Public Demonstration Target Parameters

Target Content

General Content Parameters for Acceptable Targets
1. All targets for this public demonstration experiment must be real and immediately verifiable.
2. Information about all targets must be easily obtainable by the general public.
3. No esoteric targets, or targets containing known esoteric content, are permissible.
4. All targets should have prominent topological features that can be easily identified.
5. Activities at the target site (if any) should be significant.
6. The numbered aspects for acceptable targets (explained below) should be designed to move each viewer's perspective around one physical central target location and not to answer complex plot or story questions. The purpose of the numbered aspects is to offer alternative viewing perspectives for one primary target, in the way a camera is moved from place to place around a primary object of interest.
7. Perspective statements should be used for either or both of the second and third numbered aspects (explained below).

To assist in providing the greatest possible variety of target content within any given set of demonstration targets, the following list of target categories is suggested. Taskers may wish to consult this list from time to time to see if a different type of target from a different category may add more variety to their own target ideas. Taskers may supplement this list of target categories with ideas of their own as long as these ideas correspond to the above content parameters.

1. Train, aviation, and maritime events (of all types)
2. Monumental stone structures, with or without activities
3. Manned space flight events of all types
4. Mountains, waterfalls, and other large and significant natural formations, with or without human activities
5. Major wartime battles, riots, terrorist incidents
6. Natural disasters of all types involving significant topological features and activities
7. Notable and topologically distinct structures of all types
8. Governmental leaders and other significant persons within significant and topologically distinct settings (such as within or near major structures)
9. Adventurist events, successes, and disasters of all types

Target Formats

Target Specifics
The target descriptions that define the things that are perceived by our remote viewers are called "target specifics." Target specifics contain two types of things, an essential cue and numbered aspects. All parts of a target specific have to be written following an exact format in order to maintain consistency across all remote viewing experiments.

The Essential Cue
The essential cue is the first element of a target specific. It is the most basic statement of the target. This statement contains general descriptive information regarding the target. It is usually only a phrase long. Additional information can be added to the essential cue by adding segments that are separated by a slash. Such additional information normally narrows the definition of the essential cue, as may be needed on a case by case basis. Sometimes it is more convenient to include such information in the initial phrase rather than in separate segments.

In the examples of essential cues given immediately below, note that there are no specified dates or times. Dates (and occasionally times) are appended to the numbered aspects in parentheses, as explained further below. When the dates included in the numbered aspects are all the same, then the date should also be included in the essential cue. However, if the dates differ across the numbered aspects, then the specification of the date should be omitted from the essential cue.

Examples of Essential Cues

1. The crash of the "boat train" and a "milk train" at the Salisbury station in Wiltshire, England

2. The Washington Monument / Washington, D.C.

3. Mount Rushmore / South Dakota

4. The test flight of the Russian space shuttle Buran

5. Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins approaching lunar orbit in their Apollo spacecraft

6. Bryce Canyon / Utah

7. The Allied invasion of Normandy

8. The nuclear destruction of Hiroshima

9. President Clinton / Oval Office / White House / Washington, D.C.

10. The Chrysler building / New York City

For this public demonstration of remote viewing, it is important that all targets contain prominent features that can be easily described. For example, a buried tomb underneath an otherwise flat desert would be a more difficult target than, say, a large pyramid in the same desert. These public remote-viewing experiments are all done under blind and solo conditions. Thus, there is no monitor to help each viewer sort out the subtle details at a target site. A viewer trying to perceive the buried tomb underneath a desert may describe flat and arid land, but may not perceive that there is a chamber underneath the land. In our privately conducted research, we give targets like this all the time, and some viewers are quite good at discerning such things. But this is not the rule, and this public demonstration is not set-up to work with difficult targets that contain more challenging topographical features (like buried or small hidden things). A large pyramid is a different kind of target, however. In this case, the topographical features of a large pyramid are bold and distinct. This would be an easier (and preferred) type of target for demonstration purposes.

