Popular Mechanics revisits a Cold War oddity: In 1972 artist Ingo Swann reportedly affected a magnetic field by thought, a claim that helped trigger Project Stargate. Reporters Andrew Daniels and John Gilpatrick trace the program’s origins, the CIA’s secret experiments, and efforts to train so‑called “psychic spies” using remote viewing. The story weighs the evidence and asks whether human consciousness was ever turned into a usable intelligence tool.
When the CIA Tested Psychic Spies: Ingo Swann, Remote Viewing, and Project Stargate
Popular Mechanics revisits a Cold War oddity: In 1972 artist Ingo Swann reportedly affected a magnetic field by thought, a claim that helped trigger Project Stargate. Reporters Andrew Daniels and John Gilpatrick trace the program’s origins, the CIA’s secret experiments, and efforts to train so‑called “psychic spies” using remote viewing. The story weighs the evidence and asks whether human consciousness was ever turned into a usable intelligence tool.
10:53 PM, 11/14/2025Security
The CIA, a man who ‘moved energy with his mind,’ and the secret of remote viewing
What if focused thought could do more than reason — what if it could change the physical world or reveal distant events? That provocative premise sits at the heart of a Popular Mechanics feature, “The CIA Watched Him Bend Reality With Just His Mind—Then Tried to Turn His Consciousness Into a Weapon.”
In 1972, artist Ingo Swann reportedly altered the magnetic field inside a sealed vacuum chamber simply by concentrating on it. The claim was extraordinary, controversial, and hard to explain — yet it triggered interest from U.S. intelligence agencies and researchers exploring so-called psychic phenomena.
From a strange experiment to a secret program
That episode helped spur one of the most unusual initiatives in U.S. government history: Project Stargate. Reporters Andrew Daniels and John Gilpatrick trace how a blend of Cold War anxiety, scientific curiosity, and secrecy propelled the CIA and other agencies to test remote viewing — a technique in which individuals claim to mentally observe distant locations, objects, or events.
The Popular Mechanics piece lays out how experiments were run under ultra‑secret conditions: the protocols researchers used, the environments where tests took place, and the people who participated. It presents both the extraordinary claims and the rigorous skepticism they invited.
Did consciousness become an intelligence tool?
Daniels and Gilpatrick examine whether the government ever turned elements of human consciousness into a practical intelligence asset. The story neither blindly endorses nor dismisses the idea; instead it explores the evidence, the secrecy surrounding the experiments, and the lasting cultural fascination with psychic espionage.
Key takeaway: Project Stargate shows how far Cold War agencies were willing to go to gain an edge — and how ambiguous the scientific record can be when secrecy, extraordinary claims, and limited reproducibility collide.
Watch the full episode of The Astounding Popular Mechanics Show for a deeper dive, and read the feature at PopularMechanics.com for original reporting, interviews, and archival detail.