Chapter 21
THE FIRST UPSET AT THE ASPR
- JANUARY, 1972 -
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.