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@ -3,44 +3,146 @@ title: Edmund Thompson
aliases:
- Edmund Thompson
- Edmund R. Thompson
- Edmund Randall Thompson
- Ed Thompson
- E. R. Thompson
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-09-22
category: "Military"
- MG Thompson
- General Thompson
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
- Person
- Stargate
- Military
- ArmyIntelligence
summary: "Army assistant chief of staff for intelligence from 1977 to 1981 who cancelled Gondola Wish in 1978, put the Army's psychic work under the code name Grill Flame, and ordered INSCOM to build a remote-viewing unit."
- Stargate
- GrillFlame
- GondolaWish
- DefenseIntelligenceAgency
- HumanUse
summary: "Army assistant chief of staff for intelligence from 1977 to 1981 who ended Gondola Wish, put the Army's psychic work under the nickname Grill Flame and had INSCOM build a remote viewing unit."
location: "Washington, D.C."
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[U.S. Army]]"
start: 1948
end: 1984
role: "West Point cadet from 1948, commissioned in 1952, retired as a major general in 1984"
fn: 1
- type: head_of
with: "[[United States Army Intelligence Agency]]"
start: 1975
end: 1977
role: "commanding officer at Fort Meade as a brigadier general"
fn: 1
- type: head_of
with: "[[Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence]]"
start: 1977
end: 1981
role: "Army assistant chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI), Department of the Army"
fn: 1
- type: member_of
with: "[[Grill Flame]]"
start: 1978-11-28
role: "member of the Defense Department Grill Flame oversight committee for the Army"
fn: 10
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Defense Intelligence Agency]]"
start: 1982
end: 1984
role: "Assistant Director for Special Cooperation, then Deputy Director for Management and Operations"
fn: 29
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-05
---
Major General Edmund R. "Ed" Thompson served as the [[U.S. Army]] Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ACSI) from 1977 to 1981. He was a key figure in the establishment and early support of the [[Stargate Project|Stargate Project]], then codenamed Gondola Wish and later Grill Flame, having developed a personal interest in [[Psi|psi]] phenomena after reading [[Arthur Koestler]]'s pro-paranormal book *The Roots of Coincidence*.[^1]
Edmund Randall Thompson enlisted in the [[U.S. Navy Reserve]] in 1947, entered the [[United States Military Academy]] in 1948 and was commissioned in 1952. After a posting with the 1st Cavalry Division in [[Japan]] he took two master's degrees at [[Syracuse University]], taught in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point, served with the Military Assistance Advisory Group for [[Cambodia]] and [[Vietnam]] from 1963 to 1965 and then moved into military intelligence. He was G-2 of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. Promoted to brigadier general in 1975, he commanded the [[United States Army Intelligence Agency]] at [[Fort Meade]] for two years, and in 1977 he became a major general and the Army's assistant chief of staff for intelligence (ACSI), a post he held until 1981.[^1]
Thompson approved [[Frederick Atwater|Skip Atwater]]'s proposal to assemble a remote viewing team at [[Fort Meade]], seeing it as an opportunity to involve the Army in psychic spying without relying too heavily on the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] or [[Stanford Research Institute]]. He provided initial funding, assigned Major [[Murray Watt|Scotty Watt]] to lead the unit alongside Atwater, and later augmented the unit's resources by increasing the budget and allocating positions for three full-time remote viewers. His support was crucial in the project's early survival despite the skepticism of many within the military and intelligence communities, including his successor [[William Odom]].[^1]
### Gondola Wish and the nickname
Thompson participated in a remote viewing session himself, attempting to remote-view Major [[Major Stone|Stone]]'s location. He initially misidentified the target but later realized he had accurately perceived a nearby Masonic Temple, which he had mistaken for the Lincoln Memorial. He also briefed Congressman [[Charlie Rose]] on the program alongside [[Jack Vorona]], contributing to Rose's staunch public support.[^1]
At the Army Intelligence Agency, Thompson was the nominal overseer of the Systems Exploitation Team at Fort Meade, a small group of lateral thinkers assigned the strangest intelligence problems. The writer [[Jim Schnabel]] reported that when Lieutenant [[Frederick Atwater]] of the [[902d Military Intelligence Group]] proposed a program to examine the Soviet parapsychology threat, Thompson, who had been nurturing an interest in psi since reading [[Arthur Koestler]]'s *The Roots of Coincidence*, favored it, and that he wanted the Army involved in remote viewing without relying heavily on the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] or [[Stanford Research Institute]]. Schnabel recorded that Thompson recalled the unit as originally meant for offensive collection rather than operations security, and noted that Thompson may have known little about it until late 1978.[^2]
Later in his career Thompson expressed concerns about [[Albert Stubblebine]]'s management of [[United States Army Intelligence and Security Command|INSCOM]].[^1]
The program, [[Gondola Wish]], was established in September 1977 at the 902d Military Intelligence Group, with Atwater as action officer. Its objective statement of April 1978 set January 1, 1979 for training military intelligence personnel to collect sensitive information by parapsychological techniques, and the training was to be given by [[Robert Monroe]] at the [[Monroe Institute]] in [[Afton, Virginia]], for a fee of $2,000, which Brigadier General [[John A. Smith Jr.]] of INSCOM approved on July 19, 1978. A memorandum of May 1978 described the first training phase as aimed at recovering "word" information, specifically computer access passwords, from unwitting subjects.[^3] A memorandum of September 26, 1978 from the office of the 902d Military Intelligence Group commander to Brigadier General Smith records that on September 20 the 902d's representative met Colonel [[Jack C. Capps|Capps]] of DAMI-ISH after having been told by General Rolya the week before that the group was "to cease any further planning for its concept of training with the Monroe Institute." Capps related that, "after talks among MG Thompson, Dr. [LaBerge], Dr. [Vorona], et al," it had been decided that the whole program had to be coordinated with the Defense Department and a working group formed; that Gondola Wish was cancelled because the Monroe Institute was not cleared for classified work and because its training "could be categorized as experimenting with the human mind," which under recent legislation would have to be cleared through an office at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; and that "MG Thompson did not want to go that route until the legal ramifications were thoroughly examined." Because the Army Materiel Command already had a contract with SRI "not encumbered by possible legalities," Capps suggested that the Army staff and INSCOM fund Military Intelligence training through it; Rolya approved $50,000 of INSCOM year-end funds, and $65,000 in all ($15,000 from the Army staff) was provided.[^4]
### The Documents
The Army's later human use chronology records that on September 26, 1978 (902d Memorandum) the Army staff office DAMI-ISH "cancelled GONDOLA WISH" because the Monroe Institute was not cleared for classified work and because its training "could be categorized as experimenting with human use."[^5]
Major General Edmund R. Thompson was the [[United States Army|Army]]'s assistant chief of staff for intelligence from 1977 to 1981. By the spring of 1978 he "concluded there was sufficient evidence to warrant the development of a comprehensive program" in remote viewing; he "cancelled the Gondola Wish effort, placed a complete security envelope over Army's interest in psychoenergetics, and implemented a new program directed towards intelligence collection using remote viewing," and in October 1978 tasked INSCOM to build it, verbally. He told a British television series: "I had one or more briefings by SRI and was impressed. The decision I made was to set up a small, in-house, low-cost effort in remote viewing." He sat on the Grill Flame oversight committee formed on November 28, 1978, with Jack Vorona of DIA, Rear Admiral S. Shapiro, commander of the Naval Intelligence Command, Major General J. L. Brown of Air Force intelligence, and Lowell Dailey for the under secretary for research, "responsible for insuring that research and experiments fall within the legal guidelines."[^2][^3]
A message from the Army staff dated July 5, 1978 (051630Z) had by then introduced the unclassified nickname [[Grill Flame]], which was to "replace any open reference to US Army involvement in PY/RV research, experiments, application," and declared the fact of Army interest or work in the subject classified Secret/NOFORN. A follow-on message of mid-July 1978, originated by Major [[William Stoner]], told [[United States Army Intelligence and Security Command]] (INSCOM) that [[Walter LaBerge]], the Under Secretary of the Army, was "personally involved," that the Army staff was assembling an information package for him, and that INSCOM should hold in abeyance any planned execution of such projects with outside agencies until the options were developed. The same message commended INSCOM "for the initiative taken."[^6]
His eyes-only memorandum on the steering committee warned that Representative Charles Rose had an "oft-repeated desire to be kept up to date on a continuing basis" and that "a situation as before in which the last briefing was done at his instigation, forcing us to be reactors rather than action takers, should be avoided." By January 1980 he "has briefed the DDO on the INSCOM program." On April 16, 1981, he sat with Lieutenant Colonel Murray Watt to brief Rose, assuring him that the Army wished to keep working with SRI, and on May 8, 1981, asked the Secretary of the Army to approve work with civilian contractors under Procedure 18 of the Defense Department's rules on human subjects, granted on May 27 on condition that it serve "an important foreign intelligence or counterintelligence purpose." In 1981 his office transferred management of the project to INSCOM.[^4][^5]
