STARpod.org  feature articles

Download a printer friendly PDF version with documentation

Government consultant Ingo Swann's tale of covert extraterrestrial activity on the moon takes on a new twist, now that the CIA STAR GATE documents support many of his claims.

"The result of the promised 'contact' was that if I had any doubts about whether they existed, such doubts were shortly to be resolved. I almost got killed in the process."

"A program in biofield measurements was initiated in July, 1972 with a preliminary experiment with Mr. [Ingo] Swann. In this work using a shielded magnetometer, Mr. Swann apparently demonstrated an ability to increase and decrease at will the magnetic field within a superconducting magnetic shield. This experiment made use of an existing facility and we have confidence that Mr. Swann had no prior knowledge of either the apparatus or of our intended experiment."

This is the bizarre true tale of Ingo Swann's psychic work for the U.S Government, at various agencies including the CIA and the DIA (now substantiated by the CIA release of roughly two thirds of the existing STAR GATE documents) and his personal allegations of a mysterious black operation that first contacted him during the peak of CIA sponsored testing at the Stanford Research Institute.

If Ingo Swann is to be believed, and this coming from a man with top secret clearance that in his day briefed and trained officers from the USAF, the Defense Intelligence Agency, INSCOM, and many others too numerous to mention, then there is some truth to the rumors of an otherworldly intelligence working behind the scenes here on Earth. Not only are they already here, according to Swann's testimony from a rare out-of-print book, self-published in 1998, but they are building something on the far side of the moon.

And they are not friendly.

"I spent the next few months wondering if the ET's were going to find me and zap my brains out of existence."

The truth is stranger than fiction, and this story is guaranteed to stretch the imagination right back into reality.

For Ingo Swann, the turning point leading into the cloak and dagger world of deep black ops and weird requests for psychic surveillance of the moon and beyond began in early 1975. When Swann published his tale in 1998, most of the CIA and DIA classified documents from the secret STAR GATE program were still unavailable to the general public. As this story goes to press, in the summer of 2006, more than 80,000 pages of documents are close at hand here at Starstream Research, including the results of medical and psychological tests conducted on Mr. Swann as a result of his CIA sponsored testing while working with SRI: The Stanford Research Institute, in the 1970's.

"Recently, two individuals, Mr. Uri Geller and Mr. Ingo Swann, appear to have demonstrated certain of these abilities [paraphysical effects] under controlled laboratory conditions. The abilities of these individuals (unwitting of Agency [CIA]sponsorship) are being submitted to a serious scientific investigation, part of which is being supported by the above mentioned project."

The CIA STAR GATE Program

In the early 1970's concerns began to float about the various intelligence agencies over a psychic war gap with the Soviet Union. Unknown to the general public, the Soviets were busy exploring fringe science: application of the dark shadow of the paranormal world for espionage.

Swann's abilities had been tracked for some time, but they really attracted the powers that be in Langley with the recording of an apparent perturbation of delicate test equipment by Swann's mental perception. In addition to disturbing the output of this sensitive instrument, Swann was able to produce a rough description of the device, which he had never seen previously.

"In 1972 reports of paranormal activities being documented at SRI by Dr. H.Puthoff and Mr. R. Targ reached the Agency. The original contracts were [redacted] OTS/APB and [redacted] ORD/TC. A small work order type contract (approximately $10,000) was initiated by [redacted] with the permission of Dr. S. Gottlieb, D/OTS. This contract arranged for SRI to administer controlled laboratory testing of Mr. Ingo Swann, a New York City artist, with claimed paranormal abilities. Mr. Swann was tested and produced significant data under controlled conditions."

In a letter dated June 27, 1972, Dr. Hal Puthoff of SRI wrote, "At the suggestion of Russell Targ I am writing you about an observation in the laboratory involving one Ingo Swann, a New York artist ... An interesting side light of the experiment was that Ingo was able to describe rather well what the interior of the device looked like, apparently with some form of direct observation." Although redacted, it is likely that the recipient of this letter was at the CIA. Apparently sponsorship of Dr. Puthoff's interest in Swann's mental interaction with the test equipment followed quickly.

Among the STAR GATE files is a Stanford Research Institute (SRI) Technical Memorandum dated 22 February, 1973, prepared by Dr. Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ, Contract Number 1471(S)73 and tagged by CIA/ORD # 1416-73:

"A program in biofield measurements was initiated in July, 1972 with a preliminary experiment with Mr. [Ingo] Swann. In this work using a shielded magnetometer, Mr. Swann apparently demonstrated an ability to increase and decrease at will the magnetic field within a superconducting magnetic shield. This experiment made use of an existing facility and we have confidence that Mr. Swann had no prior knowledge of either the apparatus or of our intended experiment."

An August, 1972 memo to the Chief of TSD/BAB at the CIA notes that, " ...  [name redacted] and somebody named [redacted] from [CIA] Life Sciences are planning a trip to the West Coast on 11 August, when they will meet Ingo Swann and have a chance to watch him flex his sphincter ... Life Sciences is planning on forming a coordinating committee to work on ESP and the data that is coming in ..."

When we contacted the unnamed former officer from CIA Life Sciences, he confirmed the authenticity of the document, but denied any knowledge of Swann's tale.

An undated draft memorandum from Deputy Director for Operations William Colby, addressed to the "Director of Central Intelligence," reveals the clandestine nature of CIA involvement in research using human subjects:

"Recently, two individuals, Mr. Uri Geller and Mr. Ingo Swann, appear to have demonstrated certain of these abilities [paraphysical effects] under controlled laboratory conditions. The abilities of these individuals (unwitting of Agency [CIA] sponsorship) are being submitted to a serious scientific investigation, part of which is being supported by the above mentioned project."

An anonymous source, working in the alternative energy and transportation industry recently commented that "Actually, they became interested in Swann when he RV'ed [psychically remote viewed] some of their well-hidden deep underground vaults, and the contents thereof. This was when they approached SRI because they were finally truly scared about the reality of RV [psychic remote viewing] as a tool in the hands of the Soviets."

Based upon the available records in STAR GATE, no one seems to have seriously considered that all of these manifestations of the impossible were strong indications of interference in human affairs by higher intelligence with more powerful technologies at their disposal. Or did they? Swann's account in his book suggests that someone lurking in the shadows was paying very close attention; someone whose reach included the often super-secret work done at SRI.