Parapsychology is the study of phenomena that lie outside conventional scientific understanding, often exploring experiences like telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, and remote viewing.

It’s a highly controversial field, with proponents advocating its potential and skeptics questioning its scientific rigor.

Controlled Remote Viewing (CRV) is a specific practice within parapsychology. It was originally developed as a structured technique for accessing and describing information about a distant or unseen target using the mind alone. CRV gained attention due to its association with some government projects, a program conducted during the Cold War to explore psychic phenomena for intelligence-gathering purposes.

How CRV Works

CRV is highly methodical and involves several stages designed to help a person access intuitive impressions without interference from their conscious mind. A typical CRV session might include:

1. Target Cueing: The participant is provided with a minimal reference, often a random target number or geographic coordinates.
2. Sketching and Notes: Participants record impressions — such as shapes, textures, colors, and emotional “feels” — without analyzing or rationalizing them.
3. Data Refinement: Over multiple stages, the information is refined to form a more detailed “picture” of the target.

CRV proponents claim that the process bypasses conscious biases, making it possible to obtain valid data about a target.

Evidence and Criticism

• Supporters argue that there have been documented cases of successful remote viewing, and some claim its validity is supported by statistical analysis of experimental results.
• Skeptics highlight the lack of replicable evidence under controlled conditions and suggest any successes are more likely due to chance, subconscious pattern recognition, or analytical overlay (filling in gaps with guesses).

Shervan K Shahhian