By the spring of 1978, in the Army's later account, Thompson "concluded there was sufficient evidence to warrant the development of a comprehensive program" in remote viewing; he "cancelled the Gondola Wish effort, placed a complete security envelope over Army's interest in psychoenergetics, and implemented a new program directed towards intelligence collection using remote viewing." He told a British television series: "I had one or more briefings by SRI and was impressed. The decision I made was to set up a small, in-house, low-cost effort in remote viewing."[^7]
Thompson received a copy of [[Ruth Davis]]'s memorandum of November 20, 1978, on the oversight of the remote-viewing project; the report of the [[Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee]] records that in the spring of 1978 "the Army ACSI was designated focal point to develop a DA program" of "moderate intensity, low profile," that he sat on the steering committee at its first meeting on February 13, 1979, and that in 1979 "MG Thompson requested the Surgeon General designate, by name, a fully qualified behavioral scientist to act as consultant during protocol development." According to Major [[William Stoner]], [[Ray Hyman]]'s candidacy for the committee ended "because of a protest memo from MG Thompson to Dr [[Walter LaBerge|LaBerge]]," and at the briefing of January 14, 1980, "when quizzed by MG Thompson on what the word 'proof' in the report findings meant, Gale responded with a flurry of scientific buzzwords and jargon, the bottom line of which is that SCIENTIFIC PROOF has not been demonstrated."[^6]
### The INSCOM tasking, 1978
At Watt's briefing of Representative Rose on January 16, 1980, "Page 3 of Incl 1 was not provided to the audience at the direction of MG Thompson," and Thompson "had no objections to taping the briefing" for the subcommittee. An undated note of his to Lieutenant General [[Eugene Tighe|Tighe]] reads: "Reference my 3 October memo discussing the GRILL FLAME Steering Committee, Dr. LaBerge agreed that the principals should meet soon. My office was asked to coordinate."[^7]
In October 1978 Thompson's office tasked INSCOM to build the program, and the tasking was verbal. On November 1, 1978 the INSCOM project officer, Major [[Murray Watt]], recorded a telephone call with Lieutenant Colonel Kane of the INSCOM operations staff: Thompson and the INSCOM commander, Major General [[William Rolya]], had agreed that the Army staff would give no written instructions on Grill Flame, and Watt, as project officer, would have "a virtual 'blank check' on how to proceed and what type of program to develop."[^8] Schnabel reported that Thompson, as ACSI, increased the unit's effective budget out of his office's funds, gave it three slots for full-time viewers ([[Mel Riley]], [[Ken Bell]] and [[Joe McMoneagle]]), and that no official manpower authorization existed until 1981.[^2]
Two weeks later [[Ruth Davis]], Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, sent [[Jack Vorona]] of the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] a memorandum of November 20, 1978 on the oversight of the "Remote Viewing" project, enclosing an October 25, 1978 letter on the subject from Representative [[Charlie Rose]], chairman of the Subcommittee on Evaluation of the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]]; Thompson received a copy. A note dated November 14, 1978 from the executive of the Office of the Under Secretary of the Army carried a handwritten line from LaBerge: "MG Thompson - please tell me what's up."[^9]
The Defense Department Grill Flame oversight committee met for the first time on November 28, 1978. Thompson sat on it with Vorona, Rear Admiral S. Shapiro of the [[Naval Intelligence Command]], Major General [[James L. Brown|J. L. Brown]] of Air Force intelligence and [[Lowell Dailey]] for the Under Secretary for research, and the committee was "responsible for insuring that research and experiments fall within the legal guidelines."[^10] On March 6, 1979 the invitee list for the SRI Grill Flame briefing placed "MG Thompson" with Colonel [[Norman Wells|Wells]], Mr. Kelly, Lieutenant Colonel [[Carl Jordan]] and Major Stoner under the Army Staff, and Colonel [[Garrison Rapmund]], director of the [[Walter Reed Army Institute of Research]], under the Surgeon General.[^11]
### Protocols and the Gale committee
The draft minutes of the Grill Flame Steering Committee give a first meeting at 1400 on February 14, 1979 in the DIA Director's conference room at the Pentagon, attended by Major General James L. Brown of the Air Force, Thompson, Vorona, Bob Dailey and [[William Mehuron|Bill Mehuron]]. Vorona reviewed the SRI briefing that [[Hal Puthoff]] and [[Russell Targ]] had given the House committee the day before, at which Representative Rose asked what the committee could do to support the program; Thompson suggested that the last goal on the committee's list, "intelligence threat assessment," be moved to the top as the primary goal of all participants.[^12]
In 1979, according to the report of the [[Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee]], "the Army ACSI was designated focal point to develop a DA program" of "moderate intensity, low profile," Thompson sat on the steering committee at its first meeting on February 13, 1979, and "MG Thompson requested the Surgeon General designate, by name, a fully qualified behavioral scientist to act as consultant during protocol development." The Army's chronology records the Surgeon General's human subjects review and the later finding that the work was research involving human subjects, and notes that in February 1980 DAMI-ISH recommended to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering that Brigadier General Rapmund join the steering committee on the human use issue; Thompson's own memorandum to Dr. LaBerge of February 6, 1980 makes the proposal, describing Rapmund as having "been involved with GRILL FLAME for over a year."[^13]
The steering committee met again at 1400 on October 30, 1979 with Dr. LaBerge in the chair and Ruth Davis, Lieutenant General [[Eugene Tighe|Tighe]], Thompson, Major General Brown and Rear Admiral Shapiro present. In the notes of the meeting LaBerge said the project had "an R&D flavor, rather than intelligence" and hoped to keep Rose's interest and "keep [[William Proxmire|Proxmire]] off our backs"; Tighe said "the Golden Fleece Award comes from people being less than quiet in their profession"; Davis said the research and development aspects were "primitive and naive," that work to date "has not been dishonest," that [[William Perry|Perry]] "wanted no part of it," and that the best results came from "the Fort Meade area where you have a bunch of military people" doing "exactly what they are told"; and Tighe asked whether Rose had told them he had spoken to the President about it and that the President remained interested. When LaBerge asked where the evaluation committee stood, Thompson said "I don't think we know at the moment," and he remarked that "whether it is intelligence or R&D is primarily pragmatic." The minutes record a recommendation that the steering committee hear from the evaluation group as soon as possible.[^14]
Major Stoner reported that the candidacy of [[Ray Hyman]] for the evaluation committee ended "because of a protest memo from MG Thompson to Dr LaBerge." At the committee's briefing of January 14, 1980, "when quizzed by MG Thompson on what the word 'proof' in the report findings meant, [[Manfred Gale|Gale]] responded with a flurry of scientific buzzwords and jargon, the bottom line of which is that SCIENTIFIC PROOF has not been demonstrated."[^15] On October 17, 1979, Watt briefed the INSCOM deputy chief of staff for operations, Colonel Wilmot, who relayed that Thompson and he "have both questioned: 'Why not 1980?'" as the date for the unit to become operational; Watt's milestones had projected late 1981.[^16]
### Congress
Thompson's eyes-only memorandum on the steering committee warned that Representative Rose had an "oft-repeated desire to be kept up to date on a continuing basis" and that "a situation as before in which the last briefing was done at his instigation, forcing us to be reactors rather than action takers, should be avoided." By January 1980 he "has briefed the DDO on the INSCOM program." At Watt's briefing of Rose on January 16, 1980, at which Thompson sat with Vorona, Rose's aide [[Dick Giza]] and the [[National Security Council]] staff member [[Jake Stewart]], Rose asked that the session be taped so other members of the subcommittee could review it; Thompson "had no objections to taping the briefing," and "Page 3 of Incl 1 was not provided to the audience at the direction of MG Thompson." Rose "encouraged us to continue with our program."[^17] Thompson did not attend the briefing of the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations on February 5, 1980, which he had to cancel for an unforeseen commitment; the CIA officers told Watt they were glad the Army had "chosen to go operational on this subject matter rather than keep it in the lab."[^18]
On April 16, 1981 he sat with Lieutenant Colonel Watt to brief Rose again, assuring him that the Army still wished to work with SRI; Rose had concluded from a recent briefing by Hal Puthoff that the Army might wish to break off contact. Thompson told Rose that [[Ingo Swann]] had expressed to him a thought similar to Watt's, that sources performed better when they knew they were working real-world problems.[^19] Schnabel also described Thompson accompanying Vorona to Rose's briefing, which he reported contributed to Rose's staunch public support.[^2]
