On the surface of things, parapsychology appears to be a rather calm
field in which experiments are conducted and reports are published. The many
steps from experimental design through formal reports are quite well known and
accepted.
By far and large, though, much beyond the field itself, the final
reports are published in parapsychology's own journals -- and thus find little
in the way of excited outside or public interest.
This is somewhat to
say that the field has become encapsulated within its own tightly woven cocoon
-- and the nature of the cocoon has varied since the first formal psychical
research organization was set up in 1882.
All things considered, it could be
said that parapsychology, its products and especially its inner workings are
almost invisible regarding the public at large.
This might be interpreted
in ways indicating that parapsychology is a world or a subculture of its own,
and that it doesn't directly interface with other scientific disciplines or
public appreciation.
The reasons for this cannot be blamed on parapsychology
alone -- reasons I will be forced to comment upon as this tale and soap opera
extends into bigger and more dramatic realms.
One of the fall-outs of
this isolation, and as I've directly experienced, is that parapsychologists are
not used to having OUTSIDE influences penetrate into their midst.
They like
the processes and motions in their subculture to be predictable and more or less
under the control or influence of their recognized leaders. I can't fault them
for this. But it does raise the matter of status within the subculture, the
matter of who's who, and who has power over whom.
During the period of my
"entry" into parapsychology, there were four sources of outside influences
parapsychologists, as a group, tried to guard against.
The first three of
these sectors consisted of psychics, skeptics, and independent, radical
researchers working outside of the pale of the inside lines of parapsychology --
such as Cleve Backster and others we'll meet ahead.
All of these brought
unpredictable influences into parapsychology -- but which even I agree needed to
be sustained by some kind of central core so as to remain as scientific and
proper as possible.
There were never any published documents along these
lines, though. But such was commonly "understood."
There was a fourth
influence which tended to disrupt parapsychology matters and to introduce
visions of serious, even threatening unpredictability.
It is difficult to
nail down this influence.
You have to get the larger picture that
parapsychology was a very small, quite introverted subculture and which wished
to proceed in its affairs without much in the way of outside intrusions into its
midst.
One potential source of such intrusion consisted of "official inquiry"
or investigations by anything resembling, for example, organized law enforcement
agencies -- up to and including the FBI.
Such implied that "something was
wrong somewhere," and which introduced all sorts of apprehensions -- even though
back in 1972 hearsay had long existed that police, even the FBI, occasionally
consulted psychics to help solve difficult, clueless crimes.
Work on the
OOB "seeing" experiments and on the new remote viewing ones had recommenced
after the New Year of 1972. If I remember, the first "glitch" in the works
occurred just before the second working session of that month.
I arrived at
the ASPR and sort of noticed that everyone was nervous. No one smiled a
greeting, and some looked at me out of the corners of their eyes.
Even Janet
Mitchell was out of sorts and not smiling as usual.
As we were getting
set up to proceed with the experiments, I felt the presence of a disruption
which seemed to hang in every room.
So I said: "Why is everyone in a snit?
What's going on."
Janet looked at me rather remorsefully. "Well, I'm not
supposed to tell you, but some guys were here checking you out. I wasn't here
when they came. But everyone thinks you are being investigated for some
whoop-ti-do."
"Investigated -- for what?"
"How the hell should I know? No
one tells me anything."
Now, I had a particular horror about being
investigated. This stemmed from undergoing the "morals and character clearance"
investigation which the U. S. government demanded for American citizens working
at the United Nations. No other Member government of the United Nations imposed
this on their citizens working in the world body.
I had security clearances
for civil service work when I was in high school and other clearances while in
the Army. But the UN thing was wild, absolutely wild.
The extent of the
UN clearance was awesome. For one thing, it took TWO years to process.
Investigators dug into every possible aspect of my life -- even in the town I
was born, everything down to my personal habits, what I read, who I hung out
with, and on and on.
Of course, reports of the inquiries flooded back to me
-- and I was outraged and furious about some the really dirty and visceral
questions which had been asked of other people.
Many horror stories were
shared with me by other American citizens who had survived what had happened to
them and their reputations BECAUSE of our government's desire to make sure one
was suitable to work in the international civil service headquartered in the
Secretariat of the UN
Meanwhile, I worked for the two years under a temporary
contract, as was required for all Americans. At the end of the two years my
clearance was approved -- but I felt like I'd been through an extensive
inquisition which was done on the rack.
My reputation suffered more from
the investigation than anything I could be capable of doing. I don't know if
today the same goes on regarding American citizens at the United Nations -- but
anyhow I was terribly sensitive to this kind of thing.
Since Janet
didn't know anything, I got myself down to the toilet-pink lobby and to the desk
of Mrs. Laura F. Knipe (Fanny) and who DID know everything. She was then
Executive Secretary of the ASPR, and ruled the venerable organization with an
iron fist the likes of which would give Godzilla pause.
"So," I said,
"who were they?"
THEY turned out to have been two guys dressed in suits who
flashed some credentials and asked to see Dr. Osis, and who had asked some
questions of him and Fanny about my humble self.
So I got myself up to
Osis' office on the fourth floor and nailed him down. He had talked with THEM
behind closed doors, wasn't free to tell me what was discussed, and then had
shown them the experiment rooms, described the experiments, and showed them some
of my experimental results.
Dr. Osis had not thought to ask to see their
credentials, and so no one seemed to know who THEY were -- except possibly Fanny
because NO ONE got past her. But she never told me.
With this mystery
unsolved, I bombed regarding the targets all that day -- and went down to
Zelda's to play Scrabble, drink more than enough wine, and speculate.
Zelda
smiled knowingly -- saying something like "your reputation goes before you, even
into the highest places."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"THEY are
interested in you."
"Who?"
(No answer from Zelda.)
"Well, THEY scared
the shit out of everyone at the ASPR. I've a feeling that my days there are
numbered."
News of the two guys at the ASPR leaked through the
parapsychology gossip lines, of course. Yes. Parapsychology has vital and
visceral internal gossip lines, and deadly sewage occasionally flows through
them. So I was now suspect -- although no one seemed to know what for.
And
as most people realize, where facts are not available our species has a penchant
to fill them in with imagination.
In this way, I thus became an irritant
within the introverted parapsychological subculture -- become some outside
official interests seemed to be focusing on me for some unknown
reason.