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THREE MAJOR DIRECTIONS OF PSYCHIC RESEARCH The problem faced by the Moscow experimenters is a basic one Although the full extent of the discoveries and details of Soviet in efforts to use psychic powers for practical purposes. In design- psi research remained shrouded in deep secrecy before and after ing the Moscow-Leningrad experiment, they had to come up with the end of the Cold War, it has been possible to identify three an answer to the question: "How do you tame a telepathic flash; major directions: (a) code by telepathy; (b) boosting the human how do you transform a split-second impression into a meaningful brain; and (c) amplified mind power. Early on, these alarmed message?" American analysts, and partially account for the American The answer was provided by Dr Genady Sergeyev, then a staff responses. member of the A. A. Uktomskii Physiological Institute in Leningrad and senior experimenter with Nina Kulagina. Code by Telepathy Sergeyev, who had been a World War II radio operator stationed The most spectacular experiments undertaken by the Moscow in the Baltic region, decided that a short outburst of emotion Laboratory of Bio-Information used the Soviet Union's star might have sufficient impact to form the Morse code equivalent of telepathists: Yuri Kamensky, a biophysicist, and Karl Nikolayev, a letter of the alphabet. an actor. The two men discovered each other's capabilities in The experimental design called for a message of aggressive thought transference when they met socially. Even before the emotion lasting 15 or 30 seconds to act as the equivalent of a dot Popov research group arranged formal tests, their skills attracted a in Morse code, while a message of 45 seconds was to be the mixture of curiosity, awe and doubt in Moscow society. equivalent of a dash. To generate sufficient violence, Kamensky The first long-distance experiment took was instructed to imagine that he was giving place in 1966, with Kamensky in Moscow Mikolayev a severe beating, lasting either acting as sender of the telepathic signals the short or the long period. The experi- and Nikolayev serving as receiver at the ment did not assume that Nikolayev would science research centre in Novosibirsk, experience the "code beating" consciously western Siberia. The Moscow daily or intellectually. Rather, it was designed to Komsomolskaya Pravda (9 July 1966) be registered by his brain and/or cardiovas- roel tar ieee comseto! | A follow-up experiment, | sven, Tash ce ol The first, modelled after tests pioneered this time between in a soundproof test chamber in Leningrad in the United States by Dr J. B. Rhine at the A University's physiology laboratory. His Y Moscow and Leningrad, YS Payer ey , Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke heart action was monitored by an electro- University, employed a deck of cards made took place a year later. cardiograph, while his brain function was up of five different geometric symbols: recorded by an electroencephalograph. cross, circle, star, wavy lines and square. The newspaper account did not pro- It was designed to vide details on the experiment's h . arness the emotional content of crisis telepathy design, nor did it publish specific into a code transmission. Boosting the Human Brain The work of Professor Ippolite M. Kogan, who directed the Bio- Communication Laboratory of the Popov Institute in Moscow until 1975, has disappeared into a fog of silence. But either Kogan or his successors may well have continued this work. The AiResearch Manufacturing Company, in its 14 January 1976 report to the US Central Intelligence Agency, suggested that "further theo- retic and experimental developments The aim of the second experiment along the lines outlined by Kogan are was to transfer of images of concrete continuing in the Soviet Union". The objects. The paper reported that Nikolayev, in Novosibirsk, report added: "Kogan posed too many interesting and challenging results. It concluded, however, that "the number of correct identifications of symbols was higher than correct random identifications, as computed according to the theory of probabili- ty". The report stated that "The recep- tion of other symbols was disturbed by considerable associative interfer- ence"—a condition that would be "reduced in the future", it said. "received quite clearly" the images of dumbbells and of a screw- questions for himself and his colleagues not to have delved into driver sent from Moscow by Kamensky. The Moscow paper them further. Based on the well-known predilection of Soviet commented: "It is quite possible that these results will equally physicists to solve difficult and challenging problems and their disappoint the most ardent adherents of telepathy and its oppo- excellent training in modern physics, the possibility that a team of nents. The former, because no miracle occurred, because there Soviet physicists is at work to systematically uncover and learn were no perfect identifications. The latter, because the experi- the physical mechanisms of parapsychological events is highly ment demonstrated the reality of the phenomenon and produced probable." valuable data, both positive and negative, which pointed up the The California research group used the term Novel Biophysical need for continued research." Information Transfer (NBIT) to label the telepathic aspects of psi, A follow-up experiment, this time between Moscow and when it stated: "Had Kogan not presented such a clear and sound Leningrad, took place a year later. It was designed to harness the _ proposal six years ago, one might have wondered if Soviet physi- emotional content of crisis telepathy into a code transmission. cists have any interest at all in novel biophysical information The Popov group set out to design an experiment that would (a) transfer (NBIT) mechanisms. Clearly, if one could find out where be suited to the skills of its telepathists, (b) utilise emotional ele- Kogan is working and what he is doing, this question would be ments, and (c) achieve specific information transmission. answered." Although the full extent of the discoveries and details of Soviet psi research remained shrouded in deep secrecy before and after the end of the Cold War, it has been possible to identify three major directions: (a) code by telepathy; (b) boosting the human brain; and (c) amplified mind power. Early on, these alarmed American analysts, and partially account for the American responses. A follow-up experiment, 7 this time between Moscow and Leningrad, took place a year later. 38 + NEXUS THREE MAJOR DIRECTIONS OF PSYCHIC RESEARCH It was designed to harness the emotional www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2001