Numbered Aspects
All of the target specifics used in this public demonstration contain three numbered aspects. The first numbered aspect is always an exact copy of the essential cue, with the likely inclusion of a specified date in the case in which the date may not be part of the essential cue.

Each numbered aspect shifts the perspective of the viewer in space, and sometimes time. This is the purpose of numbered aspects. Research has demonstrated that it is not possible to force a remote viewer to perceive any one thing at a target. The best that can be done is to change a viewer's perspective in space and/or time, and then to let the viewer perceive whatever is possible. What is perceived can vary greatly from viewer to viewer, depending both on the level of training as well as perceptual ideosyncracies that are unique to each viewer. For example, if a target involves a street corner in New York City during rush hour, one viewer may notice the people and cars, another viewer may focus on the visible buildings, and yet another viewer may perceive the people, cars, and the buildings, perhaps noting surprising details across all elements. What is important to look at when using numbered aspects is (first) whether or not the recorded data are consistent with the overall target, and (second) whether or not the recorded data are consistent with a particular numbered aspect.

The data for each aspect can overlap with the expected content for other aspects. After moving one's perception to a new numbered aspect, in many cases a viewer may continue to perceive data that are clearly related to another target aspect. That is, the movement exercises conducted by the viewers to the various numbered aspects usually move the perspective of the viewers to those aspects. But sometimes a viewer's perception remains with the prior or another aspect for reasons that are not entirely understood. It is known that the problem is exacerbated when the target aspects are substantively distinct (see the below). Thus, the data for each aspect are evaluated broadly with respect to their correspondence with known characteristics of the target, even if those characteristics are applicable to one or more numbered target aspects.

There is a common temptation for taskers to use numbered aspects to answer complex plot or story questions by shifting the perception of the viewers across a set of substantively distinct separate targets. This must be avoided. For example, one may want to know who shot John F. Kennedy, and a tasker may write an initial numbered aspect to focus on Kennedy being hit by a bullet while riding in a car in Dallas, and a later numbered aspect to focus on the assassin trying to escape. These are two separate targets, and it is normally not wise to combine them into one target using numbered aspects. In such cases in which the foci of the numbered aspects are substantively distinct, the perceptions of viewers may "lock-on" to one of the two aspects while ignoring the other. This can increase confusion when interpreting the data across the numbered aspects.

When writing numbered aspects, it is most important to keep in mind that a viewer's perspective is like a camera. When specifying a numbered aspect, try to imagine that you are placing a camera in a certain position relative to a target. If the camera is well placed, the viewer's perspective will be well placed, and a great deal of useful data may be perceived. If the camera is poorly located, then the viewer's perspective may not produce as high a yield of useful data. Note that some of the example numbered aspects shown below also specify a visual perspective at the end. (Note the format of how this is done.) In such cases, the perspective is not demanding that the viewer notice any particular part of the target. Rather, the perspective simply states the location of the viewing perspective; the viewer may or may not notice all of the target components that are listed in the description of the perspective.

Be sure to place a time specification in parentheses at the end of each numbered aspect unless the time is otherwise clear. By doing this, you are locating the viewer's perspective in time, while the first part of the numbered aspect is focusing the viewer's perspective in space.

Here are some examples of target specifics with numbered aspects. All target specifics used in this demonstration must follow this same format.

Examples of Fully Specified Target Specifics

Example 1

Essential Cue
The crash of the "boat train" and a "milk train" at the Salisbury station in Wiltshire, England (1 July 1906)

Numbered Aspects
1. The crash of the "boat train" and a "milk train" at the Salisbury station in Wiltshire, England (1 July 1906)

2. Salisbury station in Wiltshire, England (15 minutes after the crash of the "boat train" and "milk train")

3. 50 feet above the crash of the "boat train" and a "milk train" at the Salisbury station in Wiltshire, England (1 July 1906)

Example 2

Essential Cue
The Washington Monument / Washington, D.C. (22 September 1997, 12 noon Washington, D.C. local time)

Numbered Aspects
1. The Washington Monument / Washington, D.C. (22 September 1997, 12 noon Washington, D.C. local time)