### Briefings, 1979 to 1981
On March 23, 1979 Thompson attended Watt's update for the Under Secretary of the Army, Walter LaBerge, who "approved our actions to date and goals for the future" while cautioning that everyone involved should maintain objectivity.[^20] On April 10, 1980 Watt briefed the Air Force assistant chief of staff for intelligence, Major General James Brown, in a session Brown had requested and Thompson had approved.[^21] On July 7, 1980 Thompson and Brigadier General Wilmot attended Watt's Grill Flame briefing for Lieutenant General Eugene Tighe, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, with Admiral Kelln, Vorona and Puthoff; the briefing turned into Vorona's presentation of a proposed Defense Department centrally managed program with DIA as manager, a three-year joint effort at about $450,000 a year in contracts.[^22] On July 28, 1980 Thompson chaired the ACSI/INSCOM status review with Rolya, Colonel [[Chad White]], Watt, Stoner and others; Rolya observed that the CIA seemed INSCOM's "biggest" tasker and he wanted a more balanced effort, and Swann briefed on signal and noise.[^23] An undated note from Thompson to Tighe reads: "Reference my 3 October memo discussing the GRILL FLAME Steering Committee, Dr. LaBerge agreed that the principals should meet soon. My office was asked to coordinate."[^24]
On December 22, 1980 Thompson attended Watt's update for the Under Secretary of the Army, Dr. Spiro, with LaBerge, who is listed in the memorandum as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Spiro said he was not satisfied that "successes" had been demonstrated; LaBerge said "I support quiet, rational continuation of the program, but don't allow ourselves to get caught in the position of selling the program"; Spiro said that a one in a thousand chance justified the expense. Afterward Thompson told Watt and Major Hay to prepare a recommendation on whether the Army should help finance Swann's new training concept, and told Watt to continue the program.[^25]
On May 8, 1981, he asked the Secretary of the Army to approve work with civilian contractors under Procedure 18 of the Defense Department's rules on human subjects, granted on May 27 on condition that it serve "an important foreign intelligence or counterintelligence purpose." In 1981 his office transferred management of the project to INSCOM; Schnabel cited a cable from Thompson to Rolya noting that an under secretary of the Army had approved the transfer.[^26] On August 10, 1981, in a telephone call that Watt recorded the same day, Thompson agreed with him that no further contract with SRI on the training and evaluation program would be approved until SRI stated in writing what limitations had been placed on it, SRI and Ingo Swann settled in writing "who owns the right to Mr. Swann's new training program," and INSCOM had written assurance that it would be offered the chance to have selected personnel trained under the new concept; funding for fiscal 1982 was to stay at $195,000.[^27] A memorandum of February 22, 1982 records that Thompson had approved $30,000 for scientific panels to be convened by Rapmund on Grill Flame basic research, concurred in by Brigadier General [[William Odom]], who had succeeded him as ACSI, but that no action had been taken to use the money.[^28]
### Defense Intelligence Agency and later
Thompson's last posts were at the Defense Intelligence Agency, as Assistant Director for Special Cooperation and then Deputy Director for Management and Operations; the Army Distinguished Service Medal with a bronze oak leaf cluster cites his service with DIA in 1982 and 1983.[^29] Schnabel placed him at a party around 1983, hosted by [[Albert Stubblebine]] and [[John B. Alexander]], at which guests concentrated on spoons: Thompson's own spoon curved down in his hands, and [[John McMahon]], then deputy director of the CIA, was present. Schnabel also wrote that Thompson and a colleague later called on Stubblebine to express concern about the management of INSCOM, to no effect.[^30] Schnabel dated the program's loss of its senior protector from Thompson's departure from the ACSI post in 1981, and described Odom as far less optimistic about the military use of the paranormal.[^31]
In an interview that Jim Schnabel published in *[[The Independent]]* of London on August 27, 1995, Thompson said: "I became convinced that remote-viewing was a real phenomenon, that it wasn't a hoax. We didn't know how to explain it but we weren't so much interested in explaining it as in determining whether there was any practical use to it." Of the program's secrecy he said: "It was so small, and so closely-held that it wasn't a big controversy." The article stated that Thompson "co-managed the Army's spy network," that Albert Stubblebine became head of INSCOM in 1981, "the year that General Thompson ... departed for another posting," and that with Thompson gone Stubblebine was remote viewing's chief supporter in the Army.[^32]
Thompson took part in a remote viewing session himself. According to Schnabel, Mel Riley guided him as he tried to describe the location of Major Stone, who had gone to a site he chose; Thompson described a bulky building beside a pool of water seen from a height and guessed the [[Lincoln Memorial]], while Stone had gone to the [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] train station, and Thompson later decided he had perceived the nearby [[George Washington Masonic National Memorial|Masonic Temple]]. Schnabel quoted him in 1997 as saying "there's something there."[^33]
In 1995 Thompson appeared, with Admiral [[Stansfield Turner]], Puthoff, [[Lyn Buchanan]] and Alexander, in the hour-long British television program, based on Schnabel's article for the *Independent*, that [[Edwin May]] described to the CIA on September 21, 1995 as "sensational." May also wrote that the [[ABC News|ABC]] program *[[20/20]]* had put a planned September 29 broadcast on hold because "they want to interview MG. Thompson who they were able to find in the phone directory."[^34]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "Briefing - Project Center Lane," c. 1984, CIA-RDP96-00789R002100180002-8. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Puthoff, H. E. "CIA-Initiated Remote Viewing Program at Stanford Research Institute," *Journal of Scientific Exploration,* vol. 10, no. 1, 1996, quoting the Channel 4 series *Equinox*.
[^3]: US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "INSCOM Project Grill Flame: Progress Report #1," February 21, 1979, with enclosures, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^4]: Thompson, E. R., Major General, memorandum "GRILL FLAME Steering Committee" to Dr. La Berge, eyes only, undated, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250013-0. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Defense Intelligence Agency, minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee, November 28, 1978 (enclosed in Progress Report #1), July 12, 1979 (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130008-9), November 27, 1979 (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130015-1), and January 10, 1980 (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000100009-1). Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 April 1981," April 17, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190007-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^5]: Defense Intelligence Agency, "Grill Flame - Action Memorandum," December 11, 1981, with the memorandum of Major General E. R. Thompson of May 8, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100240001-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^6]: Davis, Ruth M., Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (Research and Advanced Technology), memorandum for Dr. Jack Vorona, "'Remote Viewing' Project," November 20, 1978, with the letter of Charlie Rose, Chairman, Subcommittee on Evaluation, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to Davis, October 25, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00787R000500240017-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. *Report by the Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee,* December 1979, Manfred Gale, chairman, CIA-RDP96-00788R001300120001-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Stoner, William L., Major, GS, "Memorandum of Conversation, Subject: Gale Briefing to ZA, Science Evaluation Group Final Report on GRILL FLAME, 14 Jan 80," CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230017-7. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^7]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 January 1980," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190001-0. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Thompson, E. R., "Note for: LTG Tighe," undated, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250008-6. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^1]: Syracuse University Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, "Major General Edmund R. Thompson," February 14, 2010, https://veterans.syracuse.edu/news/major-general-edmund-r-thompson/. Military Times Hall of Valor, "Edmund Thompson," Army Distinguished Service Medal citation for 1977 to 1981 as Assistant Chief of Staff Intelligence, and Legion of Merit citation as G-2, 25th Infantry Division, 1968 to 1969 (citing the United States Military Academy Register of Graduates), https://valor.militarytimes.com/?p=326501 and https://valor.militarytimes.com/?p=363135. Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies*, Dell, 1997, biographical note (head of the Army Intelligence Agency 1975 to 1977, ACSI 1977 to 1981).
[^2]: Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies*, Dell, 1997, chapters on the formation of the Fort Meade unit and notes (on Thompson's recollection that the unit was meant for offensive spying and the unauthorized manpower slots).
[^3]: 902d Military Intelligence Group, "Management by Objective for Gondola Wish," April 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160012-1; Atwater, Frederick H., memorandum "Gondola Wish," May 18, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160007-7; memorandum "Gondola Wish," May 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160003-1; "Gondola Wish Assessment Report," August 25, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000160001-3. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000160001-3 and sibling items.
[^4]: Office of the Commander, 902d Military Intelligence Group (TAGPA-CO), memorandum for Brigadier General Smith, "GRILL FLAME Status Report," September 26, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100440004-9, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100440004-9.
[^5]: "Human Use Chronology," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100430001-3, read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100430001-3.
