Remote Viewing – an overlooked resource?

We all wish we could somehow peer into a corner of our minds and see an object when we've misplaced it, but how many of us actually try? It may sound peculiar, but Remote Viewing is based on pretty much that.

Remote viewers use psychic powers to locate targets, and the interesting thing about this phenomenon is that it's played a role with governments, militaries and even scientific research.

Whereas many areas of the paranormal are pretty contained to the curious and those who believe, remote viewing has had more than the odd stint in the spotlight and still bemuses the majority of scientists.

In a nutshell, those capable of remote viewing are able to describe or see an object that is concealed, invisible or removed from them.

Remote viewers have been known to clearly describe locations they've never visited, events they were never at and items they have no way of knowing the whereabouts of. But how do they do it?

Remote viewing may sound very similar to clairvoyance, but it's far more structured than readings, and the viewer usually displays their signal as a sketch or writes it down. Also, whereas psychics and clairvoyants tend to use their gift for personal readings, remote viewers are used to assist scientific research, police investigations and even government intelligence activities.

What happens?

Despite its name, Remote Viewing isn't limited to just seeing a scene or object, it's common for viewers to experience targets with every sense. Viewers can taste, hear, smell and envisage targets, even feeling textures. At other times, they describe far more vague viewing experiences, such as a general feeling and simply 'knowing' something with no idea how.

That said, when Remote Viewers use their skill for serious purposes such as criminal investigations they are kept to a strict procedure. Not only that, but it's proven possible to train them to get the most from the impulses they experience. When performed under formal conditions, Remote Viewing is carried out so that the viewer has no idea of the case or details, and they'll only be given the basic clues to lead them to the target. Sessions like this usually include a monitor to guide the viewer, who is also kept ignorant of the nature of the subject.

Is it paranormal?

Although it seems a paranormal gift, Remote Viewing is increasingly seen as a skill, or the result of dedication to accessing the subconscious. Many believe it to be something that, with training, anybody with the determination to train their mind could perform.

When did Remote Viewing start?

Once you start looking for evidence of it, Remote Viewing seems to have occurred as far back in history as the time of the ancient Greeks, but it was only seriously explored in the 1930s. American investigation into the phenomenon of telepathy eventually led to what we know now as Remote Viewing. More developments were made in New York during the 60s and 70s, when subjects being tested for psychic abilities proved they could tell the weather in various parts of the country, calls were made to the weather stations to verify the accounts, and more research was triggered.

Is Remote Viewing a paranormal gift that can be harnessed using scientific conditions and strict rules…or is it a rare ability that we could all display with enough practice and a little more faith than the average person?