“Meet US Army Colonel John Alexander, a former Green Beret in Vietnam, world-renowned expert in non-lethal weapons technology, and explorer of fringe science and paranormal possibilities. In 1980, Alexander contributed an article, titled “The New Mental Battlefield,” to the Army’s Military Review, arguing that remote viewing and other psychic phenomena could be militarized. During his military career and after, Alexander has had his hand in research on remote viewing, UFOs, near-death experiences, zero-point energy, and a variety of other curious matters.
To some conspiracy theorists and self-proclaimed victims of mind control, he is Darth Vader. I first interviewed Alexander in 1994 for my Wired column “Reality Check” and found him delightful. (The online archive is here, but a chunk of the article is missing.) At the time, Alexander was head of the nonlethal weaponry program at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I’ve followed Alexander since, and was delighted to read about him in Jon Ronson’s fun book The Men Who Stare At Goats. (For the record though, Alexander told me that the book is riddled with factual errors. For example, he says that it wasn’t staring that killed the goat but rather a karate chop administered earlier that day.) Science writer Jim Schnabel, author of the excellent book “Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America’s Psychic Spies,” recently interviewed Alexander for Fortean Times.”
Read more at Boing Boing
“The Men Who Karate Chop Goats Necks Who Then Die Later (The Goats Not The Men) Due To Chi Imbalance Like The Dim Mak Myth” not quite the same ring.
I can see Jon Ronson’s logic behind his title.
excellent article. the original is at
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/interviews/3571/paranormal_soldier_john_alexander.html
however, the best quote in it is this:
“JS: Do you think the US government now is covering up some essential truth about UFOs?
JA: Almost certainly not. It’s funny how people tend to think the US government is incomÂpetent in all other areas, but is super-efficient and omniscient on the subject of UFOs.”
EXACTLY!!
Ah, remote viewing. It remains interesting, although .. at least I think so .. not been done by anyone being in control of the system. I think it only works from a very close up bond between two people .. a bond that long tem lovers not even wish for, or better said .. that can’t be, most partners know after a while why certain bonds can’t be .. the body of one of both wont cope.
You could create such a bond from full conscious .. but I can’t imagine that someone ever wishes to be in such a physical state to be able to view remotely via someone else. Although .. under the correct circumstances, with like wise minded people .. It takes strong people. With strong I’s. To cope with the effect it will cause on its body. I wonder really whether it will work on a voluntary conscious bases.