[^6]: Department of the Army message, "Issuance of Unclassified Nickname, GRILL FLAME," July 1978, and Army staff message to INSCOM, "Grill Flame," mid-July 1978, enclosed with INSCOM, "INSCOM Project Grill Flame: Progress Report #1," February 21, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001500040003-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001500040003-0. The first message's date-time group, 051630Z July 1978, appears as the classification authority on later INSCOM Grill Flame documents. The second message carries the date-time group 171717Z July 1978 and the originator line "Stoner/DAMI-ISH."
[^7]: US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "Briefing - Project Center Lane," c. 1984, CIA-RDP96-00789R002100180002-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00789r002100180002-8. Puthoff, H. E., "CIA-Initiated Remote Viewing Program at Stanford Research Institute," *Journal of Scientific Exploration*, vol. 10, no. 1, 1996, quoting the Channel 4 series *Equinox*.
[^8]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "Summary Phoncon between LTC Kane, DCSOPS, INSCOM and MAJ Murray B. Watt," November 1, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410020-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200410020-3. INSCOM Project Grill Flame Progress Report #1, February 21, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100070001-3.
[^9]: Davis, Ruth M., Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (Research and Advanced Technology), memorandum for Dr. Jack Vorona, "'Remote Viewing' Project," November 20, 1978, with the letter of Charlie Rose, Chairman, Subcommittee on Evaluation, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to Davis, October 25, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00787R000500240017-5, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00787r000500240017-5. Gibson, LTC, Office of the Under Secretary of the Army, memorandum for MG E. R. Thompson, November 14, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000010012-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000010012-7.
[^10]: Defense Intelligence Agency, minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee, November 28, 1978 (enclosed in Progress Report #1), CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3; Defense Intelligence Agency, S-1004/DT-1, "Minutes of the Meeting, DoD Grill Flame Committee," November 28, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000140013-2. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000140013-2.
[^11]: "SRI Grill Flame Briefing, 6 March 1979," CIA-RDP96-00788R001200270001-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200270001-0.
[^12]: "Minutes of the Grill Flame Steering Committee Meeting, 14 Feb 79," draft memorandum for record, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130004-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000130004-3. The Gale committee's report dates the steering committee's first meeting February 13, 1979 (CIA-RDP96-00788R001300120001-5).
[^13]: *Report by the Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee,* December 1979, Manfred Gale, chairman, CIA-RDP96-00788R001300120001-5, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001300120001-5. "Human Use Chronology," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100430001-3. "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100020001-8. The February 1980 date of the Rapmund recommendation is read from the chronology's date column and is not stated in the entry's text.
[^14]: "'GRILL FLAME' Meeting, 30 October 1979, 1400 hrs, Rm 3E 988," notes, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250020-2, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250020-2; "Minutes of Steering Committee Meeting, 1400-1430 hours, 30 October 1979," CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250021-1, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250021-1.
[^15]: Stoner, William L., Major, GS, "Memorandum of Conversation, Subject: Gale Briefing to ZA, Science Evaluation Group Final Report on GRILL FLAME, 14 Jan 80," CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230017-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200230017-7.
[^16]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "GRILL FLAME Update Briefing for COL(P) Wilmot, 17 October 1979," October 21, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240022-1, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240022-1.
[^17]: Thompson, E. R., Major General, memorandum "GRILL FLAME Steering Committee" to Dr. La Berge, eyes only, undated, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250013-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250013-0. Defense Intelligence Agency, minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee, January 10, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000100009-1. Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 January 1980," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190001-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100190001-0.
[^18]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for DDO, CIA, 5 Feb 1980," February 6, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250053-6, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250053-6.
[^19]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 April 1981," April 17, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190007-4, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100190007-4. The same memorandum is catalogued as CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190004-7.
[^20]: Watt, Murray B., "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefings, 23 Mar 79," March 26, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240034-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240034-8.
[^21]: Watt, Murray B., "Briefing to Air Force ACSI, 10 April 1980," April 22, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250031-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250031-0.
[^22]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "Grill Flame Briefing for Director, DIA (7 July 1980)," July 8, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250039-2, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250039-2.
[^23]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "ACSI/INSCOM GRILL FLAME Status Review, 28 July 1980," July 31, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250042-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250042-8.
[^24]: Thompson, E. R., "Note for: LTG Tighe," undated, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250008-6, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250008-6.
[^25]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "Update Briefing for Under Secretary of the Army, 22 Dec 80," December 23, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100440042-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100440042-7.
[^26]: Defense Intelligence Agency, "Grill Flame - Action Memorandum," December 11, 1981, with the memorandum of Major General E. R. Thompson of May 8, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100240001-4, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100240001-4. Schnabel, *Remote Viewers*, bibliography entry for the 1981 cable from Thompson to Rolya.
[^27]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "Army/INSCOM Contractual Position as Regards SRI-I, FY 82," August 10, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00792R000100140005-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00792r000100140005-7.
[^28]: Jachim, Robert J., memorandum for the record, "Visit to OACSI (COL Kennedy)," February 22, 1982, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200060035-6, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200060035-6.
[^29]: Syracuse University Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, "Major General Edmund R. Thompson," https://veterans.syracuse.edu/news/major-general-edmund-r-thompson/. Military Times Hall of Valor, "Edmund Thompson," Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster to the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Intelligence Agency, 1982 to 1983, https://valor.militarytimes.com/?p=363135. Schnabel, *Remote Viewers*, biographical note (DIA deputy director for management and operations, 1982 to 1984).
[^30]: Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers*, Dell, 1997, chapters on Stubblebine's tenure at INSCOM.
[^31]: Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers*, Dell, 1997, chapters on the Odom and Stubblebine years.
[^32]: Schnabel, Jim, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Psi," *The Independent* (London), The Sunday Review, August 27, 1995, pp. 10-13, as transmitted by the FBIS wire and filed in the CIA STARGATE collection, CIA-RDP96-00791R000200090001-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00791r000200090001-7; also catalogued as CIA-RDP96-00791R000100030073-5 under the heading "US Use of 'Psychic Spies' Reported."
[^33]: Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers*, Dell, 1997, chapter on the first months of the Fort Meade unit and the author's afterword.
[^34]: May, Edwin, Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, "Re: Publicity and things," September 21, 1995, CIA-RDP96-00791R000100030077-1, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00791r000100030077-1.

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10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Murray Watt.md
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@ -1,39 +1,155 @@
---
category: "Military"
tags:
- Psi
- Person
- RemoteViewer
- Military
- Stargate
summary: "Watt, along with Atwater, was responsible for selecting and training the initial remote viewers for the program."
alias:
aliases:
- Murray Watt
- Murray B. Watt
- Scotty Watt
updated: 2026-09-22
- Scotty
- MAJ Watt
- LTC Watt
category: "Military"
tags:
- Person
- Military
- ArmyIntelligence
- INSCOM
- Stargate
- GrillFlame
- GondolaWish
summary: "Army military intelligence officer notified on October 27, 1978 that he was INSCOM's Grill Flame project officer, who ran the Fort Meade remote viewing unit and briefed Congress and Army leadership until 1981."
