Russell Targ

Early Career & Physics

Russell Targ was born April 11, 1934, in Chicago, son of William Targ, a prominent American book editor. He earned a B.S. in physics from Queens College, New York (1954) and pursued graduate study at Columbia University. In the 1960s, he worked at Technical Research Group on early laser research, co-authoring a 1962 paper on homodyne detection with laser light—foundational work in the field. This background positioned him as a credible physicist and experimentalist, not a fringe operator.

Remote Viewing Pioneer at SRI

In 1972, Targ joined Stanford Research Institute (SRI), where he met Harold E. Puthoff, a physicist and electrical engineer. Together, they coined the term "remote viewing" to describe the alleged ability to perceive distant or unseen targets through parapsychological means. Beginning with tests of psychic Ingo Swann, they developed protocols for controlled remote viewing experiments, later working with celebrity psychic Uri Geller. Their work was published in peer-reviewed journals including Nature and the IEEE Proceedings of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers.

Targ's rigor in experimental design attracted the attention of U.S. intelligence agencies, who were concerned about Soviet investment in psychic research—rumors of a "psychic gap" mirrored Cold War anxieties over missile gaps and technology races. By the mid-1970s, the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency began sponsoring remote viewing research, transforming Targ's academic work into a classified government program.

Stargate Project & Government Operations

Targ served as lead scientist on the Stargate Project, a classified CIA/DIA program running from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s. The program trained remote viewers to attempt espionage—tasking them to describe Soviet military installations, weapons, and strategic intentions from thousands of miles away. Declassified records show Targ and Puthoff oversaw a network of trained remote viewers, some of whom claimed success on operational targets. The program eventually involved hundreds of millions of dollars and remained classified for decades.

Targ left SRI in 1982 but continued involvement with remote viewing research and training. His direct testimony about the program's scope and purported successes—though disputed by external reviewers—made him a controversial but historically significant figure in U.S. intelligence history. A 1988 National Research Council report concluded the Targ–Puthoff studies were "fatally flawed," and the scientific mainstream has categorized remote viewing as pseudoscience. However, declassified Stargate documents confirm the government took the work seriously enough to fund and classify it.

Ongoing Disclosure & Consciousness Research

In retirement, Targ has remained a public voice on consciousness, parapsychology, and UAP disclosure. He has written multiple books, including Remote Viewing: The History and Science of a Man Who Can See Into the Future and Ninety Years of Remote Viewing, ESP, and Timeless Awareness (published in his 90s). He regularly appears at UFO/consciousness conferences and in interviews discussing the intersection of consciousness research, remote viewing, and non-human intelligence.

Targ occupies a unique position in the modern disclosure era: respected by parapsychology and consciousness researchers as a pioneering experimentalist, but rejected by mainstream science. His role in Stargate—and the program's eventual declassification—lent credibility to the notion that U.S. government agencies had seriously investigated psi phenomena. This has become relevant to broader UAP disclosure conversations, as it demonstrates the government's historical willingness to fund and classify non-conventional intelligence methods. Whether remote viewing is genuine or an expensive Cold War-era mistake remains hotly contested.