Star Gate (2): The US Government Programme on Psi Research, Part 2: Operational Psi
With a letter from Tom Butler on the future of the SPR, I am delighted to see that the questions raised in my editorial for PR92 are still stimulating discussion. But as the debate continues, I see that the SPR suffers from unrealistic expectations being placed upon it as much as its own unrealized potential. Calls for greater outreach are being addressed through a workshop programme geared to more popular concerns (namely, ‘ghost hunting’), but such an approach, although welcome, is never going to bring about the paradigm shift in the image and engagement that is required of the Society simply because face-to-face events are costly, time-consuming and limited in their reach, both geographically and in terms of the numbers able to participate. Demands for more sacrifices from its largely volunteer workforce can only be detrimental in the long term, leading to burn out and disillusionment. Most suggestions revolve around providing more and more without charge and indiscriminately. With public awareness of the Society diminishing perceptibly year on year, such an approach is pointless, if not counterproductive. The more the Society gives away for free, the less incentive there is to join it. As a membership society, the SPR thrives only in relation to its membership. It must look for ways to increase member retention and attract new members, and that can only be done by making the membership package itself irresistible. The debate, I suspect, will continue. ψ
Dr Leo Ruickbie
Editor, Paranormal Review
Contents of Paranormal Review 95
The US Government Programme on Psi Research, Part 2: Operational Psi is on pages 4 to 13.
4 Star Gate 2
Dr Sonali Marwaha concludes her two-part survey of the US Government’s twenty-three-year-long research programme on psi with an examination of its operational uses.
14 Neurothanatology
Pascal Michael leads us on a quest for the ‘NDE-ogen’, comparing the effects of psychedelics with reports of near-death experiences.
17 Paranomics
John Tate introduces us to a new field of economics, looking at how activites relating to alleged paranormal phenomena have economic effects.
20 Ghost Capital
Clay Thistleton argues that Glasgow is Scotland’s and possibly the world’s most haunted city.
22 Guy Lyon Playfair
Ashley Knibb covers the SPR’s Study Day 77, a tribute to esteemed member Guy Lyon Playfair, best known for his investigation of the Enfield poltergeist.
25 The Man Who Knows
Brandon Hodge tracks down another elusive spirt communication device for ‘Ghosts in the Machines’.
27 Letters
Tom Butler continues the discussion on the future of the Society for Psychical Research.
Note: For Star Gate (1), see Paranormal Review 94.