location: "Fort Meade, Maryland"
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[United States Army Intelligence and Security Command]]"
start: 1978-10-27
end: 1981
role: "Grill Flame project officer and project manager in the human intelligence office of the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations; major, lieutenant colonel by September 1979"
fn: 3
- type: reported_to
with: "[[Albert Hamel]]"
start: 1978-10-27
end: 1979
role: "Colonel Hamel, ADCSOPS-HUMINT, who selected him as project manager"
fn: 3
- type: reported_to
with: "[[Chad White]]"
start: 1979
end: 1981
role: "Colonel White, ADCSOPS-HUMINT, who signed or noted his memoranda"
fn: 24
- type: member_of
with: "[[Grill Flame]]"
start: 1978-11-28
role: "member of the Defense Department Grill Flame working group and of its objectives and protocol subcommittees"
fn: 6
- type: contractor_to
with: "[[Stanford Research Institute]]"
start: 1978-11-15
end: 1981
role: "INSCOM project officer for SRI's training of Army personnel in remote viewing"
fn: 4
created: 2025-08-05
updated: 2026-10-05
---
Murray B. "Scotty" Watt was a U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and the first commander of the [[Stargate Project|Gondola Wish]] (later Grill Flame) remote viewing unit. He was two decades older than [[Frederick Atwater|Skip Atwater]], described as a tall and husky man with a bulbous nose and a Boston accent. Watt had a reputation for a volcanic temper, which, according to the writer Jim Schnabel, hindered his career after an incident in Panama where he struck a fellow officer. He was chosen for this obscure and potentially controversial assignment because it was felt he had "little to lose."[^1]
Murray B. Watt, called Scotty, was a major of military intelligence in the human intelligence office of [[United States Army Intelligence and Security Command]] (INSCOM) at [[Fort Meade]] when, on October 27, 1978, he was told that he had been selected as INSCOM's project manager for a new program. By September 1979 he was a lieutenant colonel. His signature blocks give his posts as "PPPA, DIRHUM, INSCOM" in 1978, and in 1980 "Chief, Special Activities Division, ADCSOPS-HUMINT" and "Chief, Special Actions."[^1]
Watt, along with Atwater, was responsible for selecting and training the initial remote viewers for the program. He handled the bureaucratic aspects of the unit, maintaining contact with the network of Grill Flame customers and ensuring the unit's operations adhered to necessary protocols. He was concerned about maintaining the appearance of scientific rigor and avoiding any perception of cheating within the program.[^1]
### Description and posting
Watt was present during many key remote viewing sessions, including the initial session with [[Mel Riley]] where he served as the target. He also played a role in the acquisition of a Soviet T-72 tank, signing for the envelope containing the target information. He was a key figure in the unit's operations during the Iran hostage crisis, where he gathered the team at a motel to conduct continuous remote viewing related to the rescue mission.[^1]
The writer [[Jim Schnabel]] described Watt as two decades older than Lieutenant [[Frederick Atwater]], a tall, husky man with a bulbous nose and a [[Boston]] accent, whose temper was said to have left a cloud over his career: some years earlier, in [[Panama]], he had struck a fellow officer who had insulted his wife. Schnabel wrote that Watt was never convicted of any offense, that he felt he had not been promoted as rapidly as he deserved, and that Atwater was told he had been chosen for an obscure and possibly temporary assignment because he had so little to lose. Schnabel placed the unit in a cramped office in building 4554 at Fort Meade, where Watt was commanding officer, and wrote that he later received his promotion to lieutenant colonel.[^2]
Despite his initial lack of interest in the paranormal, Watt was instrumental in the establishment and early operations of the Army's psychic spying program. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel during his tenure with the unit. He eventually transferred out of the unit, but not before helping to establish it on a firm footing.[^1]
### Appointment and orientation, 1978 and 1979
INSCOM's first progress report, dated February 21, 1979, records that "sometime during the month of October 1978" Colonel [[Albert Hamel]], ADCSOPS-HUMINT, was tasked by the INSCOM deputy chief of staff for operations to provide a project officer for a program "at the direction of the ACSI," that Major Watt was selected and "on 27 October 1978 was so notified," and that "there exists no written tasking between OACSI and HQ, INSCOM." A telephone call of November 1, 1978, which Watt recorded, established that Major General [[Edmund Thompson]] and the INSCOM commander, Major General [[William Rolya]], had agreed that the Army staff would issue no written instructions, and that Lieutenant Colonel Kane of the INSCOM operations staff told him he would have "a virtual 'blank check' on how to proceed and what type of program to develop."[^3]
His first visit to [[Stanford Research Institute]] (SRI), on November 15 to 17, 1978, was in the company of [[Scott Phillips]] of the [[Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity]] (AMSAA). [[Hal Puthoff]] and [[Russell Targ]] gave the orientation, with [[Charles Tart]] and [[Edwin May]] attending. They agreed that SRI would train Watt as "INSCOM Team Chief," that he would screen INSCOM personnel for nominees to be interviewed by SRI staff, and that formal training of selected personnel would begin in April 1979 at one trainee per month. Puthoff and Targ conducted a remote viewing experiment with Phillips as the subject, which Watt wrote was "somewhat negative, at least to me," though "intriguing enough to warrant further exploration." His report ended: "I was very impressed with the results obtained thus far." He returned to SRI on December 12 to 15, 1978, meeting Puthoff and [[Ingo Swann]].[^4]
### The Documents
The report also records the unit-by-unit screening of INSCOM personnel, in which 251 were considered and 117 interviewed (warrant officers, officers and civilians of grade GS-9 and above who had at least 20 months left in service); the visit with Atwater to [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] on January 12, 1979 to see AMSAA's [[Grill Flame]] work; and Atwater's attachment to Watt from the 902d Military Intelligence Group "because of previous research into this area during work on a separate project," which is the earlier program [[Gondola Wish]]. The report names a method for the interviews: they would serve as the "guise" under which project personnel could obtain viewpoints on parapsychology. Of the 251, an unstated number was selected; the Army's later chronology records that six individuals were selected and began training at SRI in April 1979.[^5]
Murray B. Watt, called Scotty, was a major of military intelligence in the human intelligence office of [[United States Army Intelligence and Security Command|INSCOM]] at [[Fort Meade]]. "Sometime during the month of October 1978, Colonel A. W. Hamel, ADCSOPS-HUMINT, INSCOM, was tasked by the DCSOPS, INSCOM, to provide a Project Officer for a new program that INSCOM was becoming involved in at the direction of the ACSI. Major Murray B. Watt was selected to be the INSCOM Project Manager (PM) and on 27 October 1978 was so notified." The tasking was verbal: "There exists no written tasking between OACSI and HQ, INSCOM." His first progress report, of February 21, 1979, records his visits to [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI]] on November 15 to 17, 1978, where he met [[Hal Puthoff]], [[Russell Targ]], the psychologist [[Charles Tart]], and [[Edwin May]], and on December 12 to 15, where he met Puthoff and [[Ingo Swann]]; the first meeting of the Defense Department's Grill Flame committee on November 28, 1978, at which he joined the working groups on objectives and on protocols; the visit with Lieutenant Frederick Atwater to [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] on January 12, 1979; and the screening of INSCOM personnel for viewers, 251 considered and 117 interviewed, unit by unit.[^2]
### Committees
Watt briefed the committee on "INSCOM training and operational application of the remote viewing phenomenon" on November 27, 1979, and, as a lieutenant colonel, briefed Representative [[Charlie Rose|Charles Rose]] with General [[Edmund Thompson]] on April 16, 1981, writing the record of it. On June 30, 1981, as "outgoing project manager," he gave the first Grill Flame briefing to the new commander of INSCOM, [[Albert Stubblebine]], alongside his successor, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Jachim.[^3]
Watt wrote INSCOM's record of the first meeting of "the DoD Committee on Special Sensors" on November 28, 1978, as "MAJ, MI, GRILL FLAME Project Officer, INSCOM." Present, in his list, were Jack Vorona as chairman, two other officials of the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] whose names are withheld, [[Bob Dailey]] of the Under Secretary's office, [[William Mehuron|Bill Mehuron]] of the Navy, Watt, Major [[William Stoner]] of the Army staff, Colonel [[Al DeProspero]] of the Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity and [[Dale Graff]] of the Air Force Foreign Technology Division. The committee adopted the name "DoD GRILL FLAME Committee"; Vorona "expressed concern that parapsychology activities within DoD elements were springing up all over" and directed the agencies to develop policy for turning off "exposures" as they came up; and the record notes "DIA will have 'Intelligence Oversight' responsibility; local IG cannot inspect without approval," with an oversight committee of the service intelligence chiefs, Vorona and [[Ruth Davis]]. Stoner raised the need for legal parameters. Watt was a member of the ad hoc committee on organizational goals and of the one on a protocol for experiments. The minutes of the Defense Intelligence Agency list the others present, including [[John Kramar]] of AMSAA.[^6]
Watt wrote INSCOM's record of the first meeting of "the DoD Committee on Special Sensors" on November 28, 1978, as "MAJ, MI, GRILL FLAME Project Officer, INSCOM," listing himself and Major [[William Stoner]] among thirteen present with [[Jack Vorona]], Dailey of the Under Secretary's office, [[Dale Graff]], [[John Kramar]] and Colonel Al DeProspero of AMSAA, Bill Mehuron of the Navy and a redacted name from NSA, and noting that "DIA will have 'Intelligence Oversight' responsibility; local IG cannot inspect without approval." On January 16, 1980, "I briefed Congressman Charlie Rose... on the INSCOM GRILL FLAME Project," with Thompson, Vorona, "Jake Stewart, NSC Staff Member" and "Dick Giza, Office of Congressman Rose" present; "Page 3 of Incl 1 was not provided to the audience at the direction of MG Thompson," and Rose "encouraged us to continue with our program." His comments on the [[Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee|Gale report]] in February 1980 called it "very shallow in nature," noted "after all, we provided the committee with most of the data contained in the Annex," and asked of its handwriting passage, "Did they, in fact, question Targ on this handwriting issue?"; "at the working meeting held 30-31 Jan I outlined most of our major objections."[^4]
