Remote Viewing is a psychical activity developed by various countries, including the Soviets, and used as a term by the CIA and the US military to define a psychic intelligence gathering activity. The origins of Remote Viewing are somewhat shrouded by its clandestine origins and there are various accounts.

In Remote Viewing, the viewer is given a target which is placed in a sealed envelope. This target is not physically identified or viewed by the subject, who attempts, nonetheless to connect with the object, in a protocol that somewhat resembles hypnotic induction. Remote Viewing embodies a procedure that attempts to induce the subject into an altered state of consciousness. Once induced, the subject then allegedly separates from his body and attempts to connect with the target through the astral plane or ether. In many ways this, component of Remote Viewing is almost identical to astral projection, which is being used to acquire information for intelligence operations.

Remote Viewing is said to have begun in 1970 in a CIA-funded project. Shortly afterwards, research began at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California. At this time, researchers Russel Targ and Harold Puthoff worked intensely with New York artist, Ingo Swann, who has recently written Superpowers of the Human BioMind, which is available on the Internet, which includes his purported true account of the history of Remote Viewing.

The next steps involved the formation of Detachment G, a group developed to study Remote Viewing; the initiation of INSCOM, an Army Major Command that governed Remote Viewing activities; the development of Gondola Wish, which attempted to monitor enemy uses of Remote Viewing, followed with the development of a working, intelligence collection group at Fort Meade called Grill Flame. In the late seventies, Grill Flame was integrated with SRIs experimentation with Remote Viewing.

In 1981, Brigadier General Albert Stubblebine, III assumes Command of INSCOM. The next year, Ed Dames, an intelligence officer who would ultimately play a large role in the publicizing and privatization of Remote Viewing, begins to use Grill Flame as a source of intelligence information. That same year, Ingo Swann discovers new and more powerful Remote Viewing Protocols.

In 1983, INSCOM connects with the Monroe Institute and starts sending recruits to take the Gateway Course to learn the art of astral projection. (see article on Astral Projection). That same year, Ingo Swann begins to train four US Army officers and a female civilian in Remote Viewing. One of those Remote Viewing officers is Edward Dames, CPT. Later on, Dames will be one of the trainers of Mel Riley, Lyn Buchanan, Gabrielle Pettingell & Dave Morehouse.

After his military work in Remote Viewing is over, Dave Morehouse decides to break publicly expose the existence of Remote Viewing to the private sector, a feat for which he pays heavily as record in his book, Psychic Warrior (St. Martins Press, 1996). Although Morehouse is not particularly successful in these efforts at the time, it is Ed Dames who becomes the major spokesman for Remote Viewing through Art Bells late night radio show. Dames rather disturbing, apocalyptic visions eventually leading him to the nickname of Doctor Doom. Ed Dames actively teaches and explores Remote Viewings possibilities. Private companies like Britains Paranormal Management Systems and Americas PSI TEK continue to explore the Remote Viewing World.