---
aliases:
- Claiborne Pell
- Senator Claiborne Pell
born: 1918-11-22
category: Political Figure
died: 2009-01-01
location: New York City, USA
relations:
- fn: 13
  role: board member as of August 1994, per Jones
  type: director_of
  with: '[[Institute of Noetic Sciences]]'
- fn: 7
  role: advisory board, 1988
  type: director_of
  with: '[[International Association for Near-Death Studies]]'
- fn: 7
  role: chairman as of July 1988 per UPI; term dates not verified
  type: head_of
  with: '[[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]]'
summary: Claiborne Pell (1918-2009) was a powerful Democratic Senator from Rhode Island
  and a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
tags:
- Person
- Stargate
- CIA
- Military
- RemoteViewer
updated: 2026-10-03
---

Claiborne Pell (1918-2009) was a powerful [Democratic](/organizations/democratic-party/) Senator from Rhode Island and a ranking member of the [Senate Foreign Relations Committee](/organizations/senate-foreign-relations-committee/). A former Foreign Service officer who had worked behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied [Hungary](/places/hungary/), Pell was a firm supporter and proponent of [extrasensory perception](/concepts/extrasensory-perception/) and the [Remote Viewing](/concepts/remote-viewing/) program[^1].

Pell actively lobbied for the program's survival, reaching out personally to [Dale Graff](/people/dale-graff/) to offer his support. His interest stemmed from a belief in the potential operational value of psychic abilities for military intelligence[^1].

In 1987, Pell asked [Uri Geller](/people/uri-geller/) to come to [Washington](/places/washington-dc/) for a classified meeting on Capitol Hill. The meeting, which took place in the Capitol building's Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, involved Geller demonstrating his abilities, including [telepathy](/concepts/telepathy/) and spoon bending, to senators and other officials[^1].

Pell also played a role in the 1987 [Geneva](/places/geneva/) disarmament talks. He was present at a reception where Geller was instructed to try and influence Yuli M. Vorontsov, [Russia](/places/russia/)'s first deputy foreign minister and lead Soviet arms negotiator, to sign the INF treaty. Seven days later, [Ronald Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/) announced that the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/) had offered to move ahead with an agreement to cut longer-range INF missiles[^1].

### Education and Public Service

Pell was born in [New York City](/places/new-york-city/) on November 22, 1918, graduated from Princeton University in 1940 and took a master's degree at Columbia University in 1946. He served in the Coast Guard from 1941, spent seven years as a Foreign Service officer, was elected to the Senate from Rhode Island in 1960, served from 1961 to 1996, and died on January 1, 2009.[^2]

### The Briefing of September 29, 1982

From five to six that afternoon, in his office at the Capitol, Pell received "a GRILL FLAME information briefing" arranged by [Jack Vorona](/people/jack-vorona/) of the [DIA](/organizations/defense-intelligence-agency/) and given with Major Gerald Fox of the Army staff and representatives of [INSCOM](/organizations/united-states-army-intelligence-and-security-command/), whose project manager, Lieutenant Colonel [Robert Jachim](/people/robert-jachim/), wrote the record, with two of his aides present; "although Senator Pell had invited 8 members of the [Senate Select Committee on Intelligence](/organizations/senate-select-committee-on-intelligence/) to attend the briefing none were present." The Army's part covered the history of its involvement, "how remote viewing is used for intelligence collection," and four projects whose names are redacted. "The briefing was well received. Senator Pell had had previous briefings concerning parapsychology from Dr. Vorona. He was also acquainted with the work of Dr. [Robert Jahn](/people/robert-jahn/), Dean, College of Engineering, Princeton University. Senator Pell stated that while he could not assist in FY83, he offered to try to help in the future." Two days later the Army's operations lost their funding in the National Foreign Intelligence Program. In November 1983 INSCOM's chief of staff "asked for a status report on the Senator Pell project," and the [Center Lane](/programs/center-lane/) manager answered "that we were developing an operational plan to support the project, but as yet we had not collected any information."[^3]

The chief of staff who asked Buzby for the status report on November 30, 1983, was Colonel Partridge; no later record in Buzby's memoranda names the project again. An undated DIA letter to Pell, S-22,600/DTI-S, refers to "your recent visit to DIA," at which "you raised the issue of the accuracy and reliability of certain journalistic claims regarding the possible existence of Russian psychoenergetic devices," and encloses "Psychoenergetics Devices: A Review and Assessment," with "a list of possible options and recommendations for your consideration" should "the journalist decide to go public with his allegations."[^4]