On March 8, 9 and 12, 1979, he attended a three-day work conference at Aberdeen hosted by John Kramar of AMSAA, with Colonel [[Garrison Rapmund]] of the [[Walter Reed Army Institute of Research]], Stoner, [[Lynne Taylor]], Scott Phillips and, on one day, Atwater, to resolve the effect of the Army General Counsel's decision that all Army Grill Flame activity must comply with Department of Health, Education and Welfare guidelines and Army Regulation 70-25. His record states that the protocol developed for the Surgeon General depicted "only the involvement of AMSAA and that was done at my request. Leaving INSCOM out of the protocol eliminates one more security problem"; that he asked why INSCOM's part, which was "task oriented" and "in the applications business," had to come under those guidelines; that Rapmund said he would raise the issue with the Surgeon General's office; and that AMSAA and INSCOM personnel agreed to meet monthly to exchange ideas. AMSAA personnel also spent private early-morning sessions with him describing sessions they had run with grid coordinates.[^7]
On March 23, 1979 he briefed Rolya and then the Under Secretary of the Army, [[Walter LaBerge]], with Thompson, Rolya, Hamel, Colonel Gibson and Stoner present. His memorandum states that LaBerge "approved our actions to date and goals for the future" and cautioned that everyone involved maintain objectivity; the slides stated two working assumptions, that everyone has psychic ability and that INSCOM was not involved in research and development or experimental research.[^8] The Ad Hoc Subcommittee of the Surgeon General's Human Subjects Research Review Board met on March 26, 1979 and concluded that the SRI and AMSAA protocols were technology transfer and phenomenological validation, not research, and that human subjects regulations did not apply; Colonel Garrison Rapmund of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research attended.[^9]
Between August 1 and September 27, 1979 his rank changed from "Major (P)" to lieutenant colonel in the signature blocks of his memoranda.[^10] On September 27, 1979 he and Atwater, then the project training officer, hosted the Grill Flame Department of Defense Science Evaluation Team at Fort Meade from 0900 to 1530; its chief, [[Manfred Gale]], questioned him closely about the use of personnel, including availability, rotation and over-use of resources.[^11] On November 9, 1979 he presented a progress briefing to the team at the Pentagon, with 195 sessions completed to date, and recorded his opinion that at least two thirds of the members "were very negative," that "my word was no longer valid since they had classified me as a 'believer,'" and that "some members of the team don't want to believe that psychic behavior exists and refuse to really listen to any presentation on the subject matter."[^12] He briefed the committee on "INSCOM training and operational application of the remote viewing phenomenon" on November 27, 1979.[^13]
His comments of February 1980, written after a telephone call of February 5 and in response to a request that bore on a letter Vorona was drafting to Lieutenant General Tighe, called the [[Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee]] report "very shallow in nature," with "vague recommendations" and no "concrete constructive means of improving the overall DOD program... unless doing away with the program can be considered as a constructive suggestion." Of its annex on INSCOM's work he wrote "after all, we provided the committee with most of the data contained in the Annex." On the statement that useful data should not be attributed to remote viewing he wrote that the committee "owes us a possible solution. Luck?? Fraud?? Or whatever," and he observed that the minority "is more concerned about the possible loss of their credibility if they endorse the use of operational activities." Of the passage on handwriting, he wrote: "They do everything but call Targ a 'cheat.' Did they, in fact, question Targ on this handwriting issue?" He called the committee's paragraph that "things" had occurred which no one could explain "the key to the whole issue," and added: "at the working meeting held 30-31 Jan I outlined most of our major objections."[^14]
### Operations and tasking
The Army's chronology dates the first operational session to September 4, 1979, when a missing aircraft was located "within a 115-nautical mile radius of its downed location." Watt's November 1979 briefing listed among the operational tasks a project identified only by its initials, a "Cuba situation" and a "Korea situation." On December 5, 1980 he was the control analyst ("Murray B. Watt, LTC, MI, Control Analyst, Project 8035, Session DC-35") for a session on activity at a target given by geographic coordinates, in which the viewer was asked to move forward in time in three-day steps and to describe troops in trucks and vehicles in a valley; a later evaluation of a special analytic report by the [[Army Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center]] recommended that it go "to LTC Watt, Chief, Special Actions, ADCSOPS, INSCOM," and called the use of the information "an intelligence community 'first.'" A memorandum from the Army staff catalogued May 27, 1981, which recounts a telephone call of May 22, reported that after a helicopter crash on the Ecuador and Peru border in February 1981, the Fort Meade team had held five sessions in March 1981 and, "per guidance from LTC Watt," memory sketches were passed to the J2 staff of [[United States Southern Command|Southern Command]], whose pilots later "identified several correlations between the actual terrain and the sketches."[^15]
A briefing script that Lieutenant Colonel [[Brian Buzby]] wrote in 1984, after Watt's tenure, gives the office's own count of its early output: in 1979, a task force of five (a project manager, an operations and training officer, a secretary and two sources) conducted 79 operational missions, 43 of them on the Iranian hostage crisis; in 1980, after the unit had acquired "operational experience" and its own separate facilities, 386 missions, 154 of them on Iran; and seven collection projects for four sponsor agencies in 1979, 41 projects for six sponsors in 1980 and 20 for five in 1981. The Army's chronology records that the first Grill Flame operative attended the [[Monroe Institute]]'s Gateway training on March 5, 1980.[^16]
Schnabel wrote that Watt himself was the target in an early session of [[Mel Riley]]: Riley, monitored by Atwater, described the taste of chocolate and a glass jar of coins, and Watt, who drove them to a [[Volkswagen]] dealership a few miles from Fort Meade, sheepishly admitted he had been late to the target and had at the session's start been at a [[7-Eleven]], where he bought a chocolate bar beside a jar of coins for the [[March of Dimes]]. Watt handed Atwater a sealed envelope holding a photograph of an aircraft hangar in which the Army had hidden an experimental [[M1 Abrams|XM-1]] tank, an operations security test. Schnabel wrote that Watt handled the bureaucratic end of the unit and kept in touch with the network of Grill Flame customers while Atwater turned tasking into viewing strategies, that he would lose his temper more than once over what he saw as lax protocols and the need to avoid the appearance of cheating, and that he signed for a large envelope delivered by two men in civilian clothes who arrived in black Defense Department cars, a target that concerned the acquisition of a Soviet [[T-72]] tank. In Schnabel's account Watt later gathered the six full- and part-time members at a motel in [[Laurel, Maryland]], and told them that a covert mission to rescue the Iran hostages was under way and that they would be known as ICLP, "INSCOM Center Lane Project."[^17]
### The Iranian hostage tasking, 1979 to 1981
Watt's memorandum of December 3, 1979, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Involvement in Iran," records how the unit was tasked. On November 21, 1979 Jackie Keith, chief of the INSCOM Intelligence Collection Center, who was representing INSCOM on a Joint Chiefs of Staff task force on the hostage crisis, asked whether the unit's assets could help; Watt "explained that we did not want to get involved unless we were specifically directed to by proper INSCOM authorities." Keith obtained the approval of the INSCOM chief of staff, Colonel Carr, late that evening, because the deputy chief of staff for operations, Colonel Wilmot, was out of town. At 0715 on November 23 Keith gave Watt "a set of coordinates and a copy of TIME magazine (dated 19 Nov 79)" with a picture of two hostages, and the unit held its first two sessions that day. On November 26 Keith said Major General J. B. Vaught of the Army staff and Lieutenant Colonel Roderick Lenahan of the Special Operations Division of the Joint Staff wanted a briefing; Rolya approved it and said he would himself inform Thompson. Watt briefed them on November 28 and "cautioned them very strongly against using the output 'as sole source' when there was no other data available to confirm or deny our input"; they asked that session reports continue.[^18]
On April 23, 1980 the unit moved into three rooms at the Best Western Motel on Fort Meade Road in Laurel, Maryland, at the request of the Special Operations Division, and ran 20 operational sessions in the following two days, with spot reports telephoned within an hour of each session; Watt ended operations shortly after 0200 on April 25, 1980, "when the news reached us that the attempt to rescue the hostages had been aborted," with the concurrence of Lieutenant Colonel Bob Morrell of the Division. His after-action report of May 2, 1980 listed as drawbacks the loss of sleep, the difficulty of typing reports, the need for one more room, that "the Project Manager carried too much of the administrative and operational burdens on his shoulders" and the project's need for an operations officer, and that the viewers had been "engulfed by the news media." One advantage was that "the commonality of mission importance seemed to achieve a psychological 'high' for group identification." He wrote that the unit had been on the problem for over five months, had completed over 120 sessions and submitted about 90 reports, and had "received very little feedback concerning the value of our efforts"; he strongly believed that someone from INSCOM's decision-making branch should press the Joint Staff "for a written assessment."[^19]
On March 16, 1981 Watt sent Colonel White the final evaluation by Lenahan, covering November 23, 1979 through January 13, 1981. Of 202 reports, the Joint Staff's categories gave 7 positive, 59 possible or partial, 16 inconclusive, 112 negative and 8 administrative aborts; the INSCOM office's own reading of Lenahan's comments gave 26 positive, 37 possible or partial, 61 inconclusive, 76 negative and 2 aborts. Watt wrote that the Joint Staff rated 37 percent of the reports as having some correlation or use and that his office raised the figure "to only 45%," and that "in several cases our reports clearly stated that hostages were in specific buildings at specific times," which Lenahan, comparing debriefings of the hostages, found in error ("We concur!"), while reports that specific buildings were empty, which Lenahan said were correct, were rated inconclusive or partial ("We disagree!"). Among his lessons were that long projects produce a build-up of "overlay," that lack of feedback has a negative effect, that "for targets about which little is known, remote viewing information must only be used for guiding other intelligence collection efforts," and that data accuracy and analytic usability must be evaluated separately. He concluded that "the data/information provided to the user apparently was information that could not be obtained through normal intelligence collection channels" and that "the degree of success appears to at least equal, if not surpass, other collection methods."[^20]
