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A "Grand Tour" of Parapsychology Places of Note
by Rich Strong
After many years of reading about the various places of note in the world of parapsychology, I made it a point to visit them this year:
-the Mind Science Foundation, MSF;
-the Parapsychology Foundation, PF;
-the American Society for Psychical Research, ASPR;
-the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory, PEAR Lab; and
-the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man, FRNM; and
-the Parapsychological Association's Annual Convention.
The first visit to the Mind Science Foundation in San Antonio was squeezed in with a visit to my son Ed and his family in Houston and Rosa's family in San Antonio and her hometown of Carrizo Springs (and San Marcos where we met.) The phone directions took us to a very modern-looking glass-facade building in the north part of town. As we paused in the foyer of the lab's suite, I was taken by the large portrait of a very good-looking older gentleman, since I as sure I had seen it somewhere else. The receptionist explained that it was Tom Slick, famous aviation entrepreneur and founder of Slick Airways, who was the Foundation's financial "angel" until his untimely death while travelling in northern India. Rosa and I took in the Library but, since nobody happened to be in the lab, let that satisfy our curiosity for the time being. MSF is noted as the lab where Helmut Schmidt and Marilyn Schlitz do their work. Dr. Schmidt is noted as the recipient of the Parapsychology Foundation's Research Award for his work with PK with random number generators and computer chips.
During our vacation this summer, we were on the east coast taking in Plymouth and Providence, Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, in between West Point and the submarine base at Groton. During our return, we stopped off on Manhattan Isle and visited the libraries at the ASPR and the PF. These two established psi sites are ideally located west and east, respectively, of Central Park in the museum district. We also took in a stop at the famous "Strawberry Fields" and an operatic performance of "Turandot" in the park, (It was so muggy, though, we left before the lovely 'Let Them Sleep' finale.)
There must be thousands of books in the two dignified buildings. We had a very nice time at the ASPR, the receptionist and librarian being very cordial and helpful. They have converted to the Library of Congress system and are going "on-line" shortly. ASPR also hosts meetings and symposia and their Newsletter is especially valuable. Of course, the ASPR JOURNAL is one of the outstanding periodicals. We took a few pictures and picked up a few needed publications there.
The next day, we visited the Parapsychology Foundation, video camera in hand, to get more material. However, the reception was quite different; much to my disappointment, we were advised by the receptionist that pictures were forbidden. Later on, I mentioned this to the elder Ms. Coly, the Director, who apologized for the lack of hospitality and invited us to visit again.
I was saddened to hear that Betty Shapin, Editor of PARAPSYCHOLOGY REVIEW , has passed on. Although I never met her, I always thought of her as a kindred spirit, especially since our first published work appeared under her. PF has ceased publication and now features a $5,000 research grant program.
My next treat was the lab in Durham near , but no longer Ïä1Ïwith , Duke University. The old building looks like a typical frat house, belying its purpose as the shrine of parapsychology. Dr. Richard Broughton graciously took me to lunch and then gave me a thorough tour of the white two-storey. As you enter the front the hall offers, on the right, a library and ante-room where a visitor may spend a few moments appreciating the twin portraits of J.B. and Louisa Rhine. Across the hall, a room set up for presentations and beyond that, the dimly-lit office with the name-plate on the desk with the simple inscription,
"J. B. Rhine".
Richard showed me around-- a few old artifacts, a card-shuffling device, from the early days, the printing and publishing room of Parapsychology Press, the computer room, a peek into the lab where Dr. Kanthamani Rao is conducting experiments, and on and on, chatting incessantly as we went. If you ever get a chance to visit during the "Summer Study Program", I highly recommend it. The Institute for Parapsychology, the Rhine Lab, is now under the auspices of FRNM, the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man. Like Stanford, Duke preferred to disassociate itself from the parapsychology and psychical research areas, that apparently brought unfavorable publicity. One looks forward to the day when schools will strive to gain such associations!
The visit to the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, or PEAR, Laboratory actually followed the Parapsychological Association Annual Convention, held at the National 4-H Center in Washington, D.C., which I'll cover later.
Again, a cordial welcome, this time from Dr. Roger Nelson, greeted me after I found my way from the venerable gothic buildings of Princeton University to the modern stainless steel facade of the Engineering Center, then inside until I stood in front of the steel door adorned with a small photo of a pear. Although the lab was physically smaller than the Rhine lab, it was quite impressive. Dr. Brenda Dunne, one of the "prime movers" and co-author of MARGINS OF REALITY with Prof. Bob Jahn, Dean Emeritus of the School of Engineering/ Applied Science at Princeton, was very generous in her detailed description of the lab's work. There are three main components of the lab's programs, she explained;
3. The third area involves the philosophical explanation, you might say, for psi phenomena.
Roger introduced me to the random number generating computer and invited me to work with it for a while, explaining that the lab was really not too interested in exceptional psi performers, but more interested in very large data bases of work by regular folks. I recognized the set-up as similar to one that was at an earlier P.A. Convention at Tufts University in Boston, where Rosa and I both were able to do fairly well on the tests.
Of course, I was immediately hooked and went through several sequences of 50 trials each, trying to outguess the random generation of 1s and 0s so as to drive the video display line up, down, and horizontal by pressing a button to "catch" a 0 or 1 that drove the display up or down a step at a time. I suppose one could get a copy of the IBM-type program. (I use Tandy Color Computer.) I do advise caution, since the program tends to addict one rapidly if one is the least bit fascinated by psi.
I also had the pleasure of meeting PSI SIG Member Angela Thompson, with her charming British accent, who assists in the lab's works. Angela gave me a copy of an extract from the MUFON Journal seen later in this issue. I should mention that neither of the two labs really looks like a typical laboratory such as those I work in; there are no white smocks nor tiled walls- instead, a visitor or psi participant will be quite at home in rooms that are especially set up for a nice, homey feeling- warm tweeds, plants, and so on, to give a relaxed comfortable setting.
I left with a boxful of thick technical reports to take back to the Technical Library at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where good psi literature is woefully lacking. Taken altogether, material such as this forms the backbone of proof for the existence of psi phenomena.
The "Main Event" was the Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association. If you are a glutton for punishment in the form of presentations and informal discussions and thrive on psi, this is the event for you. I've attended several of these equivalents of Mensa Annual Gatherings and look forward to them as the highlight of the year every time. You'll find a separate article on this in this issue. One of the highlights of this was that I volunteered as unofficial videographer and made videotapes of the proceedings so as to capture the sights and sounds and the all-important Q & A sessions, as well as the printed words in the official proceedings. It took four cassettes to get all twenty-four hours on tape, and I missed some at that. So, if you see a topic that's particularly interesting in the article and you'd like a copy, then send me a blank cassette and I'll make one.
All in all, a most enjoyable trip!