### Scott Jones and the Human Potential Foundation

From January 1985 to March 1991 Pell employed C. B. Scott Jones, a retired [Navy](/organizations/us-navy/) intelligence officer, as special assistant, "with the purpose of investigating consciousness research being conducted in other countries, primarily the USSR," according to the finding aid to Jones's papers.[^5] The Washington Times reported in 1989 that Pell, "perhaps Capitol Hill's most unabashed believer, has urged the National Science Foundation, the [Defense Department](/organizations/department-of-defense/) and other government agencies to increase psychic research funding" and had a full-time staff member whose exclusive job was monitoring reports of psychic activities.[^6] United Press International, summarizing the Providence Sunday Journal of July 17, 1988, reported that Pell attended a national symposium on abduction in 1987, that Jones kept a top secret clearance and earned nearly 50,000 dollars a year, that Pell sat on the advisory board of the International Association for Near-Death Studies and had helped organize a Washington symposium on near-death experiences two years earlier, and that the psychologist [Ray Hyman](/people/ray-hyman/) of the University of Oregon, who had evaluated military applications of psychic research for the Army, said Pell had "been arguing very forcefully" for a "Manhattan Project-style effort" to catch up with the Russians, which Pell called "vastly exaggerated," saying he favored "a modest increase in financial support" for "intelligent, skeptical" research; the report adds that in 1987 Pell invited Geller to Washington for a demonstration before about 30 congressional and [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/) aides.[^7] The version of Emery's Providence Journal story printed in *The San Francisco Examiner* of August 13, 1988 called Pell "Capitol Hill's best-known student of psychic phenomena, near-death experiences and other areas on the fringes of science," stated that he had had a full-time assistant for three years who promotes "developing human potential," and gave Jones's pay as $48,853 a year with a top-secret clearance (the UPI summary above says "nearly 50,000 dollars" and "top secret"). In that article Pell is reported to have invited Geller in April 1987 with at least one other member of Congress in the audience, and Pell described Hyman's account as "correct but vastly exaggerated."[^8] The *Winston-Salem Journal* of July 18, 1988, summarizing the same story, reported that Pell, then 69, told the Providence Journal he would "probably spend more time with this" if he were not in the Senate.[^9] The Pell papers at the University of Rhode Island list three files, "Human Potential Foundation: [Scott Jones](/people/cb-scott-jones/) File" (1987; 1987 to 1994; 1988 to 1991), in the subject file series, box 42, folders 464 to 466.[^10]

Pell created the [Human Potential Foundation](/organizations/human-potential-foundation/) in 1989, according to the Jones papers finding aid, and a white paper of February 20, 1992 by Robert J. Durant states that Pell and the lawyer Mark Sandground sat on its board and that it was "reportedly funded by [Laurance Rockefeller](/people/laurance-rockefeller/)."[^5][^11] The same paper states that Pell's office was visited by Major General Michael Kerby of the [Air Force](/organizations/us-air-force/) legislative liaison office, who told Jones of a 1987 visit to Lee Graham; Jones is quoted as saying "Kerby knew of my interest in these matters."[^11] (Sole source for the passages so cited; the paper is hostile to Jones.)

### Rockefeller, Gibbons and the Clinton White House

Rockefeller's letter of May 7, 1993 to Billy Graham listed Maurice Strong, possibly Javier Perez de Cuellar, former President [Jimmy Carter](/people/jimmy-carter/) and several senators, among them Pell and [Ted Stevens](/people/ted-stevens/), as possible co-signers of a letter to President [Bill Clinton](/people/bill-clinton/) on UFO information; Graham declined on May 20, 1993.[^12] Jones's letter to [John H. Gibbons](/people/john-gibbons/) of August 11, 1994 notes that Pell sat on the board of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, whose founder [Edgar Mitchell](/people/edgar-mitchell/) would meet Gibbons.[^13] Gibbons wrote in a handwritten note to Rockefeller in August 1994, "Incidentally, I told C. Pell about this situation yesterday," referring to the Air Force Roswell report; a second note, to "Clay," indexed September 19, 1994 and dated 8/19/94, thanks him for lunch and encloses the report's summary text and Gibbons's Zuckerman lecture.[^14] In the memorandum for the President of August 4, 1995 Gibbons wrote that Rockefeller's interests "are related to those of Senator Pell" and that "Senator Pell and others have supported the funding of research in social science to focus more on these phenomena."[^15]

### Series 6 container titles in the Scott Jones papers

Series 6 of the C. B. Scott Jones papers at the University of Colorado Boulder is titled "Special Assistant to Senator Claiborne Pell." Its Legislation subseries lists drafts and correspondence for Senate Joint Resolutions 135 and 368 and House Joint Resolution 646, a Fetzer Foundation conference of June 23 to 25, 1988, International Forgiveness Day, Peace Contingency Planning, the Sadat Peace Foundation, "National Applications Office drafts" and a "Commission or Task Force on Maximizing Individual Potential draft." The Symposium on Consciousness and Survival of October 26 and 27, 1985 has files for the proceedings edited by John Shelby Spong, invitations, fundraising and event planning. The Soviet-American Relations subseries has files titled "[Esalen Institute](/organizations/esalen-institute/)," "Russia Trip 1990," "Soviet Psychotronics correspondence and memos," "Intelligence," "Pell Trip to Soviet Union 1985" and "Russia Trip 1989."[^16]