### The joint program dispute, 1980
A paper of September 12, 1980 from the Army staff's Grill Flame action officer, Major Hay, to the assistant chief of staff for intelligence, whose stated purpose was to "prevent possible embarrassment to the Army," recounts that after Lieutenant General [[Eugene Tighe]]'s letter of August 7, 1980 to Thompson, the Defense Department Grill Flame committee met on August 18 at DIA to approve a joint-service memorandum of understanding, a mission statement and a contract with SRI. Watt was on leave and Lieutenant Atwater attended for INSCOM; on August 27, Watt told Hay that INSCOM "could not concur with the MOU," and he and Hay drafted a substitute. INSCOM's objections, with which Hay agreed, included money: INSCOM had $150,000 for the fiscal 1981 effort and needed $30,000 for operations, leaving $120,000 for outside contracts, and DIA maintained that Army had verbally agreed to more, which Watt and Stoner disputed and Watt could document with a memorandum for record. They objected as well to DIA's decision to move its primary contract monitor to SRI at [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], taken before the memorandum was approved, because it ignored the Gale committee's recommendation that "dependence on the SRI approach should be phased out," because DIA felt "the Gale Report is biased," and because placing a DIA monitor with Puthoff and Targ "makes it difficult to deny DOD interest in PSI." The paper records that DIA appeared to believe Watt and Stoner "have it in" for Vorona's office, and that Hay did not.[^21]
At the Defense Department committee meeting of November 13, 1980, which Watt recorded, SRI faced administrative leave for Puthoff and others unless funds came soon, and a participant whose name is withheld informed the committee that representatives of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and the [[National Security Agency]] had indicated their agencies might be interested in putting money into the program, whereupon the committee agreed to invite them as observers. Watt objected to SRI personnel being involved in operational intelligence problems and recommended that requests for "quick reaction reports" go through the committee rather than directly to SRI; he also recommended that the committee prepare a statement for public release "in case it is every needed," and, with Major Phil Partain of the Air Force, that the committee recommend that research and development needed to be carried on.[^22] On April 13, 1981 he and Atwater visited the School of Engineering at Duke University to learn of a computerized system for monitoring the psychological correlates of psi performance, received by Ed Kelly and John Palmer, who said that funding was expected from the McDonnell Douglas Foundation.[^23]
### Briefings
Watt wrote the record of his briefing of Representative [[Charlie Rose]] of January 16, 1980: "I briefed Congressman Charlie Rose... on the INSCOM GRILL FLAME Project," with Thompson, Vorona, "[[Jake Stewart]], NSC Staff Member" and "[[Dick Giza]], Office of Congressman Rose" present; "Page 3 of Incl 1 was not provided to the audience at the direction of MG Thompson," and Rose "encouraged us to continue with our program."[^24] On February 5, 1980 he presented the briefing for selected officers of the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations, who said they were "glad to see that you have chosen to go operational on this subject matter rather than keep it in the lab." On April 10, 1980 he briefed the Air Force assistant chief of staff for intelligence, Major General [[James L. Brown|James Brown]], whose view was "it's necessary to continue, but we really need to have a better handle on the phenomenon."[^25]
On June 2, 1980 Targ asked Watt's permission to provide earlier training sessions to [[McDonnell Douglas]], which had "a new procedure for judging remote viewing sessions"; Watt relayed the request to Stoner, who approved it by phone, on the condition that the material be edited and carry no record of its source.[^26] On July 7, 1980 he briefed Lieutenant General Eugene Tighe, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, with Thompson, Wilmot, Admiral Kelln, Vorona and Puthoff present, and Tighe, in Watt's account, "stressed that we should be attempting to isolate personnel with proven talent(s) in given areas."[^27] At the status review of July 28, 1980, Watt reported that DIA was drafting a memorandum of understanding for a joint Defense Department program, that the unit would move to new space in the first week of August, and that all military members would be subject to rotation by July 1981; Rolya said the CIA appeared to be INSCOM's largest customer and he wanted a more balanced effort.[^28]
His account of the update briefing of December 22, 1980 for the Under Secretary of the Army, Dr. Spiro, records that Spiro "was not satisfied that we had demonstrated any 'successes'" and that "the subject matter (parapsychology) 'bothers' Dr. Spiro"; LaBerge said "I support quiet, rational continuation of the program, but don't allow ourselves to get caught in the position of selling the program," and Spiro said that a one in a thousand chance justified the spending. On April 3, 1981, in the Dirksen Office Building, he briefed staff members [[Herbert Klein]] and [[Dan Childs]] of the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] for almost an hour, telling them that INSCOM had a nine-man task force working "out-of-hide" and that the Army had asked for five spaces in its fiscal 1982 program.[^29] He briefed Rose again on April 16, 1981 with Thompson, writing the record. Rose had concluded from Puthoff's briefing that the Army might wish to break off contact with SRI; Watt and Thompson answered that it did not.[^30]
### Relief and later references
On June 30, 1981, as "outgoing project manager," he gave the first Grill Flame briefing to the new commander of INSCOM, Major General [[Albert Stubblebine]], alongside his successor, Lieutenant Colonel [[Robert Jachim]]; Stubblebine told them to be watchful of mixing operations and maintenance funds with research money, and Watt reported that the transfer of $130,000 to DIA had been held up because the Army and Defense Department general counsels could not agree on the human use issue.[^31] On July 22, 1981 his office initiated a military interdepartmental purchase request transferring $130,000 to the Defense Intelligence Agency for the joint DIA and INSCOM contract with SRI for fiscal 1981, a contract that, he wrote on August 18 and again on August 20 (the second time signing as "Ch, Special Actions Division"), was held on file only in the human intelligence office because of its sensitivity.[^32] On August 10, 1981 he recorded a telephone call with Thompson in which they agreed on the points to be resolved before any further SRI contract on the training and evaluation of remote viewing would be approved: that SRI state in writing what limitations were being placed on it; that SRI and Swann clarify in writing "who owns the right to Mr. Swann's new training program"; that INSCOM funding for fiscal 1982 stay at $195,000 and that INSCOM receive written assurance that it would be "offered the opportunity to have selected personnel trained using the new concept"; and that the selection of INSCOM trainees be a joint process between Swann and Grill Flame management, with Swann visiting afterward "to see that 'all systems are still functioning properly.'" Colonel [[Chad White|White]] and Thompson were shown as concurring.[^33] A letter of August 12, 1981 from the SRI contract monitor, enclosing material on the selection of sponsor trainees in Swann's training program, was addressed to Watt and Jachim jointly.[^34] On August 28, 1981 he presented INSCOM's briefing to the National Security Agency Scientific Advisory Committee, chaired by [[Willis Ware]] of the [[RAND Corporation|Rand Corporation]], and wrote on September 1 that "I stressed that our effort was not research and development, but strictly operational in nature."[^35]
The Army's chronology dates Jachim's assumption of the project manager's duties to October 1981; Schnabel wrote that Watt's tour was over and that Jachim replaced him in 1982.[^36] The Grill Flame master access roster of April 6, 1983 lists "WATT, Murray, LTC, INSCOM DCSOPS" as "Former G.F. Project Mgr." with inactive status.[^37] In December 1985, a [[Washington Post]] reporter described the Fort Meade program to Russell Targ as one that Stubblebine had overseen, "after Watt had left and Jachim took over."[^38]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "INSCOM Project Grill Flame: Progress Report #1," February 21, 1979, with enclosures, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^3]: Defense Intelligence Agency, minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee, November 28, 1978 (enclosed in Progress Report #1), July 12, 1979 (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130008-9), November 27, 1979 (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130015-1), and January 10, 1980 (CIA-RDP96-00788R002000100009-1). Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 April 1981," April 17, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190007-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Buzby, Brian, memoranda for the record, "Initial Grill Flame Briefing to MG Stubblebine as CG, INSCOM, 30 June 1981" (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220001-0), "Meeting With MG Stubblebine on 30 November 1983" (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220010-0), and "Meeting with MG Stubblebine on 6 January 1984" (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220009-2). Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^4]: Defense Intelligence Agency, S-1004/DT-1, "Minutes of the Meeting, DoD Grill Flame Committee," November 28, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000140013-2; Watt, Murray B., "Summary of Working Group Meeting, DoD Committee on Special Sensors (C), 28 Nov 78," November 29, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200240006-8. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 January 1980," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190001-0. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Watt, Murray B., "Comments Concerning 'GRILL FLAME SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION COMMITTEE REPORT,' dated December 1979," catalogued February 13, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130025-0. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^1]: INSCOM, "Summary Phoncon between LTC Kane, DCSOPS, INSCOM and MAJ Murray B. Watt; PPPA, DIRHUM, INSCOM," November 1, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410020-3; Watt, Murray, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for DDO, CIA, 5 Feb 1980," February 6, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250053-6; Army Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center, "Special Analytic Report," December 4, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R000400060004-9. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200410020-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250053-6 and https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r000400060004-9.
