Russell Targ

Russell Targ is an American physicist and author, an ESP researcher, and pioneer in the earliest development of the laser.

Targ was born in Chicago on April 11 1934. He received a B.S. in physics from Queens College in 1954, 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. He is the son of William Targ, former editor-in-chief of G.P. Putnam's, where he was editor and publisher of "The Godfather;" and brother-in-law of Bobby Fischer, former World Chess Champion.

Targ is also an editor, publisher, songwriter, producer, and teacher. In 1997 he retired from Lockheed Martin as a project manager and senior staff scientist, where he developed laser technology for airborne detection of wind shear and air turbulence. Targ has published more than a hundred papers in lasers, plasma physics, laser applications and electro-optics.

At the Stanford Research Institute in the 1970s and 1980s, Targ and his colleague Harold E. Puthoff co-founded a 23-year, $25-million program of research into psychic abilities and operational use of these abilities for the U.S. intelligence community, including the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and Army Intelligence. The abilities are collectively referred to as "remote viewing." Targ and Puthoff both believed that Uri Geller, retired police commissioner Pat Price and artist Ingo Swann all had genuine psychic abilities. ["Mind-Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Abilities," by Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff, Dell Pub Co., 1978] They published their findings in "Nature" [R. Targ, and H,E, Puthoff, H.E "Information transfer under conditions of sensory shielding," "Nature", 251, 602-607. (1974).] and the "Proceedings of the IEEE". [Puthoff, H.E. and Targ, R. "A Perceptual Channel for Information Transfer over kilometer distances: Historical perspective and recent research." "Proc. IEEE," Vol. 64, no. 3, 329-254. (1976)] Their work however met criticism from a number of writers, such as psychologists David Marks and Richard Kammann in their 1980 book "The Psychology of the Psychic". [Marks, D. and Kammann, R., (1980) "The Psychology of the Psychic", p26. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-798-8]

Targ's autobiography, "Do You See What I See: Memoirs of a Blind Biker" was published in 2008, describing his life as a scientist and legally-blind motorcyclist. Targ lectures worldwide on remote viewing and resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife Patricia.

Works

*Russell Targ, "Limitless Mind: A Guide to Remote Viewing and Transformation of Consciousness"

As co-author
*"End of Suffering: Fearless Living in Troubled Times"
*"Mind Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Abilities"
*"The Mind Race: Understanding and Using Psychic Abilities"
*"Miracles of Mind: Remote Viewing and Spiritual Healing"
*"The Heart of the Mind: How to Experience God Without Belief"

On lasers and wind shear
*Russell Targ and Lawrence Ames, "Lidar wind sensing at cruise altitude for flight-level optimization," Proc. SPIE Aerosense-96, Orlando FL, April 8-12, 1996.
*Russell Targ, Roland Bowles, Michael Kavaya, and R. Milton Huffaker, "Coherent Lidar Airborne Windshear Sensor: Performance Evaluation," "APPLIED OPTICS", 20 May 1991.
*Russell Targ, Bruce C. Steakley, James G. Hawley, Paul Forney, Robert G. Otto, Philip Brockman, and Sarah R. Harrell, "Coherent lidar airborne wind sensor II: flight test results at 2 µm and 10 µm," "APPLIED OPTICS", 20 December 1996.

"'On Remote Viewing and the X-Files
*Targ, R. and Puthoff, H. (1975) “Information transfer under conditions of sensory shielding.” Nature, 251, 602-607.
*Puthoff, H.E. & Targ, R. (March, 1976). “A Perceptual Channel for Information Transfer over kilometer distances: Historical perspective and recent research.” Proc. IEEE, Vol. 64, no. 3, March, pp. 329-354;

References

External links

* [http://www.espresearch.com espresearch.com website Targ's webpage] - with video clips of remote viewing.
* [http://shiftinaction.com/discover/luminaries/russell_targ Russell Targ MP3 audio and notes] - from "Shift in Action", sponsored by Institute of Noetic Sciences