The Paranormal Aide subseries lists "Reverse Speech Scandal" files, "Challenger Incident," "Vorona Project," four "Uri Geller Scandal" files, "Uri Geller Associates" and "1990 [United States](/places/united-states/) Senate Election in Rhode Island." The Reports and organizations subseries has files on the [Office of Science and Technology Policy](/organizations/office-of-science-and-technology-policy/), the National Research Council report (five files), the Office of Technology Assessment (including "Workshop on Experimental Parapsychology" and "Maintaining the Defense Technology Base"), National Institute of Mental Health workshops at Airlie in 1987 and 1988, and the National Science Foundation, including "[Andrija Puharich](/people/andrija-puharich/) reports and correspondence." The Unidentified Flying Objects subseries lists files on the Fund for UFO Research, Richard F. Haines, Ed Komarek Jr., "Air Force Document of Mid-Air Collision 1953," "Howard J. Hoffman Government Liaison Project" and Donald R. Todd, and "A Model of Government Preparation for ET Contact and Cooperation" by Jones. The Speeches subseries includes an *OMNI* "First Word" column by Pell of February 1988 and speeches drafted by Jones and Pell. The tree gives titles only, without dates or box numbers.[^16]

[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: University of Rhode Island Library, "Register to the Senatorial Papers of Claiborne Pell: Subject File," Mss. Gr. 71.4, biographical note, https://webarchives.apps.uri.edu/Pell%20XML%20Files/pell/Mss.%20Gr.%2071.4b.html.
[^3]: Jachim, Robert J., memorandum "Information Briefing for Senator Clairborne Pell," October 6, 1982, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100320001-5; Buzby, Brian, information paper "GRILL FLAME Briefing Presented to Senator Pell," February 6, 1985, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100320004-2. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Jachim, Robert J., memorandum "Briefing for MG A.N. Stubblebine III," October 8, 1982, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220022-7; Buzby, Brian, memoranda "CENTER LANE Briefing for CG, USAINSCOM," August 29, 1983 (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220011-9), "Meeting With MG Stubblebine on 30 November 1983," December 6, 1983 (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220010-0), and "Meeting with MG Stubblebine on 6 January 1984," January 17, 1984 (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220009-2); letter of the ACSI to Stubblebine, "CENTER LANE," April 1983 (CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220002-9). Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^4]: Buzby, Brian, "Meeting With MG Stubblebine on 30 November 1983," memorandum for record, December 6, 1983, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220010-0; Defense Intelligence Agency, S-22,600/DTI-S, letter to Senator Claiborne Pell, undated, with enclosure "Psychoenergetics Devices: A Review and Assessment," CIA-RDP96-00789R002600010004-9. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^5]: University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, "C. B. 'Scott' Jones papers," COU:4004, https://archives.colorado.edu/repositories/2/resources/346.
[^6]: Tom Kelly, "In search of modern Merlins: Psychics gain wider credibility," Washington Times, June 26, 1989 (date per archive metadata), CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080027-5, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00787r000200080027-5.
[^7]: United Press International, "Pell keen on psychic research," July 17, 1988, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/17/Pell-keen-on-psychic-research/3613585115200/.
[^8]: C. Eugene Emery Jr., "Sen. Pell flirts with phenomena on the fringe, UFOs, psychics," *The San Francisco Examiner* (from the Providence Journal), August 13, 1988, p. B-12 (newspapers.com p. 22), https://www.newspapers.com/image/461248717/.
[^9]: "Pell Probing Psychic Phenomena," *Winston-Salem Journal*, July 18, 1988, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/939997164/.
[^10]: University of Rhode Island Library, "Register to the Senatorial Papers of Claiborne Pell: Subject File," Mss. Gr. 71.4, box 42, folders 464 to 466, https://webarchives.apps.uri.edu/Pell%20XML%20Files/pell/Mss.%20Gr.%2071.4b.html.
[^11]: Robert J. Durant, "Will the Real Scott Jones Please Stand Up?" (February 20, 1992), CIA-RDP96-00792R000400300004-7, https://cia.gov/readingroom/node/1697635.
[^12]: Rockefeller to Billy Graham, May 7, 1993, http://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/Rockefeller%20Documents/RID-8-23-95.htm.
[^13]: C. B. Scott Jones to John H. Gibbons, August 11, 1994, http://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/Rockefeller%20Documents/RID-8-11-94.htm.
[^14]: Gibbons, handwritten notes, http://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/Rockefeller%20Documents/RID-8-17-94.htm and RID-9-19-94.htm.
[^15]: Gibbons, memorandum for the President, August 4, 1995, http://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/Rockefeller%20Documents/RID-8-4-95.htm.
[^16]: University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, Rare and Distinctive Collections, collection COU:4004 (the C. B. 'Scott' Jones papers), ArchivesSpace resource 346, https://archives.colorado.edu/repositories/2/resources/346, container tree for Series 6, fetched October 3, 2026 from the vault owner's browser (titles only; no dates or box numbers in the saved tree).