[^2]: Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies*, Dell, 1997, chapters on the formation of the Fort Meade unit.
[^3]: US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "INSCOM Project Grill Flame: Progress Report #1," February 21, 1979, with enclosures, CIA-RDP96-00788R001500040003-0 and CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3; "Summary Phoncon between LTC Kane, DCSOPS, INSCOM and MAJ Murray B. Watt," November 1, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410020-3; "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100070001-3 and https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100020001-8.
[^4]: Watt, Murray B., "Summary of Visit to SRI International, 15-17 November 1978," and "Summary of Visit to SRI International, 12-15 December 1978," enclosed in Progress Report #1, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100070001-3.
[^5]: Progress Report #1, February 21, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001500040003-0 and CIA-RDP96-00788R001100070001-3 (including "Summary of Visit to AMSAA, 12 Jan 79"); "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8.
[^6]: Defense Intelligence Agency, S-1004/DT-1, "Minutes of the Meeting, DoD Grill Flame Committee," November 28, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000140013-2; Watt, Murray B., "Summary of Working Group Meeting, DoD Committee on Special Sensors (C), 28 Nov 78," November 29, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200240006-8. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000140013-2 and https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200240006-8.
[^7]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "Three-Day Work Conference - AMSAA (8, 9 and 12 March 1979)," March 15, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240039-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240039-3.
[^8]: Watt, Murray B., "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefings, 23 Mar 79," March 26, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240034-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240034-8.
[^9]: Office of the Surgeon General, "Minutes of Ad Hoc Subcommittee of The Surgeon General's Human Use Review Committee Meeting, 26 March 1979," March 29, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100110002-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100110002-7.
[^10]: INSCOM, "Monthly Exchange of Ideas, Technical Advances and Future Plans: AMSAA and INSCOM," catalogued August 1, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240030-2; Watt, Murray B., "GRILL FLAME Update Briefing for COL(P) Wilmot, 17 October 1979," CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240022-1. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240030-2 and https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240022-1.
[^11]: Watt, Murray B., "GRILL FLAME DOD Science Evaluation Team Briefing, 27 September 1979," October 5, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240025-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240025-8.
[^12]: Watt, Murray B., "GRILL FLAME DOD Science Evaluation Team Update Briefing, 9 November 1979," November 15, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240001-4, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240001-4.
[^13]: Defense Intelligence Agency, minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee, November 27, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130015-1; July 12, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130008-9; January 10, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000100009-1. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^14]: Watt, Murray B., "Comments Concerning 'GRILL FLAME SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION COMMITTEE REPORT,' dated December 1979," catalogued February 13, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130025-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000130025-0.
[^15]: "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8; Watt, "Update Briefing, 9 November 1979," CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240001-4; "Transcript Remote Viewing (RV) Session DC-35," December 5, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R000500350001-9, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r000500350001-9; Army Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center, "Special Analytic Report," December 4, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R000400060004-9; Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, "Memorandum for GRILL FLAME Project Manager, GRILL FLAME Operational Feedback," catalogued May 27, 1981 (the text recounts a call of May 22, 1981), CIA-RDP96-00788R000600300001-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r000600300001-3.
[^16]: Buzby, Brian, "I am LTC Buzby, Project Manager for INSCOM Project Center Lane," briefing script, 1984, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700330002-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001700330002-7; "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8.
[^17]: Schnabel, Jim, *Remote Viewers*, Dell, 1997, chapters on the first sessions of the Fort Meade unit, the Iran hostage crisis and the sealed envelope target.
[^18]: Watt, Murray B., "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Involvement in Iran," memorandum for the record, December 3, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000240018-6, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000240018-6.
[^19]: Watt, Murray B., "After-Action Report (Iranian Crisis 23-25 Apr 80)," May 2, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R001000340008-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001000340008-7; memorandum for LTC Watt, "Events of 23-25 April 1980," April 29, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250035-6, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250035-6.
[^20]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for Colonel Chad B. White, "GRILL FLAME Evaluation in Support of Iranian Hostage Situation," March 16, 1981, with tables, CIA-RDP96-00788R001000340001-4, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001000340001-4.
[^21]: Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, DAMI-ISH, information paper "GRILL FLAME," September 12, 1980 (reissued September 15, 1980), CIA-RDP96-00788R001700280017-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001700280017-7; also catalogued as CIA-RDP96-00788R001200020013-4 and CIA-RDP96-00788R001200020014-3.
[^22]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "DoD GRILL FLAME Meeting, 13 Nov 80," November 14, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000100001-9, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000100001-9.
[^23]: Trip report, "12-14 April 1981, Durham, NC," April 15, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000260001-2, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000260001-2.
[^24]: Watt, Murray B., "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 January 1980," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190001-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100190001-0.
[^25]: Watt, "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for DDO, CIA, 5 Feb 1980," CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250053-6; Watt, "Briefing to Air Force ACSI, 10 April 1980," April 22, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250031-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250031-0.
[^26]: Watt, Murray B., "Summary of FONECON between Russell TARG, SRI, and LTC WATT, 2 June 1980," June 3, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250037-4, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250037-4.
[^27]: Watt, Murray B., "Grill Flame Briefing for Director, DIA (7 July 1980)," July 8, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250039-2, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250039-2.
[^28]: Watt, Murray B., "ACSI/INSCOM GRILL FLAME Status Review, 28 July 1980," July 31, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000250042-8, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r002000250042-8.
[^29]: Watt, Murray B., "Update Briefing for Under Secretary of the Army, 22 Dec 80," December 23, 1980, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100440042-7; White, Chad B., "INSCOM GRILL FLAME (GF) Briefing to Staff Members, Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 3 April 1981," fact sheet, April 7, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220024-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100440042-7 and https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001700220024-5.
[^30]: Watt, Murray B., "INSCOM GRILL FLAME Briefing for Congressman Rose, 16 April 1981," April 17, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100190007-4, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001100190007-4.
[^31]: Watt, Murray B., "Initial Grill Flame Briefing to MG Stubblebine as CG, INSCOM, 30 June 1981," July 1, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220001-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001700220001-0. The same memorandum is catalogued as CIA-RDP96-00792R000100140023-7.
[^32]: Watt, Murray B., memoranda for the record, "MIPR #81-1001, dtd 22 July 1981," August 18, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00792R000100140051-6, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00792r000100140051-6, and "MIPR 81-1001, dated 22 July 1981," August 20, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00792R000100140052-5, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00792r000100140052-5. The contract is identified as DIA contract DSSW MDA 903-81-C-0292.
[^33]: Watt, Murray B., memorandum for the record, "Army/INSCOM Contractual Position as Regards SRI-I, FY 82," August 10, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00792R000100140005-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00792r000100140005-7.
[^34]: SRI contract monitor, letter to Lt. Col. Murray B. Watt and Lt. Col. Robert Jachim, August 12, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00792R000100140009-3, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00792r000100140009-3.
[^35]: Watt, Murray B., "GRILL FLAME Briefing for NSA Scientific Advisory Committee, 28 August 1981," September 1, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200190001-9, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200190001-9.
[^36]: "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8; Schnabel, *Remote Viewers*, Dell, 1997, chapter on Stubblebine's arrival at INSCOM. The chronology's date column places "LTC Robert Jachim assumes project manager duties" between July 17, 1981 and November 20, 1981 and lists it as October 1981.
[^37]: "Alpha List, Grill Flame Master Access Roster," April 6, 1983, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200270013-7, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001200270013-7.
[^38]: Memorandum for record, "Conversation via Telephone with Puthoff," December 10, 1985, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700030002-0, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001700030002-0.