Phenomena

February 27, 2017
Journalist Jacobsen (The Pentagon’s Brain) continues her disturbing excavations of the inner workings of the American defense and intelligence establishment in this fascinating exposé of governmental research into “anomalous mental phenomena.” The U.S. government sought to surveil its enemies and gain the upper hand in what was perceived to be a very real threat on Earth as well as in space. This was not merely a war of perception: the U.S.S.R. had embarked on ESP-based efforts of its own, including the bombardment of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow with focused microwaved beams. The result was an unprecedented arms race of the psychic kind. Readers may be familiar with MKUltra, the CIA’s program to develop mind-control techniques, but they’ll be surprised by the breadth and dedication of the government’s efforts to study paranormal activity, which included drafting the likes of science fiction author Aldous Huxley and self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller. Attempting to stay a step ahead of their foreign (and potential otherworldly) enemies, they investigated related phenomena, most notably remote viewing, which resulted in the creation of a dedicated remote viewing program in the U.S. Army. Jacobsen artfully deals card after dutifully researched card in her enthralling reportage on one of America’s most curious defense endeavors. Agent: James Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary.

February 1, 2017
Jacobsen (The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency, 2015, etc.) journeys into the realm where the paranormal and the bureaucratic meet.By the author's account, places like Area 51 and Roswell are the real deal, landing sites and contact points for ETs and those who love them. In her latest book, she looks into the men-who-stare-at-goats investigations of the government, programs born of the Cold War and the need to combat the Red Menace on all fronts, including the extrasensory. So it is that, she writes, during the 1950s, the CIA was swept up in a "quest to locate an ESP-enhancing drug," which included plenty of trial runs and a budget line for, as an official memo put it, "studying and collecting hallucinogenic species of mushrooms of interest." Other projects, chemically assisted or not, fell under the aegis of various branches of the government, mostly military, with experiments taking place at venues like Fort Meade--home, of course, of the National Security Agency. Some venues were farther-flung. In an odd moment during the Apollo 14 moon landing, an astronaut conducted "mind-to-mind telepathy tests" with a couple of earthbound psychics. Later in the book, the Israeli phenomenalist Uri Geller enters the picture, which may set off the BS detectors of those who remember the controversies surrounding his heyday. Jacobsen's narrative, punctuated by Zener cards and secret government outposts, makes for entertaining reading, but as with her book Area 51 (2011), either you're disposed to believe it or not from the outset; there's not much in the way of compelling evidence here despite all the players from various agencies and the large amounts of money spent on keeping them busy. And speaking of agencies, there's the obligatory throwback to the paranormal researches of the Third Reich, the stuff of The Morning of the Magicians. The occultly inclined will be duly enchanted. The materialists--well, not so much.

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Starred review from February 15, 2017

From biological agents to artificial intelligence, the military has developed an array of weapons that advance science and may cross moral lines. Jacobsen exposed much of this progress in her previous work, The Pentagon's Brain. Her latest book reveals how U.S. military agencies investigated and applied paranormal phenomena for defense. The author uses declassified information and interviews to weave a compelling narrative and support her research. Paranoia about Soviet research into this realm led to the creation of these programs, some of which cost millions to develop. This is an excellent read that gives ample evidence on both sides of the argument that extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis exist, complementing such works as W. Adam Mandelbaum's The Psychic Battlefield and Ann Finkbeiner's The Jasons. VERDICT Highly recommended for those interested in the military and the paranormal.--Jacob Sherman, John Peace Lib., Univ. of Texas at San Antonio

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