In April of 1972, Russell Targ, a Columbia-trained physicist with an unusual interest in the paranormal, met with the Office of Scientific Intelligence, a secretive branch of the CIA that monitored biological warfare, nuclear weapons and guided missiles during the Cold War. 

The bespectacled researcher was there to pass along a concerning — and rather peculiar — piece of information: Their Soviet enemies, who had likely been experimenting with drugs, hypnotism, yoga and black magic, were now reportedly moving inanimate objects with their minds. One woman, a self-proclaimed psychic from Leningrad, had apparently torn up a dismembered frog’s heart with her mental powers alone. From a military standpoint, the implications were horrifying.  

So the U.S. government brokered a deal: For an initial investment of $874, or just under $7,000 in today’s dollars, Targ and his colleague, fellow physicist Harold Puthoff, would test the feasibility of using psychic spies at their Menlo Park lab. The operation, called Stargate, would go on to explore whether ordinary civilians could locate clandestine military facilities across the world using their hidden third eye. 

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Russell Targ, a Columbia-trained physicist with an unusual interest in the paranormal, was a lead scientist for Project Stargate. 

Amid the delirium of the 1970s, when psychics were hired to solve major crimes and acid-soaked counterculture took over Haight-Ashbury, the introduction of such a government program didn’t seem out of the ordinary — but bureaucratic infighting, general skepticism and sudden deaths of renowned subjects killed Project Stargate before it had the chance to reach its full potential, according to officials who oversaw it.  

Though it seems outlandish, global militaries have flirted with the metaphysical realm for years, and have long tried to harness supernatural powers for covert intelligence operations.  

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According to Columbia University, legends of clairvoyant spies have been documented in ancient Indian scriptures dating back to 400 B.C., and Adolph Hitler reportedly had his own “seers” and astrologers during World War II, CIA documents show. More recently, there were even reports of highly intuitive “point men” who guided American troops through the fecund jungles of Vietnam, evading booby traps and ambushes far more than the average soldier. 

An exterior view of the........

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