The_Info_Web/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Arthur Koestler.md

category	updated	tags	summary	born	died	location	relations
Authors & Journalists	2026-10-15	Person Military Stargate	Arthur Koestler was a Hungarian-born British novelist, journalist, and critic.	1905-09-05	1983-03-01	Budapest, Hungary	type with start role fn funded University of Edinburgh 1985 bequest endowing the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology 4

Arthur Koestler was a Hungarian-born British novelist, journalist, and critic. He was known for his writings on science, parapsychology, and political philosophy. His 1972 book, The Roots of Coincidence, explored the concept of synchronicity and other parapsychological phenomena.¹

Koestler's work, particularly The Roots of Coincidence, played a role in influencing key figures in the U.S. government's psychic research programs. Major General Edmund Thompson, the Army's assistant chief of staff for intelligence, developed a considerable enthusiasm for psychic spying after reading Koestler's pro-paranormal book. This personal interest contributed to Thompson's approval and support for the Stargate Project program.¹

Geneva conference, 1974

In August 1974 the Parapsychology Foundation held its 23rd annual conference at the Hotel La Réserve in Geneva on the subject "Quantum Physics and Parapsychology." A conference report dated October 28, 1974 describes the subject as "a topic selected at the instigation of Arthur Koestler, the well-known author, who in recent years has interested himself in the subject of parapsychology. His recent book, The Roots of Coincidence, reflects this interest." The report records that experiments with gifted subjects were presented by Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ.²

In March 1974 the magazine Time (magazine) published a cover story on psychic research that cited Koestler in its survey of the field. Martin Gardner was quoted in it as listing "the incomplete conclusions of Koestler" beside Uri Geller and The Secret Life of Plants, and as writing that these "all seem part of a new uncritical enthusiasm for pseudo science."³

Koestler Chair of Parapsychology

Koestler's bequest endowed a chair in parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh. The Koestler Parapsychology Unit, in the university's psychology department, gives 1985 as its year of establishment, and Robert L. Morris was appointed the first holder of the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology in 1985.⁴⁵ A paper reproduced in the 1994 DIA peer review plan gives Morris as holding the chair in the Department of Psychology at Edinburgh.⁶ James E. Alcock described the chair in 1987 as "endowed by a bequest from the late Arthur Koestler, a long-time supporter of parapsychology."⁷

Footnotes

---

1. Schnabel, Jim. Remote Viewers. Dell, 1997. ↩︎

2. Central Intelligence Agency, report on the 23rd Annual International Conference of the Parapsychology Foundation, Hotel La Réserve, Geneva, August 26 and 27, 1974, "Quantum Physics and Parapsychology," dated October 28, 1974, CIA-RDP96-00787R000200180001-2 (CIA CREST). ↩︎

3. "Boom Times on the Psychic Frontier," Time, March 4, 1974, CIA-RDP96-00787R000100030002-8 (CIA CREST). ↩︎

4. Koestler Parapsychology Unit, University of Edinburgh, home page ("Established in 1985"). https://koestlerunit.wordpress.com/ ↩︎

5. "Robert Morris," Psi Encyclopedia, Society for Psychical Research ("In 1985, Morris was appointed the first holder of the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology"). https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/robert-morris/ ↩︎

6. Defense Intelligence Agency, Project STAR GATE Research and Peer Review Plan, June 1994, CIA-RDP96-00789R002700010001-1. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00789r002700010001-1 ↩︎

7. Alcock, James E. "Parapsychology: Science of the Anomalous or Search for the Soul?" Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1987), CIA-RDP96-00789R002200120001-4. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00789r002200120001-4 ↩︎