Paul H. Smith

Stargate Operative and Founding Remote Viewing Researcher

Major Paul H. Smith (US Army, retired) is one of the most credible voices on the American military's Stargate remote viewing program. Serving seven years as both an operational remote viewer and training officer (1983–1990), Smith occupies a unique position: insider with institutional authority, but also researcher who spent decades synthesizing and teaching the practice.

Military Service and Training

Smith's remote viewing career began in 1983 when he was assigned to the Army's Center Lane program. In 1986, he transferred to the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he remained until 1990—initially as a remote viewer, later as instructor and unit historian. In 1984, he became one of only five Army personnel to be personally trained in Coordinate Remote Viewing (CRV) by Ingo Swann and Hal Puthoff at SRI International, placing him among the most elite CRV practitioners in the program's history.

During his tenure, Smith authored the military's CRV training manual and trained several now-prominent remote viewers, including Lyn Buchanan, Mel Riley (Riley was a contemporary), and David Morehouse. He also served as unit security officer and recruitment lead, gaining comprehensive exposure to both the technical and administrative dimensions of Stargate operations. A Desert Storm veteran, he left active duty in 1996 with the rank of Major.

Post-Military Authority and IRVA Leadership

After military retirement, Smith founded Remote Viewing Instructional Services, Inc. (Cedar City, Utah), which became a leading independent CRV training institution. He served twice as president of the International Remote Viewing Association (IRVA), the nonprofit organization he helped found, and remains on its board. His dual role—both insider-historian and independent educator—lends credibility to his analysis of Stargate's operational successes and methodological foundations.

Academic and Literary Contributions

Smith holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in philosophy of mind, consciousness, philosophy of science, and philosophy of parapsychology—a rigorous academic foundation that distinguishes him from many UFO/remote viewing figures. His primary work, Reading the Enemy's Mind: Inside Star Gate—America's Psychic Espionage Program (1996), was selected as the March 2006 Reader's Digest Editor's Choice and remains the authoritative firsthand account of Stargate operations from someone who wrote the organization's training protocols. He has authored additional works on remote viewing methodology and continues to lecture internationally, regularly appearing on Coast to Coast AM and at IRVA conferences.

Connection to UAP and Consciousness Research

While Smith's primary focus remains remote viewing methodology and history, his participation in conferences addressing UFO/UAP phenomena reflects the historical overlap between Stargate operations and UFO investigation. Remote viewing was allegedly applied to UFO tracking and extraterrestrial contact scenarios, though publicly confirmed cases remain limited. Smith represents an increasingly rare voice: a Stargate insider willing to discuss the program with academic rigor and institutional humility.