ShortHand: The Men Who Stare at Goats & the Psychic Arms Race

The US military spent over three decades pursuing psychic warfare, driven by Cold War paranoia and a belief that the Soviet Union was developing mind-control weapons. This bizarre chapter of history began with Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, a Vietnam veteran who proposed creating 'warrior monks'—soldiers trained in New Age techniques like meditation, acupuncture, and even carrying baby lambs to disarm enemies with love. Though Channon’s 125-page manual was meant as satire and self-help, it sparked real military interest. The CIA and Pentagon launched Project Stargate, investing $50 million in remote viewing, hiring psychics like Uri Geller, and claiming success in locating a downed Soviet plane and predicting the launch of the world’s largest submarine. But when skeptics like psychologist Ray Hyman exposed Geller as a fraud, the project shifted to Fort Meade under Major General Albert Stubblebine, a true believer who tried to teach Special Forces soldiers to bend spoons, walk through walls, and even kill goats with their minds. One of his subordinates, Colonel Alexander, secretly ran Project Jedi at Fort Bragg, where soldiers were trained in mystical martial arts and tested on live goats—some of whom were allegedly killed by focused mental intent. The program ended in 1995 when a government report concluded remote viewing had no scientific basis.