Russell Targ

Though I heard about him often after I was first introduced to remote viewing in 1983, Russell Targ had left SRI two years before I started my remote viewing training there in 1984. So, unlike the case with Ingo Swann, Hal Puthoff, and others, I didn’t have the chance to meet him personally until 1999. It was then that I was helping organize the founding meeting for the International Remote Viewing Association (IRVA). Since Russell was one of the seminal figures in the development of remote viewing, I thought he deserved a place at the table and so reached out to him. He accepted my invitation and joined the rest of us for the historic get together that led to the formation of IRVA. Since then we have often been in touch both electronically and in person. Russell is one of a kind! (Read more about Russell Targ Here!)

Russell Targ on scooter by Robert Knight

This photo, taken around 1997 by the legendary music-industry photographer Robert Knight, shows Russell on his primary mode of transportation at the time — a motor scooter. A victim of a chronic eye malady that seriously impaired his vision, Russell’s eyesight was later further damaged by a laser in a laboratory accident.  Nearly legally blind, he couldn’t drive a car, but did manage the scooter, despite the concerns and objections of family and friends who didn’t think he ought to be on the streets at all driving any conveyance.

Patty and Russell Targ on a visit to Austin Texas in 2004

Russell with his wife Patty in October 2004 on a visit to Austin Texas to conduct a workshop. I took this photo in front of the Oasis Grill above Lake Travis where I had met them for dinner. The sunsets over the lake from the patio of the Oasis are legendary, and Russell and Patty wanted to enjoy it.

Russell Targ and Paul H. Smith Austin Texas 2004

Russell and I at dusk on the patio of the Oasis. During the evening we discussed the manuscript he was working on that would become his next book, The End of Suffering. We disagreed on the nature of time and of human free will — a debate we have enjoyed continuing over the years.

A photo of Russell Targ by Paul H. Smith 2014

This is a photo I took of Russell when he was visiting in Hal Puthoff’s Austin-based laboratory. Hal, Russell and I were being interviewed for a documentary on Russell’s involvement in remote viewing.