the memorandum having been routed a week after signature. The page carries NO FOREIGN DISSEM, a struck-through SECRET, the declassification block 'CLASSIFIED BY Cdr, 902d MI Gp / EXEMPT FROM GENERAL DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 11652 / EXEMPTION CATEGORY 2' in manuscript, a handwritten file reference 'SAVE-684-78' and 'CY 1 OF 4 CYS'.
“(S) On 29 Jul 78, the undersigned attended an educational seminar entitled Parapsychological Research on Out-of-the-Body Experiences and Strengthening ESP Abilities conducted by Charles T. Tart, Ph.D. Dr. Tart is an internationally respected authority in the field of parapsychology. He has recently served as President of the Parapsychological Association, the international professional organization of scientific investigators of psi. He is a professor of psychology at the Davis campus of the University of California. He is currently on a one year leave of absence from Davis and is serving as a consultant to Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, CA, in the field of parapsychology.”
The 25 August 1978 Assessment Report (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160001-3) also names 'Dr. Charles T. Tart, professor of psychology at the Davis campus of the University of California' but does NOT mention the SRI consultancy. This page does. That is a catalogue fact about Tart's position in mid-1978 that the other document in this batch lacks.
“(S) The seminar was an oral review of Dr. Tarts latest book, PSI Scientific Studies of the Psychic Realm, E. P. Dutton, New York, 1977. The undersigned purchased several copies of this book (for resale to interested parties) as it is not yet available in book stores on the East coast. The seminar was conducted from 1000 hours to 1600 hours with a 90 minute lunch break from 1200 hours to 1330 hours. ... The entire afternoon session was recorded by the undersigned. The tape recording is available for review upon request and lasts approximately four hours.”
'Dr. Tarts' without an apostrophe is as printed. The ellipsis marks material skipped from the middle of a long paragraph - the omitted portion describes the content of the morning and afternoon sessions and Tart's ESP teaching machine. Do not read the two halves as consecutive sentences. The tape recording described here is not part of this file; whether it survives anywhere is not stated. - the page does not say whether Tart or the other attendees were told the session was being recorded.
“attendees. The attendees expressed there concern over what they believed to be a threat from Soviet efforts in parapsychology. They asked Dr. Tart to comment on this matter. Dr. Tart expressed the opinion that the Soviets were far ahead of us in parapsychology research and that funding for their efforts came from the Soviet military. Dr. Tart also stated that US Government sponsored research in parapsychology is almost zero and he wished he could do something to improve the situation. Dr. Tart stated that he had approached US Government officials on several occasions, but was discouraged. (no further information available) Another question from the seminar attendees was where one could go to learn more about OOBE. Dr. Tart refered them to the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in Afton, VA.”
'there concern' and 'refered' are as printed - not corrected. This paragraph begins mid-sentence at the top of pdf page 2; the word 'attendees.' completes a sentence starting at the foot of pdf page 1 which reads '3. (S) Of particular interest were the questions posed by the seminar'. I have started the quote at the page break rather than silently joining the two pages. NOTE THE IRONY ON THE FACE OF THE RECORD, recorded as prose and not as a proposed connection: Tart tells the room that US Government sponsorship of parapsychology is almost zero and that his approaches were discouraged, while an Army officer running a government parapsychology project sits in the audience taking notes.
“(S) After the seminar the undersigned had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Tart privately. The undersigned casually questioned Dr. Tart as to how common it was for his audiences to ask him about the Soviet parapsychology effort. Dr. Tart stated that the question always comes up. The undersigned also asked Dr. Tart if he had ever been contacted by the Soviets. His response was very evasive (he was and is not aware of the official capacity of the undersigned) but he did state that he had received requests for copies of his scientific studies in parapsychology from the Soviets. (no further information available)”
This is the most sensitive passage in the file and needs care. It records a serving intelligence officer questioning a named, identifiable academic under undisclosed official capacity, and characterising his answer as 'very evasive'. The parenthesis '(he was and is not aware of the official capacity of the undersigned)' is on the page. I have NOT placed this in the excluded array: section 6 excludes medical, psychiatric or intimate information about an identifiable private person, and this is none of those - it concerns Tart's professional activity and is a US Government record of a US Government action. But 'very evasive' is one officer's characterisation of a private conversation, recorded by an interested party, and must never be cited as a finding about Tart's conduct. Flagged for the operator.
“(S) No classified or sensitive information was disclosed during the seminar. Dr. Tart stated that he did not have access to classified information when the seminar attendees asked him what was really going on in US Government channels. FREDERICK H. ATWATER 2LT, MI Project Officer”
CATALOGUE FACT, AND A POSSIBLE ANSWER TO A QUESTION THE REST OF THE BATCH LEAVES OPEN - FOR THE OPERATOR TO DECIDE, NOT PROPOSED HERE. Atwater signs this memorandum as 'Project Officer'. On his other two signatures in this batch (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160003-1 and CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160011-2) he signs as 'CI Studies Section'. The subject line of THIS memorandum is 'Attendance at Scientific Seminar in Support of GONDOLA WISH', so the title 'Project Officer' appears on a GONDOLA WISH document. Two other files in the batch refer to an unnamed 'GONDOLA WISH project officer' - CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160003-1 paragraph 4, and CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210021-9 paragraph 4, which states 'The only Army individual known by OACSI to have ever spoken with Monroe was the GONDOLA WISH project officer'. This page does not itself say Atwater is the GONDOLA WISH project officer - the title on the signature block is bare. The operator should weigh it; I record only what is printed. The word 'really' in paragraph 5 is underlined on the page.
Where no sheet is shown, the quote was still read off the page, rendered from the file we hold. A page image has not been prepared for the web for that page yet.
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