Edwin C. May

Career Overview

Edwin Clarence May is a nuclear physicist who spent 20 years (1975–1995) as a research scientist and then project director of the U.S. government's classified remote viewing program, variously known as the Cognitive Science Program or Stargate, operating under Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and later Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). At his tenure's peak, he managed 70% of the Stargate program's total contractor budget and oversaw 85% of all data collection—making him one of the most prolific coordinators of government-funded psi research.

The Stargate Years

May joined Stargate in its early exploratory phase and became research director from 1985 onward, overseeing hundreds of controlled remote viewing experiments. He worked directly with Joe McMoneagle and other operationally deployed remote viewers, translating their intuitive descriptions into statistical frameworks. The Stargate program, later declassified, produced experimental series reaching statistical significance at four standard deviations above chance expectation, with effect sizes greater than 0.6—compelling in the parapsychology literature, though controversial in mainstream science. May's key finding: remote viewing accuracy appeared independent of both distance (tested up to 10,000 km) and time (several days into the future).

Theory: Entropy and Anomalous Cognition

After Stargate's 1995 closure, May founded the Laboratories for Fundamental Research in Palo Alto, where he has continued rigorous psi studies for three decades. His core theoretical contribution is the entropy gradient hypothesis: he argues that targets characterized by rapid changes in Shannon entropy—underground nuclear tests, particle accelerators, rocket launches, electromagnetic pulses—produce significantly higher remote viewing accuracy than mundane targets. This information-theoretic model attempts to ground psi in physics rather than invoke new paradigms, a rare position among parapsychologists.

Consciousness and Non-Human Intelligence

May's 500+ peer-reviewed papers outline conclusions that resonate with UFO and consciousness research: (1) ESP exists at statistically robust levels; (2) entropy gradients drive information transfer in psi; (3) precognition may be the underlying modality behind all psychic phenomena; (4) the phenomenon resists training for operational excellence. Uniquely, May rejects the notion that accommodating psi requires a scientific revolution—he advocates for a physicalist explanation of consciousness that includes psi as a natural, if poorly understood, phenomenon. This bridge between hard physics and anomalous phenomena aligns him with researchers investigating the intersection of UAP, consciousness, and non-local information transfer.

Published Work

May co-authored Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory (McFarland, 2018) synthesizing 35+ years of research. His archival materials are held at Rice University, and he remains an active speaker on psi research, entropy, and precognition.