FAQ

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004) is a non-fiction book by Welsh-born author Jon Ronson.

The title refers to the U.S. Army's research into military applications of paranormal techniques to interrogation activites. The title refers to attempts to kill goats by staring at them.

Yes. Army leaders in the Soviet Union believed that some soldiers had psychic powers and could control things with their minds. Jon Ronson, author of the book on which the movie is based, also directed The Crazy Rulers of the World (2004), a TV documentary series that examines research into psychic warfare. The series names real military officers who are portrayed in thin disguise in The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Probably not. As recently as January 2010, Edward A. Dames, Major, U.S. Army (ret.), discussed what his team at Matrix Intelligence Agency were working on. He is a decorated military intelligence officer and an original member of the U.S. Army prototype remote viewing training program. Among his claims is that remote viewing shows that US President Obama was born in Kenya (implying among other things that somebody using it in 1961 took great interest in Obama Sr.'s personal life). For more information, see Coast to Coast web site. However, since 1964, neither he nor anyone else has claimed the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)'s initially-thousand-dollar (and later-million-dollar) prize for demonstrating paranormal abilities such as remote viewing, in a mutually-agreed upon test environment. Furthermore, sometime after 1 September 2015, the challenge forming the basis for the prize was terminated.