A great many remote viewing studies occurred in the past. One reason is the government's interest in its use as a defense or weapon in wartime. Some say Swann coined the phrase remote viewing, others contribute that to Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff, but Swann brought it to the forefront of scientific examination, regardless of who gave it the name.

Swann had written Puthoff about another experiment and to test him, Targ arranged a meeting above a well-hidden and shielded magnetometer. Not only did Swann disturb the functioning of the meter, he also went on to describe and draw the inner workings of the machine. This was long before any published works displayed its construction.

Puthoff wrote about Swann in an informal draft and suddenly within a few weeks, the CIA came knocking on his door. It seemed that there might be a use for this type of ability and the government wanted to test it.

Some of the study teams included Targ, Tart and Puthoff and, of course, Swann. Swann at one time said he could remotely view Jupiter. The experiment took place after the launching of Pioneer 10 but still too early for the spacecraft to reach Jupiter. Swan saw a ring around the planet and immediately received scoffing remarks from the scientific community. Two years later, the results from the spacecraft revealed a ring around Jupiter.

While the government sponsored many studies in an effort to "keep up with the Soviet Union," including Stargate, other studies continued outside the auspices of the government. One double blind study used average people. Some of these were right brained, artistic people often thought to be more psychic and others were as left brained and logical as you could get. Amazingly, it made no difference. In the study, the subjects were to draw a picture of the location of an object. The researchers in the room had no idea where their colleague had gone or where he hid the object. In 90 percent of the cases, the drawing matched the location. Even more incredible, it often showed what the location looked like from an aerial view.

This last study showed that anyone is capable of remote viewing. Some may be better than others are, however. In addition, sometimes intensity of desire increases the picture the viewer sees. One teen wanted to go to a ballgame on the fan bus, but her parents grounded her due to her bad behavior the week earlier. After pouting, stomping and making life miserable for everyone, she finally went to bed. While asleep, she dreamt a vivid dream of being on the bus on the way home. She heard the score of the game, noted who sat together and even heard people talking about her, right in front of her.

The dream was so vivid; she didn't forget a single detail. The first thing she found was that the score she heard was correct. Next, she confirmed that people sat together and even confronted the person that made a discouraging remark about her. Of course, that person immediately asked if the person he said it to had told her, confirming she heard the remark. These cases are not unusual and prove that desire also plays a role in remote viewing.