About

Russell Targ is a physicist and author who was a pioneer in the development of laser and laser applications and was cofounder of the Stanford Research Institute's investigation into psychic abilities in the 1970s and 1980s for the CIA. This previously classified work, in what is now widely known as remote viewing, was published in Nature, The Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Targ has a B.S. in Physics from Queens College and did graduate work in physics at Columbia University. He received two National Aeronautics and Space Administration awards for inventions and contributions in lasers and laser communications, and invitations were accepted in 1983 and 1984 to present remote viewing demonstrations and to address the USSR Academy of Sciences on this research. He is the co-author of eight books dealing with the scientific investigation of psychic abilities, Buddhism, and a recent autobiography. In 1998, Targ retired from Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space Co. as a senior staff scientist, where he developed airborne laser systems for the detection of wind shear. He now pursues ESP research in Palo Alto, California, and is also publishing special editions of classic books in psychical research.