2. The Washington Monument - perspective: as seen from the base of the Lincoln Memorial looking toward the Washington Monument such that the Reflecting Pool is visible to the viewer (22 September 1997, 12 noon Washington, D.C. local time)

3. The top of the Washington Monument - perspective: as seen from 10 feet south and at the same altitude as the peak of the Washington Monument

Example 3

Essential Cue
The test flight of the Russian space shuttle Buran (15 November 1988)

Numbered Aspects
1. The test flight of the Russian space shuttle Buran (15 November 1988)

2. Inside the Russian space shuttle Buran during its test flight (15 November 1988)

3. The launch of the Russian space shuttle Buran - perspective: as seen from ground level 50 meters away from the shuttle (15 November 1988)

Example 4

Essential Cue
The largest crater on the Moon (19 September 1999, 11:00 G.M.T.)

Numbered Aspects
1. The largest crater on the Moon (19 September 1999, 11:00 G.M.T.)

2. The highest peak of the rim of the largest crater on the Moon - perspective: as seen from the base of the rim near the highest peak (19 September 1999, 11:00 G.M.T.)

3. The Earth - perspective: as seen from the rim of the largest crater on the Moon such that the rim and the floor of the crater is still visible to the viewer and the Earth is in the background (19 September 1999, 11:00 G.M.T.)

Example 5

Essential Cue
The Allied invasion of Normandy (6 June 1944)

Numbered Aspects
1. The Allied invasion of Normandy (6 June 1944)

2. The first landing of Allied soldiers on the beaches of Normandy during the invasion - perspective: as seen from ground level ten feet in front of the first soldiers to step foot on the beaches of Normandy (June 1944)

3. The largest ship in the Allied fleet during the Allied invasion of Normandy (6 June 1944, at the time of greatest combat activity for this ship during the invasion)

Example 6

Essential Cue
Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins approaching lunar orbit in their Apollo spacecraft (July 1969)

Numbered Aspects
1. Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins approaching lunar orbit in their Apollo spacecraft (July 1969)

2. The inside of the Apollo spacecraft as it is approaching lunar orbit (July 1969)

3. The Moon as seen from the interior of the Apollo spacecraft as it is approaching lunar orbit (July 1969)

Example 7

Essential Cue
The nuclear destruction of Hiroshima (6 August 1945)

Numbered Aspects
1. The nuclear destruction of Hiroshima (6 August 1945)

2. The nuclear destruction of Hiroshima - perspective: as seen from 10 feet above the aircraft that dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima such that the aircraft and the explosion are visible to the viewer (6 August 1945)

3. Hiroshima - perspective: from a location within the town of Hiroshima in which the viewer may best perceive the effects of the nuclear bomb on the town (6 August 1945, at the moment of the nuclear destruction)

Example 8

Essential Cue
President Clinton / Oval Office / White House / Washington, D.C.

Numbered Aspects
1. President Clinton / Oval Office / White House / Washington, D.C. (September 1999)

2. The White House (22 September 1999, 12 noon Washington, D.C. local time)

3. Washington, D.C. - perspective: as seen from 1000 feet above the White House (22 September 1999, 12 noon Washington, D.C. local time)

Example 9

Essential Cue
The Russian space station Mir (20 September 1998, 10:00 G.M.T.)

Numbered Aspects
1. The Russian space station Mir (20 September 1998, 10:00 G.M.T.)

2. The occupants of the Russian space station Mir (20 September 1998, 10:00 G.M.T.)

3. The Russian space station Mir - perspective: as seen from 100 feet further away from Earth than the space station, looking in the direction of the space station such that Earth is visible in the background (20 September 1998, 10:00 G.M.T.)

Example 10

Essential Cue
Mt. Everest (May 1996)

Numbered Aspects
1. Mt. Everest (May 1996)

2. The Mid-May expedition up Mt. Everest in which two guides and six hikers were killed - perspective: from the location of the leader of the expedition (May 1996, 15 minutes before the death of the first member of the expedition)

3. The peak of Mt. Everest (May 1996, 15 minutes before the death of the first member of the expedition)